Nine Great Do-It-Yourself Holiday Crafts and Gifts

Nail the perfect gift for everyone on your list with these creative DIY projects made from items found at your local hardware store.

So many people on your holiday shopping list, but so little time. With these projects you’ll want to make time. And, maybe even a duct tape wallet or two.

Check out these creative ideas, all using items you can pick up at your local hardware store. From weird uncles and hard-to-please spouses, to even-harder-to-impress coworkers, there is something to please everyone on your list. Best of all, each item will be special and hand-made by YOU.

For a Weird Uncle –

• Got a practical joker in your family or a weird uncle who is endlessly amused by silly stuff? Make him a mustache mirror with an inexpensive mirror, a can of spray frost, some contact paper and an X-acto knife. Hello, Burt Reynolds.
• Have someone on your list who likes to talk a “big game” but isn’t the type to actually hang it on his wall? Make him a newspaper taxidermy antelope out of chicken wire, paper and some glue. It will take some patience, but then again, so would waiting hours in a deer stand.

For Him –

• Surprise him with a one-of-a kind duct tape wallet. Make it as original as he is with an endless variety of duct tape choices like camouflage or his favorite sport team.
• Or, give him a BBQ mop-bucket chock-full of his favorite BBQ items. Both gifts are sure to light up a smile and maybe even the grill.

For Her –

• Deck the halls and don her wrist with a chic hex nut bracelet. Pick up some small brass hex nuts, twine and voila – a bracelet so original and stylish, it will inspire her friends to raid a toolbox and make their own.
• Help her prevent unsightly condensation rings left by a guest’s wayward water glass with a set of hex nut coasters made from hex nuts, cork board and cement glue. Very original and quite nutty.

For Co-Workers –

• Mason jars have preserved jam for long enough. This year, fill them with a new little treat – like strands of twinkling lights. Simply punch a hole in the top of the lid for the cord, insert lights and you have an instantly glowing gift that’s easy enough on time and the wallet to make one for everyone in the office.
• Do you work with someone whose hands are always hugging a mug or who always has something VERY important to say? Paint a porcelain coffee mug with chalkboard paint that lets the owner write his or her message to share with everyone, whether they want to hear it or not.

For Yourself –

• Had enough of all this giving? How about giving yourself the time to make a one-of-a kind PVC Wreath for your front door that is sure to turn heads. Made with PVC pipe couplings of various sizes, spray paint, ornaments and a bow, this wreath will give your home a look that says modern and chic.

And, if you find that your crafting get-up-and-go has got-up-and-went this year, there’s always time to stop by your local Westlake Hardware store for a last-minute gift that is sure to be useful and appreciated by anyone on your list.