Making homemade holiday gifts is year-round work, especially for the thrifty do-it-yourself enthusiast who likes to use secondhand supplies. While perishable presents need to be made closer to the holidays, there are many homemade gifts that you can work on during the “off season” to help spread out your work. With 28 Goodwill NCW retail locations to source your materials, let the treasure hunt begin!

Pressed Flower Candles & Lanterns

Collect your favorite flowers as they grow outside and press them in books or purchase pressed flowers online to use in your holiday gifts. Make pressed flower lanterns or pour pressed flower candles in small batches throughout the year that you can gift others when the snow falls.

Mix and match fragrances, flower varieties and unique glassware from Goodwill NCW so that everyone on your list gets a one-of-a-kind flower lantern or candle!

Photo credit: onelittleproject.com

Photo credit: Dnilva

Marbled Ceramic Mugs

It’s hard to believe that upcycled neutral-tone mugs and nail polish can yield such a beautiful result! Make batches of DIY marbled ceramic mugs to gift next holiday season. Keep your eye out for matching mug sets at Goodwill NCW and shop multiple locations to collect your supplies quickly.

Tip: Make dishwasher-safe mugs by finishing them with a sealant intended for that purpose. With the set time of the sealant taking about a month, you’ll be glad you made these gifts ahead of time!

Handwritten Recipe Towels

Does your family have favorite recipes passed down from loved ones? Or do you make a dish or dessert that is always requested by your friends? Help preserve and spread tradition with the gift idea of DIY handwritten recipe tea towels.

What gives this gift an extra special touch is that you can preserve a loved one’s handwriting. Check out Goodwill NCW’s household softwares for thin cotton tea towels that will work well for the various methods of transferring handwriting onto cloth.

Photo credit: itsalwaysautumn.com

Happy holiday prepping to all our crafty thriftanistas out there! If you make one of these upcycled holiday gifts, share it with us on our Facebook page.