Making Zero Waste Handmade Christmas Gifts with Kids

After having so much fun making handmade Christmas decorations I decided to try my hand at making handmade Christmas gifts too. I scoured the internet to find handmade Christmas gift projects that would be fun to make for both adults and kids, and I’m so glad I did. Give these

I want my daughter to feel the pride that comes from making something with your own hands. I want her to experience the joy that results from working to bring a smile to the face of others. But honesty Christmas coincides with winter break, which means plenty of free time to fill up with fun things like making handmade Christmas gifts with the kids.

Looking back on the holiday it was super fun to watch the smiles on her face as she handed out her handmade gifts at Christmas. She waited and watched carefully as each person opened their gifts, stating proudly that she handmade each and every part of our low waste Christmas gifts.

Zero Waste Handmade Playdough

For her tiny cousins and her friends, we made handmade playdough. Handmade playdough is the perfect Christmas gift as it is softer and keeps longer than the store brought stuff, plus making it with kids is super fun. Help your kids whip up a series of colors their choosing and wrap them up with some fun play tools as a Christmas gift!

What you’ll need

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup salt
• 4 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 2 cups lukewarm water
• 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil (coconut oil works too)
• Food coloring, optional
• Parchment paper, Wax paper will work also
• 8 4 oz Mason Jars with lids

Handmade Playdough Instructions

Step One: Mix ingredients| The most important part about making handmade Christmas gifts with kids is tiny people participation, so allow them to stir together the flour, salt, and cream of tartar in a large pot. Next, add the water and oil. (If you’re only making one color, add in the color now as well. Since we were giving them as gift sets we did not add color here)

Step Two: This is FAST and HOT so kids will not be able to help with this part. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. You will need to keep the mixture moving so it doesn’t burn or cook unevenly. Turn off the heat and keep the pot ON the burner. Continue stirring until the dough has thickened and the dough pulls away from the sides.

Step Three: Remove dough from heat and let it cool till it is comfortable to touch. Don’t worry if there are small clumps of flour, they will knead out.

Step Four: Add Color | If you have not added colors yet, divide the dough into balls (for how many colors you want) onto wax paper. We were doing two colors so we divided the plain dough into two halves. Make an impression into the dough and add color. Start with about 10 drops of color and add more to brighten it.

Step Five: Once the dough has cooled to the touch, allow your kids to squish the dough until their heart’s content! The goal is to knead until smooth. It takes a while getting used to squishing inside of the parchment paper if it doesn’t matter to you whether or not they stain their hands they can do without it Once it’s all mixed together you’re ready to PLAY.

Step Six: Once the dough is finished, divide your two halves into four pieces each and roll into a smaller dough ball. Allow your kids to put each dough ball into its own four-ounce glass mason jar. I like to use jars because they create zero waste, and it makes it easier to wrap your handmade Christmas gift when you’re completed. Plus it gives the dough a home after. Keeps for up to 3 months.

Having your kids create handmade Christmas gifts instills pride in one’s work

Handmade Soap gifts

• 12 one inch cubes of glycerin soap | (I chose clear glycerin but you could choose any variety you want}
• vegetable oil
• rubbing alcohol in Spray bottle {set to mist}
• Soap molds we used our silicone baking containers, however, you can get molds specific to soap making to recycle the base of a yogurt container or any other plastic container to take the low waste Christmas gifts up a notch

HONEY-OATMEAL HAND SOAP

• 1 1/2 tsp honey
• 1 pinch ginger
• 2 tsp oatmeal
• Dried Orange slices (we had some leftover from making ornaments)

I’ve personally never made soap before and was super worried I’d bitten off more than I could chew with this handmade gift project, before Christmas but it was surprisingly simple and low stress. This is a zero-waste, low headache, handmade Christmas gift that I cant wait to make again.

Handmade Christmas Soap Instructions

Step One: Begin by coating your molds with vegetable oil. Set aside.

Step Two: Cut your glycerin into cubes and placing your cubes into a microwave-safe container with a spout. The glycerin comes molded into cubes. Four cubes are all you need per soap mold.

Step Three: Heat the glycerin in the microwave in 20-second intervals until melted but not boiling. Stir until smooth. Mix in other additives to “flavor” your soap.

Step Four: Pour “flavored” soap into your prepared mold. Mist with rubbing alcohol to eliminate any bubbles on the soap’s surface. Allow soap to harden for 2 hours, we left ours overnight.

Step Five: To release the soap from the mold, pull the mold away from the side of the soap. Then press on the bottom of the mold to pop the soap out. If the soap is still resisting coming out this way, place it in the freezer for 10 minutes and try again.

Step Six: Allow your kids to decorate their handmade Christmas gifts with parchment paper and twine

Kids Handmade Christmas Candle Gift

When I was younger I remember going on field trips to Amish country and enjoying making handmade taper candles that us kids couldn’t wait to gift our parents when we got home. These candles were made in a methodical almost soothing manner, by repeatedly dipping the wick of the candle into vats of wax followed by cooling baths of water, then repeating till we could stand it no longer. These handmade candles make the perfect Christmas gifts and do not require that level of concentration or commitment making them perfect to undertake with kids.

• Bag of soy candle wax (comes in flakes) | I purchased a five-pound bag, kit that came with wicks and 2 centering devices.
• Candle Fragrance | I chose lilac, and my daughter chose lemon but whatever your personal scent choice is working
• Wicks | I choose pre-cut ones covered in wax with a metal base. Next time I
• Salad forks | if you end up not getting the wooden wicks like me, you’ll need something to help the wicks stand straight up. I got this antique dining set which
• Mason jars | A heat-safe containers
• Large glass bowl | A heat-safe container to melt the wax in and oven gloves.
• Parchment paper or cupcake liners and decorative trim.

Handmade Candle Instructions

Step One: Measure out your wax into the heat-safe container. I started with 3 cups of flakes.

Step Two: Melt in the microwave. I melted it on high for about 3 minutes and that worked perfectly. Test it out and keep an eye on it.

Step Three: Add about 10 drops (or more, depends on the level of fragrance you want) of fragrance oil to your melted wax. I turned away for five seconds and my daughter had emptied 1/5 of a bottle of lilac essential oil to one batch and they turned out just fine

Step Four: Dip each wick into your bowl of melted way and affix them to the bottom of each jar/ container. Tell your little one to count slowly to 20 in order to give the wicks time to dry in place.

Step Five: Leave it alone until the wax sets up and holds the wick in place – anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes.

Step Six: Fill the container the rest of the way up with wax. Youll need to keep the wick standing straight up. The wicks we purchased came with two apparatuses just for this purpose but since we were making a large batch we used vintage salad forks

Step Seven: Leave it for a few hours, we left ours overnight. Once completely set, trim the wick down to size.

Step Eight: Clean off excess wax. Because these handmade Christmas gifts were made by kids, people will look past the errant wax residue so you can skip this step altogether. Boil a kettle of water and pour it into a glass bowl, then dip each messy candle jar into the water. Pass the candle to your kids and allow them to wipe off any residual wax with a rag, voila your handmade candle gifts are completely

Step Nine:  Decorate Jars. I like to finish off handmade Christmas gifts with simple elements that kids can do with little supervision. Place the circle lid on top of the candle, in the spirit of keeping it simple, place a cupcake liner on the top and screw on the cap. Add trim and decorative elements and tags as desired. I chose to use leftover parchment paper from our other handmade Christmas gift projects.

I hope you and your kids make some of these super fun Handmade Christmas gifts this holiday season.

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