Easy Hand Made Holiday Gift Idea

Here is a last-minute idea for gift giving for the holidays. This pie pan was primered using a generic spray primer, then painted using acrylic paints.

The design can be anything you like. Paint a base coat of color and stencil shiny designs, or try your hand at a landscape type picture. Snowmen, snowboarders, Christmas tree ornaments, and candles all are pretty easy to do.

Another idea might be to have your young children put their hand prints on the container for great gifts for the grandparents. You can use pie plates, cookie jars, mason jars, or any other glass or metal dish for this project. That is the beauty of this simple and fun project. You can feel free to experiment with different objects because it is so inexpensive.

Use the metallic acrylic paint to add holiday sparkle by adding a dab of metallic green or blue to make evergreen trees look festive and frosty. A touch of metallic gold or silver brings stars to life. Glitter paint can be used to make winter snow sparkle.

These pie pans are great containers for sending cookies to neighbors, the mail carrier, newspaper delivery person, or office holiday parties. Just be sure to line the bottom and sides of the pie pan with plastic wrap, or put the cookies in a gift bag and tie it up with festive ribbon.

After the cookies and candy is gone, the painted pie pan can be set on a plate stand with a votive candle placed in front. The candlelight creates sparks of shimmering holiday cheer.

Making these types of holiday containers costs very little, and it is a great way to spread the joy of the season.

Don't worry if you are not an artist. You can buy inexpensive stencils, or make your own from cardboard or plastic. Flip through a magazine and cut out pictures to use for a pattern. This works great for painting Christmas Tree ornaments. Another idea for creating your own stencil is to cut out small paper snowflakes and stencil the design onto the plate.

If you have a word processing or desktop publishing program on your computer, you could even create your own unique pattern for stars, ornaments, snowmen, and the like.

Most people treasure a hand made gift for the holidays. Making gifts for holiday giving helps you save money, and the act of creating something is a great stress reducer. Typically, if you are planning to make gifts, October is a good time to begin working on them, especially if you are planning to make several items.

This same idea can be applied to almost any household item. It is a great way to recycle and repurpose. A plastic bottle you were going to throw away could become a vase. A yogurt containter becomes a pencil holder.