Festive Gifts: Easy Christmas Crafts to Make and Sell

First things first. What do we all need at Christmas? Yes, festive decorations for the tree, branch, log basket, front door wreath. Really, anywhere there’s a place, there’s room for a handmade paper decoration. These are simple, fun and easy Christmas crafts to make and sell for profit. You’ll need a craft kit that includes paper, scissors, glue, string and maybe some sparkle spray as a finishing touch.

Your paper Christmas tree decorations can be as simple or as sophisticated as you like. You could offer packs of colour-coded decorations for buyers with a theme in mind. Or even offer a premium service for personalised decorations with a handwritten Christmas greeting to every member of the family – not forgetting the dog of course.

A lot of people don’t change their collection of Christmas decorations very often, and certainly not every year. Some estimates say it’s more like every four or five years. But as the focal point of seasonal cheer, a majority of us are willing to make an exception for the tree. If you focus your efforts on the tree, you probably can’t go far wrong.

It’s easy to go beyond paper decorations and make something more durable that’s still simple and not too bulky to pack and send. Here are some possibilities to get you thinking:

Next on the list of craft ideas to make and sell for Christmas has got to be knitting. As a rule of thumb, try starting with something simple like knitted dishcloths or small pet toys to sell as eco-friendly stocking fillers. Before long, you can work up to more ambitious knits like tablet cases for tech-lovers. Who knows, if you take to the needles, your knitted creations could earn you enough revenue to fund your own Christmas gift shopping. To start, though, all you need is a knitting pattern, some knitting needles and your choice of yarn.

If your aim is to make back what you spend on materials it’s worth thinking about small, Christmas-themed items that you can produce quickly and transport easily. A red knitted reindeer with felt fabric sewn-on antlers could be a hit for all ages this festive season.

Is sewing more up your street? You probably already have a lot of the basics you need: a sewing box and nimble fingers. For more ambitious projects, a new or second-hand sewing machine doesn’t need to be a massive outlay. And it could help you reap big benefits. You can scale up your projects to baby blanket or table runners or scale down to a hand-sewn pin cushion, butterfly-shaped oven glove or a shiny silk Christmas star for the tree.

One sure-fire idea in the season of giving is a hand-sewn drawstring gift bag. Everyone needs one and the personalised touch is worth its weight in gold to all the buyers out there looking for something special. Here’s how to make one:

So easy, so quick and so sellable. You can adapt the basic method to different sizes to make peg bags, craft bags for other makers or clothes storage bags.

You don’t need to work with silver, gold and diamonds to make memorable Christmas pressies. Jewellery is top of the wish-list for many of us. Importantly, lots of people say they prefer handmade jewellery over expensive alternatives – after all it’s the thought that counts. The trend for chunky, natural-looking pieces means you can have fun with beads, buttons, polished stones and even varnished pieces of wood.

You could work with simple wire and bead earrings, or stick with mother nature and see what you can create with acorns, seeds, pressed flowers or leaves, or think about extending your range into experimenting with resin, felt and inexpensive semi-precious stones. Who knows? What started out as one of your Christmas craft ideas for gifts could turn into a lucrative and satisfying full-time business. The same as for any handmade crafts, it’s easy to add value and make your business stand out by offering personalised custom jewellery items like a hand-painted name, the date of the recipient’s birthday on a series of beads or a secret message engraved on the reverse of a wooden pendant.

Just like Christmas decorations, you can be sure that among the top DIY Christmas ideas to sell or to make for family and friends is that old favourite – the advent calendar. Buyers are always looking for novel and fun ways to count down to the big day. Some want to wean their little ones away from the standard chocolate treat, while others are simply looking for something a little bit different to add to the traditional Christmas mix. Fill them (if you really can’t resist) with chocolate or sweet treats. Alternatively, opt for tiny gifts like hairbands, sample-size beauty products or little cut-out moon and star shapes that can make up a mobile when the collection is complete. Here’s just one example of a DIY advent calendar:

There are lots of other materials you could use like red and white felt to make plump little Santas, each filled with the treat of the day.

After the tree, there’s nothing that so immediately conjures up the spirit of the season as a Christmas wreath for the front door. Lots of busy buyers don’t have time to make their own wreath. However they will appreciate having a unique handmade wreath to add a distinctive touch to their décor. A wreath can be anything you want it to be. But if you’re thinking about supplying to customers, it may be worth substituting evergreen foliage with a more durable green base made of fabric or strands of non-shiny tinsel. Whatever style you choose, here’s what you’ll need:

Start with the evergreen foliage or substitute and twist it around the wire, tied into place at intervals with the twine or garden wire. Keep adding greenery until you’re happy with how full the wreath looks. Add flowers (dried flowers stabilised with spray work best for a long-lasting wreath) according to your taste and colour scheme. Fasten each one individually. Finally, add bunches of berries or cones, or both. Pine cones decorated in gold or silver spray paint or a dusting of fake snow add the right amount of glitter and festive spirit.

Another sure-fire item that customers look for year after year is the classic Christmas card. Are you great at watercolour flowers? Fancy embroidering a cheery cartoon robin redbreast sitting on Santa’s shoulder? Or perhaps a delicate collection of pressed wildflowers? Whatever you enjoy drawing, painting or glueing together, there’s sure to be an appreciative customer base out there for your unique creations.

For a single-layer card, you can draw or paint your illustration directly onto the front. If your method incorporates dried flowers, photographs or other artefacts, you could use a double layer, with the ‘filling’ glued to the base card. Then use a separate cut-out layer on top to form the frame of your picture. As a finishing touch, it’s worth remembering to add your signature or trademark on the back. It will help satisfied customers can find you again.

Cards or other craft pieces at the ready? All you need to do now is take pictures and start selling.

One of the big benefits of being a seller on Gumtree is that you can start small. No worries about setting up your own website or retail outlet – we’re already here for you. If your festive gift ideas take off, you can always expand any way you want, choose to keep it part-time or just stick to Christmas. Whether you’ve got one or two items or a whole production line in your kitchen or garage, selling on Gumtree is the place to start and carry on.

Start with our step-by-step guide to creating an account so you can start selling on Gumtree. Next, have a browse of our basics pages for lots of handy hints about uploading pictures. (Top tip: always upload the images the right way up!). Plus discover how to describe your items, how to provide the sort of information that potential buyers want and lots more. There are also tips on staying safe, spotting dodgy messages and solving technical issues. We even have a handy downloadable guide to the etiquette of buying and selling online.

Ready to make a start? Join thousands of other Christmas shoppers in browsing our collection of handmade decorations on Gumtree.