2017 Holiday Gift Guide for DIYers

It’s less than a month until Christmas. Still working on your holiday shopping? We’ve got you covered!

Leading up to December 25, we’re posting holiday gift guides for everyone on your list. We have already shared guides for the home cook, kids (and parents), and techies. Today’s guide is all about the DIYer!

What do you get for someone who likes to make things? Buying a scarf for a knitter or a nice planter for someone who works with ceramics can seem a waste. Instead, give them what they love best—tools or supplies to make something themselves!

Here’s our guide to buying a cool crafty present for the DIYer on your list.

1. Build their Tool Box

 

 

DIYers love new tools. Not only will they expand their range of projects, but new tools are sometimes just inspiring in and of themselves—opening up a whole new world of possibilities.

DIY Gift Guide

Help the DIYers in your life build their ultimate tool box with a glue gun, an X-Acto knife, and a screwdriver with multiple bits. These long nose pliers are perfect for making jewelry, and a tape measure will be useful no matter the project. An adjustable wrench means they’ve always got the right size. Scissors are necessary for just about any DIY project. And a multitool means they can carry it all with them and be ready for anything.

2. Grow their Garden

 

 

It’s not really the right season for gardening, but don’t let that stop you. There are plenty of great presents for DIY plant lovers that you can still find at this time of year, like garden gloves and a gorgeous green watering can. They’ll be great in the spring for outdoor use, but they can be used with indoor plants as well.

DIY Gift Guide

We’ve got plenty of great planters that will look lovely on a beautiful plant stand. And this Crabtree & Evelyn Gardeners hand soap and hand cream duo will remind your DIYer that you care about them and their well being. No cracked skin here!

3. Sew So Well

 

 

Sewing is such a handy skill. Sewers can make clothes, create curtains, upgrade their bed with a new duvet cover, mend fabric, fashion their own duffle bags and totes–the list is almost unending. It’s perfect for upgrading one’s home or wardrobe with big or small projects and is a life skill that everyone should have.

https://www.londondrugs.com/home-and-lifestyle/appliances/small-appliances/irons-garment-steamers-and-sewing-machines/sewing-machines-and-attachments/

Make sewing easier for your DIY friend with a new sewing machine. If they’ve already got one they love, then think about supplemental sewing tools like a new iron, fabric scissors, a seam ripper, or a hand sewing kit.

4. Perfect Preserving

 

 

Who doesn’t love some delicious homemade jellies and jams? You can certainly make some yourself for excellent Christmas gifts (check out our guide to canning and preserving for tips and recipes!), but for the DIYer on your list, you’ll want to be giving them supplies.

DIY Gift Guide

A canning kit complete with a funnel, jar lifter and lid lifter, as well as glass canning jars and lids, is a great gift for someone who’s looking to expand their DIY ways into food preservation (it’s a special order item, so be sure to get this one early!). It’s not just for jam; canning is perfect for pickling too! Preserving food via canning is both a science and an art, which is just what crafty folks love.

For more gift-giving advice for the DIYer on your list, speak to an LD Expert today. To make a purchase, visit London Drugs in-store and online. We’ll be back in a few days with a gift guide for music lovers. See you then!

See all of our 2017 Holiday Gift Guides here:

2017 Holiday Gift Guide for Kids (and Parents)

2017 Holiday Gift Guide for Techies

2017 Holiday Gift Guide for the Home Cook 

2017 Holiday Gift Guide for Music Lovers

Make a Gift Day: Craft Your Own Personalized Holiday Gifts for Loved Ones

Photolab Gift ideas

With the holidays just around the corner, it’s fitting that December 3rd is Make a Gift Day. Let’s think of it as a subtle nudge to get started earlier this year. This unofficial holiday encourages people to hand craft gifts for loved ones. After all, that little bit of effort to personally customize a gift goes a long way to making it special.

Photos are a great way to personalize gifts.  You’ve likely captured hundreds if not thousands of them over the year, so why not put all those memories to good use? Do some digging through your virtual photo albums and see if you can find some gems to work with.

Even if you don’t consider yourself Pinterest-level crafty, our Photolab can help you tap into your creativity and produce personalized photo gifts.

Here are some of our favourite DIY gifts for the holidays:

Photo Mugs

Personalize a mug with a special photo or artwork. It’s an easy, inexpensive gift that shows you put some thought into it. Find step-by-step instructions for adding photos or text to a mug on our Photolab website or at our in-store Photolab kiosks. Photo mugs are available for same day pick-up. If you want to order in time for the holidays, make sure to get your order in by December 24th.

Photo Mugs

Hand Print Mugs

Have the kids create their own handprint artwork on pieces of paper, which can then be digitized using an at-home scanner. Or visit us in the Photolab, where you can use our self-serve scanner, or have one of our LDExperts scan it for you. Then you can upload those digital files to our Photolab site (or use our in-store kiosks) and customize special mugs with that artwork, to be given away as holiday gifts.

Personalized Stockings

If your family does stockings every year, a fun pre-Christmas gift to make would be personalized stockings for everyone. Brand new to our Photolab, we have a selection of different Christmas stocking designs to choose from. Customize one for each member of your family, by choosing a design, selecting a photo of your choice, and adding their name (you want Santa to know who he’s delivering to). Then we’ll do the printing for you.

Personalized Stockings

Photo Ornaments

Photo ornaments are a gift that will show the recipient just how much you care. It’s something that can signify a special moment or milestone in their life, and they can hang it on their Christmas tree year after year.

Our Photolab can help you create your own customized photo ornaments. You pick the design: metal, crystal, ceramic or pewter, in a variety of shapes. Then choose a design template that fits your giftee perfectly. We have everything from baby’s first Christmas to first Christmas as Mr. & Mrs. Then, you can add the right photo, and get as creative as you like by editing the colour scheme, text and layout. Knowing you put the time and effort to customize every aspect of the gift will make it that much more meaningful for them.

 

We hope you’re feeling inspired to use your images to make fun and personal gifts that your friends and family are sure to cherish. We have lots more items you can customize. Just check out our Photolab site to see them all, from bobbleheads and crystals, to photobooks and blankets.

Need a hand getting started? LDExperts at many of our Photolabs are hosting workshops throughout December to help you personalize your holiday gifts. For workshop locations and times, click here.

 

Holiday Order Deadlines

A great selection of products are available for same day or next day pickup, up to Sunday, December 24th including Enlargements, Canvas Gallery Wraps, Express Books, Photographic Calendars and Mugs. See a Photolab expert for details.

Be sure to place your orders for the below products before the listed dates to ensure Christmas delivery.

Photobooks, Calendars and Traditional Greetings Cards…………Sunday, December 17

Creative Products………………………………………………………Sunday, December 17

Crystals…………………………………………………………….……Sunday, December 17

Crystallize-it 3D Photo Crystals………………………………….Wednesday, December 13

Yes Video……………………………………….……………………..Saturday, November 25

 

If you need some help creating your holiday gifts, our Photolab Experts can answer any questions you may have, and walk you through the ordering process. Just visit us at any London Drugs location, in the Photolab department.