by Patti Winters

Created on: September 29, 2010   Last Updated: November 10, 2010

Homemade gifts can be some of the most wonderful gifts you ever receive or some of the worst. When you are giving a homemade decoration as a holiday gift, look at it before it ever leaves the house and determine if it would be something you would want in your house before you give it away.

A wonderful homemade decoration you can give is a pine cone wreath. This gift is fun to have a child help you make. They will enjoy wiring the pine cones into place and choosing extra decorations to add to the wreath to include bows, small toys or even silk birds and flowers. If the pine cones are closed then you can put them on a heating vent, with the heat on, to open them up. You will want to place them on a paper tile to make sure the seeds do not go down your vents. You can buy wreath frames in any craft store that the pine cones will fit into.

Silk floral arrangements offer a variety of colors, styles and designs to work well as a homemade gift decoration. You can do large and flamboyant or simple and elegant floral arrangements or any variation thereof. The falls colors that are normal are shades of orange, red, yellow and brown, but you can add other colors into it that could include white, gold and dark green. The different types of flowers can be the normal ones like mums, roses and sunflowers but you can add some different flowers into it like daisies, lilies or even dahlias. You could even enhance it with cattails which can be dyed different colors.

Candles are a simple gift to give as a homemade decoration. You can buy different scents that you can arrange in different arrangements, but if you want to try something different try and make your own candles. You can buy candle supplies at any craft store; the fun part is the different scents you can add to them. One of the most popular fall scents would be cinnamon, it is a wonderful experience to walk into a home and smell cinnamon permeating the home. It brings back images of pumpkin and apple pie, homemade cider and sitting in front of a fire enjoying time with your family. There are other scents you can use that will be appropriate for the fall to include vanilla, pumpkin spice and anything else that you think people would enjoy as a gift.

Place mats and table clothes are a wonderful fall accessory. They will take a little bit more work than the before mentioned items, but will be fun and quick to make. Many craft stores offer seasonal materials that you can utilize to make quick and easy place mats and table clothes. For the table clothes you can put a hem into the material and it is ready to go. The place mats will take a little bit more time, but to make them extra nice, but some batting between the layers of material. It will give it more of a professional look.

With any homemade gift, no matter the season, always ask yourself if it is something that you would put in your home. If you think it is too flashy, gaudy or busy then very likely it is the same for whomever you are giving the gift to and you will want to rethink your thought process. Most people don’t think of giving gifts in the fall, but it is a fun and enjoyable way to be thankful on the holidays. So start a new tradition and make a homemade gift for someone special in your life.

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