Podcast Ep. 66: DIY Christmas Gifts, Foods & Updates

DIY Christmas gifts are not only a great way to stay within your budget, but they are more meaningful than something you purchased. They demonstrate thoughtfulness, are unique, and are usually things that are hard to come by in our mass-produced world – and we love them! In this episode, we’re discussing our video, “17 Homemade Gift Ideas in 6 Minutes” that recently got a big spike in viewership, some of the gifts featured, and some of the comments. We then list a few of our most popular homemade gifts that are easy to do, as well as some DIY food gifts are especially nice to receive (and they’re always easy and inexpensive!). Plus, yard and garden updates (actual ones this time!) and cool things we’ve discovered.

You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and TuneIn Radio – or listen to it below right on your computer! Then use this page to check out any links, notes, or photos we talked about in the episode. Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you might have to click through to the post to see the player below.

Prefer reading? Use the PODCAST TRANSCRIPT! Click here to open in a new window and read.

Some links in this article are affiliate links and if you click on them I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.

DIY Christmas Gift Ideas

This is our “viral” DIY gifts video we started the show with – you can visit the YouTube page here if you want to see some of the comments.

While many of the gift ideas aren’t on the blog since they were given to us, there are some things that I do have projects to – here are the links to the chalk projects mentioned:

Chalk Wooden Tags
Thrifted Chalkboard Napkin Rings
DIY Canvas Chalkboard Menu – I don’t think this was in the video, but it makes a good, useful gift!

Oh, and that clock I’m holding? Super easy clock how-to here.

And here are links to some popular AOC DIY gifts not in the video with easy tutorials:

Canvas Log Carrier
Knitted Cable Headbands with printable label (it was my first cable project, they are that easy!)
Hot Sauces in a Recycled Box
Flaxseed Warming Pillows (probably the #1 gift we’ve given)

As you can probably tell, we love handmade gifts! For even more ideas, check out the Easy & Doable Handmade Gifts page. And we’d love to know – what are some of your favorite DIY Christmas Gifts?

Yard & Garden Updates

Above is an in-process shot of us finishing the second run of the vegetable garden raised bed watering system. We showed how we did first run with a step-by-step process here. SO excited to have this done well before the new gardening season, which was one of our goals for fall.

You can also just see our “urbanite” (that’s a fancy way of saying broken concrete) patio above. Look for more on that with all the wood chip paths laid soon. Here’s my gardening highlights in Instagram stories where you can see more of the patio (just click through until you see it).

Oh, and if you’re curious about ways to use broken concrete in gardens, here’s lots of inspiration in this google image search.

In other news, our “orchard” is planted! That’s in quotes because it’s a total of 5 trees, but we’re excited about it. One, because we’ll see the flowering trees from the farmhouse bedroom windows in the spring and two, because of the fruit of course.

We’re growing two Italian/European plums so we can have plenty to dry and two apples so we can make apple butter, pies, and other recipes. And the fifth is the old cherry we inherited with the property, which we use to make chutney, BBQ sauce, and dry them as well.

What’s Cooking: Easy DIY Food Gifts

Mason Jar Gift Mixes:

Pancake-Waffle Mixes: Cinnamon oat and gluten free Buckwheat, Oat and Cinnamon.
Red Beans and Rice Jar Gift
Rosemary Focaccia Bread In A Jar
Ranch Dressing Gift Jar

Gift Baskets:

Other Mason Jar Ideas:

Use a quart size mason jar to package up homemade foods like:

Homemade Granola
Spiced Nut Mix (sugar free) or Glazed Maple Sweetened Chili Pecans (maple sweetened only)
Homemade Candies like Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

This is Really Cool!

Brian’s: The silk glove liners and silk sock liners that have been warming his fingers and toes during cold weather runs. If you run or work in the cold weather, do try these – they’re thin but really work! (Tip: You may have noticed that these made it into Brian’s men’s gift guide because these would make great gifts – and I’m not sure why he said they were expensive in the podcast – they’re each less than $13.)

Jami’s: Garnier SkinActive Micellar Cleansing Water, the amazing water that actually takes off more makeup than tap water. Go figure.

Thanks for listening! If you like this podcast on DIY Christmas Gifts, you can really help us out by telling your friends, subscribing on iTunes, and leaving us a review – that’s how other’s will find us too.

And if you’d like to ask a question or leave an idea for future podcasts you can call (541) 658-0215 to leave a voicemail and we’ll talk about it on the air!

For more from An Oregon Cottage, follow on Instagram @AnOregonCottage, Facebook, and Pinterest, and subscribe to the AOC newsletter.

Missed previous episodes of An Oregon Cottage Podcast? You can listen to them here.

Disclosure: affiliate links in this post will earn commission based on sales, but it doesn’t change your price. Click here to read my full disclaimer and advertising disclosure.