Advent 30 Day What's Up Challenge 17 - Get creative, create a homemade gift

Why is this good for your emotional health and wellbeing?

Nothing can beat receiving a gift that someone took the time to make for you. Making a gift is not just great for the person who receives it or at saving you money, but is great for our wellbeing – it gets you learning new skills. Crafts of any kind are good at bolstering our mood, making us feel calm and relaxed, and help improve our self-confidence – seeing the end result of what we have achieved.

How to complete this challenge

Get crafting and make a homemade gift. We have included some crafting ideas that you could try below.

• Paint or draw a picture and frame it.
• Create a photo calendar.
• Bake and decorate some cookies to give to friends and family
  
  
• DIY hand knitted heart:

Finger knitting a heart video

DIY Paracord creations:

DIY Salt Dough Ornaments:

What you need to make salt dough:
2 cups flour
-1/2 cup salt
-3/4 cup water
-mixing bowl
-rolling pin
-cookie cutters
– Glitter, little pom poms, paint to decorate.
– A thumbnail photo to put in the frame
– Pipe-cleaners – to hang them

Step One: Mix together the salt dough. In a mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, and water. Mix with a spoon or your hands until a dense dough forms.
Step Two: Cut out the shapes and bake. Use cookie cutters or freehand your designs. For the frames, add a small square to the center of the shapes. And for any shapes that you want to be ornaments, use the top of a piping tip (or a knife) to cut a hole. Place the shapes on a non-stick baking tray lined with baking paper and bake at 200°F for 2-3 hours, until very dry. Allow to fully dry out on a cooling rack.
Step Three: Decorate or paint the frames, use card to make the backing of your frames and stick your chosen photos to the card, and glue the frame onto the card. Add the pipe cleaner or yarn for the hanging loop.