Dollar Tree DIY Christmas Gifts People Will Actually Keep (15 Minutes Each)

Hey, y’all!

Every gift in this post is about 15 minutes of hands-on time and most of them cost less than a fancy coffee.

You know the drawer. Everybody has one. It is where the gifts go that were handmade with love and have no earthly use: the painted rock, the candle shaped like a snowman that nobody will ever light. I have given plenty of those and received plenty, too.

So here is the test I use now before I make anything for a grown person: will she use it up, or use it every day? If the answer is no, I do not make it, no matter how cute the pin was.

That test is what makes dollar-store gifts work. A jar of cocoa mix gets drunk. A sugar scrub gets used. A mug with good coffee in it gets washed and refilled. The dollar store is full of the raw materials: plain jars, plain mugs, kraft paper, ribbon, tea towels, candle tins. You bring the fifteen minutes.

If you want the broader version of this idea, with gifts from any store and gifts the kids can help with, start with our easy homemade Christmas presents guide. This post is narrower on purpose: dollar-store supplies only, sorted by who is getting it.

What to buy (and what it costs)

One trip, one basket. Stock changes by store and by week, so swap freely.

• Glass jars with lids, pint size, plus a few small spice-size jars
• Plain white or stoneware mugs
• Candle tins or small jar candles (the plain unscented ones for dressing up, or the scented ones to bundle)
• Tea towels, wooden spoons, small wire baskets
• Kraft gift tags, kraft paper, jute twine, a spool of satin or grosgrain ribbon
• Cellophane bags for anything loose
• From the food aisle: cocoa powder, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, white sugar, instant coffee, tea bags, hard candies, a bag of nuts
• From the pharmacy aisle: coconut oil, Epsom salt, plain lotion, lip balm
• From the craft aisle: faux pine and berry picks, mini pinecones, a fine-tip paint pen (oil-based, for mugs), a black permanent marker

Total: about $25 to $35 for six to eight gifts at the time of writing, less if you already own ribbon, twine, sugar and a marker. The per-gift costs below assume you make at least three of each; that is how the marshmallows and the ribbon pay for themselves.

Dollar Tree DIY Christmas gifts for teachers

Teachers want consumable, useful, or a note. These three are all three.

1. The “survive December” cocoa jar

About $4 per jar.

1. Wash and dry a pint jar. Layer cocoa powder, then white sugar, then chocolate chips, then mini marshmallows, tapping the jar between layers so they sit flat.
2. Write the mix instructions on a kraft tag: “3 heaping spoonfuls in a mug, add hot milk, stir.”
3. Tie the tag at the neck with twine and tuck in a pine sprig.

Have your child write the tag. That is the part she keeps.

2. The grading-night tea bundle

About $5.

1. Line a small wire basket or a cellophane bag with a folded tea towel.
2. Add a box of tea, a sleeve of hard candies or a small jar of honey, and a mug.
3. Tie with ribbon and add a tag: “for the stack of papers.”

3. The fine-tip pen jar

About $4.

1. Fill a mug with the nicer pens from the office aisle (felt tips, a highlighter, a few colored gel pens) and a small pad of sticky notes.
2. Tie a ribbon around it. Every teacher is short on good pens by December.

Dollar-store gifts for neighbors

Quick to make six at a time, sturdy enough for the walk up the sidewalk.

4. Peppermint sugar scrub

About $3 per jar.

1. In a bowl, stir together one cup of white sugar and about a third of a cup of melted coconut oil until it looks like wet sand. Add a few drops of peppermint extract if you have it (from the baking aisle).
2. Spoon into a small jar, press down, and wipe the rim.
3. Tag it: “scrub, rinse, done. Use within a month.” Add a ribbon.

5. The candy-cane cocoa mug

About $3.

1. Drop two cocoa packets and a handful of mini marshmallows into a cellophane bag; tie it and set it in a plain mug.
2. Hook a candy cane over the rim.
3. Wrap the whole mug in cellophane or a square of kraft paper, twist at the top, and tie.

6. Dressed-up candle tin

About $3.

1. Wrap a strip of kraft paper around a plain candle tin or jar candle and secure it with twine.
2. Tuck a sprig of faux pine and a tiny pinecone under the twine.
3. Write “light this on the first quiet night” on the tag. Boutique-candle look, dollar-store cost.

7. The front-porch cookie tin

About $4 plus the baking.

1. Line a dollar-store tin or a kraft box with parchment.
2. Fill with cookies that store well (our homemade Christmas presents for families post has the ones that travel).
3. Ribbon, tag, and a note with the cookie name so nobody has to guess about nuts.

Dollar-store hostess gifts

Bring something that does not need a vase, a plate or a decision tonight.

8. The morning-after coffee bundle

About $6.

1. Set a bag of ground coffee or a jar of instant in a small basket with two mugs.
2. Add a sleeve of biscotti or shortbread from the snack aisle.
3. Tag it “for tomorrow morning.” She will think of you when the house is finally quiet.

9. The kitchen bundle

About $5.

1. Fold a tea towel into a rectangle and lay a wooden spoon and a small jar of something across it (honey, jam, a spice blend from the food aisle).
2. Roll the towel around them and tie with ribbon.
3. Tuck a pine sprig into the bow.

10. The tree-ornament jar

About $4.

1. Fill a pint jar with a handful of dollar-store ornaments in one color (all gold, or all white).
2. Lay a pine pick across the top and screw the lid on over it, or tie the pick to the neck.
3. Wrap the lid in a square of kraft paper and twine.

She sets it on the counter as-is. If you want to make the ornaments yourself, our Dollar Tree Christmas decor projects hub has a whole mantel’s worth.

Want to know what your whole gift list adds up to before you make a single jar?

The free Holiday Budget Calculator is one screen: gifts, stockings, groceries, the extras. Type in the people, get the total and the amount to set aside each week. No sign-in, no app to download. Add up my list →

Dollar-store gifts for coworkers

Small, the same for everyone, made in one batch on a Sunday afternoon.

11. The hand-lettered mug

About $3.

1. Wipe a plain mug with rubbing alcohol. Write one short word on it with an oil-based paint pen: her initial, “Monday,” “coffee first.”
2. Let it dry for an hour, then bake at 350°F for 30 minutes and let it cool in the oven. Hand wash only, and say so on the tag.
3. Fill with a few tea bags or cocoa packets.

12. The desk-drawer snack jar

About $3.

1. Fill a pint jar with one good thing from the snack aisle: chocolate-covered pretzels, nuts, wrapped caramels.
2. Tie a ribbon and a tag: “for the 3 o’clock slump.”

13. The gift-tag set

About $3.

1. Take a pack of plain kraft tags and draw a simple shape on each with a black marker: a sprig, a star, a small wreath. Stamp them if you have a stamp.
2. Punch a hole, thread a short length of twine through each.
3. Stack twelve, tie with ribbon, add a tag that says “for the ones you have not wrapped yet.”

Dollar-store gifts for grandparents

Grandparents do not want more things. They want the kids. Make the gift about the kids and it stays on the shelf for decades.

14. The handprint kitchen towel

About $3.

1. Pour a little fabric paint (craft aisle) onto a paper plate. Press your child’s hand into it and then onto a plain tea towel.
2. Write the name and the year under the print with a fabric marker.
3. Let it dry overnight, fold, tie with ribbon.

15. The “reasons we love you” jar

About $2.

1. Cut kraft paper into strips. Have each child write or dictate one thing they love about Grandma or Grandpa on each strip; aim for twenty-four, one for every day of December.
2. Fold the strips and fill a pint jar.
3. Tie a tag: “open one a day.” I promise you it will not get passed along.

Small things that go in the toe of a stocking are a different list, sorted by age and with the extra gifts included, over in our fun stocking stuffer ideas by age.

How to make them all in one afternoon

You do not need a craft room. You need the kitchen table and about an hour and a half, in 15-minute blocks.

1. Shop once. Ribbon, twine and tags cover every gift here.
2. Wash the jars first. Hot soapy water, labels soaked off, dried upside down.
3. Batch by type. All the cocoa jars, then all the scrubs, then all the bundles. Fifteen minutes per batch.
4. Tag at the end, in one sitting, while the kids draw on the kraft tags.
5. Line them up on the counter and count them against your list. Done.

When it goes sideways

The scrub separates, the paint pen smears, the cocoa layers slide into each other on the drive over. A separated scrub needs a stir. A smeared mug wipes clean with rubbing alcohol before it is baked. A cocoa jar that mixed itself is still cocoa.

And if December eats the afternoon you set aside for this, make the cocoa jars and nothing else. The people on your list will not know what the other fourteen gifts were going to be.

Frequently asked questions

What can you make from Dollar Tree for Christmas gifts?

Layered cocoa-mix jars, sugar scrubs, dressed-up candle tins, hand-lettered mugs with coffee or tea, tea-towel bundles with a wooden spoon and a jar of honey, ornament-filled jars, handprint towels and kraft gift-tag sets. Each takes about 15 minutes and $2 to $8 in supplies.

How much do DIY Christmas gifts from the dollar store cost?

Plan on $3 to $8 per gift when you make three or more of each, because ribbon, twine, sugar and marshmallows are bought in quantities that cover several gifts. A basket of supplies for six to eight gifts ran about $25 to $35 at the time of writing.

How far ahead can you make homemade Christmas gifts?

Cocoa jars, candle tins, mugs, gift tags and ornament jars keep for months. Sugar scrub is best made within a month of giving. Cookies should be baked the week of, or frozen.

Do dollar-store jars work for gifts?

Yes. Choose jars with tight lids for cocoa and scrubs, wash them in hot soapy water, and soak off the labels before you start so the tags and twine sit clean.

Ready to put a number on the whole season, gifts included?

Open the free Holiday Budget Calculator, list the people, and let it tell you what to set aside this week so the jars and the ribbon come out of a plan instead of a credit card. Fifteen minutes, one screen. Set my gift budget →

Back to the drawer

I still have one of those drawers. But the gifts I make now go on a counter and get used: a cocoa jar that is empty by New Year’s, a tea towel with a handprint on it hanging on an oven door across town.

Use it up or use it every day. That is the whole rule, y’all. Fifteen minutes, a few dollar-store jars, and a gift somebody keeps.

You don’t have to be perfect — tend the home fire, in the minutes you have.

Keep tending the fire, y’all.

Robin

This post is not sponsored by or affiliated with Dollar Tree or any other store; store names are used only to describe where supplies can be found. Prices and stock vary by store and change over time, so every total here is an estimate at the time of writing. The images are illustrations, not photographs of finished gifts.

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Want the gift list, the budget and the craft afternoon on one calendar? The Homefire Holiday Season Planner ($24.97) keeps every person on your list, what you are making for them and what it costs in one place, from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, printable and as an app.