By Dawn Combs
I am all finished with my holiday shopping, but apparently used up all my creativity thinking of gifts for other people. Now my family is asking what I want and I can’t think of a thing. While I was putting together some ideas I thought it might be helpful to share some DIY gift ideas that might be appropriate for someone like myself. Unfortunately, this list includes items that I myself have already tested and loved, so while it may help some of our readers… I still have more work to do!
If you have someone on your list that is desiring to live a more natural life, here are some ideas for you:
DIY Gift Ideas for the DIY-er
Books
Books are always a great idea. So many of us weren’t raised with the knowledge of how to grow and prepare our food, or how to make homemade crafts. Here are a few of my favorites, and full disclosure, I did write #1.
Home Healthcare Guide
- 20 Essential Herbs for Do-It-Yourself Home Healthcare (get it here)
Home Fermentation Books
- The Big Book of Kombucha (find it here)
- Fermented Vegetables: Creative Recipes for Fermenting 64 Vegetables & Herbs (get it here)
Natural Skincare Guide
- 101 Easy Homemade Products for Your Skin, Health and Home (get it here)
Traditional Food Cookbook
- Back to Butter: A Traditional Foods Cookbook (find it here)
Magazine Subscriptions
Sometimes you want something a bit more in depth than you can get online but you don’t have time for a full book. These magazines make great gifts for those who are interested in a DIY lifestyle.
- Mother Earth Living
- Hobby Farm
- Heirloom Gardener
- The Essential Herbal
- Herb Quarterly
Natural Cleaning
Essential Oils – These are all the rage and many already have them in their homes. They make a great DIY gift idea, especially in combination with a book or supplies for creating natural home cleaning supplies. Find reasonably priced, pure essential oils here.
DIY Natural Household Cleaners – A guide to making all your own natural cleaning supplies, written by Matt & Betsy. Available here in print, pdf, and on all e-reader platforms.
Soap Nuts – This curious little fruit can be used to clean your entire house! Find organic soap nuts here.
Cooking
Traditional cooking is where it’s at when it comes to natural health. Here are a few ideas for the person who wants to focus this year on their food.
Cast Iron – Every traditional kitchen should have one! Find a versatile one here.
Good Water – If you’ve been talking about getting a good water filter for some time, the holidays are a great time to splurge. Anything you do in the kitchen, from cooking to making ferments, do much better with a healthy water supply. (Note from Matt & Betsy: We use and recommend these water filtration systems!)
Dehydrator – Any serious DIY-er will love to experiment with preserving food using a good quality dehydrator.
Grain Grinder – You have truly arrived as a traditional foodie when you’re grinding your own grains using a grain mill.
Fermentation Tools
If you want to learn how to ferment your own fruits and vegetables this year, here are a few things that I think you can’t do without:
Fermentation Crock – A good crock (like this one) will create the perfect environment for fermentation to occur.
Glass Weights – These cool glass weights are essential for keeping foods below the brine during the fermentation process.
Mini-Stomper – Yes, you can buy a big one that is traditionally used for sauerkraut, but they are large and made to make huge batches in an open crock. This little wonder is made by a friend of mine and allows me to make my kraut in small batches in a quart jar.
Gardening
You can’t do-it-yourself without a bit of gardening, even if you’re just doing it in pots.
Membership to Seed Savers – Seed Savers is an organization that works to maintain our food heritage by preserving heirloom seeds. A membership to the group entitles you to discounted pricing, but also access to seeds held by members all across the US that you won’t find in a catalog anywhere. Get membership information here.
Gardening Tools – A good gardening tool is worth its weight in gold. I especially like my stirrup hoe!
I hope that gets some of your creative juices flowing. Sometimes you get stumped coming up with a thoughtful gift for the ones you love. This year, perhaps you might get an idea here that supports their need to learn and grow instead of one more sweater to stack in the drawer.
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