DIY: 5 downloads for creating handmade Christmas presents

Looking for unique Christmas gifts? Download these free resources and get hands-on with your own handmade gifts.

This article might be your one and only hope to gift special and memorable DIY presents that will make you look better than your family and friends during the upcoming holidays. Since, as we all know, the festivities are all about competing fiercely in a superiority contest with those you hold dearest.

Your competition is made up of 50 dollar bills inside old dusty envelopes from grandma and socks with knockoff Pixar’s Cars 2 crocked patterns for the rebellious adolescent in the family, that will obviously find them to be hideous… So you ought to come out victorious these holidays with these free downloads!

Free PDF Crochet Pattern: Create an Amigurumi Doll

Amigurumis are crocheted characters full of emotion and personality which have the power to convey the feelings of whoever knits them. Kind of like an inverse voodoo doll...! Perfect to revive the Christmas spirit! This free crochet pattern, made by amigurumi designer Elisa Ems-Domenig (@lulu_loves_the_moon), is designed to help you create a characterful doll of your own.

Free Tapestry Crochet Patterns: Geometric Designs

If you'd like to try out another crochet DIY gift and Haitian theology is not your forte (the voodoo doll mentioned earlier...), you can focus your skills in pattern making. Make original handmade pieces that show off your personality by drawing inspiration from the world around you and translating it into a one-of-a-kind crocheted design. This is exactly what Molla Mills (@molla_mills), a renowned crochet artist and author from Finland, does for her colorful collection of designs.

Free PDF Sewing Pattern: Make Your Own Bomber Jacket

The bomber jacket is a versatile clothing item, great for different seasons and easy to customize. With the help of seamstress and pattern designer Lydia Higginson (@lydia_mademywardrobe) who has created costumes for prestigious theaters like The Royal Opera House, you will make your family and friends part of your own little mischievous play clothing them all, these holidays. She’ll be your guide for how to sew a jacket. From there you are free to make the most obnoxious bomber jackets imaginable, for those you love the most to forcibly wear... But that is only my recommendation...!

Free DIY Macramé Guide: Make a Plant Hanger

Does any of your friends have too many plants... on the floor...? And furthermore do you have the urge to bud heads with them in the air? Or maybe you like it when plants float against their will...? Are you sick...?

Well, Macramé might just be the way to fulfill your wishes and induce a fear of heights to innocent plants minding their own business. This knotting technique for textiles originates from Babylonian times, and it has been used for keeping away flies, in sailing knots, friendship bracelets, tasseled clothing, woven belts and all kinds of decorations since then.

Igor and Judith, known as the Urban Jungle Bloggers (@urbanjungleblog), share an overview of interior styling with plants, and explain how to find your own signature style. Students learn about the foundations of "happy plants" and how to keep them healthy in the long run... I guess plants also need a bit of a excitement from time to time...

Free Embroidery Pattern: The Monarch Butterfly

Really, none of the options above work for you? You are making me work here! Here is one more DIY gift idea just for you...!

In the art of needle painting, a needle acts like a brush and the thread as the paint, helping you achieve hyper-realistic designs.

You can create realistic embroidered pieces using the long and short stitch technique, just like Emillie Ferris (@emillieferris), who makes contemporary embroidery patterns, kits, pins, and original hoop art using traditional methods.

Still indecisive? Well, go ahead and search for even more DIY gift ideas and join our craft courses while your at it, see if I care...! And if you are really feeling defiant today, you can even join our handmade christmas gifts courses.