Last Minute DIY Holiday Gifts You Can Make Using Items from Your Storage Unit
You may not have realized this yet, but your holiday shopping list and the contents of your storage unit are a match made in heaven. Think about it. You’re stressing out over all of the Christmas gifts you need to buy this holiday season. You’re not sure how you’re going to find the time or the money to purchase all of those presents in time for December 25th. Meanwhile, your storage unit is packed with buried treasures. While we’re certainly not suggesting that you run to your storage unit right now, grab whatever box you see first and put it under the Christmas tree, we are suggesting that you consider the contents of your storage unit from a DIY standpoint. Believe it or not, there are holiday gifts tucked away amongst all of those boxes. Here’s how to create amazing DIY Christmas presents for every single person on your list by repurposing stuff from your storage unit.
Mason Jars
If you’ve got old mason jars—or any kind of jars, really—you’ve got the makings of a vintage-inspired, very on trend gift. Use old mason jars, old bottles or whatever see-through, glass item you’ve got to DIY a custom gift for all of those hard-to-shop-for folks. You can fill a mason jar with candy for that person in your life with a sweet tooth, or fill it with an awesome DIY bath scrub. Ingredients like hot cocoa or everything necessary for a great batch of cookies are always a wonderful holiday idea as well, plus they look adorable in a mason jar. Try to consider the gift’s recipient when filling your mason jars. For example, your friend who likes to hike might love a mason jar filled with trail mix. You mom might love a jar filled with homemade potpourri. Remember, mason jars aren’t just for jam anymore. The possibilities are endless.
Old Maps
Before the age of smartphones with GPS, people used these things called maps. Remember? If you’ve got some old maps lying around your storage unit, whether they’re road atlases or trail maps, you’ve got the perfect Christmas gift. Old maps can be framed, collaged or made to look vintage by being soaked in tea. You can even stitch a favorite road trip route, hiking trail or embellish the spots on the map that you’ve traveled to with this gift’s recipient. This idea works well with all of those books in your storage unit too.
Furniture
What’s taking up the most room in your storage unit? It’s not your off-season wardrobe. It’s furniture. This idea is admittedly ambitious, but if you have faith in your DIY ability, it’s well worth the effort. An old piece of furniture can be repainted and reupholstered, making for a great gift for those newlyweds on your Christmas list or that friend who just got a new place. You can use a stencil or this beautiful and easy lace technique to give a bookshelf or a dresser a whole new look. If gifting a big piece of furniture seems a bit much, consider something smaller, like an old window or door which can be painted and adorned with a wreath or bow for a unique decorative accent.
T-Shirts
For some reason, we all hang on to old clothing we know we’ll never wear again. Rather than toss it out, we relegate it to closets and storage units. If you’ve got a bunch of old t-shirts in your storage unit, it’s time to give them life again in the form of a Christmas gift. There are about a million DIY gifts made from t-shirts, but here are some of our favorites. You can turn them into a quilt, make an awesome scarf (no sewing required!), or frame a t-shirt that reminds you of a favorite concert or vacation. And since vintage clothing is always in style, some of those old-school t-shirts might make great gifts as is.
Photos
Most of the friends and family members on your holiday shopping list may have transitioned from real photo albums to Facebook albums, but that doesn’t mean they can’t appreciate a DIY gift made from a picture. Old photos are perhaps one of the most versatile materials for making the perfect Christmas present, and we’re willing to bet you’ve got about 100 of them in your storage unit. You can use photos to make a collage in the shape of a heart, a state or anything else that you like. You can use photos to make ornaments, or purchase some mod podge and collage them onto something unusual like a vase or a wooden letter. You can insert pictures into cheap photo coasters which guarantees that whoever you give them to will have great party fodder. Or you can just keep things simple and make a photo album. This classic idea is so rarely done these days it practically feels like an innovation.
Happy gifting!
