DIY birthday gift for a friend - 15 ideas with instructions

A handmade birthday gift for a friend will always be exclusive. Giving friends homemade items is becoming a fashionable trend among young people around the world. After all, in no store will you find things filled with a personal perception of beauty and originality.

We will give you some creative and creative ideas on how to make a DIY gift for your friend on her special day.

Choosing a gift for a friend's birthday

Gift for a friend for her 18th birthday - cool selection

Birthday gift ideas - a universal selection

Practical original bag

An interesting gift for your beloved friend’s birthday is a homemade shopping bag. This little thing will become an integral part of your friend’s daily life. After all, she is very beautiful and comfortable.

You will need:

Fabric for the main part of the bag – 2 pieces (38 by 25 cm);
Fabric of a contrasting color to the main part - 2 pieces (38 by 15 cm);
Fabric for handles – 2 pieces (10 by 40 cm);
Thin elastic band – 15 cm;
Button – 1 piece.

Let's start making the bag:

Fold the elastic in half and baste it to the main part of the bag (with the length of the side).
Attach a colored blank to the main part. Make sure that the sewn elastic is in the middle. Make the stitch, taking into account 6 mm as a seam allowance. Sew the edges with a zigzag stitch.
Repeat the same steps with the second half of the bag.
Press the resulting seam well and “secure” it with a stitch at the top.
Join the edges of the bag with a French seam.
Press the seams and turn them inside out.

Fold the fabric for the handles in half. Iron it and stitch it.
Fold the edges over to meet in the center. Sew them together.
Finish the top of the bag by folding the fabric 1.3 cm.
Fold the raw ends of the handles inward about 1.4 cm, pin them first, and then stitch to secure them.
Sew on the button, leaving 8 cm from the elastic band.

This unusual bag is very roomy. And when there is nothing to fill it with, roll it up and fasten it with a button.

Box-book

A great gift idea is a jewelry box in the shape of a real book. For production, you will need any copy that has an attractive retro-style cover, as well as slightly yellowed pages.

Carefully cut out the inner pages, and then carefully coat with glue

We decorate the cover with dried inflorescences, let it dry, and the product is ready! Any jewelry and accessories will look gorgeous inside.

Retro box

Beautiful notepad

A notepad is a useful gift for a friend’s birthday. It will always come in handy. However, such a useful thing can also be made original if you remake its cover.

You will need:

Cardboard;
Stationery glue;
Scrap paper;
Hole puncher;
Decorative decorations (satin ribbon, beads, etc.).

To make an exclusive model of a diary from the paper cover of a regular notebook, you need to complete several steps.

We use a regular notebook in which the sheets are fastened on rings. They need to be carefully unbent and the cover removed.

Using the removed cover as a pattern, cut out the same piece from cardboard. Glue them together. When the glue dries, use a hole punch to make holes in the places marked on the old cover. Carefully insert the cover back into the rings.

Let's start making the main cover, the “face” of the notebook. For it we need cardboard and scrap paper. Cardboard is the base of the cover. Scrap paper is placed on it so that it “covers” the cardboard base. It should appear that the outer layer covers the inner one.

Using a sewing machine, carefully sew 2 cover elements along the edges. Then you need to bend it in half, marking the place of the “spine”.

It's time to make the connection for the cover and notepad. To do this, cut out a pocket from scrap paper that matches the size of the notebook. Carefully glue it to the inside of the cover.

Cover decoration. At this stage, you can make whatever your heart desires from paper, ribbons and beads. But it’s better to start with ties, with the help of which the contents of the notebook can be kept secret. They are made from satin ribbon. Distribute the remaining decor you have on the front side of the cover so that an interesting pattern or print is formed.

One of the best master classes on creating a notebook with your own hands:

Portrait of a birthday girl

Without a doubt, everyone will appreciate such a gift. If your friend loves fine art with all her heart or you just want to show how important she is to you, then a beautiful portrait is more than a suitable option.

In almost every city you can find practicing artists who create drawings from both living subjects and photographs. It is best to clarify in advance what kind of drawing your friend would like: color or black and white, made with paints or pencil, etc. The drawing can include both the birthday girl herself and together with friends or family members. This point is also worth discussing in advance. If you yourself can boast of drawing skills, go for it. Your friend will definitely appreciate your efforts.

In addition to the fact that such a gift will greatly please the birthday girl, it will also be an excellent decoration in her home. Therefore, if you want to give your friend a gift that she will remember for a long time, feel free to use this recommendation.

Orange scented candle

An equally original handmade gift for a friend is a scented candle “sealed” in a fruit peel. We will tell you how to make a birthday candle in an orange peel.

You will need:

Large paraffin candle;
Well sharpened knife;
Skewers;
Kitchen board for cutting food;
Spices (cinnamon, rosemary, etc.);
Device for cooking in a water bath;
An old metal saucepan that will have to be thrown away after preparing the craft.

Let's look at the steps to make a homemade scented candle.

Carefully cut the paraffin off the candle so as not to damage the wick. Break or cut the resulting “material” into small pieces and place in a saucepan. Wait until the paraffin melts in a water bath.
We flavor the paraffin with spices, constantly stirring it with a skewer or wooden stick.
Cut the “lid” off the orange so that a wide neck is formed. Use a small spoon to remove the pulp from the orange. Remove layer by layer so as not to damage the future “bottle” of the candle.
Take the wick with skewers and carefully insert it into the middle of the fruit. Hold it with chopsticks and pour hot paraffin into the orange bowl.

Remember that paraffin settles as it cools. Therefore, do not remove the saucepan with its remains far: as the aromatic substance cools in the bowl, it will need to be added several times.

You can give such a fragrant handmade gift to your best friend for any occasion.

Cool, very simple video instructions for making an orange candle:

Comfortable slippers for home

Only a real woman knows what bliss it is to take off your high-heeled shoes and put on slippers after a long day of work. Give your girlfriend this soft treat made by your skillful hands for her birthday.

You will need:

Flannel fabric for the top;
Material for the lining layer;
Foam rubber;
Elastic band – 50-60 cm;
Insoles of the right size;
Non-slip fabric.

If your friend has size 39 feet, use the patterns presented below. Other sizes can be adjusted using our templates. Using the pattern, cut out the following parts:

6 insoles: 2 made of non-slip fabric, 2 made of foam rubber, 2 made of lining;
4 tops: 2 lining, 2 flannel.

Manufacturing process:

Fold one of the parts intended for the top of the sneaker in half and stitch.
Place 2 insoles together (non-slip fabric and foam).
Use a pin to pierce the top of the product to the bottom, approximately in the middle of the heel.
Align the edges.
Continue the connection around the entire perimeter of the slipper.
Sew the slippers in the places connected by pins.
Trim off excess material and turn the product inside out.
Repeat the same steps with the lining material, but leave a small hole in the heel.

Turn the base material slippers inside out and the lining facing forward. Connect the lining and the “main” sneaker using pins, starting from the heel. Sew along the pinned perimeter. Carefully cut off the remaining fabric. Turn the finished product inside out.

At the top of the “sides” of the slippers, sew a channel for the elastic. Using a pin, pull it along the entire perimeter. When the 2 edges of the elastic appear in the hole, tighten them as you feel comfortable. All that remains is to connect the edges of the elastic with a zigzag seam, and stitch the place where it was inserted.

Insert the insole into the hole that is left open on the heel. Then sew it up.
Decorate your soft gift with decorative elements that suit its style.

Original sweet jar

Sweets have always helped women cope with the most difficult life situations. So why not give your friend a sweet gift that will be a reliable way to eliminate any stressful situation.

You will need:

My friend's favorite candies;
Figured skewers;
Foam for floristry;
Sintepon;
Artificial grass;
Beautiful flower pot;
Super glue.

And now briefly about how to make an anti-stress gift for a friend with your own hands.

Connect the skewers and candies using superglue. Wait half an hour for the mount to become secure.
While the remaining glue dries on the skewers, fill the flower pot with padding polyester. It can be replaced with foam rubber. The main thing is that the material easily “accepts” and securely “secures” the skewers in itself.
Place artificial grass on top.
All that remains is to place the sweet anti-stress in the prepared “soil”.

An interesting addition to such gifts will be sincere wishes written on multi-colored cards. They can be used to “decorate” the pot itself.

DIY jewelry for a friend

Every girl loves to receive beautiful jewelry for a special occasion. When thinking about what original gift to give to your friend, feel free to choose this option. Use your design skills to create amazing jewelry.

Initially, you need to decide on the technique and material for work. You may want to make the decoration out of wood, plastic or beads. Then you need to choose a sketch for the future decoration.

It is better to make jewelry from high-quality material. All types of fasteners must have a long service life.

The sweetest cake

What else can you give your best friend for her birthday? Of course, cake. But since we are talking about an unusual gift, our cake will be made from sweets.

You will need:

A beautiful box of the shape you need;
Chocolates and small chocolates;
Lollipops;
Decorative accessories: ribbons, candles, beautiful wrapping paper.

This is how you prepare a gift from sweets for a birthday.

Carefully wrap the box with special paper. Secure it with double-sided tape or glue.
All that remains is to carefully use glue to attach the chocolate to the edges of the box along the entire perimeter and fill it with sweets to the brim.
When decorating, pay special attention to the lid. You can decorate it in different ways: using photographs of the birthday girl, unusually shaped chocolates, or a chic bow.

The design can be funny, cute, amusing or cool. It all depends on the preferences of your birthday girl.

Original album

If you have not yet decided what to give your friend for her birthday, then you will definitely like the idea of creating a memorable album for her. If you don’t have many photos of the birthday girl, you can use those posted on her Instagram. The PostalPix program will help you copy them from the resource.

You will need:

Photo of the birthday girl;
Decor (sparkles, rhinestones, stickers);
Colored cardboard;
Marker;
Glue;
Thick tape.

Work on such an album is carried out in 2 stages.

Colored cardboard serves as album pages. Therefore, their size should be slightly larger than the photo. Prepare as many sheets of cardboard as you have photographs and connect them with glue. Be careful not to let its particles stain the photo. Trace the outlines of the images with a marker. The remaining space can be used for congratulatory inscriptions.

Linking pages. Take a thick book and place the future album between its pages so that the future spine “sticks out” from it. Apply glue to the protruding pages and attach the spine to them. You can make it from thick tape or special tape (washi). A bright and unusual album is ready!

Cool poster

As you can see, there are many ideas for what kind of gift you can come up with from sweets. However, I would like to draw your attention to another sweet gift idea: a poster of sweet surprises. It is very simple to make, looks beautiful and will definitely give the birthday girl a lot of positive emotions.

You will need:

Whatman paper or any large sheet of paper;
Glue;
Colored pencils, markers or paints;
Photo of the birthday girl;
Candies, chocolate and other sweets.

Glue a photo of the birthday girl to the center of the future greeting poster. Then use glue to attach the sweets to whatman paper. Place each candy and chocolate in a beautiful frame. Fill all the empty spaces on a sheet of paper with congratulatory inscriptions and funny pictures. A funny poster with numerous “goodies” is ready.

Coffee gifts

This type of gift gives full play to the giver’s imagination.

It includes:

Set of different types of coffee.
Special service of coffee mugs.
Bitter chocolate.
A coffee tree.

Such surprises will be appreciated by a lover of sleep or a connoisseur of good coffee.

Bag with personalized image

What can you give to a birthday girl who loves to spend all her free time on the beach? Of course, an exclusive beach bag.

To create a masterpiece, you will need cotton fabric or a ready-made plain bag. In the first case, you will have to spend time sewing. But then you have the opportunity to make a beach accessory of an unusual shape. If you don’t have the time and energy to sew, create a masterpiece using a ready-made piece.

Printing is also done in 2 ways. Acrylic paints will allow you to create exclusive drawings. If you don't know how to draw, use ready-made stencils.

Handmade bedspread

Making an attractive bedspread is not easy. Therefore, you should start working when you have a strong desire and certain sewing skills.

Making a thing with your own efforts is a labor-intensive process. Regardless of the chosen technique for making the bedspread, it will take a lot of time. Moreover, there are many techniques in this creative skill.

Bedspreads made using the patchwork technique are in great demand. In this case, fabric or crocheted blocks are used. This gift will serve a close friend for many years.

A gift made by yourself gives love and warmth to its recipient. If you want to give a worthy present, use your imagination and your efforts.

Tourist frame for decoration

If the birthday girl close to you prefers traveling to the beach, create a gift for her that symbolizes her passion. Make a picture that will visualize her desire.

You will need:

Frame;
Thick paper that matches the size of the frame;
Atlas with geographical maps;
Paper heart cut out of thick paper;
Glue;
Scissors.

Using a thick paper heart as a template, cut out from the map the countries your friend dreams of visiting. Glue the resulting “geographical” hearts onto thick paper and insert the “picture” into the frame.

Cup of coffee beans

Another creative gift that you can give your friend with your own hands is a vase made from coffee beans. The value of this thing is that it can also be used as a cup. Such crafts, given as a birthday present, will be an excellent interior decoration.

You will need:

Ceramic cup;
Natural coffee beans;
Cotton pads;
White threads;
Brown acrylic paint;
Super glue;
Thin brush;
Scissors;
Decorative decorations.

Video instruction:

Brief description of the process:

Coat the cup with super glue and quickly attach cotton pads to it. Don’t forget to “treat” the handle of the cup with cotton wool and glue. To make sure that the cotton wool sticks well, carefully rewind it with white thread. Leave the workpiece for 2-3 hours so that the glue dries well.
Paint the treated mug with brown paint. Leave for 5-6 hours until completely dry.
Use super glue to attach the coffee beans to the cup. This should be done slowly, laying out layer by layer. To avoid gaps, it is recommended to glue coffee beans in 2 rows. Leave until the glue dries completely for 5-6 hours.
The most creative stage of making a gift for your best friend has arrived - decorating a future mug or vase. The flight of your imagination is limitless here. Use ribbons, beads, buttons or lace. Any of these elements will look very harmonious on this thing.

A small bouquet of flowers given by you will be a pleasant surprise and a nice surprise for your friend. After all, with its help you can immediately use the creative product for its intended purpose.

USB lipstick

A fun and very useful DIY birthday craft would be a USB drive inserted instead of a lipstick.

To make such an unusual thing, you will need a minimum of time and effort. Choose lipstick in a beautiful “case”. Carefully remove its contents and wash thoroughly. All that remains is to insert the flash drive inside and fasten it securely. The creative gift is ready!

DIY collar

A friend will be very happy if you give her a fashionable gift. Overhead collars are trending these days. They are not difficult to make. It is allowed to use a pattern.

However, if this option is difficult, you can use a cut collar from an existing old shirt as a basis. Rhinestones, multi-colored stones and decorative metal elements are used for decoration.

If you are going to give a gift in winter, you can knit the collar and also decorate it with beautiful shiny rhinestones.

Functional and beautiful apron

If you love spending time with your sewing machine, this next gift idea is for you. Before you start sewing a beautiful kitchen apron, prepare all the necessary materials.

You will need:

Cotton material for an apron – 1.25 m;
Colored fabric of a suitable shade for pockets - 0.5 m;
Thick tape for ties – 3 m;
Threads of a suitable color;
Chalk;
Scissors;
Sewing machine.

Stage 1. Cutting

The main thing in tailoring is a correctly executed pattern. To make it, you need to fold the fabric of the main color in half lengthwise.

Measure 17 cm from the edge of the folded fabric and draw a 2 cm vertical line at the top with chalk. Mark the resulting point with the letter “A”.
Measure 43 cm along the fabric fold and mark point “B” there.
Perpendicular to this point, 33 cm from it, there is an o.
From point “B”, step down 50 cm. This will create point “D”.
The last point "E". It is located 50 cm vertically from the letter “C”.

All that remains is to connect all the marked points with one line. Fold the future apron and, following the drawn marks, cut it out.

It's easier to cut pockets. To do this, draw a 40 by 25 cm rectangle on the prepared canvas and carefully cut it out.

Stage 2. Sew

Before you start sewing, you need to bend all the edges of the workpiece 2 cm to the wrong side of the fabric. Then we stitch the resulting “folds”. Don’t forget to form “channels” into which you will then insert the ribbon for the ties.
We sew the pocket according to a similar pattern, bending the edges 1.5 cm. Sew the processed part to the apron.
All that remains is to use a knitting needle to stretch the future ties - ribbons - into the holes. A chic apron for a real housewife and beloved friend is ready!

Bouquet of sweets

An original candy bouquet will be a creative handmade gift for a friend on her birthday. We will tell you how to make it, spending a minimum of time.

You will need:

A large beautiful glass or medium-sized flower pot;
Decorative products (wrapping paper, ribbons, rhinestones, beads);
Polystyrene foam or synthetic winterizer (you can replace them with floral foam);
Artificial grass;
Skewers;
PVA glue;
Postcards or gift cards (you can use a photo of the birthday girl);
Candies.

It’s very easy to prepare such a bouquet for your best friend with your own hands.

To do this, fill the selected container with polystyrene foam or floral foam. Cover the base layer with artificial grass.
Now let’s prepare the “flowers” themselves. Using glue, attach the selected greeting material and sweets to the skewers.
All that remains is to place the delicious and beautiful “flowers” in the pot. Don't forget that it also needs decoration.

Making a homemade gift for your friend's birthday is not at all difficult.
To do this, it is enough to allocate a little time, a little patience and a lot of imagination. And then your exclusive item will definitely stand out among all the gifts, leaving your friend with pleasant memories of the holiday for many years. To friends 2018-04-25 admin

Handmade soft toy

Since childhood, girls have been waiting to be given a teddy bear or a funny animal. In adulthood, a feeling of warmth from such things remains in a woman’s soul.

A soft toy is something you can give to your best friend. Store-bought plush animals are often soulless, but homemade work will give them originality and soulfulness.

It is not at all necessary to make an exclusive masterpiece. Funny monsters or forest animals will definitely fill the room of a loved one with joy.

To work you will need:

pieces of multi-colored fabric;
thread and needle;
any filler;
buttons;
paper sheet for pattern drawing.

To begin with, it is worth starting the production of the blank. Place the pattern you have made on the fabric material and, leaving seam allowances, cut out the toy template along the contour.

For crafts, it is better to use new purchased fabric. Today it is popular to use original types of fabrics for patchwork. For this type of creativity, you can buy small pieces of material.

To make the toy durable, you need to use a sewing machine for sewing. Ordinary cotton wool can serve as a filler. It is possible to sew scraps of fabric to a toy using a simple needle and thread.