While the garden is slowly winding down from the growing season, there’s still an opportunity to gather in items you can use to make holiday gifts. Now is the perfect time to assess what you have and come up with some creative gift ideas for your family and friends.

I know. Who wants to be thinking about the holidays now? We’re just moving into fall, and we still have pumpkins, leaves, and the cozy autumn season to enjoy. But… the holidays will be here before you know it. How nice it would be to have a closetful of gifts already prepared!

Why Homemade Gifts Are a Great Idea…

Here are five reasons giving a homemade garden gift is such a wonderful idea:

#1- Thoughtful

Giving a homemade gift shows your thoughtfulness and care to your friends and family.

#2- Lower Cost

Making a gift can often cost less than purchasing one. With the rising cost of everything these days, you can save money by making your gifts. And it’s easy to make multiples of the same items once you get started.

#3- Resourceful

Making gifts allows you to use what you have growing in your garden and yard. And you can forage things found in nature as well.

#4- Less Stress

By starting early, you’ll have less stress trying to come up with gift ideas. The closer we get to the holidays, our stress and anxiety always seem to increase. But if you’ve already finished your gifts, you can sit back and enjoy the season instead of worrying.

#5- Creative

Making gifts helps you to get creative and have some fun. I would much rather spend my free time crafting, preserving, and baking than shopping in stores or online.

Gift Ideas From Your Garden…

Below you’ll find a list of some of the potential gifts you can make from your garden. Once you get started, you might come up with even more ideas.

Food Gifts

1. Jams and Preserves… Use what produce you’re growing to make a special jam. Berries, apricots, peaches, and plums make delicious jam. You can even make tomato jam if you don’t have other fruit.
2. Fruit Butters… Use apples, pumpkins, and pears to make fruit butters.
3. Canned Produce… If you have a bumper crop of produce, make some special canned foods such as pickles, salsa, berry syrup, or fruit curd.
4. Herbal Gifts… There are so many things to make with your herbs. You can make dried herb seasonings (separate or blends). Make your own special herbal tea mix, soaps and lotions, simmering pot-pourri, and herb butter. Use herbs to make an herb wreath. Or plant a mini herb garden in a pot to give to a friend.
5. Baked Goods… Bake a loaf of bread or other baked good from ingredients found in your garden, such as Raspberry Zucchini Bread, Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, Herb Focaccia, or Rhubarb Strawberry Scones.

Nature Gifts

1. Pinecones… Use pinecones to make a garland or wreath. Fill a vintage bowl with pinecones and evergreens.
2. Firestarters… Use pinecones, fragrant herbs, and dried rosehips to make festive firestarters.
3. Dried Flowers… There are so many things you can make using dried flowers from your garden. Arrange them in a beautiful vase. Craft a lovely dried-floral wreath. Attach them to a picture frame.
4. Twig Tray… Use twigs and twine to make a small tray. Or wrap a candle with small twigs.
5. Decoupage Tray… Use dried leaves and pressed flowers to decoupage a tray.
6. Framed Leaves… Gather leaves or ferns to press. Then frame them singly or together.
7. Pressed Flowers… Use pressed flowers to decorate notecards, bookmarks, or a journal. Frame several pressed flowers for a sweet picture.
8. Branches… Use an interesting branch to make a wooden cane for an older relative.

Plant Gifts

1. Saved Seeds… Start saving seeds from your garden to share with your family and friends. Fill a basket or flowerpot with seed packets and a few other garden supplies, such as gloves and a spade.
2. Bulbs and Tubers… Create a gift basket with bulbs and tubers from your garden. For example, give some of your favorite dahlia tubers, gladiolus bulbs, or canna lily rhizomes for your friends to plant in the spring. Be sure to include directions on how to store them over the winter.
3. Garden Plant… Dig up a small plant, such as a succulent or begonia, and pot it up into a pretty container.
4. Forced bulbs… Pot up some daffodils, tulips or other spring bulbs and force them into bloom for the holidays. Amaryllis also makes a lovely gift if you regrow them each year.
5. Your Time… Give the gift of time to help a family member plant flowers in the spring.

Tips for Giving Your Gift…

Presentation is one of the most important aspects of giving your gift. You can wrap the item to give, but when you add in special touches, it enhances the gift even more. These ideas don’t have to be expensive, but they help your gift to be extra special.

• Give your food gift in a basket, bag, or box. Line it with a napkin or fabric. Include a knife and / or spoon for serving.
• Include little extras, such as paper plates and napkins, with your food gift.
• For your plant gifts, include a flower pot and garden supplies, such as a spade for planting.
• Deliver your dried bouquet in a special pitcher or vase.
• Make multiples of the same gift if possible. This will make gift-giving even easier.

Creating holiday gifts from your garden doesn’t have to be hard. Think about what you have available and then make a list of all the gift ideas you can come up with. From that list, choose an item or two that would be easy to make. And if you can make it in multiples, it will be even easier to come up with a great gift idea for several people.

Now is the perfect time to get started making your gifts for the holidays. Enjoy the falling leaves, pumpkins and cozy autumn days while you’re crafting your gifts.