DIY Easy, Inexpensive and personalized Homemade Gifts!

As most of you know, I am a college student who was recently unemployed and because of this money can be a little tight! I'm also at that age where everyone is getting engaged and married or having babies. Translation: LOTS OF GIFTS. I've always been a fan of personalized and homemade gifts, I think they are much more personal and I think people enjoy them and I, myself enjoy making them! Add this with the fact that I am tight on money so I needed to find ways to make gifts that were still meaningful but looked nice and that the recipient actually wanted! After scrolling through pinterest I made a couple of ideas of my own and this is what I came up with!

I wanted to make a housewarming gift for someone I knew and I took their personality and decor style in mind and decided to use burlap for their gift. They had just moved and I wanted to give them something they can hang in their new home so I made this:

I wanted it to be cute, simple with a personalized touch! And guess what?? It was all under $15! Now, some things I had on hand so it might cost a little more but also these things you can use for many other gifts as well. Here are the items that you will need!

You will need some Burlap - I got this for $3.99 a yard at Hobby Lobby - a picture frame - $7.99 at Ross - Spray Adhesive (which I had on hand) but this costs $8.99 at Hobby Lobby. You will also need one sheet of regular computer paper and your computer and a regular printer.


Step 1: I measured out the burlap to the size of one sheet of computer paper. You will be feeding this through your printer so you need to make sure that the size will fit. Also be careful while cutting the burlap because it does tend to unravel. I didn't have a huge problem with this though.

Step 2: Use the spray adhesive and spray your paper and then lay your burlap down and make sure they stick together really well. Make sure you don't have any strands hanging off the sounds because you don't want that to accidentally get caught and stuck while you print. Also, I recommend spraying the paper rather than the burlap since the burlap is full of holes.

Step: 3 I went onto my computer and just went to my trusty old Microsoft word! You can use any program you prefer or are familiar with like Photoshop, paint, etc. I created what I wanted it to say and made sure everything was aligned.

Step 4: Put the burlap into your printer feed and print away!

Step 5: Throw it into a frame and TA-DA! You're done!

IF you don't want to print on burlap you can always paint on it instead, it works just the same! Printing just makes it look more seamless and it's also quicker if you are stuck on time. Many people even thought it was embroidered on!

I personally love the way it looks and I think it is so easy to customized. I added this framed burlap to a basket with some hand towels and some candles and she loved it! [ Basket and Towels ALSO bought on Ross! ;) ]

I also made another one as a wedding gift! I think these are great housewarming, engagement or wedding gifts!

Let me know if you guys try it and how it turned out! And let me know how you're liking burlap at the moment?! I know it's making a huge run on pinterest right about now and I absolutely love the way it looks!


Until next time . . . .

As always, Adventure is out there!

- Laura