With another celebration or holiday on the horizon, your parents say that they don’t need anything. Of course they’re grateful for your gifts, but they have everything they want, so they urge you: don’t worry about it! When someone insists that they don’t “need” a gift, it’s often time to look towards personalized options that celebrate who they are and what they mean to you.
It takes a bit more creativity to find personalized gifts for parents but the results go much further than checking an item off a shopping list. The trick is creating something they never would have made or purchased for themselves. Whether you’re shopping for their birthday or can’t think about what to get them besides a Christmas card, here are DIY gift ideas for parents that have everything.
1. Home Office Makeover
Do your parents have a special place in their home to work? Fill it with unique, photo-filled items like easel canvases, desk caddies, mugs and glass photo prints. Coordinate with your siblings to each purchase a different photo item to complete the desk redesign.
2. Easel Photo Display
As an alternative to the traditional photo frames, explore unique options like easel display. These are also great for switching out new holiday cards, invitations or desk calendars.
3. DIY Kate Spade Bag
Reflect the iconic Kate Spade look by adding a witty message to a colorblocked lunch bag. Use iron-on letters and write the message that best fits your parent’s humor. Use glitter paper for extra shimmer.
4. Colorblocked Corkboard
Add these multi-colored hexagons to the wall behind your parent’s home desk or kitchen table to create a rotating photo board in the center of their home. Be sure to print out all your favorite images from over the years and supply playful pushpins to finish off the project.
5. Family Rules Display
Some family facts are universal. Display a canvas with all your loving traditions and household rules right on your mantelpiece. Even for parents that have everything, this gift is one-of-a-kind.
6. Sliced Wood Rustic Coasters
When mom or dad kick back with a cup of coffee and a book, treat them to a natural wood slice beneath their mug. After slicing the 3.5” pieces, sand and seal before wrapping up in a gift set with other gifts for readers like a homemade bookmark, a throw blanket and of course a new novel.
7. Personalized Phone Accesories
Your parents might already have a phone cover, but do they have one with your children’s pictures on them? Personalize all their photo and family accessories, from phone chargers to keychains.
8. Family Photo Beer Stein
Every time mom and dad relax with a cold beer, they’ll see your loving faces. Design your own photo beer stein with sweet family quotes, names and of course playful images of your family.
9. Mom Day In A Jar
Even if mom says she doesn’t need a gift, a day of pampering is always welcome. Fill a large glass cookie jar with chocolates, tea bags, lotions and lip glosses for an afternoon of kicking back and self-care. Set a date to share the afternoon together as a special addition.
10. A Pile Of Pillows
Bedroom or living room throw pillows are the perfect way to display your family photos or a message from the kids to mom and dad. Choose from a vast choice of designs, fonts and photo opportunities to build your personalized gift set.
11. Safari Ring Dishes
Add a playful accent to your parent’s bathroom with these animal ring dishes, ideal for holding wedding rings and jewelry throughout the day. Spray paint plastic animal toys with gold and secure onto a ceramic dish.
12. Rustic Photo Decor
Incorporate rustic touches throughout your parent’s home with wood-grain signs that read “Follow Your Heart” and other loving messages. Or, frame your photos in shiplap and other natural textures. Pair the two pieces together to style a bookshelf in their home.
13. Journal Just for You
Gift a personalized journal decked out with family photos, a handpicked design or a loving message. Mom or dad can keep all their notes, thoughts and messages in one spot while always being reminded of your thoughtful gift.
14. Mug Of The Year
Start a tradition of gifting a photo mug to mom and dad with every new year of memories. Go on a huge trip or take some excellent photos of the kids this year? Save them for the mug!
15. Family Photo Lanterns
Connect four identical photo frames into a cube and print your favorite childhood images onto vellum photo paper. This will give the translucent appearance perfect for placing a light inside the cube and transforming it into a glowing photo lantern.
16. Story Of Our Family Book
Mom and dad will never tire of flipping through a hand-designed book of family photos, from your youngest childhood days to the biggest milestones of your life. Even for parents that have everything, photo books are one of a kind.
17. Pinecone Fire Starters
Fill your childhood homes with the cozy scents of fall by turning pinecones into scented fire starters. Coat a handful of pinecones in wax mixed with cinnamon essential oil and stack in a gift basket to keep by the fireplace.
18. Cozy Custom Throw Blankets
Transform a living room into a warm and welcoming place to take a snooze with hand-designed throw blankets. Choose from a series of designs, patterns and even photos to deck out your soft blanket.
19. Dessert In The Desert Oven Mitts
Even when you can’t find a gift for people who have everything, rest assured they do not have cactus oven mitts. Line green wool felt with insulated batting and add shapes to the front of two mitts — one with triangular thorns and the other with a festive flower.
20. Thoughtful Tumblers
Cover a water or coffee tumbler with a wide selection of photo designs, weaving loving messages and names into the layout as well. Choose the color scheme and look that fits their personality, choosing from one large photo to a collage of images surrounded by blocks of color.
21. Scrabble Wine Coasters
How many four-letter, drink-related words can you think of? Mix and match themed words and phrases with Scrabble letters to create these playful coaster sets. Back with sheets of cork to keep them sturdy and cohesive.
22. DIY Scalloped Clutch
Finding a small clutch to just bring along the essentials can be hard. Make this leather, fabric-lined clutch for mom, perfect for heading out together for lunch. Add a large stylish button to the front and scallop the edges of the top flap.
23. Sentimental Paperweights
Paperweights add a pop of color to any desk or kitchen counter. Unique ways to display your photos always make great gift ideas for parents, allowing you to spread photos throughout the house in new ways.
24. Minimalist Hanging Planter
Even if your parent’s home is packed with plants, these brass-ring hanging planters add new height to indoor garden design. Attach a plank of wood to two gold rings and wrap cotton rope around the top for a sturdy wall attachment. Perch a small potted or air plant on the hanger before gifting.
25. Monogrammed Mason Jars
Enjoy a warm apple cider or cool iced tea in these mason jar mugs with handles. Monograms and family names can be etched on the front to personalize. Pair with other customized glassware like wine and cocktail glasses.
26. Home Pampering Kit
Spend an afternoon with mom enjoying a spa-in-a-box DIY gift. Everything inside is easy to make by hand and with all-natural ingredients, including a cucumber-oatmeal face mask, rose-vanilla bath salts and a rose body scrub. Package it all up with tissue paper, a decorative gift box and instructions for each.
27. Chic Bathroom Containers
Add a little vintage style to your parent’s bathroom by transforming old jars into cotton ball, Q-tip and tissue holders. Simply add an old cabinet knob to a painted lid. If you wish, add fun labels to indicate what is stored inside.
28. Fresh Instant Soup Mixes
Your parents have made thousands of dinners for you over the years. Mix together dried veggies, beans and spices to give a collection of hearty soups whenever they like. Package each combination in a mason jar and include a recipe card.
29. Paint-Splattered Umbrella
Even a sudden spring shower becomes fun when you give a handpainted umbrella as a gift to the parents that have everything. Open your umbrella on a dropcloth outside and flick your paint brushes across the surface, mixing three to four colors total.
30. Homemade Sangria Kit
Looking for a unique family thank you gift that starts a party? Bring over your own DIY sangria kit inside a spouted drink jar. Add a new wooden spoon, recipe card and a checkered ribbon for a rustic look. Offer to make the sangria as an extra step of the gift!
31. Wood Slice Cake Stand
Sand and seal just two pieces of natural wood from outside — one wide enough to hold a cake and another to act as a thinner base. Highlight any natural imperfections in the wood for a natural look. This is a timely gift when bringing over a cake for their birthday or anniversary.
32. Engraved Adventure Map
Showcase all your journeys together with a hand-engraved wooden travel map of the US, the perfect gift for travelers. Trace the states with a printout into a plank of plain, pale wood and use a wood burner to engrave your outline. Add a patch of patterned scrap fabric or paper to fill in the states you’ve visited.
33. Vintage Message Boards
Supply a centralized location for love notes, shopping lists and photos by adding a fabric background to a vintage photo frame. Include metal clips and a set of cards to encourage message writing and photos that celebrate your family memories.
34. Scrabble Love Note
Commemorate all your years of competitive family Scrabble games by gluing a loving message onto a piece of patterned scrapbook paper and mounting in a wooden frame. Personalize your message with your names, their wedding date or just a playful expression you all know.
35. Infused Olive Oil Set
Whether your parents are passionate chefs or simply enjoy a quality bread and olive oil spread, infuse your own oil with herbs and spices as an easy DIY gift. Infuse the herbs, garlic and spices over the stove, let cool and securely stored in oil bottles. Add hand-drawn labels and include recipes in your gift box.
36. Mod-Inspired Earring Holder
Pick out your favorite plastic sign holder from a local craft store and line the back with a plastic canvas of a contrasting color. This simple, last-minute gift is a great way to personalize gifting mom some new or handmade earrings!
37. One-Size-Fits-All Apron
This classic apron style is great for any parent excited about cooking or baking. It also matches both modern and country kitchens. Follow the sewing pattern with canvas and natural cotton and add a few pockets for holding spoons and tea towels.
38. Denim Kitchen Rug
Pile of old jeans stacking up? Repurpose this resilient fabric into a Christmas gift for parents as unique kitchen decor. Cut out equal, hexagonal shapes and attach them in a honeycomb pattern. Mix and match colors of jeans new and old.
39. Beer Request Socks
Celebrate dad’s quirky sense of humor along with his love of craft beer with hand-designed socks. Iron-transfer letters allow you to set any message of your choice to the bottom of thick and cozy socks. Package in a gift box with a new local craft beer he hasn’t tried.
40. Pop Of Color Wine Rack
A creative present for parents that love wine, construct this colorful wine wrack from painted blocks secured in a long wooden plank of a complementary hue. If they don’t have a wine collection to start off with, include a few great bottles in the set!
Even when mom and dad swear that you don’t have to buy them a gift this year, think outside the box and don’t forget a personalized card. These personalized presents highlight everything they mean to you without breaking the bank or buying something they already have.
