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The best Christmas gifts for mom are the ones that fit the way she already lives. A jar of fire cider for the mom who doctors everyone, a new oven mitt for the mom who is always baking, or an amaryllis for the mom who misses her garden all say you were paying attention.
Below are 23 Christmas gifts for mom that you can make at home, from remedies and soap to kitchen linens, garden gifts and old fashioned treats. Each idea says what it is, why she will love it and how to make it. A few need weeks to steep, cure or bloom, so start those first. Shopping for the rest of the family too? Try our Christmas gifts for dad, Christmas gifts for wife and Christmas basket ideas.
1. A jar of fire cider
SaveCredit: Homestead and Chill
Fire cider is the gift for the mom who reaches for a home remedy before she reaches for the pharmacy. It is spicy, tangy and a little wild, and a small bottle goes a long way through cold season.
Pack a quart jar about three quarters full with a chopped onion, four or five cloves of garlic, three or four tablespoons each of grated horseradish and ginger, and a sliced lemon or orange. Fill the jar with raw apple cider vinegar, shake it daily for three to four weeks, then strain it and stir in a couple of tablespoons of raw honey before you bottle it.
2. Beeswax lotion bars in a tin
SaveCredit: Common Sense Home
A lotion bar is a little brick of moisture for hands that do dishes, pull weeds and hang laundry. My mom keeps one by the sink all winter, and it outlasts any bottle of lotion she has ever bought.
Melt equal parts by weight of beeswax, cocoa or shea butter and coconut or olive oil in a double boiler, then pour the mix into a silicone mold. Twelve ounces fills a six bar mold, and once the bars pop out you can tuck each one into a small metal tin. Our lotion bar recipe has more ways to scent them.
3. Wooden spoons with homemade spoon butter
SaveCredit: The Prairie Homestead
Every mom who cooks has a crock of wooden spoons that could use some love. A new spoon or two plus a jar of spoon butter keeps her favorites from drying out and cracking.
Gently melt 2 tablespoons of beeswax pellets with 6 tablespoons of unrefined coconut oil, stir, and pour it into a small jar to set. Tie the jar to a bundle of wooden spoons with twine and add a note telling her to rub it in, let it sit a few hours, then buff off the extra.
4. Rose soap bars
SaveCredit: Garden Therapy
Handmade soap is one of those gifts that feels like a treat every single morning. A basket of rose bars with dried petals on top looks like it came from a little shop on Main Street.
This is a cold process soap made with rose infused olive oil, lard, coconut oil and lye, with madder root for the pink swirl. Lye is caustic, so wear gloves and goggles, measure everything by weight, and let the bars cure for six weeks before she uses them, which means starting by early November. If you are new to soap, our lavender handmade soap walks through the basics.
5. An amaryllis bulb ready to bloom
SaveCredit: Garden Therapy
An amaryllis is the gift for the mom who misses her garden in December. She gets to watch it grow a little taller each day and then burst into those huge red trumpets.
Amaryllis blooms six to ten weeks after planting, so pot one up in early November if you want flowers by Christmas, or give her the bulb in a pretty pot so she can enjoy the whole show. Soak the bulb in lukewarm water for two to four hours, then pot it with soil covering half to three quarters of the bulb so the neck stays above the soil line.
6. Potted kitchen herbs
SaveCredit: The Free Range Life
A pot of rosemary on the windowsill is a bit of summer in the middle of winter. Mom can snip it for roasts and soups and plant it outside in the spring.
Rosemary, sage, thyme and lavender are perennials and do well indoors through winter, and rosemary roots easily from cuttings from your own garden. Plant each one in a clay pot, wrap it with a ribbon and a handwritten tag with care notes, and remind her to give it her sunniest window.
7. A jar of dried orange slices
SaveCredit: Practical Self Reliance
Dried oranges smell like Christmas and are handy all season long. Mom can drop them in tea, float them in a simmer pot, or string them into a garland for the tree.
Slice oranges about a quarter inch thick and dry them in a dehydrator at 135°F for 7 to 15 hours, until they are crisp all the way through. Pack them in a big glass jar with a few cinnamon sticks and a sprig of rosemary on top.
8. Slow cooker apple butter
SaveCredit: Common Sense Home
Apple butter is the taste of the farm stand in a jar. Spread it on toast, stir it into oatmeal or set it out with biscuits on Christmas morning.
Cook about 4 pounds of unpeeled apples with brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, a little salt and lemon juice in a slow cooker until soft, then blend and keep cooking until it is thick and dark. Keep the jars in the fridge and tell her to enjoy them within a few weeks, or follow a tested water bath canning recipe if you want them shelf stable.
9. Pressed flower candle lanterns
SaveCredit: Homestead and Chill
If you saved flowers from the garden this summer, this is the gift to make with them. A glowing jar lantern with ferns and petals inside is lovely on a winter table.
Press flowers and ferns flat between the pages of a heavy book for two to three weeks, until they are fully dry. Brush clear Mod Podge on the outside of a clean glass jar, lay the flowers on, and brush one more thin coat over the top. Drop in a tea light or a battery candle and tie a bit of twine around the rim.
10. Salt dough keepsake ornaments
SaveCredit: Homestead and Chill
Every mom I know has a box of ornaments made by little hands that she will never part with. A salt dough ornament with a handprint, a footprint or even a pet’s paw print is one more for that box.
Mix 2 cups of flour, 3/4 cup of table salt and 3/4 to 1 cup of warm water into a smooth dough, roll it out, and press in a hand, a paw or a cookie cutter. Poke a hole for the ribbon, bake at 215°F until hard and dry, then paint them and seal them so they last for years.
11. Beeswax food wraps
SaveCredit: Mommypotamus
Beeswax wraps are a pretty, practical gift for the mom who saves every leftover. They cling to bowls and wrap half an onion or a block of cheese without any plastic.
Lay squares of cotton fabric on a parchment lined baking sheet, sprinkle them with a blend of beeswax, jojoba oil and pine resin, and warm them in a 225°F oven until the wax melts. Brush it even, lift each wrap out, and wave it in the air for a moment until it sets. Fold a set of three in a ribbon.
12. Rolled beeswax candles
SaveCredit: Lia Griffith
Rolled beeswax candles burn clean and smell faintly of honey. They are one of the easiest handmade gifts there is, and they look beautiful on the mantel.
Warm a sheet of honeycomb beeswax with a hair dryer so it is soft, lay a wick along one edge, and roll it up tightly and evenly. Press the end to seal it, then wrap a few candles together with twine and a sprig of greenery.
13. A teacup candle holder
SaveCredit: Crafting a Green World
Thrift a pretty teacup and you are halfway to a sweet gift for the mom who loves her afternoon tea. It turns a plain taper into something special.
Set a small brass candle cup insert into the center of the teacup and drop in a taper. It takes seconds, and the candle sits up high so the hot wax stays away from the china. Pair it with a couple of hand rolled beeswax tapers.
14. Wood candlesticks from table legs
SaveCredit: The Country Chic Cottage
Chunky wood candlesticks are the farmhouse decor gift that looks like it cost a lot more than it did. A pair is perfect for her dining table or mantel.
Screw an unfinished table leg onto a round wood plaque for the base, add a smaller wood circle on top, and paint them in her favorite color. A few burlap flowers glued at the base add a soft touch.
15. Hand knit dishcloths
SaveCredit: Crafts by Amanda
A stack of hand knit cotton dishcloths gets used every single day, and they scrub better than anything from the store. Moms who grew up with them love them most.
Cast on with one ball of worsted weight 100% cotton yarn and knit a simple seed stitch square with a garter edge. Make two or three in different colors, fold them together and tie them with a bar of homemade soap.
16. A no slip hanging kitchen towel
SaveCredit: Sustain My Craft Habit
This is the towel that stays put on the oven door instead of landing on the floor. It is a quick sewing project that feels thoughtful because she will use it daily.
Start with a plain store bought tea towel, then sew a fabric tab and a hanging loop from pretty scraps across the top so it drapes over the oven handle and stays put. The whole project takes under 30 minutes, so you can make one in her favorite colors.
17. A quilted oven mitt
SaveCredit: DIY Candy
Most moms are still using the scorched oven mitt from ten years ago. A fresh quilted one in a pretty print is a small gift she will be grateful for every time she bakes.
Trace around her old mitt to make a pattern, then layer a printed fabric over cotton quilt batting and stitch quilting lines across it. Cut out the front and back, sew them together, and bind the edges with bias tape and a little loop for hanging.
18. Lavender sachets
SaveCredit: Lovely Indeed
A lavender sachet in a dresser drawer makes everything smell fresh and calm. Choose bright, fun fabrics and they look nothing like the dusty sachets of years past.
Cut two small squares of fabric, sew three sides with the right sides together, turn the pouch right side out and fill it with dried lavender buds. Stitch the last side closed and tie a set of three together with ribbon.
19. Birdseed ornaments for her trees
SaveCredit: Crafts by Amanda
For the mom who keeps binoculars by the kitchen window, these are a gift for her and for her birds. Hang them on a tree outside where she can watch.
Cut a shape from a cereal box with a circle about an inch and a half wide in the middle, spread it with a thin layer of peanut butter, and press it into birdseed on both sides. Thread wire or twine through the top and give her a handful of different shapes.
20. A loaf of sourdough with a jar of starter
SaveCredit: The Prairie Homestead
A warm loaf wrapped in a tea towel is a gift in itself. Add a jar of your sourdough starter and she can keep baking her own bread all year.
Bake your favorite sourdough boule the day before, then wrap it in a clean flour sack towel. Fill a small jar with active starter, write the feeding schedule on a card, and tell her to feed it once she gets home.
21. Old fashioned honey taffy
SaveCredit: Whole Fed Homestead
Pulling taffy is an old homestead tradition, and the result tastes like honey and caramelized cream. Grandmas especially love this one.
Cook honey, cane sugar, heavy cream, butter and a pinch of salt to 270°F, pour it into a buttered pan, and let it cool until you can handle it. Butter your hands and pull it until it turns light and glossy, then twist it into pieces and wrap each one in clear candy wrappers.
22. Layered Christmas peppermint fudge
SaveCredit: Old World Garden Farms
A tin of fudge never comes home with leftovers. This layered version is chocolate on the bottom and peppermint white chocolate on top.
Melt chocolate chips, half a can of sweetened condensed milk and marshmallow cream for the bottom layer and spread it in a lined 8 inch pan. Repeat with white chocolate chips, vanilla and crushed candy canes for the top layer, chill for four hours, and cut it into small squares. Prefer classic? Try our fantasy fudge recipe.
23. Tea biscuits in a tin
SaveCredit: DIY Candy
These buttery tea biscuits are simple and not too sweet, the kind of cookie made for a cup of tea. Pack them with a box of her favorite tea for a quiet afternoon treat.
Mix butter, sugar, flour, vanilla and the leaves from a tea bag into a dough, roll it into a log and chill it at least 30 minutes. Slice it into rounds, bake for 15 to 20 minutes, and let them cool completely before you layer them in a tin with parchment.
How to pick Christmas gifts for mom
Think about where she spends her day. A mom who lives in the kitchen gets the spoon butter, the dishcloths or the oven mitt. A mom who is happiest outside gets the amaryllis, the herbs or the birdseed ornaments, and a mom who keeps the medicine cabinet stocked gets the fire cider and lotion bars.
Plan backward from Christmas. Soap needs six weeks to cure, fire cider needs three to four weeks to steep and an amaryllis needs six to ten weeks to bloom, so those belong on your list in early November. The taffy, fudge, tea biscuits and sourdough are best made in the last week so they are fresh.
For a bigger gift, fill a basket with three small things that go together, like the tea biscuits, the teacup candle holder and a lavender sachet. Add a handwritten card that tells her why you picked each one, and check for allergies before you give anything she will eat or put on her skin.
Christmas gifts for mom FAQ
What are good homemade Christmas gifts for mom? Gifts she will use up or use every day work best, like lotion bars, rose soap, apple butter, hand knit dishcloths or a hanging kitchen towel. Match the gift to something she already loves to do.
What can I make for my mom at the last minute? A teacup candle holder takes seconds, birdseed ornaments take about half an hour and the hanging kitchen towel takes about 30 minutes to sew. Fudge, tea biscuits and spoon butter can all be made in an afternoon.
What is a meaningful Christmas gift for an older mom or grandma? Salt dough keepsake ornaments with the grandkids’ handprints, honey taffy, a pot of rosemary or a pressed flower lantern made from flowers from your garden all carry a memory with them. Our homemade Christmas present ideas have even more.
