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The best Christmas gifts for your wife are the ones that say you noticed her. A jar of vanilla for the baker, a salve for the hands that never stop working, or a hot cocoa jar for the end of a long day all do that, and none of them cost much.
Below are 19 Christmas gifts for wife that you can make at home, from spa treats and pantry gifts to cozy sewing projects and keepsakes. Each idea says what it is, who it suits and how to make it, and most take an afternoon or less. A few need a few weeks to steep or dry, so start those first. If you are shopping for more people on your list, try our Christmas gifts for dad, Christmas basket ideas and homemade Christmas present ideas.
1. Homemade vanilla extract
SaveCredit: Rose Bakes
A bottle of vanilla you made yourself is the gift for the wife who bakes. Start it this week and it will be ready to wrap, and the jar keeps getting better the longer it sits.
Split six to eight vanilla beans lengthwise, drop them in a bottle with 16 ounces of vodka, bourbon or brandy, and shake it every few days. Give it at least a month in a dark cupboard, and longer is better, then pour it into small bottles with a handwritten tag.
2. A sugar scrub and bath salts set
SaveCredit: Bless This Mess
A little spa set is an easy yes for a wife who never takes time for herself. Three small jars with tags look like they came from a shop.
Stir together turbinado sugar, brown sugar and a quarter cup of sweet almond or olive oil for the scrub, adding more oil until it feels right. For the salts, mix Epsom salt, coarse sea salt and a little baking soda with a few drops of lavender oil.
3. Whipped body butter
SaveCredit: Mad in Crafts
Whipped body butter feels fancy and costs a few dollars to make. It is a good gift for dry winter hands and feet.
Melt equal parts shea butter, cocoa butter and coconut oil in a double boiler, chill until it is just firm, then whip it with a mixer until fluffy. Add a few drops of a warm scent like gingerbread or vanilla, and skip citrus oils, since they can make skin sensitive to sun. Keep it below 75 degrees or it will start to melt.
4. Hand and lip salve from calendula
SaveCredit: Homestead and Chill
If you grow calendula, this gift is mostly already in your garden. A salve is a good one for a wife with chapped, working hands.
Steep dried calendula flowers in olive oil in a sunny window for about two weeks, strain it, then warm 1 cup of that oil with about 4 tablespoons of beeswax until melted. Pour it into small tins or amber jars and let it set.
5. Honey lavender lip balm
SaveCredit: Kath Eats
Lip balm is small enough for a stocking and she will carry it in her coat pocket all winter. Make a handful and give a few away.
Melt beeswax pellets with coconut oil in a small pan of simmering water, stir in a little honey and a drop of lavender oil, and pour into lip balm tubes. Let them cool for about half an hour before you cap them.
6. Bath bombs wrapped in linen
SaveCredit: Craftivity Designs
Bath bombs are a treat she might not buy herself. Wrapping each one in a pretty napkin makes it feel like a real present.
Mix baking soda, citric acid and Epsom salt, then stir in melted coconut oil and a few drops of peppermint oil until it holds together when squeezed. Press the mix into a mold, let it dry for a day or two, then tie each one up in a vintage napkin with twine.
7. A coffee body scrub
SaveCredit: The Kiwi Country Girl
This is the gift for the wife who lives on coffee. It takes about five minutes to stir together, so it works for a last minute gift too.
Mix half a cup of ground coffee with half a cup of sugar, then stir in melted coconut oil, a shake of cinnamon and a splash of vanilla. Spoon it into a jar and tell her to use it within a few weeks.
8. A soy candle in a mug
SaveCredit: Lolly Jane
A candle poured into a pretty mug does double duty, because after it burns down she has a mug to keep. Thrift stores are full of good ones.
Melt soy wax in a double boiler to about 180 degrees, stir in your fragrance, and pour it around a wick you have centered and held steady with a pencil. Let it set overnight and trim the wick before you wrap it.
9. A room spray in a glass bottle
SaveCredit: The Keeper of the Home
A room spray with real fir or orange oil makes the whole house smell like Christmas. It is a tidy gift for a wife who loves a clean, cozy kitchen.
Fill a small glass spray bottle with water and a little witch hazel or vodka, add 20 or so drops of essential oil like fir, orange and clove, and shake before each use. Label it and nest it in tissue paper in a small gift box.
10. A stovetop simmer pot jar
SaveCredit: My Turn for Us
A simmer pot jar makes the house smell like Christmas without a candle. Layer it up and she can start a pot on the stove the same night.
Dry orange slices in a 200 degree oven for three to four hours, then layer them in a jar with dried apples, cranberries, cinnamon sticks and cloves. Tie a tag on the lid that says to simmer a few spoonfuls in a pot of water and top it off as the water goes down.
11. A homemade herbal tea blend
SaveCredit: Little Yellow Wheelbarrow
A jar of loose tea is for the wife who finishes her day with a warm cup. Match the blend to her, whether that is calming, floral or minty.
Mix dried herbs and flowers like chamomile, lavender, mint and rose petals in a wide mouth jar. Add a label with the ingredients and a note to steep about a tablespoon in hot water for three minutes, and tuck in a small strainer.
12. Hot cocoa mix in a jar
SaveCredit: Pretty Handy Girl
Hot cocoa in a jar is a classic that nobody gets tired of. Add a mug and it becomes a cozy night in a box.
Whisk together cocoa powder, sugar and powdered milk, pack it into a wide mouth jar and put the marshmallows in a small bag under the lid. Tie a ribbon around the top and write the mixing directions on a tag.
13. Hot honey in small jars
SaveCredit: Hearth and Vine
Hot honey is the gift for the wife who likes to put something sweet and spicy on pizza, biscuits or a cheese board. Small tins stack up nicely in a gift basket.
Warm honey gently with chili flakes, let it steep a while, then strain it into small jars or tins. Add a wooden dipper and a label, and remind her not to give honey to babies under one year old.
14. Christmas jam
SaveCredit: The Rustic Elk
Cranberry and orange jam on a warm biscuit tastes just like the holidays. A jar tied with twine is a sweet gift to hand over on Christmas morning.
Simmer cranberries, strawberries, orange and warm spices with sugar until thick. Unless you follow a tested canning recipe, keep it in the fridge and tell her to eat it within a couple of weeks.
15. A clay ring dish with pressed flowers
SaveCredit: First Day of Home
A little dish by the sink or on her dresser keeps her rings from going missing. Pressed flowers from your own garden make it personal.
Roll air dry clay about an eighth of an inch thick, cut a circle and press flowers into the surface. Dry it in a shallow bowl for two to three days, then seal it with a coat of Mod Podge.
16. A lavender heart heat pack
SaveCredit: First Day of Home
A heat pack is a cozy gift for a wife with a sore back or cold feet. A heart shape makes it sweet enough for a Christmas present.
Sew two heart shaped pieces of cotton together, leaving a gap, fill it with rice and a spoonful of dried lavender, and stitch it closed. Tell her to warm it in the microwave in 30 second bursts and stop at a minute and a half.
17. A striped farmhouse apron
SaveCredit: A Box of Twine
If she bakes for the whole family at Christmas, give her an apron that is made to work. Big pockets hold a spoon, a phone and a towel.
Cut a striped ticking fabric into a half apron, add a pocket about 13 by 7 inches and sew sturdy ties from ribbon or the same fabric. Press it nicely and fold it with a recipe card tucked in the pocket.
18. A handwritten recipe cutting board
SaveCredit: Rustic Crafts
A family recipe in a loved one’s handwriting is a gift that gets used and kept. Choose a recipe she makes every year, or one from her mom or grandma.
Draft the recipe on paper first so the text fits the board, then trace it onto a wood or bamboo cutting board and go over the lines with a wood burning tool. Seal it with food safe mineral oil and tell her to hand wash it.
19. A date night in a jar
SaveCredit: Ruffles and Rain Boots
Not every great gift is something you can hold. A jar of dates gives her a night out of the house to look forward to all winter.
Write a dozen date ideas on slips of paper, like a movie night at home, a picnic, a drive to look at lights or cooking dinner together, and fold them into a jar. Add a ribbon and a note that she pulls one out each month, and let her have a wild card now and then.
How to pick Christmas gifts for wife
Think about how she spends a normal evening. A wife who bakes gets vanilla or an apron, a wife who loves a long bath gets the spa set, and a wife who is always busy gets the heat pack and the date night jar.
If you want to give something bigger, pack three small gifts into one basket, like the sugar scrub, the lip balm and the candle, and tie it with ribbon. Check labels for allergies, tell her how long each food or skin gift keeps, and keep anything made with butter, jam or honey in the fridge or a cool room.
Christmas gifts for wife FAQ
What are good homemade Christmas gifts for a wife? Gifts she can use up or keep on display work best, like body butter, a soy candle, a tea blend, a recipe cutting board or a clay ring dish. Pick one that matches something she already loves doing.
What can I make for my wife at the last minute? A coffee body scrub takes about five minutes, hot cocoa mix takes ten and a date night jar takes less than half an hour. Vanilla extract and calendula salve need weeks to steep, so those are best started early.
What is a cheap Christmas gift for my wife that still feels special? Most gifts on this list cost under $15 in supplies. Add a handwritten card that says why you chose it and it will feel like far more.
