DIY Projects and Gift Ideas to Make on “Buy Nothing Day”

Nov 26, 2021

Today is “Buy Nothing Day” and we thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to share some great DIY and Handmade options for gift giving this year! We can do our part to upcycle, reuse, and repurpose old things into something new and beautiful, and go green for the Holiday season.

We’ve got a roundup of brilliant ideas to add a personal touch to holiday gifting using things others might toss, discard, or ignore. We’ve also got some fun projects you can do with kids to spend some quality family time together to recover from the chaotic Thanksgiving festivities. Let’s head into the garage for some DIY time!

Repurpose Those Broken Dishes from Holiday Dinner

Grab a pair of safety goggles and a trusty set of tile nippers and let’s get crafting!

You can turn those cracked and broken dishes from yesterday’s holiday party into something beautiful for the holidays. Wash them well with soap and water, and put them in a box to be repurposed in a mosaic! Using the tile nippers, cut off the most interesting pieces of your broken, cracked, or chipped plates and tile them onto something such as containers to hold your tools, a stepping stone for the garden, or even apply them to reclaimed wood for accent pieces for your living room or garage wall.

Click here for a great tutorial on how to use the tile nippers on plates.

Give Your Garage Tool or Workspace A DIY Overhaul

Check out this amazing list of ways to repurpose household items, leftover packing supplies, and the leftover bits and bobs from other house projects. You can source most of the materials on this list from Freecycle, Craigslist, or your own recycling pile. If you’ve got an eco-conscious family member in your midst, this would also be a great idea for a personalized gift; outline your plans, gather the materials and box them up, and gift them with a “coupon” for garage reorganization!

Gather Up Your Cardboard Recycling & Let’s Build Together

This tutorial from Parenting.com shows step by step how to build the kiddos their own car for pretend races. If you’re looking for something super creative with a little bit of a challenge, you can live out your architectural dreams with this Youtube Tutorial by Mr. Vereshchak for a Cardboard Kids Playhouse. Craft an entire Rainbow Town for playtime with the kids using this tutorial from Hellowonderful.co!