Twelve people on your team, one small budget and a Secret Santa draw on Friday. That’s exactly where diy gifts for coworkers shine. These are handmade gifts sized for a desk: things to drink from, store pens in or snack on, most made from craft store basics in an afternoon or less, and plenty you can batch for the whole office. For diy Christmas gifts for coworkers, start with a Sharpie initial mug done in rainbow dots, a tin can desk organizer that used to hold soup, a beaded vine desk plant for the coworker who kills every real plant (you know the one) and a flower pot candy jar that turns your desk into the most visited spot on the floor. There are cookie mix sacks, photo coasters and a few sewing projects too. Perfect for Secret Santa, Boss’s Day, work anniversaries, birthdays and thank you gifts.
1. Sugar Cookie Sack
Cookies are great. Cookies your coworker can bake on a Saturday in pajamas are better. This little sack is two strips of ticking cut 6 by 25 inches, sewn into a tube, then pushed inside itself so it’s lined with no extra work. Fold a cuff, slip a boxed sugar cookie mix inside and tuck the baking directions in the back. A cinnamon stick, a wooden spoon and some faux berries make it look like you tried very hard (you didn’t).
Get the full tutorial at Celebrate Creativity.
2. Little Something to Brighten Your Day Office Gift
Some days at work just need a little sunshine, and this one’s pure yellow. Grab a glass jar and fill it with anything yellow you find at the store: peanut M&Ms, white chocolate truffles, lemon candy, Juicy Fruit gum. Tie on a polka dot ribbon and the free printable Brighten Your Day tag. It takes about five minutes, and it lands perfectly on the desk of the coworker who’s having a rough week.
Get the full tutorial at Fun-Squared.
3. DIY Iron Transfer Tote
Here’s the trick that makes this tote ridiculous in the best way: an iron transfer pen. Print your design in reverse on plain paper, trace it with the pen, then iron it face down on a canvas tote for 1 to 3 minutes. It takes about 20 minutes and around $8, and the same tracing works again and again, so you can make one for everyone on your team. The finish looks soft and almost watercolor.
Get the full tutorial at The Crafted Life.
4. DIY Gold Foil Painted Pots
A little terra cotta pot on a desk instantly makes a cubicle feel less like a cubicle. Paint small pots with a few coats of acrylic, lightly spray them with Elmer’s spray adhesive, then press on gold foil sheets and rub hard so only some of it sticks. Fair warning, gold foil sticks to everything, including you. Pop in a small succulent and it’s a desk gift that looks like it came from a boutique.
Get the full tutorial at Making Joy and Pretty Things.
5. DIY Fruity Print Zipper Pouches
Everybody at work needs somewhere to stash earbuds, lip balm and the emergency snack. These lined zipper pouches start as plain white cotton you stamp yourself with a hand carved rubber stamp, watermelons or pineapples, then add seeds with black fabric paint. There’s a free template, and the zipper steps are spelled out clearly. It’s an intermediate sew, but once you’ve got one down, you can make a stack of them.
Get the full tutorial at The Lovely Drawer.
6. DIY Fabric Coasters
Coffee rings on a work desk are a crime, and fabric coasters are the fix. These are sewn from fabric scraps, so they cost next to nothing, and they make a great keep-on-hand gift for birthdays, hostess thank yous and the coworker who just moved desks. Tie a stack of four with gold ribbon and they look like a store bought set. The video shows every step, start to finish.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
7. DIY Crystal Knob Boxes
Small round wood boxes plus a big chunky crystal on top equals the prettiest paperclip holder in the building. Paint the boxes white with acrylic (about three coats, then two coats of gloss varnish), or skip a step and use glossy white spray paint, which the tutorial actually recommends. Glue on a rose quartz or amethyst piece with E6000. Leave the inside raw wood. Fill one with candy and it doubles as its own gift box.
Get the full tutorial at Homey Oh My.
8. You're Tea-rrific DIY Gift
This is the easiest pun on the list, and puns are half the joy of an office gift. Wrap a box of tea bags with raffia, tie on a round You’re Tea-rrific tag and you have a thank you for the coworker who covered your shift or the boss who signed off early on Friday. It takes about two minutes per box, so it works beautifully when you need ten of them by tomorrow.
Get the full tutorial at Fair and Square Imports.
9. Dip Mix Ornaments
An edible ornament your coworkers can actually eat. Fill clear fillable ornaments with a dip spice mix (the Fiesta version is parsley, dried onion, chives, chili powder, cumin and salt) using a funnel, since the tops are tiny. Tie on a tag that says to stir it into sour cream and mayo and chill 2 to 4 hours. It’s 15 minutes of work and every office party gets better with dip.
Get the full tutorial at Sprinkle Some Fun.
10. Easy Candy Bouquet
No florist required. Hot glue four big boxes of candy together into a base, tape full size candy bars onto lollipop sticks or straws with narrow duct tape, then stick them down into the boxes. Wrap the middle with tulle or ribbon and you have a bouquet that’s way more popular than roses in an office. It’s perfect for a coworker’s birthday or work anniversary (and yes, you will be asked to share).
Get the full tutorial at Crazy Little Projects.
11. Stripey Bangle
Got a drawer full of half used nail polish? It’s about to become paint. Tape off stripes on a plain wooden bangle, paint the bare wood with one polish color, let it dry and peel the tape. Re-tape and repeat with each color you like. Nail polish is glossy and tough, so it wears well. Try the bangle on before you start, because a finished bracelet that doesn’t fit is just sad.
Get the full tutorial at TonyaUtkina.
12. Thank You Herb Gifts
Potted herbs plus a terrible pun is my kind of thank you. Slip each pot into a sandwich bag to catch drips, set it inside a brown lunch bag with the top folded down in 1 inch folds, then tie on a stamped shipping tag with a strip of fabric. Thank you for your thyme. Thanks for your sage advice. Your coworkers get a plant that smells amazing on their desk.
Get the full tutorial at A Night Owl Blog.
13. Homemade Spa Kit
After a long quarter, everyone in the office deserves a bath. This kit gives you three gifts in one post: soy candles, lip balm and soap. The candles are soy wax flakes melted and poured into a pretty reusable container with a wick glued to the bottom and essential oil stirred in (sandalwood smells amazing). They’re simple enough to make in a big batch, which is exactly what you need for an office list.
Get the full tutorial at Homey Oh My.
14. Fabric Covered Cork Board
Every desk needs a place for sticky notes that isn’t the monitor. Round IKEA cork trivets get wrapped in bright fabric: trace around the cork with about an inch extra, cut, then hot glue the edge and pull the fabric over to the back. That’s it. The whole set of three cost a little over $3, and Command Strips hang them on a cubicle wall with no holes.
Get the full tutorial at Sew Much Sunshine.
15. Easy DIY Burlap Treat Bags
When you’re giving treats to the whole department, packaging is half the fun. Cut two burlap rectangles about 5 by 9 inches, iron them flat on low and stitch three sides, or hot glue them if your sewing machine is buried somewhere. Turn it right side out, line it with a cellophane bag so cookies don’t get fuzzy and tie it with ribbon. Add berries or a pinecone and it looks fancy.
Get the full tutorial at A Homemade Living.
16. Cookie Mix Gift Sack
Buffalo check fabric makes anything look like Christmas. This sack is filled with cookie mix, cinched with a sprig of holly and a pinecone, and finished with a set of measuring spoons and a ‘Tis the Season (for cookies) tag. The spoons are the clever part, since your coworker gets a little gift they’ll keep long after the cookies are gone.
Get the full tutorial at It's Always Autumn.
17. Arm Knit Blanket
Yes, a whole blanket, made with your arms, in under an hour. Super bulky yarn held doubled (two skeins of Loops and Threads Ginormous) makes a cushy throw about 36 by 40 inches with no holey look. The page points to a clear arm knitting video for the stitches. It’s a bigger gift than most on this list, so save it for a work bestie or the boss you actually like.
Get the full tutorial at The DIY Mommy.
18. How to Customize a Mug Using Sharpie
A coworker’s initial on a mug, done in tiny rainbow dots, is the kind of gift that keeps getting used at 9am. Cut a letter from paper, coat the back with a Zig glue pen and wait for the glue to turn white so it becomes repositionable. Stick it to the mug, dot all around it with Sharpies and peel it off. The letter appears like magic, crisp and clean.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
19. DIY Customized Mug Using Sharpie
Same trick, a heart this time, and honestly it might be my favorite way to make a mug look hand painted without painting anything. Cut a paper heart, coat it with a Zig glue pen, let it go from blue to white and press it on. Dot around it in red, then pink for depth, letting a few dots overlap the paper. Peel it away and it’s done in one sitting.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
20. DIY Tin Can Desk Organizer Tutorial
An empty soup can is about to become the cutest pen cup on the floor. Soak torn tissue in water, squeeze it out and mash it into a pulp, then mix in glue and paint. Draw a flower on the can and fill it in with the colored pulp, then the background in a second color. It dries with this textured, almost embroidered look, and nobody will guess it was a can.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
21. How to Make a Beaded Potted Plant
For the coworker who kills every real plant (we all know one), here’s a plant that can’t die. String green beads onto floral wire cut at different lengths, looping the ends so the beads stay put. Pack foam into a mini terra cotta pot, cover it with fake moss and push the wires in, then bend them so they trail down like vines. Hang it with jute or set it on the desk.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
22. 5 Minute Mini Notebook
Five minutes and one sheet of scrapbook paper. That’s the whole shopping list for these pocket notebooks. Fold the paper into a grid of creases, cut along the lines in a zigzag without cutting through the last panel, then accordion fold it into pages and add a cover. Make a little stack in different prints and tuck one into every coworker’s card. They’re tiny and they actually get used.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
23. Easy DIY Woven Yarn Mug Cozy
If you’ve always wanted to crochet but it scares you a little, this is your gateway project. Notch a strip of cardboard sized to the cup, wrap yarn through the slits for the base, then weave a second yarn through with a popsicle stick threaded through a little slit. Twist the yarn first if you want extra texture. Add a heart button and every coffee run gets cuter.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
24. Beginner Sewing Project: Coffee Cozies
I love these because they use the tiniest scraps of my favorite prints, and they’re the perfect office gift. Trace a cardboard coffee sleeve as your pattern, add a 1/4 inch seam allowance, sew the outer and lining pieces with fleece in between, then glue in an elastic hair tie and topstitch it closed. Sew on a cute button for the loop. Tuck in a coffee gift card and you’re a hero.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
25. Easy DIY Photo Resin Coaster
Team photo, office dog, that one picture from the holiday party. Put it in resin and it lives on the desk forever. Mix about 36 grams of epoxy resin with 12 grams of hardener (a 3 to 1 ratio) and stir slowly for 5 to 10 minutes. Pour a thin layer in a silicone mold, set in a photo traced and cut to fit, then fill it up and let it cure overnight.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
26. Resin Coaster with Dried Flowers
Real pressed flowers floating in tinted resin look like something from a fancy gift shop. Mix the resin and hardener at a 3 to 1 ratio, add 2 to 3 drops of pigment and pour half into the mold. Arrange the flowers, pour the rest and let it set overnight. A thin coat of UV resin on top cured under a lamp gives it that glassy finish. Coffee has never looked so pretty.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
27. Easy DIY Fun Photo Bookmarks
These are completely silly and I love them. Print a cutout photo of someone (or the office cat) with arms up, cut it close, glue it to cardstock leaving the hands free, then slip a tassel loop between the layers so they look like they’re hanging off the page. Cover both sides with contact paper and trim. Every coworker with a book club will want one.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
28. Mini Hot Glue Photo Frame Magnets
These look like antique gold frames and they’re hot glue. Really. Print tiny photos about 0.85 by 1 inch, chill a wax seal stamp on an ice bag and dry it, then press it into a blob of hot glue right on the photo. Wait 10 to 15 seconds, lift, trim the excess and paint the frame gold. Stick a magnet on the back and they brighten any filing cabinet or fridge.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
29. Upcycled Light Bulb Mini Planter
A burned out light bulb becomes the cutest desk planter you’ve ever seen, which is a very good use of a thing headed for the trash. Separate the glass from the base, paint it pink and add daisies with POSCA pens. Hot glue cut sticks into A shapes to make the little stand, then fill the bulb with crumpled paper and rolled paper grass. No watering required.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
30. Easy DIY Flower Pot Candy Jar
The office candy jar is a sacred thing, and this one looks like a little gumball machine. Prime and paint a flower pot, tray and wooden ball, glue the ball on top of the flipped tray for a lid and attach a fish bowl to the pot with E6000 plus hot glue. Tie a ribbon over the seam and fill it with chocolates. Expect visitors at your desk all day.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
31. Easy Candle Jar Gift Wrapping Hack
Candles are the most reliable office gift there is, and also the hardest thing in the world to wrap. Cut paper wide enough to go around the jar and about twice its height, tape the seam with double sided tape so it’s a tube, slide the jar out and use it to crease the top and bottom folds. Tie the ends with ribbon and it looks like a giant candy.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
32. DIY Hot Glue Keychain Tutorial
Leftover glue sticks plus a jar of glitter equals keychains that look like enamel charms. Draw a shape on parchment paper (cherries, a heart, a flower), trace it with hot glue and pour glitter on right away, then tap off the extra and repeat until it’s all covered. Poke a small hole and add the chain. Work over a tray, because glitter will get everywhere, including your coffee.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
33. DIY Santa Chocolate Jar
A mason jar full of Hershey’s Kisses wearing a tiny Santa suit is the office gift that makes people laugh out loud. Measure the lid, trim a regular Santa hat to fit and hot glue the seam, then glue the pom pom back on top. Cut a 2 3/4 by 2 inch buckle from gold foam, thread black ribbon through it and wrap it around the jar for the belt. No sewing at all.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
34. Easy No Sew Felt Fruit Coasters
Coasters that look like a little fruit salad are about the happiest thing you can put on a desk. They’re no sew, just felt and hot glue. For a lemon, glue a white circle onto a bigger yellow one and add five yellow triangles for segments. Watermelon gets green, white and pink circles plus ten black teardrop seeds. Use stiff craft felt so they don’t flop, and you’ll have a set in under an hour.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
35. DIY Beaded Plant Tutorial
This beaded plant has leaf beads and tiny flower beads, so it looks like a trailing plant mid bloom, and it never needs watering. Stack styrofoam in a terra cotta pot and cover it with fake moss. Thread a leaf bead onto floral wire, loop the end, fill the wire with glass beads and bend the top to lock them. Add long stems first, short ones in the middle and flowers last.
Get the full tutorial at DIY JOY.
