DIY: Eid gift ideas

Eid al-Fitr is around the corner and it’s celebrated at the end of Ramadan throughout the Muslim world. On this occasion gifts are given and received from our loved ones. Gift-giving maintains and strengthens the relationship between the giver and the recipient, it is one of the acts that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) recommended us to do.

A friend of mine requested for me to write a post up on gift ideas for Eid. So in this post i’ll be giving some basic ideas on what you could gift. In’sha’Allah this helps anyone that is looking for a gift to buy.
Making and personalising gifts is a great way to show your love for one another, it doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive. Time, effort and lots of thought that went into creating a gift is so much more valuable than the amount of money you put in. So it’s not necessary to spent loads of money on gifts, especially if you have a huge family to give gifts to or you’re a student 🙁  So in this post I shall give some quick DIY ideas that i’ve come across.
Idea 1- Mason Jars
Anyone who loves DIY will know mason jars are used for so many things. For example, they are used for room décor like candle holders, flower vase, brush holder and so much more. So if you have a mason jar (which you can easily find in most stores such as Asda and Tesco) you can easily create so many different things depending on the person you want to give it to.
I’ll give a few suggestions but you can do anything with them, there’s so many youtube videos showing you creative ways of turning a simple jar into something super cute.
You can personalise the jar any way you want! You can add glitter, spray paint, add ribbon or do intricate designs with henna! Be creative! Make the jar look great and then you can begin adding things inside the jar.The key element to this is to really know the person and then design the jar according to them.
If the person you are gifting this to is very spiritual, who loves reading and being inspired or even someone that needs motivation, you can fill up the jar with 365 inspiring quotes all written on colourful paper, and each day they can open one up. The quotes can be anything, from a small personal message to something from the Qur’an or Hadith. It’s time consuming but the end product will be worth it.If someone’s getting their room decorated you can make something for them, you can fill the jar up with glitter or marbles and stick some fake flower that match their room inside them. Or make a lantern as shown in the pictures above, by decorating the jar with gold paint and adding some rechargeable tealights or fairy lights into the jar.You can also just fill the jar up with different sweets and treats they like, this is great for kids/teenagers. There’s a few halal sweet accounts on Instagram, just search around and you’ll find loads. Some even come with really nice packaging so using a mason jar might not be necessary
These are just basic suggestions, be creative!
Idea 2- Gift Hamper
This is similar to the mason jar idea, but you have more room to work with. Making a hamper is great as less looks more. You can buy loads of little products for cheap prices and put them together and it looks as if you’ve spent loads. This is great for those on a budget i.e the students. Also, as your buying loads of small gifts there’s less chances the person won’t like it as there will be at least one item they appreciate.
You can make the base of your hamper with a basket or you can buy some boxes from Clintons or Card factory. The boxes/ baskets could be any sizes, if you are making a few of these buy smaller boxes and fill them in, but if your making one big gift, a basket would be a better option.
As I said before, make sure to buy things that the person likes, and that its’ useful and something you know suits their personality. The best way to buy a gift for someone is to firstly know their taste and secondly buy as if you’re buying the item for yourself, if you like the gifts for yourself you’re more likely to buy useful and better things.
You can fill the box up with their favourite ‘spa’ products for those that need to relax more, like our mothers. You can add essential oils, bath bombs and lotions.For someone that likes literature you can add a book from their favourite genre or author. If someone is becoming closer to Islam you can gift them things that can aid them, like spiritual books. My recommendations are ‘Reclaim your heart’ by Yasmin Mogahed, ‘Ash-Shifa of Qadi’lyad’, and ‘The Sealed Nectar’ by Safiur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri.For a hijabi sister you can put in some hijabs as we can never have too many, hijab pins will be highly appreciated, you can even buy a cute hijab pin cushion/box. Or some head pieces/any sort of jewellery they like.You can fill the hamper up with notebooks, pens and artsy stuff for those that are creative and love writing and painting. You can buy so many stationary things for such cheap prices. It could be a paint set, brushes, pens, small canvases, note pads…If they like makeup you can’t go wrong! It doesn’t necessarily have to be high end brands. So many drug stores have amazing dupes and if you search in the right places you’ll find some amazing quality things….I highly recommend you check out ‘Sleek’ makeup.You could even be super helpful and buy things they really need. For example if someone newly had a baby, you can buy some basic necessities for them and the baby and fill the hamper with that.
I found this Eid inspired hamper video, it’s really creative! This would be a perfect way to gift money:

 

Idea 3- Paint

If you are a lover of art and so is the person you are gifting, you can gift them a painting created by you. This is great for those that are getting their house redecorated, you can paint something according to their colour scheme to fit their empty walls. The best part is that the painting is a unique piece that no one else will have. Paint them something which is personalised just for them, it could be a painting of their favourite flower or scenery, or an inspirational quote to help motivate them. It doesn’t have to be a painting on a canvas, you can paint something on a cup (youtube a tutorial for that) or even use henna and decorate candles/phone cases for them. If you love painting, it will be a pleasure for you to paint as well as the person who’s going to receive it.
Idea 4- Baking
If you love baking and you have a big family, the easiest option for you is to bake lots of quick and easy treats. You can even personalise the treats to suit each person by either writing their names on it or decorating the cupcakes or cookies according to what they like.
There’s so many recipes out there that you can try. I’ll leave some links below which you can follow but personalise them to how you want.

Idea 5- Simple 
An expensive gift doesn’t always be the best gift. Sometimes a simple gift such as a card can be much more precious than buying a useless thing from a shop they probably aren’t going to use. So even a simple card and box of chocolates won’t go unappreciated. A thoughtful card may actually be more effective and loved.You can also, instead of giving a card, write a letter. What better day then Eid to make someone smile and know they are loved.You can then role up the letter and tie a ribbon around it and give that along with some flowers or chocolates. It’s a cute and elegant idea and something i’m sure they haven’t received before.
If you have enough time you can write a few letters for them and stack them up (like the picture above), so each time they feel lonely they can open up one of your letters. This can be a gift given to someone who lives outside the country/city and you are unable to speak to them as often. It’s a very old fashioned idea, but simple is beautiful.
This idea is my favourite as it’s so unique and special, and this really does show that they made time for you.So here were a few basic ideas, there’s so many DIY ideas out there that you can try, they don’t necessarily have to be for Eid, these ideas are so versatile that it’s perfect to gift whenever.