10 DIY Gifts for Grandma She Won’t Be Able to Stop Talking About!

Grandmas are the undisputed queens of the DIY gift. 

Whether she writes a beautiful letter by hand to open on the first night in your dorm room or you’re still snuggling the blanket she hand-knit for you decades ago, one thing’s for sure: you don’t live for as long as grandma has without picking up an appreciation for gifts that are truly one of a kind. 

Everyone’s favorite undersea sponge wearing a sweater from grandma with love in every stitch.

But the thing about receiving those wonderful, heartfelt grandma gifts is that it can inspire you to make your next gift for grandma extra special, too. And no matter how much you want to come up with the ultimate gift, sometimes the creative juices just aren’t flowing.

Don’t worry – that’s where we come in!

You don’t have to have 60+ years of crafting under your belt to pull off these DIY gifts for grandma. With a little thought and a lot of heart, they’re sure to put a smile on her face for any occasion, whether it’s her retirement party, her birthday, or even the holidays.

So what are we waiting for? Let’s get to it.

1. Send her a DIY digital gift card

Text or email an egift card in just a few clicks

This one’s equal parts easy and practical, but don’t write it off as a lazy gift! Gift cards sometimes get a bad reputation for being gifts that don't require a lot of thought, but with GiftYa, you can DIY your gift into something that will tug at grandma’s heartstrings in just a few clicks with easy customization options.

For starters, you can choose a photo or video clip from your camera roll for the “wrapping” paper on your GiftYa card, which means you can turn some of your favorite memories – whether that’s blowing out the candles on her 80th birthday cake or a drawing of the two of you together that’s been on her fridge since you were 5 years old – into a gift. Choose from thousands of local and national brands in the GiftYa catalog – from her favorite department store to the craft store down the street from her house – or give her a GiftYa Select gift card so she can choose a brand for herself. Add a sweet message, and then it’s off to her email or text messages in seconds.

And don’t worry, GiftYa digital gift cards are easy to redeem for tech savvy and not-so-tech-savvy grandmas alike. Using the GiftYa app or website, she can redeem her balance, swap it for a Visa gift card, or even cash it out using Zelle. If she’s techy enough to text you a gif or share a meme on Facebook, she should have no trouble. 

But what kind of gift card would actually make a good gift for grandma? Here are a couple of ideas to get you thinking:

• Buy a Michaels gift card to help her stock up for her next painting, knitting, or even home decor project 
• Send a Bath & Body Works gift card so she can pick up the latest seasonal personal and home fragrances, from hand soaps to scented plug ins to body sprays to candles
• Grab a Target gift card for her essentials – it might not be the flashiest gift card, but who doesn’t love having a little extra spending money when they see a splurge-worthy throw blanket on an end cap?

Text or email an egift card in just a few clicks

2. Put together a scrapbook or photo collage of your adventures together

Speaking of your favorite memories of doing things with your grandmother, there are lots and lots of ways to transform those beloved photos into DIY projects that she’ll cherish forever. If you’re in a time pinch, lots of photo printing websites and even drugstores sell last-minute personalized gifts that can be ready (or shipped) as quickly as same-day. It seems like every day there are more options, including things like:

• Calendars
• Coffee mugs
• Magnets
• Jewelry
• And of course classic prints

If you’ve got a little more time, you can take the more traditional DIY route and break out the scrapbooking supplies to create a framed photo collage or photo album of your adventures together.

Or if your grandma is interested in genealogy at all, you can organize some of those old family photos and letters she has in shoeboxes and cookie tins around her house into a custom scrapbook telling her family’s history. 

One last option here is to get started on a photo within a photo like this – thanks Moose Photography for the awesome idea! There are a couple different ways to pull this off.

Start with a photo of the youngest generation in the family → frame it + have the next oldest generation pose for a photo while holding it → swap the new photo into the frame + have the next oldest generation pose for a photo while holding it… all the way up to grandma. She can unwrap the framed photo (which is a great gift in itself!), but you can also schedule a shoot to get the last photo in the series, of grandma holding the frame which now has generations of her family all in one shot.

Another way to approach this is by having each of her children pose for each respective photo, starting with the youngest and working up to her oldest.

GiftYa Recommends: Text a Shutterfly gift card to complete the gift so that grandma can turn memories you haven’t even made yet into prints, post-its, blankets, and more!

3. Dust off the family recipe book and whip up one of her favorite childhood dishes

Cooking is more than just putting food on the table – it’s one of the ways we take care of the people closest to us. That’s why family recipes are such an important tradition in many households! And whether she was the primary chef of the household or not, as someone who has raised a whole family, grandma certainly knows the power of a home cooked meal.

So what better way to show you care than to take your turn at the stove while grandma sits back and relaxes? You can make some of her signature dishes, or dust off the family recipe book to make a favorite recipe from her childhood. 

Better yet, if grandma is a home chef, get in the kitchen and create something entirely new together – perhaps get her a cookbook + commit to making one recipe a week (or month) until you’ve explored the whole thing together.

4. Put your yarnwork skills to the test (even if all you can make is a granny square)

From yarn rings to needle gauges, there are plenty of gifts for knitters and crocheters on the market – but few of them will be as special as trying your hand at her favorite hobby.

Luckily for total beginners, getting started doesn’t take a huge financial commitment – you can pick up the basics for most yarn art projects anywhere from Walmart to your local craft supply store. From there, Youtube is full of beginner-friendly tutorials and projects.

Our tip? Look for anything related to granny squares. 

They’re easy – often the first thing new crocheters learn to make. They can be stitched together to make bags, blankets, clothing, and all sorts of other more complicated-looking projects. Plus, if you get a basic granny square down, there are lots of variations that play with color and design (and many of them aren’t very complicated) so you can create something that fits grandma’s style.

Plus, once you’re in the crochet club too… what could be sweeter than spending some quality time with grandma, learning one of her favorite hobbies from her? 

5. Make her something she can hang on the fridge

When you, your siblings, and cousins were younger, there was probably no shortage of artwork on grandma’s fridge. These days? There might be more grocery lists and phone numbers than stick figure family portraits.

You don’t have to be super artistically inclined to make grandma something sweet to brighten up her kitchen. Think back to some of your favorite projects as a kid and recreate them. Here are a couple of ideas:

• Turn thumbprints into a field of flowers  
• Handprint turkeys or butterflies, depending on the time of year
• Make a tissue paper sun catcher
• Family portrait (stick figure doodles are fine!)
• Or butterflies out of coffee filters, washable markers, and clothespins

It doesn’t have to be an artistic masterpiece – it just has to be cute 🎨

6. Invite her to a totally one-of-a-kind movie night

Hitting the town can be fun, but you can also take the DIY approach to movie night! Buy or rent some of grandma’s favorite films, then get to work. Transform the living room with twinkle lights, cozy blankets, decorations, and snacks – either her go-to candy and popcorn combo or more elaborate ones to match the movie lineup. 

Then all that’s left is to DIY an invite to this special showing – a night she won’t soon forget!

GiftYa recommends: Send a Regal Cinemas gift card to treat a movie-loving grandma to the latest new release long after the credits roll on your DIY movie night.

7. Hand stitch some lavender sachets

Lavender sachets sound kind of old school – in a world with Febreze and Glade Plug-Ins, why bother? But lavender sachets are still popular for a variety of reasons. They’re a light, all-natural home fragrance, sure – but they’re also great as sleep aids, for freshening clothes and linens, and they’re a natural insect repellent, making them a chemical-free way to protect stored clothes and linens from moths and other pests.

8. Put on your director’s cap and make the ultimate home movie

Home movies used to involve lugging out a camcorder, but these days, you can capture memories with the high-tech camera sitting in your purse or pocket. Consider documenting your next reunion, grandma’s birthday party, or any other family event for grandma to replay anytime she wants.

If you want to get more creative with it:

• Take the documentary film approach à la the office + stage a few “interview” clips to sprinkle throughout your footage
• Include some still photos in the mix
• Give some thought to the shoot ahead of time + get your relatives in on the fun with everyone wearing the same color palette, their favorite superhero shirts, or anything else that makes sense for your family

9. Get creative with your bouquets

Flowers are always a great way to brighten someone’s day, but there are lots of ways to DIY a flower bouquet that never wilts! Consider adding a pop of color to grandma’s kitchen table or nightstand with an easy DIY bouquet like a:

• Button bouquet
• Tissue paper flowers bouquet
• Mini paper flower bouquets
• DIY fabric flower bouquet 
• DIY edible arrangement 

The possibilities are endless.

10. Light up her living room with DIY luminaries

To light up grandma’s decor with these heartfelt glowing photo luminaries, you’ll just need a few things:

• Inkjet printer that can print onto vellum (you’ll need to experiment, but most printers should be able to do this!)
• Horizontal photos 
• Cylindrical glass jars or vases 
• Double-sided tape or washi tape
• Tealight candles (real or battery-powered)

From there, just print your photos and fit them to your jars, securing them with double sided tape or washi tape for a more decorative touch. Experiment with the right number of candles to get the desired glowing effect, and viola!

DIY gifts for grandma don’t need to be complicated – just heartfelt!

We hope these gift ideas have inspired you to do-it-yourself. Happy gifting!