By Tara Shehata

It’s your significant other/best-friend/sister/brother’s birthday coming up soon, and you have absolutely no idea what to get them. You want to treat them with something special and meaningful this year. Or maybe, you’re trying to budget and still want to give them something thoughtful. Well, this calls for DIY gifts! All you have to do is put in a little bit of effort and these gifts should be more meaningful than any expensive item you buy from a store. 

1. Calendar

calendar

The months pages are easily printed at any library near you, and as for the pictures, you can be as imaginative as you want to be. Pugs are great, but instead you could put a picture of you guys together, or a picture of something you both associate a specific month with. Be creative!

2. Photo Album

photo album

Pictures always speak for themselves. All you have to do is get an empty photo album, print out your favorite pictures together, and stick them onto the album. It would also be nice if you could write at the back of the picture, or next to it, what day it was taken! It’s going to be a vortex of memories, something definitely money can’t buy.

3. Scrapbook

Scrapbook

Sounds a little like a photo album, but you can add words, quotes and lyrics. Put a lot of color in it and it’ll look 10 times better! Draw things and moments that you guys have shared together. A scrapbook will last a lifetime. The person receiving this will always look back at it and remember you, and only you. Make it extraordinary.

4. Hand-Made Mug Design

mug designs

You can get a plain mug, and start painting on it! From writing a quote that you both like, to drawing your favorite cartoon, the sky is your limit! You’re the artist.

5. Coupon book 😉

coupons

You can collect a few and stick them into a notebook. It would be cool if you could give them actual gift vouchers (300EGP from Sephora, for instance), but it would be even more inventive if you create your own, such as a coupon for a one-hour-massage done by you, or breakfast in bed or a bubble bath. It makes it all the more significant and cheesy!

6. Mixtape

Mixtape

This could seem a little too old-fashioned or silly, but it’s actually really sweet and thoughtful! Nothing’s cuter than giving your significant other a CD with all the songs that mean something to you both, or that express your feelings for them. It’s romantic and you don’t actually need to put that much effort into it.

Now, go ahead and DIY! Have fun whilst doing them; it’ll show.