31 Best Gift Ideas for Creative People and DIYers
Looking for gift ideas for creative people? This gift guide includes inspiring books, craft subscriptions, handy stocking stuffers, and thoughtful big gifts.
Get ready for some great gift ideas for your DIY friends and paint enthusiasts. This guide is all about those unique, “I totally get you” presents.
Hate cleaning paintbrushes? Struggle drilling handle holes? Get backaches while painting?
These gifts are problem solvers and go beyond the usual and show just how well you know their crafty hearts.
And if that creative person or DIYer is actually you, that’s fine too!
Do your family or friends need a little help choosing for you but you still want to get a surprise? Send them this list of gift ideas and see what happens.
This ultimate gift guide has the best gift ideas for:
- Learning about refinishing furniture, DIY and design
- Tools to help with creative projects
- Equipment to splash out on
- Ways to improve a creative business
And if you have those covered, head to my master list of recommendations.
Book Gift List for Creative People
Books are always great gifts as they provide an easy way to unwind and get inspiration for your own creativity.
Rescue, Restore, Redecorate
Amy Howard is a creative soul who teaches techniques that celebrate the ‘use what you have’ method of redecorating. She explains processes such as faux finishes, gold leaf and distressing, and what is needed to achieve each look.
This is a lovely coffee table book full of beautiful photos of her amazing creations to help a creative friend get inspired by new techniques.
The Furniture Bible
The Furniture Bible is the perfect gift for people who want to get serious about restoring furniture. It covers how to identify, restore and care for all kinds of furniture and wood types.
The author is from a long line of furniture restorers and teaches the best ways to lovingly care for pieces. It’s high quality and as in-depth as you could ever need. This is a great idea for creative individuals who want to dip in and out, to get quick answers.
Amazing Furniture Makeovers
Amazing Furniture Makeovers is by Jen Crider, from the upcycling blog, Girl in the Garage. It’s a compilation of 25 furniture makeovers with step-by-step tutorials for both beginner and more advanced projects.
It’s a lovely book to learn different techniques and also get your creative juices flowing to inspire your projects.
The Artist’s Way
The Artist’s Way is a 12-week creativity course designed for artsy people to work through the exercises and gain artistic inspiration. It’s an art book that aims to teach techniques and help old and young artists alike gain confidence in harnessing their creative talents and skills.
Mad About The House
Kate Watson-Smyth is a design journalist who writes about interiors and design. This is one to add to your book collection with inspiration for every budget. Including ideas on how to work through your home room by room.
Magazines
Magazines make excellent gift ideas for inspiring others as they offer a diverse range of content across various interests. Here are a couple of my favourites…
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The Turquoise Iris Journal
The Turquoise Iris Journal is produced by the artist, Dionne Woods, for the creative community.
The journal is a quarterly digital and print magazine. It aims to empower artists to recognise the value they bring to the world through insightful features, interviews, shopping guides, and in-depth tutorials.
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Daphne’s Diary
Daphne’s Diary is a diary in the form of a magazine. This magazine is charming and cosy as Daphne shares her world of homes and gardens, cooking, travel, crafts and shopping. It often comes with extra art supplies such as stickers and cards.
Maybe a less obvious gift choice for an artist friend but it’s a lovely magazine, that’s filled with warmth and kindness. It’s best read in a quiet house, with a cup of tea and a biscuit. (We can all dream a little bit, right!?).
Quirky Gifts for an Artsy Friend
Want to buy paint or crafting supplies for a friend but not sure what to get? Start small! Often it’s the cheapest but most thoughtful things that are the best ideas as gifts for creative people.
Tester Pots
Some brands, such as Fusion Mineral Paint have small tester pots of paint. Their usual paint range is 500ml and the sample size is 37ml, which is enough to paint a chair.
Tester pots give you the fun of choosing a paint colour (or three!) for someone, without the risk of wasting too much if they don’t like it. Then it’s their choice to splash out on the larger pot if they love it.
Sample Kit
Not sure what the upcycler in your life already has or maybe they want to try a few new things? A sample kit contains a variety of products to get a taste of what they’re like. This Dixie Belle sample kit has two options, either chalk mineral paint and wax or a topcoat, paintbrush and sanding sponge.
Fan Deck
If your painter friend has ever complained about the paint colour not being what they expected, they’re in good company. Phone and computer screens just can’t recreate a paint colour and sometimes you need to see it in real life.
Gifting a fan deck from their preferred brand is a great way to physically see what a paint colour looks like, without buying a tester pot.
Fusion Mineral Paint’s fan deck also comes with recipe cards for how to mix custom colours.
Stencils and Transfers
Want to treat someone to something more exciting than paint? Stencils and transfers add another level to creative projects. They’re an easy level of difficulty for beginners to try out. They might be the right gift and add some wow factor to someone’s work of art.
Gift Card
While gift cards are not creative gifts, they are a practical option. If you’d like to let someone choose for themselves but want it to be more thoughtful than giving money. Choosing a retailer that the recipient likes, is convenient while still showing that you were thinking of them.
It’s the perfect choice as the possibilities are almost endless. You could choose somewhere with lots of products such as Amazon or a paint company they use like Dixie Belle.
Big Gift Ideas for Creative People
Investing in a bigger-ticket gift is worthwhile to make a lasting impression and demonstrate how much thought you have put into it. These gift recommendations bring joy throughout the year.
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Craft Subscription Box
How about a monthly crafting subscription box? Jami Ray Vintage creates boxes for crafts, home decor, thrifted finds and more.
There are lots of subscription box options out there. So, think about what projects would appeal the most. It’s a fun way to spread joy across the year for creative types.
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Patreon
Patreon is a way to financially support content creators.
This thoughtful gift relies on knowing who the creative in your life follows on YouTube and would like to support more. They often provide bonus content just for Patreon backers.
A YouTuber called DIY in Progress provides perks such as early video releases and behind-the-scenes.
If someone you know would appreciate more content, this is a thoughtful way to show them that you know them well.
Gifts for Growing Creative Businesses
A gift of a blogging or social media course is ideal for creative individuals, offering them the tools to reach a wider audience.
Blogging Business Coaching
Consider a mentored mastermind group to get blogging business support. Working 1-1 or in small groups, work through things like how to focus on your goals and how to repurpose your content.
Rank IQ
Still, for bloggers, Rank IQ is an SEO-optimised tool to help bloggers write their content more effectively. If your friend has a blog, this might kick their traffic up a notch.
Pinterest Course
Does your creative friend struggle to find the time to excel at all the social media platforms? Consider a course on Pinterest or Web Stories to learn the best tips, with less trial and error. Or, even hire someone to manage the accounts!
Gifts for Improving Creative Skill
A furniture painting class, whether taken online or in person, makes a great fun gift for a painter by expanding their artistic repertoire. These experiences can teach you practical skills and new techniques.
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Furniture Painting Class
There are classes for all abilities so even if your friend is a seasoned professional, there will be a class for them. Either find a big brand like Annie Sloan or often local professional furniture painters run their own classes. You often take your own furniture to makeover, so leave with something too.
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Painting Membership Group
These are private membership groups run by some of the most talented furniture artists in the business. They are a way to get in-depth, personal lessons and guidance on how they make their works of art. If your friend follows them on YouTube, maybe they’d want to join their group too. Two options are Bella Renovare and Worn To Whimsy.
Tools For Creative People
These are the best tools that I’ve found, based on years of testing. You’ll find examples of how I’ve used all of these tools throughout this website.
Painter’s Pyramids
These pyramids are surprisingly strong little things that keep your furniture up to 90kg/200lbs off of the floor. The advantage is that it allows you to paint to the bottom of a piece and get a smooth finish right to the edge. An affordable and very handy perfect little gift.
Spray Can Handle
This is a handle that you attach to a spray paint can. The trigger grip gives you the whole handle to squeeze instead of just the nozzle. It sprays like normal but without pressure on one finger. The right tools are the ultimate gift if it takes some of the hard work out of it.
Cricut Machine
The Explore 3 can cut more than 300 materials and has tools for writing, scoring, foiling and embellishing. That is a lot of options for projects to try!
Access to Cricut Design Space offers a minimal amount of free content. They now charge a subscription to get access to the vast majority of their designs. You could also gift this subscription as a bonus for someone who doesn’t want to splash out on it themselves.
Punch Hole Locator
Know anyone who gets frustrated by adding handles to a piece? This hardware hole drilling tool takes the guesswork out of it. By measuring the drawer, handle and hole distance, you can accurately plan out the hole location before drilling.
Here’s a video demo of it in action.
Marxman
A Marxman is a great tool to make marking drill holes easy. It shoots a jet of chalk through fixing holes, to show where holes need to be drilled. Then can be wiped off easily before fitting the shelves. Great if you can’t fit a pencil through the fixing hole or if you often find the marks are off-centre.
Carbide Scraper
A carbide scraper is a tough and durable scraper to remove paint and varnish. It’s a fast way to easily remove paint and old finishes without a chemical stripper.
Moving Wheels
These wheels help move furniture around easily. Either when working on it or when transporting it. Ideal for people who often work by themselves.
Locking Wheels
These moving wheels lock into place, so are great for both working on a piece and transporting it. Attach them to a sturdy board to create your own furniture dolly.
Wheelie Stool
A wheelie stool is a great choice to make working more comfortable and convenient. It helps you when working on different sections of furniture without the need for constant standing or walking.
Paintbrush Comb
A paintbrush comb is a great option to separate bristles and allow the easier removal of paint. For the artists who don’t like wasting a lot of time on clean up after the fun creative process.
Furniture Dolly
A furniture dolly helps you to easily move heavy furniture. It also can protect floors from scratches, dents, and scuff marks when moving furniture across floors.
Cordless Glue Gun
A cordless glue gun is so useful due to its portability and flexibility. Without the constraints of a cord, it allows you to work on projects without being near an electrical outlet.
I hope these quirky gift ideas for creative people give you new ideas when buying the best gifts for your artsiest friends this year. If you have a great gift idea for any kind of artist, please share it below with others.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.
If you found these gift ideas for creative people useful, you might also like the must-haves for upcycling.
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Hi there! I'm Rachel Bowyer, a passionate DIY enthusiast with a knack for transforming the old into something beautifully new. With a deep love for furniture painting, refinishing, and the art of crafting. I've been documenting my DIY projects and restoration journey since 2018. I specialise in techniques like decoupage, stencilling, and decor transfers. Join me as we explore the world of creativity and home improvement, one project at a time.
Very informative! Just downloaded the Christmas restore mag to have a look at 🙂 if I find more craft projects I’ll be blaming you haha
Kirsty x
Thanks Kirsty. You’ll be contributing to the magazine before long with all of your ideas!
What great suggestions! I would love to have all of the books!!! Maybe I will be sharing your blog with my husband hint, hint, lol!!!
Haha please do! The books are all great but Restore is lovely for pretty photos.
You found so many great ideas for gifts for people who like to upcycle.
Thank you, hopefully a few unusual ideas too.
What great ideas, Rachel! I had not idea there were so many books and magazines available as resources for up cyclers. Amazing (first) Gift Guide … you knocked it out of the park. Congrats! xo
Thank you so much, Juliet <3
What a thoughtful and informative post! I would love to have all of the books!
Thank you! The books are all great.
I would love to get any of these gifts. Great ideas.
Great ideas!!
What a great list and I wouldn’t have thought of these. Thanks for sharing.
Perfect, I hoped some of them were a bit unusual.
Amazing upcycle ideas! Super creative!
Thanks!