If You Can Do Woodturning or Other Woodworking, You Can Make...

Woodturned objects have a beautiful, polished finish that for stunning gifts. If you have the tools and skills to craft gifts from wood, you can make some truly amazing keepsakes.

HOME DECOR

The dinner table is a good place to start. You can go as big as serving dishes or as small as egg cups, branch out to salt shakers and utensils, or create candle holders or a decorative bowl or a cutting board shaped to reflect a particular interest of your recipient.

Other decor for around the house include picture frames, interesting wall hangings, sconces, potpourri holders, bookshelves, and jewelry or other organizations boxes. A skilled wood crafted with enough time and material could even make a toy chest, footlocker, wardrobe, desk, or rocking chair. Some items can be repurposed; I know a woman who gets old,worn furniture like cabinets, pulls them apart, cleans the pieces up, and uses them to build something new, like a dresser or a headboard.

HOBBY HELP

It's great fun to use your own hobby to further another's. An online friend of mine shows some such items in her blog post here. You can make drop spindles for people who spin yarn, pens for writers, yarn bowls for knitters and crocheters, easels for artists, or cups or pegboards to hold tools for a variety of crafters. Having been the recipient of such a gift, I can attest that it makes doing my own hobby extra special to use something a friend created.

I received this pen as a gift shortly after one of my children was born.
Every entry in the baby book has been written with it.

TOYS

Wooden trains are the obvious choice here, but don't feel you have to stick with them if you want to try other ideas. My great-grandfather built my aunt a dollhouse about four decades ago, and once my aunt grew up, my cousins and I have taken turns playing with it ourselves or having it for our own kids. Currently, it has some handmade wooden furniture in it as well.

He put in the wallpaper and clear plastic in the windows, too. 

Wood also lends itself to other small toys, like pretend food, small dolls and action figures, sets of animals (a Noah's Ark theme would work especially well), puzzles, board games (a wooden chess set is beautiful),  and blocks. Painted or unpainted, they can add a lot to a child's pretend play.

Another relative, my grandfather's cousin, made this Nativity puzzle: it has Jesus, Mary, Joseph,
three wise men, a shepherd, a camel, a donkey, an ox, and two sheep.

HOLIDAY

A handmade menorah or kinara is a prime candidate for a family heirloom (of course, make sure your recipient doesn't already have a sentimental one to use). Bowls carved with appropriate themes are great for any feast or harvest celebration. If the holiday has specific games or activities, maybe there's a wooden item to make, like a dreidel for Hanukkah. Christmas ornaments open a wide range of ideas, a few of which can be seen on the blog I linked to before, in this post.

Of course, not all holidays are gift-giving occasions. But if you know your recipient loves Halloween, for example, a bowl in the shape of a pumpkin or jack-o-lantern for passing out trick-or-treat candy could work well.

Gifts for: a Wedding

Of course, your best bet for a wedding gift is something from the registry. I know some people feel registries are impersonal, tacky, or even selfish, but they're very useful. A wedding invitation isn't a demand for a gift, or even an appearance (rare boorish cases aside). People getting married want to celebrate, and people excited for them tend to want to give gifts. Registries are great for ensuring you buy what the couple can use and enjoy, and to avoid duplicate gifts. But some couples don't use registries, and sometimes you might want to add a personal touch

STOREBOUGHT

If nothing on the registry stands out to you, a gift card to the store is a good idea. Most places that offer registries also have a completion discount, providing the newly-weds a discount on any unpurchased items after the wedding. Cash is good for this too. One of my uncles, having already given us use of his and my aunt's beach-front house for a honeymoon weekend, handed me a stack of bills at the reception, for "gas money"--almost three times what the fuel actually cost. We were very grateful.

In general, gift cards can be useful. Not just to housewares stores either; grocery stores, home improvement stores, restaurants, or for places or events you know the couple likes. 

If you know what the couple likes to do, or where they're going on their honeymoon, you can buy something to facilitate that. Foreign currency for a trip abroad, money for exotic vaccines before overseas travel, a collage picture frame or photo album, tickets to an event, passes for an attraction like a museum, zoo, or sports event--something to help them enjoy their time together.

For couples who are setting up their first home together, housewares are certainly appreciated. If there's no registry to guide you, buying things intended to match, like plates, is tricky. But individual serving platters or bowls or seasonal hand towels or other "one at a time" items could work. For one of my cousins, I found a set of drinking glasses with the logo of her and her husband's favorite sports team: they would like it, and it wouldn't matter if they didn't match their place settings because they were more of a novelty items. Include a gift receipt just in case.

You can also make up a gift basket to stock up a pantry (flour, sugar, etc), bathroom (soap, lotion, shampoo), first aid kit, cleaning supplies; or something more fun like a date night.

HANDMADE

In general, I prefer to make small things as accents to registry items. When I was invited to a wedding last summer, I bought some towels from the registry, green and brown, and knit washcloths to compliment them.

Similarly, my mom often knits seven dishcloths, one for each day of the week, and puts them inside a baking dish bought from the registry. Or adds potholders, embroidered towels, and other kitchen goodies.

There are a lot of things you can add to wedding gifts. Think of what you can make that can be used in a home: picture frames, kitchen utensils, throw pillows, decor, etc. Maybe even a handmade card.

The groom loves dinosaurs. I drew the scales by writing their initials over and over.

And decorated these toys to be a bride and groom.

When someone close to me is getting married, I do a bit more, usually to the tune of a knit blanket in the wedding colors. We got one from a family member embroidered with our wedding date, and still have it over a decade later, so I like to give blankets too. One friend in particular had been through rough patch and things finally started looking up for her. I felt like spoiling her a bit, so I made a blanket in the wedding colors, plus dishcloths, pillowcases embroidered with the wedding date, and bought two registry items in the wedding colors.

They use the decorative box to hold sentimental things.

The point of a wedding gift is to show the couple that you're excited for them and want them to have a happy life together. Keep that in mind, and you'll find the inspiration you need.