Make them happy while keeping them busy with gifts for the DIYer on a budget.
Our editors and experts handpick every product we feature. We may earn a commission from your purchases.Learn more.
Make them happy while keeping them busy with gifts for the DIYer on a budget.
Our editors and experts handpick every product we feature. We may earn a commission from your purchases.Learn more.
Everyone drops something now and again, especially small hard-to-handle things like nuts, bolts, nails and screws. This package of four telescoping magnetic rods will help them pick up anything metallic that’s gotten away from them, whether it’s on the floor or in a tight space. Each of the rods is a different size; the largest size shrinks down to a compact 7.2 inches, making it easy to stash in a pocket or tool belt, and extends to 30.9 inches.
It’s important to be well equipped when exploring the great wild yonder. This 10-in-one camping tool is small enough to clip onto a carabiner, making it hard for them to forget it when they’re rushing off towards their next adventure. It features a replaceable ferro rod for starting fires, a flathead screwdriver, a tensioner and cutter for ropes, openers for cans and bottles, a tent peg puller, a scraper, a sundial and a saw.
The genius of this keychain utility knife from Screwpop is its size and simplicity. It’s not much bigger than a standard utility blade, but they’ll find themselves using it almost daily to open letters, boxes and all sorts of stubborn packaging. It’s magnetic, making it easy to stick to an office filing cabinet or on the side of their refrigerator. They’re a smart gift for fishermen to keep in their tackle boxes, too!
Home Made Luxe offers monthly subscription boxes that contain everything they’ll need to make a gorgeous Pinterest-inspired craft every month. Along with the materials, they’ll receive detailed step-by-step instructions, as well as video instructions to make sure they’re doing everything correctly. You can sign them up for a three- or six-month subscription, but if you’re looking for gifts for a DIYer on budget, you can also send them a single, one-time-only kit.
Anyone who loves sewing should always have a fabric measuring tape close at hand, just in case they find themselves in the vicinity of a fabric store or thrift shop. This stylish, flexible measuring tape comes in a blue, faux-leather case printed with white dogs, and easily spools in and out whenever they need to make a quick measurement.
Gardening is a highly physical hobby, and using a stool can save your favorite gardener a lot of aches and pains. This gift for gardeners combines a folding chair with a tool bag, so they can keep everything they need to tend to their garden close at hand. Two carrying handles and lightweight construction make it easy for almost anyone to tote around, and with 21 pockets and a large catch-all interior, they’ll be able to bring along everything they need for a nice day outside.
Know someone who’s constantly remodeling their house, or always has something going in the garage? The Porter Cable mini impact palm nailer is small enough to fit in an apron, and its compact design gets it into corners and spaces where their nail gun or hammer can’t go.
If there’s someone in your life who loves their table saw, they need a set of mag shims from FastCap. Magnetic shims (or simply mag shims) are 1/8-inch magnetic spacers, so if they need a blade height of 7/8 inches, all they’ll need to do is stack seven spacers and raise the blade to match. Foolproof! They also work well for setting the depth on router bits and drill presses, making this one of the best gifts for woodworkers.
They’ll love having an illuminated book nook in their home library, and they’ll love it even more when they’ve made it themselves! Once assembled, these 3D wooden storybook puzzles turn into decorative reading lights that glow softly. Choose between four different fanciful scenes: Time Travel, Magic House, Sakura Densya and Sunshine Town.
These cordable twist ties are one our favorite ways to manage the mess of cords on our desks and in our workshops. They’re little rubberized cables that hold their shape when wrapped around cords. They have a stretchy loop on one end that fits over a USB plug, which keeps the tie attached so it doesn’t get lost. If you know someone whose cord situation has gone crazy, they’ll thank you forever for these gifts for the DIYer on a budget!
A shop apron, like this thick canvas option, will protect your favorite DIYer from dust, paint spills, spackling debacles and other mishaps. The top pocket is the ideal size for a cell phone, and the two additional spacious pockets can hold a square, marking devices, notepads and other essential tools as your DIYer gets busy on home renovations. Any handy person will be thrilled with this gift because they won’t have to throw out as many ruined shop clothes.
This brilliantly bright headlamp floods an area with plenty of light while keeping their hands free, making it a must-have for hunters, hikers, campers or anyone who works in dark spaces. Its 10 LED lights emit 22,000 lumens, illuminating things up to 1,000 feet away. On a full charge, it can run from three to six hours, so they don’t have to end their adventures once the sun goes down.
This personalized hammer is meant for the handy person you hold closest to your heart. One side of the natural wooden handle comes engraved with your choice of two different messages: “If [their name here] can’t fix it, nobody can” or “[their name here], I love building memories with you.” Your name will be engraved on the other side, so they’ll always remember who the sweet sentiment came from.
These grain and suede mittens fit like gloves—they’re comfortable, tough, water-resistant and, best of all, warm. The inside of the mittens pairs up the index and middle finger and gives the ring and pinkie their own compartment. They’re ideal for winter sports, outdoor work or simply staying warm!
When there’s a big job to be done, there are often a lot of tools to be used. It’ll be easier for them to keep track of them all—and carry around with them—if they have this heavy-duty organizer from Bucket Boss. It fits around any standard 5-gallon bucket, and gives them a whopping 30 pockets to get their gear in order, along with three interior loops for long-handled tools.
While there’s plenty of excellent multi-tools out there, few can handle firewood—but this axe multi-tool from Stansport can! In addition to having an axe for chopping wood, it also has useful outdoor tools, like a mini mallet for nailing down tent pegs, a screwdriver, cutting blades and more. It even has a carrying bag that secures to your belt loop, so you can take it anywhere.
If they’ve ever dreamed of building your own cabin, they need to read Cabin Lessons: A Nail-by-Nail Tale. This book recounts their entertaining and instructive story of married couple Spike and Kat Carlsen as they build their dream cabin together, with plenty of lessons for a would-be cabin or house builder. It’s also a meditation by a kind, modest and genuinely funny guy on building a marriage, a blended family and a life. It’s guaranteed to make them smile.
When you live in a small space, there’s no room for a garage’s worth of tools. This universal socket tool does the job of an entire ratchet set without taking up almost any room, easily fitting into a small tool box alongside their other DIY essentials. It makes a fantastic stocking stuffer, too!
Sure, a funnel works great at keeping fluids from spilling all over, but when you’re done pouring and pull it out of the hole, the fluid leftover in the funnel drips all over the place. The FloTool on-off refill spout will prevent that from happening. There’s no mess and no cap to fumble around with—just twist and pour.
This sleek, minimalist planter adds a touch of greenery to their space without taking up much room, and with its stunning design, it’s sure to stand out. They can use it to create fresh floral arrangements, grow herbs to use in their kitchen or propagate cuttings for replanting in indoor pots.