There is a particular kind of gift that people remember long after the wrapping paper has gone in the bin. It is the one that someone made. A painted frame holding a family photo, a plant pot in the colour of your sister’s kitchen, a tray that ended up on the coffee table and stayed there for years. Handmade gifts carry time and thought in a way that a shop-bought item rarely does, and they usually cost far less.
Chalk paint is one of the easiest ways to make them. It sticks to most surfaces with very little preparation, dries quickly, and gives a soft matte finish that looks considered even when the project took an afternoon. This guide covers what you need, which gifts work best, how to choose colours, how to seal your work so it lasts, and how to plan your timing so everything is ready before Christmas.
Why Chalk Paint Suits Handmade Gifts
Most DIY gift projects fail for the same few reasons. They take too long, they need specialised preparation, or the finish looks homemade in the wrong way. Chalk paint avoids all three.
It adheres to wood, MDF, terracotta, glass, metal, ceramics and many other surfaces without sanding or priming in most cases. It dries to the touch quickly, which means you can finish a small project in a single sitting. And the matte, slightly chalky finish hides small imperfections, so a first attempt still looks polished.
Granny B’s Old Fashioned Paint comes in over 65 colours and in 50ml, 125ml, 500ml and 1 litre sizes. For gift making, the smaller sizes are the useful ones. A 50ml or 125ml tin goes a surprisingly long way on small items, so you can buy exactly what your projects need rather than a large tin that sits in the garage afterwards.
What You Need Before You Start
The supply list for gift projects is short.
You need chalk paint in the colours you have chosen, a few brushes in different sizes, fine sandpaper for smoothing between coats and for distressing, a clean cloth for wiping away dust, and a sealer. Wax gives a soft, tactile finish suited to decorative pieces. Armour gives a harder, more durable finish for anything that will be handled often.
If you plan to make several gifts, the Squeeze & Paint Primary Colours pack is a useful starting point. It contains five 250ml squeeze bottles in Red Heart Love, General Lee, Daffodil, GI Jane and Blueberry Pie. The squeeze bottle makes it easy to dispense small amounts onto a palette, which is exactly what small projects need, and the five colours can be mixed to create many more.
Handmade Gift Ideas to Paint With Chalk Paint
Picture Frames
A painted frame holding a favourite photo is one of the most dependable handmade gifts there is. Wooden frames take chalk paint beautifully, and plastic and metal frames work just as well with a light scuff first. Choose a colour that suits the recipient’s home, add a light distress on the corners for a vintage feel, and seal with wax. Paint a set of three in coordinated shades for a gallery wall gift.
Wooden Trays and Serving Boards for Display
A plain wooden tray becomes a gift with one or two coats of colour. Add a stencil in a contrasting shade for a personal touch. The Granny B’s stencil range includes designs that suit flat surfaces like trays. Remember that chalk paint is not meant to touch food directly. Treat these as trays for candles, keys, remote controls or a pot of tea on a liner, not for placing food straight onto the painted surface.
Plant Pots and Planters
Terracotta pots are among the easiest and most forgiving surfaces for chalk paint. A painted pot with a small indoor plant, a herb or a succulent is a gift that works for almost anyone. Paint a trio in a colour family, or write the recipient’s name on the front with a stencil. Seal outdoor pots with Armour, as chalk paint alone is not weatherproof, and let the sealer cure fully before planting.
Wooden Christmas Ornaments
Flat wooden shapes such as stars, trees, hearts and bells are inexpensive and quick to paint. Two thin coats of colour, a small stencilled detail or a hand-drawn pattern, and a loop of twine make a set of ornaments that can be given on their own or tucked into a card. Painting a dozen in an afternoon is entirely realistic. For a classic look, use deep green, red and warm white. For something more modern, try soft blue, mushroom and cream.
Glass Jars and Candle Holders
Chalk paint adheres to glass, so plain jars, vases and candle holders can be transformed into decorative gifts. Because you are often painting only part of the surface, a small tin goes very far. Add a ribbon, a handwritten tag and a candle for a simple, thoughtful gift. Use these for decoration and keep candles well away from any painted surface that could be exposed to heat directly.
Wooden Crates and Boxes
Small wine crates and wooden boxes make excellent gift packaging that doubles as a gift in its own right. Paint one in a colour the recipient loves, fill it with treats, a plant or a few small items, and the container becomes part of the present. They also make useful storage afterwards, which is a nice touch.
Personalised Signs and Name Plaques
A small wooden plaque painted in one colour and stencilled with a name, a family surname, a house number or a short phrase makes a personal gift for a new home or a family member. Stencils make this easy even if you are not confident with lettering. Work slowly, use a small amount of paint on the brush, and lift the stencil carefully so the edges stay crisp.
Jewellery and Trinket Boxes
Plain wooden trinket boxes are inexpensive and take paint well. A soft colour on the outside, a contrasting colour on the inside, and a coat of wax give a gift that looks far more expensive than it was. They suit sisters, friends and colleagues, and are easy to make in multiples.
Ceramic Mugs and Bowls for Display
Painted ceramics make lovely decorative gifts. Use them for display, for holding pens or small items, or as a pot for a plant, rather than for daily food and drink. Chalk painted ceramics are best treated as decorative pieces even when sealed.
Kids’ Painting Kits
Not every handmade gift has to be finished. A box containing a few unpainted wooden shapes, a couple of small bottles of paint, a brush and a simple instruction card is a gift for a child to enjoy on a rainy holiday afternoon. The paint is lead-free and low in VOCs, which makes it comfortable for family craft sessions, though children should always paint with adult supervision.
Choosing Colours for Christmas Gifts
Colour choice is what makes a handmade gift feel intentional. A few approaches work well.
The traditional palette uses deep green, red and warm white. Granny B’s GI Jane, Red Heart Love and a soft white give you a classic Christmas look that suits ornaments, crates and gift boxes.
For a modern, softer look, choose muted tones like Blueberry Pie, Mushroom, Dove Grey and Vanilla Cream. These suit frames, pots and trays that will stay in a home long after the festive season.
For a bright, cheerful approach, mix Daffodil and General Lee with Blueberry Pie. They suit children’s gifts and summer outdoor items, which is relevant here, since Christmas in South Africa arrives with the long days and bright light of midsummer.
If you want a colour that is not in the range, mix your own. The five colours in the Squeeze & Paint Primary Colours pack can be blended to produce a wide range of shades. Keep a note of your ratios so you can match the colour if you need more.
Sealing Your Gifts So They Last
A handmade gift should survive more than a few weeks, and sealing is what makes the difference.
Wax suits decorative pieces such as frames, ornaments, trinket boxes and display items. It gives a soft, smooth finish and deepens the colour slightly. Apply with a clean cloth or wax brush, work it into the surface, and buff off the excess.
Armour is the better choice for anything handled often, anything that may meet moisture, and anything going outdoors. It dries to a harder, more washable finish. Apply two coats and allow full drying time between them.
Do not wrap a piece until the sealer has had time to cure. Wax and Armour may feel dry to the touch within hours, but they continue to harden over several days. Wrapping too early can leave marks or stick to the paper. As a guide, finish each gift at least a week before you plan to give it.
Plan Your Timing
Christmas arrives faster than most people expect, and a handmade gift made in a rush shows. A simple timeline helps.
Over the next week, decide what you will make, and order any paint, sealer, brushes and stencils you need. Ordering early matters because online parcels take longer to arrive in December.
By mid November, paint your first batch, starting with the items that need the most time, such as larger boxes and crates.
By the end of November, finish the sealing and let everything cure.
In early December, wrap, tag and pack, leaving the final weeks free for the rest of the season.
Gifts for Someone Who Paints
Not everyone wants to make gifts. Some people want to give them to a painter, and the Granny B’s range suits that too. A few ideas include a Squeeze & Paint pack for someone who loves craft and colour mixing, a good brush paired with a small tin of a colour they have been talking about, a stencil with a sealer for a project-ready set, or a few small tins in a colour family with a handwritten note about what they could paint first.
Individual 250ml Squeeze & Paint bottles are also available at R119.00 each, which makes it easy to build a gift to any budget.
Selling Handmade Gifts
If you plan to sell painted pieces at a Christmas market or online, the same approach scales well. Small items like ornaments, plant pots, trinket boxes and name plaques are quick to produce in batches, and a consistent colour palette makes a stall look cohesive. Buying paint in a size that matches your volume keeps costs down, and the stockist network is useful if you prefer to collect supplies locally.
Where to Buy Everything You Need
All the products mentioned here are available online at grannyb.co.za with free delivery on orders over R699. You can browse the Squeeze & Paint collection, the brush range and the stencil range in one visit. If you would rather shop in person, use the stockist finder to find a retailer near you, and visit the tutorials page for project inspiration and technique guides.
Final Thoughts
The best handmade gifts are not the most complicated ones. They are the ones where the maker chose the colour and the item with a particular person in mind. Chalk paint makes that easy, because the paint does a lot of the work and the finish looks good even on a first attempt.
Start with one or two simple projects, choose colours you like, seal them properly, and give yourself enough time. By Christmas you will have a pile of gifts that no shop could have sold you.
Browse the full colour range at grannyb.co.za and get started on your gifts this weekend.