Handmade Gifts for the Music-Lover in Your Life
2026 is the year for thrifting and changing your consumption habits. Valentine’s Day, the holiday famed for mindless consumerism, may seem daunting for people trying to follow this mission. Even if this isn’t your resolution for the year, maybe you don’t have the money to fork over for stuff from the store, and that’s okay. There are so many gifts you can make using materials from around the house or the thrift store. I assure you that your partner will love the creativity and resourcefulness it took to piece it together. Most of the time, a partner will even love a homemade item more than a cheap card or chocolate heart.
However, if you’re having trouble coming up with ideas for the music lover in your life, here are some ideas I encourage you to steal:
Playlist Burnt CD
If you have the skills and materials for this idea, I am jealous of you. I have not made this myself but one of my favorite gifts I’ve ever received was a burnt CD of a playlist my best friend and I made. You can harvest a jewel case from a thrift store CD and make your own cover for it. Handwrite the track list on the CD for a personal touch.
Alternatively: a playlist album
If you like the idea from above but don’t have any of those materials, I offer this alternative. Grab notecards, scrap paper, anything, and cut them to all be the same size. Hole punch three holes in every one and use scrap yarn or string to tie them into a little book. Print pictures, draw, and write a page-by-page playlist of songs that remind you of your partner.
Homemade Band Patches -
This is another one that is such a good use of resources. If you sew, you can use your scrap fabric. If you don’t sew, then you can use old fabric from around your house or cut up a thrift store shirt that won’t sell (think: matching family trip shirts) or even old sheets. What I like to do is find the design I want from google images, turn up the screen really bright, and trace that onto heavy paper. Then use an X-acto knife to cut out the letters. Stretch the fabric onto a piece of cardboard, then tape your template onto it. Mix a bit of fabric softener into acrylic paint and use that to fill in your design. This idea is great for making designs that you want to see and turning scraps into something functional.
Paper Jars
Do you save your glass sauce or jam jars obsessively for “future use”? Well, if you do, then you’re halfway there for this craft. Take a sheet of paper, reused or new, cut it into little rectangles (think: fortune cookie paper size). Choose a theme, think: “our songs”, “lyrics that remind me of you”, or even “albums/songs to listen to when you’re in a music slump”. In your best handwriting, write the name of the theme you chose on a new rectangle and tape that to the front of the jar. Fill out the little rectangles, fold them in half, and fill the jar. If you have stickers, decorate the outside of the jar with them. If you don’t draw hearts and them attach those to the outside of the jar too.
Painted Records
If your goal is to be environmentally conscious AND thoughtful, then start with a trip to the thrift store. They are so full of scratched, warped, and generally unusable records that you’ll have your pick. Take a couple home and run the discs under the sink to get the dust off. I personally like to sand the center label; it’ll make it show through the paint less. Paint something that reminds you of your partner; lyrics, visuals, anything your heart desires. I love to turn them into disco balls and cover them up with glitter for a fun decoration. If you have Mod Podge and a printer, you could even make the record into a lyric collage.
Re-imagine a Lyric
If you don’t happen to have many craft materials, there’s always the old paper and pencil for you. Make a piece inspired by one of their favorite songs/albums/artists. One of my favorite examples used the line: “maple syrup/coffee/pancakes for two/hashbrowns/egg yolk (Harry Styles -“Keep Driving”)” and made a whole fake restaurant receipt for it. Whatever you do, make it personal for you two and make it creative.
Custom ticket I made a of couple years ago for my sister.
Custom Ticket
This very idea is one of my absolute favorite gifts to give. Before the age of Ticketmaster wars and ridiculous service fees, concert-goers used to get a physical ticket. This practice has died out, but many concert fanatics yearn for these small, physical mementos of a fun night. If you’re able to draw a straight line, try making these out of heavy paper and your best handwriting. What I typically do involves making it on a photo editing software, printing it, cutting it to size, and “laminating” it - using packing tape to envelop the ticket. These are amazing bookmarks or as decorations on the wall.
Beaded Keychains
It’s that time of year when some of your favorite artists will drop a set of matching valentines keychains on their website, it’s imperative you do not buy those because you can make even cuter oners. I know some of you went to the Eras tour, went crazy buying beads, and have now had them sitting around for a couple years. Some of you may just make kandi for fun. If you’re neither of the above, repurpose beaded jewelry and old keychains from the thrift store. Take beads and some elastic string and make them into matching lyric keychains. If you need some lyric ideas:
“Half Doomed” and “Semi-Sweet” (“Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes” - Fall Out Boy)
“Run Away With Me” and “Anytime You Want” (“Summertime” - My Chemical Romance)
“Molly” and “Desmond” (“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” - The Beatles)
“Strange as Angels” and “Just Like Heaven” (“Just Like Heaven” - The Cure)
