Young Adults and Beyond Crafty Gift Ideas (Series)

May 19, 2022 |
Collage of crafting kits covered in the Young Adults and Beyond Crafting Gift Guide with title text "Young Adults & Beyond Crafty Gift Guide"

The final age range in our Complete Crafty Gift Ideas, A Series of Gift Guides by Age is Young Adults and Beyond!  This age range is when I really started getting my feet wet in the various craft sciences. There are so many amazing crafty gift ideas, art kits, and resources out there to serve as a tasting platter of creativity. I used to always find myself wanting to try something new, but having no idea where to start or what to buy. That’s where are all these fun “supplies included” gifts come into play… try it before you go all in. You’re giving the gift of variety, self discovery, and a healthy dose of challenge. When you step outside your comfort zone, you stand to discover a whole new world!  This is obviously our biggest age range yet, so I am going to try to cover crafting kits for fun smaller projects and tech for those crafting veterans who are ready to take things to the next level. Mmm… delicious. Let’s begin.

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Several needle felting projects including a rabbit on a swing, a kitten, cacti, and a box of supplies

Needle Felting

This is one of those hobbies that is high on my crafty gift wish list.  I have always wanted to try it, but I haven’t taken the leap just yet. I have, however, gifted several small sets to friends and needle felted vicariously through them.  These Artec360 Kits are particularly squee-inducing and surely worth a gander.  From their beginners line, this Cactus / Succulents Kit is adorable and perfect for the plant lover in your life. Wait until you see this Stretching Kitten or the Swinging Rabbit. I mean, I can’t even.  Their full line is here, and it includes Christmas crafts!  You can also snag this awesome Needle Felting Starter Kit by Woolbuddy which features a ton of supplies and step by step instructions for a variety of projects.

A collage showing DIY kits for making tea blends, chocolates hot sauce, and more.

Food Stuffs

Being creative isn’t limited to just the crafting room, sometimes it’s all about delicious, handmade noms. With that in mind, here are a few fun DIY kits that would make excellent crafty gifts for that kitchen creative person in your life.  Starting with this DIY Chocolate and Candy Making Kit by Grow and Make, which looks delicious.  If you are not into sweets, then maybe their Artisan DIY BBQ Sauce Kit is right up your alley.   Depending on what direction your love of spice goes, DIY Gift Kits offers this Hot Sauce Kit, whereas Solstice Tea Traders has a DIY Tea Sampler Kit to help you find your perfect custom blend.  (Psst… if your gift recipient is 21+, there are even gin, spirits, and beer kits worth taking a look at.)


Hand Lettering Kit shown with everything needed to get started, below it is a nice tin of dual brush tip markers

Hand Lettering

Have you ever watched those hypnotizing videos of people mastering hand lettering and making it look easy peasy lemon squeezey?  Hand Lettering is super popular, and there are lots of fun kits and amazing pens to help you on your way to gorgeous personalized art.  This Hand Lettering Kit by Wildflower Art Studio has everything you need to get started including a watercolor set, paintbrush, chalk lettering supplies, and so much more!  You can also try your hand (lettering) with this gorgeous set of 100 Dual Brush Pens.  They come in a nice little tin for easy gift wrapping, and they would pair up perfectly with an Adult Coloring Book. Crafty gift combo for the win!

Two different adult coloring books can be seen with animal themes, surrounded by gel pens and prisma colors

Adult Coloring Books

Adult Coloring Books are gorgeous, enjoyable meditative books that feature gorgeous intricate designs.  I have been looking forward to snuggling up with Jade Summer’s 100 Animals Adult Coloring Book and my “treat yo self” set of Prisma Colors.  (Am I the only one who has been obsessed with these since grade school?)  I’ve also found that gel pens like this giant set of 120 Shuttle Art Gel Pens work wonderfully and can’t wait to try them out on this 3 book set of adult coloring books by Creatively Calm Studios.


Fiber Arts

Bust out the yarn because it’s time to decide: are you Team Crochet? Team Knit? Team Weaver?  There is only one way to find out, and I’m here to help you with lots of great tools and adorable kits for that perfect crafty gift.

Assortment of Crochet Kits featuring Frozen, Marvel, Star Wars, and Disney Princesses

Crochet

My mom taught me how to crochet at a young age, and that’s probably why it is and will always be my favorite.  This line of character crochet kits is always a big hit when it comes to crafty gifts for the young adults in my life.


DFWCS_Young-Adult-Crafty-Gift-Guide_Knitting-H

Knitting

Next up is knitting!  My mom taught herself how to knit, first starting out by creating hats on these neat knitting loom sets and then moving over to ye ol’ knitting needles.  She loved the speed of the projects, and we all looooved the results.

If you are ready for more traditional knitting projects, there is an entire line of Harry Potter Knitting projects, including this Gryffindor Scarf Kit, that are sure to be a crafty gift crowd pleaser for any Harry Potter fan.

Table top loom with colorful blue green project on the loom and yarn with tools nearby

Weaving

Last but certainly not least, weaving!  There seems to be a loom for everything: from pin looms to lap looms and over to this gorgeous Schacht Cricket Loom (drool), you can easily find the perfect loom to fit the size of your project, the size of your crafting space, or the size of your budget!  (There are even more looms on the full list, too.)


Bath, Body & Candles

These DIY kits are sure to clean up at Christmas.  Homemade Health and Beauty products are not only an affordable way to pamper, they can also be very accommodating for folks who struggle with allergies, harsh scents/fragrances, dyes or chemicals. (Don’t forget to compare your recipient’s individual sensitivities/allergies to the ingredients used in the different kits when deciding which would be the best fit! I’ve included several variations.)

An assortment of bath, body, and candle kits with everything you need to get started with your new craft

This Deluxe DIY Cocoa Butter Craft Kit by Grow and Make is a great way to get started creating your own custom skin care, and you’ll find your relaxation options are endless when using DIY Bath Bomb Craft Kits. Maybe a Lip Balm Craft Kit or Candle Kit is more your speed, but there are also many, many more crafty gift ideas for the bath & body category included on the Young Adults and Beyond full amazon list


Added Bonus: You may even get some kickbacks if these crafty gifts take off as full blown hobbies! (I am suggesting a full intervention the minute you notice glitter wandering into those bath bombs, though.)

Craft Tech

Once again, I’m running out of space and I still have about 30 browser tabs open full of crafty gift ideas and crafting kits for adults. But, before I go, I am going to wrap this up with the juiciest category yet: Craft Tech. All those awesome gadgets and gizmos that make even the biggest projects more manageable, and dare I say it? More fun! I have a serious weakness for craft tech, y’all.


a mini projector sits in the palm of someone's hand

Projector

The Pico Projector is perfect for the artist in your life who works in both tiny scale and big. This gadget is small enough to sit in the palm of your hand, wifi and bluetooth enabled, super bright, and has a fantastic picture.  It even has its own touchpad and browser. Bakers love this projector for taking their detailing game to the next level. 

Bonus Perk: Projectors are helpful for a variety of projects including murals, wood working, and just plain fun. Movie night under the stars? Um… don’t mind if I do!


Brother 1034D serger is shown with colorful guide lines

Sewing & Embroidery

One of my favorite tools is the serger. The ease and speed that a serger can blast through projects is amazing! It’s absolutely mandatory for sewing knits, and it can turn out blankets and all sorts of projects in just minutes flat. The only learning curve is threading that sucker, but that’s what YouTube tutorials and therapy are for. (Just kidding!  It’s not that bad.)  I love both Janome and Brother sergers like this 1034D.

Machine Embroidery

Machine Embroidery brings a whole new level of detail and customization to your projects. And I’m happy to report that embroidery machines have come a long way from the days of using third party card readers and software that only worked when you were perfectly balanced on your head.  What you are going to want to pay attention to is hoop size, design transfer (usb etc), and licensing.


Brother PE800 Embroidery Machine with 5X7 design area

The Brother SE600 is a sewing machine / embroidery combo machine that offers the basic 4 X 4 design size, whereas the Brother PE800 is a much faster, professional grade embroidery-only machine offering a whooping 138 stitches, and–most importantly–a larger, more flexible 5 X 7 design area. You can bring your own designs to both of these machines as well as purchase Disney designs.

The cameo 4, curio, alta, and mint are shown as an example of sihouette products

Silhouette

I have had my Silhouette Cameo for years, and I still use it on an almost monthly basis. This magic multi-craft machine has helped me DIY my way through batch after batch of birthday party decorations, dozens of custom cards and invitations, t-shirts, stickers, temporary tattoos, custom dish towels, felt projects, school decorations, art projects, and more.

Silhouette offers a variety of supplemental gadgets to help you take your cutting game to the next level including the Mint for making custom stamps, and the Curio for etching, embossing, and cutting thicker materials.  They even have the Alta, a 3D printer.


The cricut explore air and the cricut maker stacked against each other

Cricut

Cricut, tired of sitting on the customization sidelines, seems to have really brought it with The Cricuit Air 2, but The Cricuit Maker is what really blew me out of the water. The number of materials it can cut with virtually no prep is amazing.  No more backing your fabric and then fighting the machine to process it without destroying it.  You can even cut wood!  I haven’t tried these new Cricuits personally, but I will say they look NOTHING like your grandma’s Cricuit of yore—wait, am I the grandma in this comparison!? Check out Cricut.com for a full array of crafting machines to hone your crafting superpowers.

As you can imagine, you can find a tremendous number of starter bundles available for both the Silhouette and Cricut. Which one suits your fancy will depend entirely on what type of projects you want to start out with.


The cricut easypress stacked against the full size powerpress

Accessorize

For the crafter who already has a multi-machine, there are many helpful accessories that make excellent crafty gifts. For someone who works with vinyl transfers, a nice back-lit light pad can help with the ease of weeding all those intricate details. Some crafters might need a small, portable heat press for occasional garment work, whereas others may need some next level, professional assistance from something a little more heavy duty, like a PowerPress. Oh my, the crafters slope, it’s a slippery one. Don’t worry, though, you’ll be landing on a bed of wool roving, next to a waterfall of heat transfer vinyl, listening to the melodic sounds of your multi machine cutting all your worries away.

…More?

If you haven’t found what you are looking for yet, do not despair! I have many more crafty gift ideas for young adults and beyond on my FULL Young Adults and Beyond List on Amazon. You can also check out the Complete Crafty Gift Ideas, A Series of Gift Guides by Age for help with creative inspiration for all age ranges!


banner showing various other crafts from the full amazon gift list including lap looms, felt kits, glass kits and more

When in doubt, DIY your Crafty Gift

If you still find yourself thinking “yeah, but I could put together a better crafty gift,” then I fully encourage you to slap together your very own Crafting Kit! Make a list of everything you use to get the job done, and balance the kit out with some affordable supplies mixed with the brands you love and a fun, engaging book on how to dive in. Sure, there’s tutorials online and videos aplenty, but nothing beats a good book full of tips, tricks, and beautiful pictures when you are just getting started. I’ve included some of my favorites on my Books for Crafting and Creativity List, and you might just find one that makes the perfect finishing touch for your own DIY Crafty Gift Kit!


Collage of crafting kits covered in the Young Adults and Beyond Crafting Gift Guide with title text "Young Adults & Beyond Crafty Gift Guide"

Links included above are affiliate links and may support DFW Craft Shows at no additional cost to you. DFWCS participates in the Amazon affiliate program, but DFWCS is in no way associated with Amazon or the items above. The opinions stated within are my own, and I have not received any sponsorship or free products from the aforementioned manufacturers.


Originally posted on November 24, 2018.

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