One of the challenges that I struggle with each year is finding the right anniversary gift. Whether it’s a gift for a new boyfriend, or a gift for a husband after 20 years of marriage – men can be hard to buy a gift for. Especially if you want the gift to be thoughtful, and romantic.
But not to worry – I’ve got you covered! This article is dedicated to helping you create the perfect DIY anniversary gifts for him! These DIY ideas are a great alternative to store bought gifts for the man in your life.
Anniversaries are an important milestone that deserve to be celebrated. They are a time to celebrate the love you have for your spouse, and reflect on the meaningful moments you’ve shared together over the years.
Homemade / hand-crafted gifts are not only unique, but can be a great way to show that you remember and care. They are often less expensive and always irreplaceable. So to give you a few new ideas, here we have 15 DIY anniversary gift ideas.
Cute DIY Anniversary Gifts for Him
- “Conversation Heart” baked goods
If you’ve got a baker’s touch, try out these cute and bright conversation heart macarons. To really jazz it up, use the recommended edible gold dust. Think about quotes and words to go on these hearts to make it personal. And if macarons seem too much work to make, just apply the idea to some other baked good!
- Board Game Cufflinks and Crafts
If you’re the type of couple who’s perfect week includes a “Board Game Night”, the classic scrabble tiles are great for spelling out how you feel. Try making these cufflinks out of Scrabble tiles! If Scrabble isn’t his cup of tea – try some other spare board game parts!
3. Meal in a Box
Meal kits boomed in popularity during the pandemic. For a hefty price, they may also lack interesting recipes. Create a menu with the recipe including the ingredients of your significant other’s favorite meal. Throw the portioned-out ingredients into tupperware containers yourself.
This makes cooking the meal a less stressful activity because all the prep is done ahead of time. To supplement the dinner, maybe add a bottle of wine for a classy touch, or think about a fancy cocktail he might enjoy.
4. “Open When” letters
Write him some thoughtful letters for the future! Not just thoughtful ones, but maybe some spicy ones too. Take a bunch of envelopes and fill them, bada boom bada bing.
Bundle them up nicely in some sort of box or package. “Open When” letters can keep you and your husband/boyfriend connected even when you’re apart. Tell him to open them when certain things happen or when he feels a certain way.
5. A Mixtape
If you can swing it, sure, a physical tape is pretty cool. Once upon a time, you might burn a custom CD instead. At this point, perhaps you could throw together a Spotify Playlist, there’s nothing wrong with that.
But if you’re going for full points, there’s something much more special about a physical mixtape. (If he’s into vinyl records, well, good luck, not sure how to help you there.) Check out the link for tips on how to make an awesome mixtape! Obviously you can make it about songs that you two have shared. Personal cheat: movie soundtracks can be a good resource too.
Romantic DIY Anniversary Gifts for Him
- “Framed Heart Maps” of special places
Take the locations that are important, and print out maps of those places. Where you first met, where the proposal happened, and where the wedding happened. Cut those maps out in heart shapes, and put the description of the place under each heart. Even better if you can include ticket stubs or other mementos, room key cards, matchbooks, some other fond reminders from your time spent in these places.
- Custom Wooden Organizer
If your husband lacks a bit of organization, then here is the perfect anniversary gift. You can create a wooden box to keep his phone in one section, his earphones in another and a lovely watch in the third section. Get creative with the different personal items you know he keeps in his pockets on the regular. These types of handcrafted gift ideas are going to show the man in your life that you care.
- Framed Date Art
Just print out the date of your wedding and frame it up! There are lots of cool fonts you can acquire online. The extra benefit of this gift is that he will be able to remember the date if it’s up on the wall, but it’s more about, you know, art!
- “DIY Comic Book Coasters” Made with Mod Podge
Create the perfect DIY comic themed anniversary gifts for him! This is a flexible idea when you think about using any kind of book, textbooks, encyclopedias, whatever he’s into, there’s a cool, cheap, used book with pictures you can rip out to turn into something he’ll show off to everyone.
- DIY His and Her mugs
Just find some pebeo porcelaine 150 pens at an art store, and draw some cute couple sayings and quotes on the mugs. There’s lots of options for drawings, cartoons, whatever makes him smile. Then just bake them in the oven. You’ll be able to create the perfect DIY anniversary gifts with him if he enjoys crafts, you can do it together!
Last Minute DIY Gifts for Him
- “Scratch Tickets” (+ More Ideas)
These gifts are ticking all the boxes for DIY gifts that are easy to make, even last minute. They are tiny too, so you can hide them as part of a game. My favorite is the scratch lottery tickets but many of them are fun and easy to combine together. Make your partner a special surprise to show them you love them. Create the perfect DIY anniversary gifts treasure hunt for him!
- “Pinboard Travel Map”
If the man in question is a traveler, try a fun printout of a map, along with a frame and some pins. It can hang on the wall or shelf like a trophy, and a reminder of travel stories from the past. Plan out future vacations as part of this DIY anniversary gift.
- Date Night Lottery Tin
Here at Engaged Marriage, we are all about keeping things fresh and fun. This is one of our favorite ideas to get some new ideas for date nights into rotation. All you need for this gift is a simple tin box, then paint it to make it look the part, print out the label of the Date Night Lottery and glue that puppy on the tin lid. Last step, print out a bunch of the date ideas, fold them to put in the tin!
- Milestone Marquee
If you are celebrating a milestone anniversary then maybe think about an anniversary marquee of the number itself. The wooden sign is decorated with all the years collected pictures and looks great. It’s a bit more crafty as far as DIY gifts for him, but fun if you enjoy some light wood work!
- “52 reasons I Love You” scrapbook
Want to see your man cry like a baby? This can be particularly sentimental when the relationship is long-distance, or busy with time constraints. We don’t get to say all the nice things we want to in the busy days and this little reminder book can get him through the year with one a week! Use playing cards and if you’re hard pressed for time, a Sharpie marker, and boom, you have 52 rain-makers . Use a printer and some cardstock to give this DIY anniversary gift a cleaner look.
