Inexpensive Gift Ideas
 

A few years ago, we had the most MARVELOUS thread where everyone was pitching ideas for how to give the really neat gifts for the least possible expense for those of us with pinched budgets....

I don't recall every last thing -- there was someone who makes and sells homemade candy orders every Xmas and she gave us all her recipes and instructions. If anyone wrote those down or remember which member she was, please help us out if you can....

People talked about decorated homemade sugar cookies on a dollar store xmas platter or attractive plate, swathed in colored or clear saran wrap, tied up with curling ribbon at the top to secure it.

And of course, people talked about all the inexpensive wrappings -- and also how a glam-looking wrapping could give even a modest gift a lot of POW.

We talked about clever ways of taking commercially Xmas-wrapped individual candies (red & green & silver), and fill to mounding in inexpensive clear red & green plastic bowls, and again wrap & tie to secure.

I had gone to a dollar store and done "aggregate gifts" where I picked at least 3 items for each person that had a coordinating theme. Like for my daughters -- kitchen hand towels, pot holders, fancy latching kitchen canisters. They were both so excited as all were in a color theme. The next xmas, a bit more flush, My mother got a dollar store blue painted grapevine basket/tray filled with her favorite jams and marmalade. She wasn't keen on the tray and didn't use it for a long time, but recently, I saw she had propped on a cabinet as background for what was being displayed. It looked like it had been bought special for that!

For my granddaughter, I bought her a number of art things, a pair of mittens ... and something else I don't recall - tho it turned out to be her favorite. For my son-in-law, I bought him a book on world statistics and also a journal for recording his own reviews of movies he watches.

Any more ideas? Recipes to share? Fun things you have given as gifts in the past or plan this year??

Teri

In the past, I always gave my family artwork that I created. It was expensive to buy the supplies, and it was very time consuming to then create each piece, especially because I have a large family and I would do one for each person. I would start in June or July in order to be done by December.

Last year, I finally stopped doing that. Not because of the expense, but because of the amount of time that was necessary and because my body was becoming less able to do all that work.

Last year, I got everyone a different wooden puzzle box. I forget where I got them, but they are small wooden boxes that look like regular decorative boxes that someone would use as a knick-knack - but these boxes didn't open like regular boxes, and in order to open them you had to know the trick - it was like a puzzle... and I looked at the solution and opened the boxes and put money inside and then closed them up again :)

On christmas day, everyone had fun trying to open their box and then trying to figure out how to open everyone elses box. It was fun, and it was a good way to give money in a fun way.

The boxes themselves cost between $10 and $20 depending on the style... they all came from the same catalog and I wish i could remember the name of it... it might have been the Bits and Pieces catalog because they have a lot of puzzles, but I forget.


This year I am getting all of my siblings a gift certificate to their favorite store and putting them in those clear plastic holder puzzles where you have to move the marble around to the right place to get the box to open. Making them work to get to their money or gift certificate makes it more fun and makes it more exciting than just opening an envelope.... my siblings are all much younger than I am (I'm 31, the 5 sibs are between 22 and 17) so they still enjoy puzzles and fun.

In addition to the gift certificate and puzzle thing, they are all getting new gloves with matching scarves, hats, and socks in colors that compliment their winter jackets. I found the sets at Walgreens and they are all made from that really soft and fuzzy material.

for someone who has trouble with their hands.... pampered chef makes a bottle opener. it fits most 2 liter bottles and the 24 oz soda bottles. the other end has a nifty can opener that you use on lift top cans (if you have trouble pulling up those little tabs.) remember the pop tops? well, you can open one of those with it too. on the back there is a magnetic strip so you can leave it on your fridge where it's handy.

hugs and prayers

I usually give my family art work or I will make them a packet of things. Last year I made my own stationary sets to give to my sisters and to my mom. For my dad I drew a nice picture for him. They all loved their gifts. This year I am hoping to get the time to make my neices and nephew each a little color book! I think that would be fun!! I'm not sure what else I am going to do yet. Maybe take some old clothes and make some pillows or something. I don't know! Something easy!! I don't have much time this year for I have finals to study for and projects to finish for school. :icon_rolleyes:
Wish

I usually bake every year at Christmastime and take things to our friends and neighbors. As much as I'd love to eat it myself, I don't need it!:D I bake an assortment of things- usually over a weekend- then put it on inexpensive Christmas platters or tins that I buy at Walmart. You can always find them at Walgreens and places like that too. I arrange them on the platter then wrap with Christmas Saran wrap and tie curly ribbons around the top. And of course, I do have to keep some of it here for hubby or he thinks he's being mistreated! I like Wittesea's idea of making them work for their money!:p Anyway, last year I baked several different cakes that were a bit different than the usual, different kinds of cookies, fudge, and some bar cookies. The only problem with this is it gets expensive....I have a son,DIL, & gr'son that I've made stockings for- those kits where you make the felt stockings, Bucilla I think- and I stuff them with candy and some little things that I think they'll like. Gr'son is getting Silly Putty and a Slinky in his (he's 3- hopefully my carpet or the cat won't be "wearing" Silly Putty). It's also a cute idea to wrap a child's gifts in the Sunday newspaper comics. If anybody wants some recipes for "sweets", let me know and I'll post some.

Isn't that the most amazing gadget in the world??? I love to use the can opener, especially for opening cat food cans. I love my kitties, but was so tired of breaking my thumbnail on them.

I have a bit of a pinched budget too. My children eat it and wear it mainly lol

What I like to do every year is go through the catalogues prior to xmas and often there are really nice dishes or plates that are very inexpensive. They can be xmas plates but sometimes I prefer to use something from Asia. There are lots of great shapes, designs and colours as well. Then I put them aside and closer to giving the actual present, I make something like shortbread and arrange on the plate and match with some cellophane and ribbon and nice home made card. I use raffia for ribbon.

I used to buy jars cheapy too at sales. Little jars with sealed lids for safe storage. Sterilize the jars and make something like prunes in port. It's basically just seeded prunes with port poured over the top (I would use a cheap one because prunes absorb it) and add a cinnamon stick and bob's your uncle. Put it away for a month or so and it's ready to go.

For the past few years, I've been making the gifts given. I celebrated the December holidays a bit early (Thanksgiving this year with some since I'll be out-of-state for the holidays).

I made each person a French memo board, tailored to his/her personality.

I found some cool fabric sheets that go in my ink jet printer. (Printable cotton fabric by Avery). I scanned some photos - one was of my 2nd cousin's new baby and a couple were of my avatar with the chickadee on my hand - and then I printed small copies on the fabric. They turned out very well! The fabric is stiff and it fed through my printer easily. The back of the fabric has an adhesive which can be ironed onto other fabric or you can just sew it. I tried both methods. I'm a quilter so I have a lot of fabric scraps to use as little borders around the photos. For the baby, I cut out the fabric around the photo in a heart shape. I stuffed the ornament with batting and used a fabric felt pen on the back to write her name, the year and who it was from. I also used a gold glitter fabric paint around the edges of the heart shape. Added a red and gold ribbon for hanging it and it looks pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself!

Colors
 

I've gladly adopted the sisters my S.O. came with. I only had a half-sister growing up who wasn't really the nicest. He has three sisters, so I like to jump stores and stick to color themes for them.

Pink, Purple and Green (each of their favorite colors). Anyone who has a sale of small items in each of those colors, I buy one of each. Once I have a collection of the items (soaps, bubble bath, socks, jammies, plush toys, etc.) I buy big baskets from the 99 cent store. I line each one with a bathrobe of their color (Target) and fill it with goodies. Then I cover/wrap it with a large towel of their color (whoever has sales on towels) and tie the top with a hair scruncy of that color.

They get excited when Christmas comes, he always gave them gift cards before we met. As soon as we show up they start peeking for their baskets. :D

Ellie,

I LOVE that idea. I have 4 young sisters (ages 22-17) and they would love that!

I already finished my Christmas stuff for them, but they all have birthdays at the beginning of the year, so I may borrow your idea for their birthday gifts :) Thanks Ellie :D

scrabble,
I LOVE your avatar and the chickadee! I didn't know that that was your hand with the chickadee- how did you get it to come to you like that? We have lots of them where I live and they aren't as scared of you as other birds are but never come that close.

Baking is one way - I attempted fruit cakes again this year. If they turn out as good as last years, then they will make great little gifts. Otherwise, I have started putting my photography into frames - this was an awesome gift for my BF's birthday which he really liked. Pretty cheap - just enlarge a picture and buy a frame (and there are always deals on frames) It is amazing what a matt or two can do to a picture.

redjp,

I'm glad you like my avatar. It took me quite a few shots of just tail feathers, a blur of black and white, or no bird at all before I caught some with the chickadee sitting on my hand! I had to balance my 35 mm camera with a zoom lens in my other hand ... :rolleyes:

The photo was taken at my parents' home and they live by a lake where there is a lot of wildlife. They have trained the chickadees to come to their hands for peanuts. Sometimes 2 will swoop down at once .... oh, and if you don't have your hand out for them, they just might even land on your shoulder to get your attention! I'm going to visit them with my kids for Christmas so I'm looking forward to seeing those little birds again.

some really great ideas on this thread!
:Thanx:


I do gift baskets filled with home made goodies along with the crafts, jewelry and other creative things I enjoy doing......

I personally also love being given gifts that people have made themselves, whether edibles, wearables or decoratives, fun stuff etc

A friend of mine from church makes the most beautiful Christmas ornaments and blesses all of us with a new one each year:)

Homemade scarves with polar fleece

http://www.canadianliving.com/canadi...=1920&idSM=306
http://familycrafts.about.com/gi/dyn.../pom-jan04.htm
http://www.ehow.com/how_14292_make-polar-fleece.html

there is many ways to make them and really quite easy and quick too

http://www.nikibone.com/recipe/jargi...ansoupmix.html

Gifts in a Jar
Holiday Bean Soup Mix

1 pound dried black beans
1 pound dried red beans
1 pound dried kidney beans
1 pound dried navy beans
1 pound dried great northern beans
1 pound dried baby lima beans
1 pound dried large lima beans
1 pound dried pinto beans
1 pound dried green split peas
1 pound dried yellow split peas
1 pound dried black eyed peas
1 pound dried green lentils
1 pound dried brown lentils

Combine beans in a very large bowl. Pour two cups of bean mix into pretty 16 ounce wide mouth jars. Instead of mixing the beans together, you can layer the beans. Very pretty. Just use about 1/8 cup of each bean until you fill the jar.

Attach this to the Jar:

Holiday Bean Soup Mix

Bean Mix from jar
1 smoked ham hock
2 cans, 14.5 oz each stewed tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
6 cups water
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin seed

Cover beans with water and soak overnight. Drain beans and place in a stockpot. Add ham hock, tomatoes, onion, garlic, bay leaf and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, cover and simmer 1 hour or until beans are tender. Remove bay leaf before serving. Serve warm. Makes 11 cups of soup.

homemade gifts and crafts-
http://www.allfreecrafts.com/homemade-gifts/index.shtml
http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/gif.../a/120400a.htm
http://home.ivillage.com/decorating/...,,4tjt,00.html

Boy howdy!!! I love that product. But then I love Pampered Chef.

It is so hard to open up a lot of popup tab cans for me. In fact, the cat food I buy can't be a certain brand because they are so difficult for me to open.

Nice thread all, and thanks for all the ideas. My christmas shopping was done but for 1 present and I got that this weekend. Now all I have to do is wrap them. If I can find them underneath the tremendous messy place I call home.

there are special plastic
 

openers now for those pesky tabs...

I have some free ones from FancyFeast (from a cat show).
But I have seen them in large grocery stores hanging in the "notions"
area. It is a huge bummer when they crack off or don't work.
I use microwave soups sometimes at work, and when I open those babies,
they flash back the liquid onto my UNIFORM....mega messy....

There is just no easy way.

I also prefer homemade things. But in a pinch I buy packages of quality
fudge for the people who come to our home...climb the stairs to deliver things.
The UPS guy (who has been here over 20 yrs) loves the fudge! I never forget the service folks... they are with us all year and deserve a treat. Keep it small because they have RULES about this (accepting gifts)... a small candy thing can be secreted easily or consumed on route..and they won't be caught.