Friday, November 21, 2008

Homemade Gift Ideas

Pull out the hot-glue gun and felt! It's time to make some homemade gifts for the holidays!

Now, for the record, I will be the first to admit: I am not craft or creative.

But I can find my way around the internet, and I know there are lots of other folks who are crafty AND creative and can help me come up with frugal gift ideas.

Here are a few basic frugal gift ideas that I have done in the past:

  • Photo gifts such as calendars, scrapbooks, t-shirts, and collages.
  • Gifts-in-a-jar. I've made all kinds of soups and cookies.
  • Art bag for kids. I planned this during back-to-school sales and stocked up on markers, pens, pencils, crayons, glue, construction paper, scissors, etc., and put it all together in a tote bag I decorated with fabric paint.
  • Mixed CDs. Now I'm showing my age. Ugh.
  • Handmade greeting cards
  • Handmade Coupon books. Depending on the recipient, you can offer everything from free housecleaning to a backrub.
  • Perpetual Calendars. Especially helpful for remembering important dates in your family.
  • Gift baskets of all kinds... watch sales for great deals on snacks and candy.
I'm quite behind on my holiday planning this year, so I also did a little surfing to find some other ideas:
All Free Crafts - There's enough in here to keep you busy for a lifetime!
Family Fun - Lots of crafts to make with the kids.
Etsy - If you can't make it yourself, find someone who can!
Thrifty Fun - This list includes gift ideas for guys, too.
About.com:Family Crafts - Pages and pages of good ideas for everyone.
Homespun Heart - Some very beautiful, simple ideas.

What are some homemade gifts you've given (or received)?  I would love to hear your ideas!

1 comments:

Meg said...

In the past I've given away cookies mixes in mason jars.

This year i plan to give away cookies in old record bowls we made last month.

Also some chunky crayons for the kids.

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