Gift Ideas for the Holidays

Hi K.,

I hear you! This year, I plan on baking a bunch of different kinds of cookies and sending them in holiday tins. I just went to Goodwill and spent $6 on those old cookie tins. I found the ones that don't have any brand name on them (or if they do it is really small). There are so many different designs, you can easily find a huge selection. I am going to line the tins with tissue paper and just add the cookies. My mom has a trick that she uses on sugar cookies. She splits the dough and adds red food coloring to half. Then she rolls two strips of dough out (one red and one white) and twists them together and shapes it into a candy cane. Then she sprinkles a bit of crushed peppermint candies over it and bakes it according to the directions. These are really cute and the peppermint tastes good baked.

I hope this helps!
H.-Leah

We buy functional crafts(papertowel holder, napkin holder etc) from Oriental Trading company. We make the projects as a family and give one to each extended family unit.
G.

What a fun topic, I love being fun and crafty, and I'm frugal too, Check out www.familyfun.com , they have great, fun craft ideas for every season. Fun for the kids too. Last year, my son got cheap plastic hangers, wrapped plastic bags around the hangers and taped the ends, Then we got some cute Christmas ribbon about 2 1/2 to 3 inches wide and wrapped it around the plastic, then hot glued the ends so they didn’t show once the whole hanger (except the top that hooks) was covered, Tied a Christmas ribbon around the neck of the hanger with a little decorative ornament (from a 12 pk at the dollar store) Great hangers for sweaters. Check them out: http://jas.familyfun.go.com/crafts?page=CraftDisplay&...

Get small mason jars, make cupcake mix, fill jars 3/4 full, bake until done, top with frosting and screw on lid, decorate jar. I give these out with a fork attached to the ribbon, they can be eaten rite out of the jar!! My friend’s kids love these. Or cup cake mix in a cup, ready to make, check out
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDis...

I’ve even make hot-chocolate mugs with 1 pkt hot-chocolate, a little snack bag with marsh mallow minis’ in it, a candy cane and a couple Hershey kisses. Decorate it cute and waa-laa, Great cold weather – sit’n around the fire gift!

One year I bought Crunch-A-Munch at .89 cents a box for the kids in my family, cheep and they loved it, they’re very own box they didn’t need to share!

Get a Roll of coins (ex. 2.00 in nickels) wrap the roll in white paper and tape shut, wrap thin pink or red (or any color) ribbon around spiraling down, glue so it stays, get clear Cellophane and wrap roll of coin like candy, Tie cute ribbons on ends, It looks like candy cane but much richer!

Everyone loves Caramel Popcorn, Try this, Its such a winner!!

Caramel
1-LB Brown sugar
1-Can Condensed Milk
1-Stick of Butter
1-Cup Karo Syrup

Mix together in a pot, bring to boil, stir constantly for about 5 min.

Popcorn: (I promise, this is the secret to the best caramel popcorn)
5 or 6 bags of the most buttery microwave popcorn. Don’t use burnt popcorn, (you can buy 24-count box of popcorn at Costco, Sam’s Club or even some grocery stores for cheap.
After you pop the popcorn, sift popcorn by putting one bag at a time in a bowl and shake so seeds fall to the bottom, pull out the popped cornels and put in huge bowl (I bought a big bucket at the dollar store) and do all 5 or 6 bags.
When you have a bucket full of ready to eat, ultra buttery popcorn, Swirl your hot-bubbly caramel over the top of the popcorn and mix well with mixing spoon (PAM sprayed on plastic spoon helps keep caramel from sticking)

Try this: Instead of popcorn, use Corn Pops Cereal, Its Fantastic.

I put caramel popcorn in zip-lock, then in cheap brown paper bag, then decorate the bag with old Christmas card covers glued to the front and some lace or old buttons and raffia.

Want to spend a little more money on someone? (But still keeping it cheap)
Buy a panel of fleece fabric at the fabric store, cut slits along the top and bottom ends about 1 ½ inches wide and 3 to 4 inches down (all the way across the sides of the blanket so it’s kind of a frayed look). Tie each of the cut slits into a knot at the base of the slit, after tying each slit pc. You have a cute blanket. You can buy a panel sometimes around 4 to 6 dollars a panel, look for coupons. Jazz up the blanket by adding a back pc. And cutting slits all around the blanket, tying the back and front slit pc. Together rather than tying each slit to itself. (Go to a fabric store and they can help you, these blankets are real popular)

Good Luck and Have Fun.

I love the Holidays and have the same problem. I've decided this year that I am going to make some of my family members scrapbooks of my son. I know the grandparents will love it and I'll enjoy doing it. Now if only I could find the time...haha. It is fairly inexpensive and something to treasure forever!

I love this topic. One other thing that helps is PLANNING and sticking with your plan. Last year I had saved the money we would spend for Christmas. I put the $ for each family member in a separate envelope marked with their names and an amount for misc. When the $ was gone, I was done shopping for that person. I tend to overspend buying silly stocking stuffers, but this really helped me stay on course with a budget...no January woes and I even had an envelope for after Christmas sales because I love to buy stuff for next year.

We had this same problem, especially wth all of the kids in the family. I come from a large family and I have a large family, so yikes! What we did is a name drawing. At first, we only drew names for the adults. Everybody puts their names in a bowl or hat and we each draw one. That is the only adult we have to buy a gift for and you can't draw your own partner's name. Since the kids are all getting older, now, we draw names for them, too, but siblings are allowed. You can do whatever variation you want on this. Of course, you can still buy gifts for your own family, but this alleviates the expenditures for the extended family members, too! Good luck!

With my family, we draw names. Adults draw adults names with a $20 limit and you cannot get anyone in your immediate family. And kids draw kids with a $15 limit, same rules. That way everyone gets a gift and no one feels like they spent more on anyone than they received back.

With my husbands family, we just do family gifts about $25. One year we gave them gift baskets with a couple of pancake mixes and a few flavored syrups. Cost about $15 each basket.

K.,
Here is what we do. Because I have a LARGE extended family we put everybody's name in a hat, even new babies..to make it fair. And for Thanksgiving everybody draws a name. And you set a limit on the gift. Usually 20 bucks. That way you have about a month to buy things. Or make things.

This year for my own family I have already put things on lay a way. I spent 150 on each kid (only 2 kids) a few little things then 1 big thing. They're only 5 and 6 years so I didn't have to get too many clothes..or 'what's in style' stuff :o) I'm not looking forward to teenagers LOL

Hope this helps a little.

On my side of the family, we do a name draw at Thanksgiving so that we only buy one gift. We also set a price limit. It works really well. You still get the joy of giving, but don't spend as much money. Not to mention it's fun having it be a secret.

Beyond that, I often make baked goods for friends & other family. You can find cheap tins or gift bags at the Dollar Store or other discount stores.

HEY K. I KNOW A GREAT WAY TO EARN EXTRA MONEY WHILE GETTING FREE JEWELRY TO GIVE AS GIFTS. I AM A L. AND I SELL JEWELRY. IF YOUR INTERESTED YOU MAY CONTACT ME IN THE EVENINGS AT ###-###-####.

KEHAU BROWN
L.

We had to really cut back because our spending for family got out of control.

So we agreed with our siblings that we would buy only for the children and our own parents (the adult siblings don't exchange gifts, they just exchange a yearly photo of their families).

Our parents get professional photos of our children and a personal gift for themselves.

Then we try to catch sales throughout the year and keep the gifts for Christmas in a special closet in the house for the children. We get things like hair bows or barrettes for the girls, stickers, books and such. It works well. You can find great books for kids at Barnes and Noble they always have a sale rack.

Or (it sounds cheesey, but it's actually great) we have started popping into the local dollar store a couple of times a year, I have snapped up some great toys, books, stickers, puzzles, crayons, paint and markers for all the kids in the family. Plus if you are really frugal you can make a list of all your birthday and holidays and stop in and get all your cards too. They have two cards for a dollar rack of cards and right now our dollar store has Halloween and Thanksgiving cards. I stopped in got all our cards for Halloween clear through to next year's Halloween including birthday cards, baby shower cards and wedding cards. I spent less than $30.00. The cards are good quality and if I had gone to Hallmark it would have been well over $80.00, I know because I used to do it.

Get creative and start bargain shopping. Our family is so large my mom shops all year round at sales for gifts for all the kids and grandkids and she finds the best stuff fot $10 - $20. You would be surprised.

I love to craft as well as bake.
****In the past, I have hand painted Christmas glass balls(red, green, blue, silver, gold) with fabric paint (Tulip brand). You do not have to be an artist either. Make swirls or dots. Easy. I find that by hanging them on a wire or clothline helps for the design to dry evenly.
**** Handpainted frames with geometric designs using acrylic paints and Tulip fabric paint. Make it 2 to 3 colors tops for an elegant look. (suggestions: Blue base coat with gold and silver or Red base coat with gold and black) Paint the frame with white 1st (the white coat acts as primer making the base coat stand out better), then put the base coat on of what ever color you want, then take 1 or 2 more colors and paint/draw with Tulip tubes, random designs. You could also, find some interesting shaped leaves in the garden or buy silk ferns/leaves, spray glue the backs, gently press them onto the frame and spray paint another color over the leaves, when you pull the leaves off, you will find silhouette of the leaves. Spray or paint a shellac or protective coating (matte is best) on top.
**** If you are creative, make Christmas ornaments out of FIMO Clay, you design what you want, bake in the oven and Voila, your piece is done. I had a successful business designing with FIMO (polymer clay). I did lots of craft fairs. You may want to buy a craftbook on FIMO first.
**** Go check out Joann's or Michael's craft store for inspiration. My mom bought me the knitter rings, you could make neat hats and scarves very easily with this. My mom is nearly blind and made some neat hats and scarves.
****Cookie mixes in a mason jar, with instructions attached are great gifts. (library has all kinds of cookbooks)
****Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies; double chocolate brownies; kettle corn; Rachel Ray's 5 minute fudge (www.foodnetwork.com); rum or bourbon balls. Put in a pretty tin or mason jar (pretty ribbon) perhaps with the recipe so that they can make it later. Do the recipe up on cardstcok paper and run it through you printer. Use a graphic program to make it professional looking.
**** Calendars of beautiful Hawaiian scenes from www.hilohattie.com are only 99 cents. I usually give these out to family members with all the birthdays written in. Lots of work in writing out this important days with my family. I have 7 siblings and 14 nieces and nephews. Nice calendars with the beauty of Hawaii. They have stores in Orange County, California and Las Vegas, Nevada as well as in Hawaii of course.
**** Go to the library and check out some books on crafts, Christmas, or baking. Lots of great ideas out there, just have to find it.

Having a "CAN-DO" Attitude is important and remember to "EXPECT SUCCESS" when crafting; have fun; and most of all Merry Christmas!

K.:
Something our family does is to rotate names/families (depending on how big your family is...you may do something different). There is a limit that everyone is aware of-for a family gift we usually say around $40-50. That way, you are not buying for every single extended family member. If neither side of your extended families are doing this, I can see how it would get so EXPENSIVE. You/your husband may want to suggest this and I bet other people in your family may really appreciate it, too.
I always appreciate homemade gifts. I need to do more of them...you may want to get the HallMark Magazine holiday edition (it's a new one on the market and you can subscribe to it) or google some websites. I saw some really neat magnets once made out of photos/large see through Marble/Plastic Rock and then you glue a magnet on the back. I don't even know if that makes sense. That might be a fun thing to get all types of photos of your family and make magnets for everyone!
All The Best,
K.

Hello. Large families + gifts = debt.... We have the same "problem". Here are a few suggestions: At Thanksgiving time or the next big get together, draw names. Or just purchase one large present for the whole family to share ( 2 good movies with a box of popcorn or candy) or to "show" off your family, make a photo album thru out the year and then give it as a gift. They will love to see how the children have grown. I'm sure something will come to mind. Take care. H..

Gift baskets are easy, as you can make some cookies and throw in some pics or something special. You can buy bulk fruits and nuts and wrap them up in cute paper. Home made things are always fun, or hop over to Ross and pick up some cheap designer stuff!

This year I am going to make some room sprays for my mom and sisters. I just learned to make it and I can choose lots of yummy scents. I just bought some Linen spray base from www.candlesupplys.us Its only 14.00 for a gallon. I got some 4 oz spray bottles off ebay. Also some fragrance oils off ebay.. I LOVE pink sugar, and also got some bakery scents YUMMY! Anyways.. fill your spray bottle with linen spray base ALMOST to the top, add 1/4 teaspoon of the fragrance oil, shake it up and your done. I add a little strip of homespun fabric around the spray part to make it cute. And also a label but of course you dont HAVE to have a label. I wish I could post a pic :) Im a newbie and have no clue if its even possible to post a pic.

Oh yes.. Treats are always a good idea too..I always make a couple dozen cookies (2 kinds usually) and also rice krispie treats are always a hit :)

We are from a large family a well, so we finally decided only to buy for our Grandparents,Parents and Siblings. We send cards and pictures and a newsletter to everyone else.
We set a limit for the total amount on gifts.

Before we cut back and still do sometimes, is to create family gift baskets, using mostly $ dollar store items. (IE basket, dish towel, cookbooks, and a kitchen gadget or some suger and flour= $5 or $6. We also sometime look at 2nd hand stores for gifts.

I also, have baked, breads & cookies. I have also sewed simple items such as pillows, lap blankets (but depends on access to material that can get $$ to.

Or my husband has made wood cuts out we paint.

I have found the Lakeside Coleection catalog has wonderful gifts and better yet inexpensive. Alot of the gifts comes with 3-5 pieces so I break them up and give a person different things. For example, I purchased a set of snowman mugs(4 in a set and a set of snowman plates(also set of 4) both sets were $5.95 each then I gave a plate with some cookies and mug with packet of hot chocolate to my girls teachers and the loved it. Best yet it cost me around $14-15 for four gifts not bad when you have to buy so many. I even by some of my kids gifts for christmas there. The items are good quality and inexpensive.
Go to LakesideCollections.com and see for your self. Because I have made gift and depending on the craft it can cost more money and much more time. Hope this suggestion helps.

Well, I'm not all that crafy, although I usually do make ornaments for everyone each year. I get the glass balls and either put stained glass paint in them (I usually mix a few colors so they end up looking tie-dyed). If you do that, be advised it takes a long time for them to dry, but they look really cool when they're done. I have also put potpourri inside the balls, or tinsel. Then I just buy small wire ribbon and put bows at the top by the hanger. They're really inexpensive (I think the ornaments are anywhere from $0.59-$0.79, depending on what size & shape you get), and I think the paint runs about $3 a tube. I bought 6 tubes 4 years ago and I still have it. And if you look around at the craft stores you can get good prices on ribbon.

You could also make flavored oils, which is something else I like to do. If you have friends or family that like to cook, these are great gifts. Just get some nice bottles (Michael's or Hobby Lobby usually have them, and they are not usually too expensive). It's pretty easy to make flavored oils, you just pick what flavor you want and warm the oil in a saucepan with that herb or spice. For example, if you wanted to make garlic flavored oil, you would take oil (I have had the best luck with extra virgin olive oil), and warm it up in the saucepan with a few cloves of garlic. You don't need to do it for very long, just enough to warm it. You can also put together the jar desserts, where you put all the dry ingredients for cookies, brownies, etc. in a mason jar & attach the recipe to it.

One last thing, I do a lot of my Christmas shopping through the Lakeside Collection. They have a huge variety of products and very good prices. Last year I spent about $250 with them, but that bought gifts for all of our friends (we have a huge friends & family get together on XMas Eve, so we needed about 10 gifts for friends), plus gifts for both my parents, my sister, my brother in law, my grandma and my husband. You can go to their website (www.lakeside.com) and sign up for a catalog, and you can also see all their items there.

I hope this helps!

My family had the same problem, so for the last few years we have been picking names. When we get together for Thanksgiving, we write the name of each adult family member on a small piece of paper and toss them in a bowl. (We exclude the kids so we can spoil them!) We then make an alphabetical list of each of us and pick a name one at a time. This way each person is only buying one gift but everyone gets a gift. We also make a monetary limit so it keeps it fair. We have do-overs if a spouse gets a spouse. You can adjust this idea to your family but it really works well for ours. Good luck!

I have ten brothers and sister. A long time ago, we decide to draw names, but over the years, we found that it was just a mater of buying a gift card for wherever they wanted something and then as the receiver, it was hard to think of what you wanted. So as a family we now do a sub for Santa, it would just amaze you at the need for more people to do this. each year one of us is in charge of it, We found the best way to find a family is any church , they know their families better , its not just based on money, but on a real need, as we each spent about 30.00$ each . If this is not something you want to think about doing, I have done mixes (cookies, brownies, soup) in a jar (just type holiday jars or cookies in a bottle in the internet). Made Apple butter in the real cute ¼-pint jars and bread, by putting a holiday ribbon or going to the dollar store and get small stuff animals to put on top of the jar

I hear ya!!! I hav ebeedn SO broke over the last few years all I can afford to do is make my cards and add a picture! My families have different things...With bros and sis's we do $20 gifts and draw names, then we get a few things for my nieces and nephew and stepdaughter. I LOVE crafting!!! Cards are my specialty and everyone seems to LOVE recieving my cards...They get just as excited to see what idea I have come up with as they are to open a present...=) Even my brothers love them!!!

Hi K....

I have a box full of cute ideas... Im into scrapbooking and card making... and i also sell party lite(Candles)... im a busy girl! lol I have made some really cute albums in the past years and every one loves them they are cheap and easy to make... let me know if you are interested in making some ###-###-####