Creative Gift Ideas that Won’t Hurt your Pocketbook
Planning ahead, personalizing and presenting your gifts with style will save your pocketbook and enable you to make Christmas special.
The first idea is the simplest-buy throughout the year. From the half-price (or less) ornaments after Christmas, to the end of summer barbecue grill, you are going to get the best price as items are going out of season. Keep your Christmas list in mind throughout the year-if you see something perfect for Great Aunt Hortense, buy it on the spot. Imagine the fun the kids will have getting swimsuits and flip flops when there's snow outside. The exception to this is any one of a kind item that someone is likely to buy for themselves *before* Christmas.
Craft projects are easier to make and cheaper than you'd think. Grab an inexpensive potholder and dish towel set, gather the dish towel in half, fold the potholder in half, sew the dish towel to the potholder and add a button. You now have a drying towel that hangs off the cabinet. A tube of fabric with elastic at both ends and a loop makes a plastic bag holder.
If your talents run to knitting or crocheting, the internet is full of patterns for afghans, mittens, scarves and decorations.
Craft stores are full of inexpensive ornaments to make-a counted cross stitch ornament with a frame can cost only a dollar. It doesn't take long to make and looks great on a tree. Wooden ornaments, plain glass ornaments, and plaster figures are just waiting for your personal touch in painting them.
You often hear of the idea of making your own gift basket. Buy what you know someone likes, use an inexpensive basket, and make it beautiful for a fraction of the cost of a purchased basket. But have you thought of making a wreath? With a green, white, or grapevine wreath, you can make a wreath that matches the personality of the recipient. Cookie cutters for the baker, with a whisk or spoons-even a rolling pin. Baby rattles and toys for the family with the new baby, and after Christmas the items can come off the wreath and be used. A seamstress might enjoy a measuring tape for a bow, and rolls of thread or yarn instead of pine cones. A grapevine wreath with cattails, carved fish ornaments and decorative lures would be great for the fisherman.
An inexpensive gift can be made more impressive in its presentation. When giving tickets to the movies or a gift certificate to a restaurant, the addition of a babysitting certificate makes the gift truly special. A dvd or rental certificate could be in a bowl with microwaved popcorn, or presented with an inexpensive throw and hot chocolate mix for maximum couch potato comfort. Give a mug with herbal tea-give a cake pan with a cake in it!
There is nothing more personal than photos. Gather photos of your friends and family in a cute album-or have old family photos copied and distributed with the people identified in them. It's easy and inexpensive to turn your photos into calendars for your family to enjoy. Add a poem or an inspirational quote to a framed photo for lovely gift. If your handwriting is not perfect, computer programs have calligraphy fonts to use instead.
Baking is the classic way to make a lot of gifts without breaking the bank, and is always appreciated. Bread, candies, cookies and cakes can be made for far less than they cost to purchase, if you are careful to keep track of ingredient costs. It also can be done in bulk and at next to the last minute. If someone has an allergy or special diet you can meet that need and make them something that they might otherwise have to fore go.
Someone who loves your cooking might enjoy a recipe book of your favorite recipes.
Another option that might not have been thought of is purchasing vintage gifts. If someone is a collector, has an old china pattern or just enjoys vintage clothes and jewelry, bargains can be found on Ebay, Craigslist, and in antique stores, flea markets, garage sales and thrift stores. This does require really knowing what they want, as one person's treasure is another person's junk.
Re-gifting is not considered improper as long as the item is unused, would be appreciated, and is not given to the original giver! There are times when a gift has gone cosmically astray, and would be loved by someone else.
The internet is an invaluable resource for crafts, ideas and bargains. There are innumerable articles both on the net and in magazines on gifts that fit the budget. And remember, in tough economic times there are also better bargains. Sometimes the best Christmas is the one that is celebrated with creativity rather than consumerism.
