Today is Backwards Day at Works-For-Me Wednesday. Instead of sharing a tip that has worked for you, you’ll throw out an issue or question that has stumped you (preferably not something like quantum physics, y’all). Keep it short and keep it specific, and watch (hopefully) the suggestions come flooding through your comments sections.
Please help me out. This year we are on a tight budget for Christmas. I would like to make our gifts this year ~ not only to save $$$$, but I think that they are more meaningful. Last year, I made these really cute clipboards for everyone. I bought .99 clipboards and decorated them with scrapbook paper, paint, ribbon, etc. I could customize them, too. They were super cute and I think everyone liked them.
So, please give me suggestions for adult type gifts ~ Also, we are exchanging family baskets this year for 10.00 or less with my dh family. Any suggestions here would be helpful. I was thinking about a sundae basket with all the toppings. So, please help me!!! My life will be less hectic if I could start working on them now. I know you ladies are very creative!!! Please include any craft links that you love, too.
Thank you and Happy Holidays ~ hey, I’m the first to tell ya that, right! (:
The clipboards sound cute!
I like giving jar mixes. People get a lot of food at the holidays, but these are nice as they are easy to store and convenient to make something later.
My sister’s blog has a ton of great gift and craft ideas: http://thehomespunheart.blogspot.com/
Great idea on the clipboards. If I were on the receiving end this year, I would LOVE to get a bulliten board. Who can’t use one of those. I made one for home by hot gluing pretty fabric on the cork and trimming with gros grain ribbon. It makes a utilitarian item very pretty. Men, women and families would get a lot of use out of one.
Take Care,
Trixie
OK This year we bought some really cheap photo frames with space for 5 or six photos in each and we are going to do one of each kid and give them to grandparents etc.
OK This year we bought some really cheap photo frames with space for 5 or six photos in each and we are going to do one of each kid and give them to grandparents etc.
Last year for our Christmas Eve gathering at my Grandmothers house, where as there are 15+ people, I did hot chocolate mugs.
I went to my local Dollar Tree and bought cute Christmas mugs (or you could do everyday mugs). I also stocked up on the boxes of Nestle hot chocolate they had. They also had these cute little wafer-like cookies that I bought as well. Oh and I found some chocolate covered plastic spoons at a different store.
In each mug I put 3 envelopes of hot chocolate and a little snack sized baggie of the wafer cookies. As well as one of the chocolate covered spoons to stir the cocoa. And then I put the filled mug into a cellophane bag and tied it pretty with ribbon.
You could do coffee and flavored creamers for those who you know like coffee.
My opinion is that you can get away doing things on a budget, it all comes down to presentation. So wrap it pretty and present it well no matter what you do.
I’m going to make a bowl of popcorn & camp out here ‘cuz I need ideas too. Your clipboards were adorable!! You should post them for a future WFMW. I will email you the ideas I find – can’t post them since half my family reads all this bloggy stuff LOL
Basket Ideas:
Sundae – very cute idea!
Italian theme – spaghetti sauce, collander ($1 store), noodles, parm. cheese
Movie theme – buy a DVD on sale, add packs of microwavable popcorn and big bag of M&M’s/candy
Spa theme – body scrubs/lotions, nail file, polish, lip gloss – (from $1 store)
Cookie theme-cookie cutters, cookie cookbook, sprinkles or other toppings
Hope this helps!!
Lisa Kay
Stationery theme-pretty note cards and envelopes, a few stamps, and coordinating address book
i once got a movie night gift which was a movie popcorn box(I guess she just asked for an empty box?)l, a pack of microwave popcorn, some candy and a GC to block buster for $5. It was a fun gift.
I too am hoping to make gifts this year. I am doing aprons for some, totebags and smocks for some kids, and placemat and napkin sets for others. I plan on getting the fabric cheap by using vintage sheets from goodwill for the aprons and smocks. I will also use Joanne coupons and remnant/sale fabrics. Since the aprons are “vintage” I plan on buying some obviously vintage cookbooks at goodwill to go with them.
I have also made cookies shaped like gingerbread houses and given small donations to habitat for humanity.
Goodluck!
Here is what I am doing this year for adults. I am going to make a huge batch of chex mix. If you buy your ingredients at Costco then you can make about 3 huge batches with it. Then I am buying some cute Christmas bags at the dollar store, for like 12 for $1. I am going to put chex mix in the bags with a cute ribbon and a homemade tag that has a nice poem or something like that on it. You could do this in a basket and add some other neat snack treats. It could be a treat basket or throw in a movie and make it a movie basket.
Oh also, I wanted to tell you I did the clipboards too one year and they were a big hit!
We always struggle with Christmas budgets. Last year, we did really well by selling lots of stuff on ebay and using the money in our paypal account to purchase gifts for the kids at ebay (most were new, but much cheaper than at the store :).
I’ve done a fair amount of baking for gifts – fudge, divinity, sugar-coated pecans and packaged them in neat little containers (baskets, cute little bottles – all things I already had). One year I did banana bread in these little terra cotta pots for our kids teachers. We made a flower that said, “thanks for helping me grow”, put it on a popsicle stick and stuck it into the bread. Cute and fairly cheap since my mom gave me the pots.
Look around your house – if you’re a clutter hog like me, you can probably find some neat containers for putting homemade goodies in 🙂
I hosted a “Homemade with Love” Gift Idea Exchange last year… here’s the link with TONS of ideas (it’s slow in loading because there are a lot of pictures) and there’s a Mister Linky at the bottom with 25 other links to different blogs with great ideas, too!
http://www.kissesofsunshine.com/2006/10/homemade-gift-idea-exchange_23.html
This year, I’ll be hosting it on or around November 12 … so bookmark the link to my blog and come back for more great ideas!!!
I’m making pillow cases for everyone that we need to give gifts too. They are really easy and cheap to make. I made some for my dad for his birthday a year ago (I made two) and my mom says that they are his favorite and he’ll ask for them.
email me and I’ll give you the directions.
Homemade goodies are always a treat. Last year for the boys’ teachers I put a beautiful selection of homemade goodies in a shirtbox. On top of the tissue paper I laid a cool, inexpensive pointer.
Do you bake? One year I made my dad a member in my Cookie of the Month Club. That is, I agreed to make him a batch of cookies every month.
I know it isn’t exactly a winter idea, but… a smore’s basket? All the stuff to make smore’s tied with a big ribbon.
Last year I made a rainy day basket for my neices. Snacks, puzzles, books on CD (Scholastic book orders have terrific prices), craft kits, $5 movie.
Can’t wait to see what others have to suggest!
For the grandparents we are making a grandkids scrapbook page and framing them.
Last year one of my customers from work gave me the neatest gift. She mixed up a batch of sugar cookie dough, rolled it out on parchment paper. Then she loosley rolled the flattened cookie dough and wrapped in in plastic wrap. She gave me a recipe card with the oven bake temp. She included a tub of frosting and a container of sprinkles. We plan to make this for our friends this year. If you have to mail your gifts, you could give a cookie mix and a rolling pin.
Good luck, I enjoyed reading everyones ideas, hopefully I’ll remember them in a couple of months!
If it is for grandparents, make a calendar with your kids’ hand prints. I can give you more details about this if you – or anyone reading this – are interested! It’s basically free to make it and VERY cute!
Email me at [email protected] if you’re interested!
Mrs. Brownstone @ XBOX Wife
http://xboxwife.blogspot.com/
Some great ideas. I’m interested in how you did your clipboards. Do you have any pics?
I forgot to post my ideas. First, I make sure I shop the after holiday sales to pick up items for Christmas and birthdays the following year. Always make sure to only purchase things that are 50% off or more and that I know who I will give them to. Second, I keep my eyes open for quality items at the dollar store and on clearance items at other stores. I try to stay with items that are quality and useful and not end up with a bunch of junk. Sometimes smaller items can be combined into a basket or bag purchased from the dollar store. For homemade gifts we’ve done caramel corn, hot chocolate mix, cookies and muffin mix. Photo albums are nice for relatives or close friends. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just a nice looking little album from dollar tree filled with photos. Can’t wait to read more ideas.
Two Words….Yard Sales!
Throughout the summer I go to yard sales and I’m always looking out for gift ideas. Things I’ve bought:
*Like new devotional books and Bibles
*Tea cups to put in baskets (which I also bought at yard sales) with a package of nice herbal tea
*Pretty sugar bowls missing lids, add some wire to the handles. String colorful plastic beads on the wire and put a small plant in it for a plant hanger.
*A large serving spoon glued to a small platter, add a plate hanger to the back and tie a velvet ribbon to the plate hanger. Now it can be hung (horizontal or vertical) and the velvet ribbon tacked over it with pin. All items purchased at yard sales
*Vintage thermoses, wash and fill with hot chocolate or coffee mixes
*Old books used to make book ends. I bought metal bookends and glued old books to them to make a pair of bookends. All purchased at yard sales.
*If you know someone’s taste in books, be on the lookout for popular authors and make a small collection. Yard sale books go from .25@ to $2@ which is WAY cheap compared to buying new.
*Baby blankets sewn into soft pillows for pet beds. Easy to wash!
*Bibs made into dog coats with just a strip of elastic.
*Like new toys. Just wash and wrap! I’ve bought dolls, doll houses, Barbies, Barbie accessories like cars, campers, etc, GI Joes, baby toys, cars, trucks, etc. As long as they are in like new condition and you wash them thoroughly.
*Doll or Barbie clothes – if you find them at yard sales, great! But you can make them yourself too.
*Make sachets using doilies
*Put together a nice tablecloth and napkins. Just make sure they aren’t torn or irreversibly stained. I’ve bought all my table linens at yard sales. Many just need a good wash. I’ve bought beautiful white damask tableclothes, lace tableclothes, linen, etc. If you know their table size you can find what you need at yard sales.
*I’ve bought wooden shelves and wooden trays. Then I clean them good, paint them. If they need new hardware, I add that.
*A Griswold iron frying pan. Clean and season it for them. Add a couple of recipes and go online and print off the “Care of Iron Frying Pans”.
*Cookbooks
Your post inspired me.! Look at my post today to see my answer to you (and others) about the best gift I ever gave. It’s the best!
I found you at Barb’s (Half Past Kissin Time). What a great post. I loved the ideas! we’re feelin’ the cruch here too. I agree that food is a great gift, especially when it’s homemade with love.
The year before last, I made something for my Aunt & Uncle for Christmas. It was the only gift that brought tears. I found this great, ceramic plate from Hallmark at The Dollar Tree that had a verse on the back about making goodies to put on it and passing the plate along to family or friends to keep the love flowing. I made all sorts of goodies to eat & put them on the plate. My Aunt cried. She passed away this summer unexpectedly at the age of 60 and I miss her dearly. Something little can mean a lot.