Need ideas for cheap/home-made Christmas gifts

Megan - posted on 12/15/2012

For your niece, Make a photo book with the faces of all the people who love her...then "read" it together. Maybe even write a special blessing on one of the pages.
The little ones in my nursery love this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005N...
A pizza kit for your nephew...boys love food!

Joy - posted on 11/18/2010

I just picked up a giant box full of mason jars at a friend's garage sale this summer. So this year everyone I know (including the ones I have to ship) is getting the ingredients to make my banana bread, which everyone loves. Well, they're getting everything but the bananas lol I'm printing out recipe cards on the computer and I've already bought some nice fabric and ribbon to decorate the jars. Voila, warm comfy banana bread in a Merry Christmas jar lol

Amber - posted on 11/18/2010

the peanut butter playdough one doesn't work as well as the kool aid playdough!! check it out!! :D

Iysha - posted on 11/15/2010

I like the subscription to magazine Idea. When my 11 year old cousin was in the hospital, i actually found a FREE 12 month subscription to Lego Magazine (he loves legos) and ordered it for him. It did take 6 weeks for him to get the first one, but he loved it.

Di - posted on 11/15/2010

For the children that are auristic (I have a nephew that is) they tend to collect things, find out what their into and hand make them Personalised carry bags just for them. For the two guys get them Vouchers from a store they like so they can pick what they would like.Or Subscribe to a magazine for a year in what ever sport they like.

Iysha - posted on 11/15/2010

I like to draw and paint...especially with charcoal. I once made my fiance a painted portrait of himself. I took a cool pictur of his face (not too many shadows or stuff...simple but interesting picture) and drew it out very simply on paper. I chose the color blue and made different shades and tints of blue by adding white and/or black and painted only with those colors. It was cool. He really liked it...and the same thing can be done with any picture really...like a football, a team picture, logo, a cartoon character, etc. It can be framed and hung in a man cave or bedroom.

If youre good with a needle and thread, sock dolls are super cute. My daughter has one and sleeps with it. all you would need is to find out how to make it online and use lace, yarn, buttons, scraps of cloth, etc to include clothing, hair and face to the doll.

You could also bake treats and buy some tins at good will/salvation army and add embellishments to the tins that can be later used as a box to put pictures/hold change/jewelry in.

A billboard can be made with cloth and stretchy sring or ribbon, wood, padding and staples.

Blankets are easy to make....the ones that you cut slits in and tie together. they can be made with fabric that has the person's favorite cartoon character, sports team, etc.

Kimberly - posted on 11/15/2010

Those are great ideas...Thank you!!! I went to www.about.com and typed in handmade christmas gift ideas and they had plenty!!! Anything from home-made candy bouquets and roses made out of hershey's kisses & skewers to candle holders using wax paper n popsicle sticks (much to my suprise, looked neat and elegant)...I even found home-made gag gifts like slippers/house shoes out of maxi pads and snowman "poop" out of candy n ziploc bags...Although it sounds a little un-attractive, I figure it would be a great idea to embarass my teenage brother with...I'm sure my dad would get a laugh out of it since he's normally the good spirited prankster lol...They even had age appropriate craft ideas that my daughter could b involved in helping to make...You should check it out...maybe it will give you a little more ideas to use anytime of the year (considering they have craft ideas for every holiday as well)

Carrie - posted on 11/13/2010

Kimberly, the edible playdough recipe I found calls for 1 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup honey, and 2 cups of powdered sugar. It makes a brown playdough, not too pretty, but it tastes good and feels just like the normal stuff you buy.

A couple more ideas I'm using this year are melting crayons and pouring them into fun shaped molds. These will go with home-made coloring books. You can upload photos to crayola.com to turn the pictures into coloring sheets.

I've also made tons of hairbows, using ribbon with all the holiday themes (christmas, easter, halloween, valentine's day, etc.). You can find instructions at www.girlythingsbows.com to make several different types of bows.

For food type gifts, check out "Make-A-Mix Cookery" by Eliason,Harward, and Westover. Also, look for "Easy Microwave Desserts in a Mug" by Gloria Hander Lyons. For bachelors or anyone that doesn't like to cook, these mixes are great for a quick meal or dessert that they won't need many ingredients and are quick to prepare.

Lastly, I've been doing a lot of sewing lately. Old sweaters that I don't like so much on myself make gorgeous dresses for my little girl with a little alterations. You can find a lot of patterns and ideas for free online. One site I've used is www.fmfcorp.com/familyspot/sewing.html

Hope this helps. And I'm still very open to any other ideas you guys have - if I don't use them this year, maybe I can get a head start on next year's gifts and not feel so stressed come next November! God bless!

Kimberly - posted on 11/13/2010

I am glad I am not the ONLY one who wonders the same thing!!! lol...Christmas is my favorite time of year and yet I stress sooo much because of the same reasons...Plus my daughter turns 5 on December 22nd so i have a birthday party 2...I've never thought of making home-made gifts before...playdoh would b a great idea 2 use...I know I'm supposed to b helping you out but I'm clueless lol...Thank u for posting this cuz I'll b back for ideas myself...Hope its ok!!! :) Good luck and of course if I hear of anything I'll let you know

Carrie - posted on 11/13/2010

Thanks, gals!

Deanna, I've already been making my daughter some edible playdough, and was thinking of doing that for my younger nieces, but I bet the older one would like it as well. It's fun to decorate with reeses pieces and other candies, then eat it.

Renee, you gave me a great idea - my nephew loves to hunt and fish...think I'll make him some pillowcases with camo and other fun prints.

What makes my brother's family hard is that (1) I have to ship the presents, and (2) all six members of the family have birthdays in November, December, and January. So I usually just get two gifts per person and wrap one in birthday paper and one in Christmas paper and ship them all together. This year they are going to all get a birthday gift, then a basket of home-made food items will be for the entire family's Christmas gift.

Stifler's - posted on 11/12/2010

If you can't afford it don't do it. Just send a whole family present or gift card and cheaps cards. This year I'm finally getting my Sv6 so everyone else gets shit presents from us. I'm giving my SIL and BIL a family picture of their own families taken at our wedding in a nice frame and my MIL will probably get something like that. my family will get a pic too in a frame and the ids will get like pandora charms and stuff and the adults chocolate. My own family like me and damo don't care about presents and we're just getting Logan toys.

Deanna - posted on 11/12/2010

Alright here goes so bare with me.......
15 yr old niece: put all the ingredients for homemade playdoh in a jar with directions for the adding the water with the help of an adult.
11 yr old nephew: (need more info as I have no clue what he likes each boy is different)
2 grown men: I just stuff their stockings with candy as well as do one nice thing for them. (I stick a card telling them what I will do for them in their stocking.) i.e. clean the garage for the mechanics, clean their house for the single men, host a football game day, gather up real worms from the garden, have a sack lunch ready for them before they go hunting and so on.
Hope this helps in some way.

Renee - posted on 11/12/2010

How crafty are you? You could try to make like a wall hanging quilt or something like that. You can get material for what ever their interests are. My mom made one for my son in bright colored fish print. Or a fish shaped pillow.