SusanCarrollHome.com My Tips, Thoughts and Reviews

Christmas will be here soon and since many are a little short on cash this year I thought it would be fun to exchange some good and inexpensive gift ideas. By good I mean that the receiver of the gift actually likes it and by inexpensive I mean … you know what I mean and diamonds don’t qualify.

Now before we start the list I would like to stress that there are 2 very important things to remember when giving a “cheap” gift and they are:

1. It’s The Thought That Counts!
   No, it’s not just enough to say you thought about the other person and gave them something. You must think about the person and put some thought into the gift you’re giving.
2. The gift needs to look attractive. So take a some time to make the gift and package look special.

I’ve started the exchange by listing 10 ideas my daughters and I have come up with. And some of them we’ve actually done! Feel free to use any of these ideas and be sure to add to the exchange by leaving your ideas as a comment.

• Parents & Grandparents – Pictures of family members are always a hit. 1 year my daughter took some old photos of her kids, made a collage and framed it. Then a couple of years ago my other daughter took some of my old photos I’d never gotten around to putting into albums and she did it for me. (I think  I may have even supplied the albums since I already had them.)Another idea for using photos is to go to a craft store and find some of those make-a-cup type things where you can simply insert your picture and then assemble the item.

• Holiday Decorators – I have a son-in-law who loves to decorate for all the holidays so every year I try to find some good decorations that are on clearance after a holiday. Then I just store the items until Christmas. Those years I haven’t found anything I look for unusual ornaments I think he’d like.Know someone who likes to decorate for the holidays but can’t? Why not give them the gift of some of your time and talent by decorating their place for them. When my kids were still in high school and my husband and I were really too busy to decorate, my daughter’s boyfriend put up our outside decorations and we really appreciated it. Of course the gift isn’t complete unless you also come over and put things away after the holiday.

• Grownups Who Miss Being A Kid – I have a grown daughter who misses going out on Halloween because she really liked most of that junky candy. You know the kind I mean. The stuff no self-respecting adult would ever buy to eat. Since I always buy that kind of candy just in case we’ve eaten all the chocolate stuff and we usually have a ton of it left I now make her a Halloween candy bag for Christmas.If your grownup misses coloring Easter eggs you could give them an egg coloring kit and a dozen boiled eggs. (You could boil the eggs a day or two before giving them and keep them in the fridge until the gift is given.)

• Girls and Women -  My daughter thinks a purse essentials kit would be a great gift since a lot of women carry a bag or a purse and many keep small packs of essentials (e.g., Tylenol, clear nail polish, band aids, and tissues) in them. But more often then not these items are scattered in the dismal abyss of their purse. You can really be creative and put together whatever you like. The basic idea is to go somewhere like Dollar General and get some small cloth bags (like pencil bags, travel makeup bags, etc.) and then fill them with those things you think are most essential. You can take some fabric paint or permanent markers and decorate the bag to reflect the personality of the person you are giving it to.Content Suggestions – A small packet of Kleenex (you can buy a large package of these individual packets at most grocery stores), chap stick, band aids, Tylenol (or Advil), small note pad (post it notes are great because they can be left on a door or window), pen, lighter (not just for smokers….we’ve all been to that rest stop haven’t we), cotton balls, antiseptic (try the sticks if you can find them), etc….
• General – We’ve all seen the jars at the store that contain mixes and recipes and there are a lot of places online for making them yourself. My daughter came up with the idea for using them for non kitchen things.Here are a few possibilities:

  Spa Days – Buy some inexpensive bath salts from the store (Calgon take me away) and put them in a mason jar with a pretty label that says something like…for the ultimate get away mix in bath tub with hot water etc. You can get some small tea lights or votives to add to this from the dollar store to complete the spa experience or add a recipe for a homemade facial. You can even make your own bath salts if you can get your hands on some Epsom salts and essential oils.

  Golfers – Use golf balls and tees.

• Anyone – Since most people like fortune cookies or at least the fortune inside, how about a Jar of Good Fortune. You could give them a month or a years worth of good fortune by simply printing some fortune cookie quotes in a jar. To get you started on finding some quotes here are a couple of places to look – http://www.chinese-fortune-cookie.com/fortune-cookie-sayings.html and http://joshmadison.com/article/fortune-cookie-fortunes.The important thing with these presents, again, is to make it pretty and be creative.

• Pre-teen and Teenage Girls – Padded Journals are good and my daughter found this video for an easy way to make them -http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-make-raven-symone-s-padded-journal-249262/

• Small Children – Ever make an oven mitt puppet?  According to my daughter one of her favorite memories was we made one when she was about 6. Good idea to just give the child in your life what they’ll need to make it and them help them find their creative spirit. What you do is find a nice oven mitt (try to find one that has a top and bottom, one with just a thumb won’t work). You can buy bobbly eyes from a craft store or make them out of felt. Use yarn for hair (either a pompom or as string for long hair). A piece of pink felt for the tongue. The best part are the extras…can you find something for a bow tie or hair ribbon? (I found a little butterfly made of wire and shiny material, which we added as a hair piece and she always thought was the best part.) To make this as a gift, cut all the pieces and put in a box with some nice Elmer’s glue…you’re good to go. If you can’t find an oven mitt you can use a tube sock

• General – Reusable shopping bags are all the rage. Make some yourself and add fun things like your child’s handprints and the words “I’m saving the planet for my grandson Toby” or a statement like “I’m saving plastic so they can make more toys.” You can get the directions for making them online at lots of places and here’s where you’ll find a pattern to sew a shopping bag by The Green Bag Lady -  http://www.scribd.com/doc/3285051/Green-Bag-Lady-PatternIf you’re into doing something that’s a little easier you can find the directions for making them out of t-shirts here – http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/548411/how_to_make_reusable_cloth_shopping.html?cat=24 and see 1 made from a tank top here http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/2007/08/the-ultra-cool-.html

• General – We’ve all seen those micro beads heating pads but did you know you can make them yourself? Now the really great thing about making your own is that you can make them attractive and if you’d like to give out several it’s cheaper than buying them. Also when you make them yourself you can make them any size and shape you want so they can be used as bed, foot and hand warmers. Again, there are many places online for directions however I recommend this 1 since it’s written by a nurse who makes them safe enough to be used in hospital – http://www.diamondthreadworks.com/microwave_heating_bags.htmIf you don’t have a serger sewing machine you can use an overlock stitch or sew the seam twice; first with a straight stitch and then a zigzag. And if you don’t sew you can still make some simpler heating pads using a tube sock and simply tying a knot in the end.

  Just remember to include the directions for use with your gift and you can add a statement how your gift can also be used as an ice pack if kept in the freezer.

• Chocolate Lovers – Chocolate lovers usually have a good sense of humor about their love for chocolate. You can use their sense of humor to make an inexpensive chocolate gift special by adding a quote about chocolate like “There’s nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with CHOCOLATE” or “A day without chocolate is a day without sunshine.”Or you could give a t-shirt or wall plaque with a funny quote like: “So much chocolate, so little time!”, “I’m a Chocoholics Anonymous dropout” or my favorite “Chocolate is nature’s way of making up for Mondays.”

  Here are a couple of places to find some quotes about chocolate – http://www.facts-about-chocolate.com/chocolate-quotes.html and http://www.chocolateusa.org/Story-of-Chocolate/chocolate-quotes.asp

Hope you can use some of the above ideas for cheap holiday gifts. If you have any other ideas please leave a comment and share.

Happy Holidays,
Susan