Christmas Gift Giving Ideas

We had an agreement with family close and extended that we would only give home made gifts or none at all.  One year when money was especially tight, we took the best photo of our children that we had taken through the year, made copies, made frames out of card and scrapbook supplies, and gave those.  That was one of the presents my mum and dad loved the most and it was easy to do.  We also give  homemade toffee, cookies, chocolate peanuts (peanuts mixed into chocolate and spooned onto a tray until cool – about a heaped teaspoon each time) – all these go into decorative boxes we have made, or glass jars that we have collected through the year.  When the girls werre small, they loved making nature notebooks – illustrated and also newspapers about their pets – we would copy these and send them out – everyone was highly entertained.  I also make aromatherapy gifts, massage oil, bath oils etc and wrap them up in pretty packaging. We actually like taking the commercial out of the holidays, because it then stays focused on the real meaning of the season.  We always do a tree, with our collection of old family german glass ornaments, and our Nativity set always is on display – but as for gifts, our whole family have always been very good about not expecting gifts – which has made it much easier for all.  Mum when she was alive made clothes for the girls and me and knitted sweaters for my husband – so the handmade thing was and is big in our families.  There are so many great ideas on this post – I think a lot of people will be looking for simple Christmas celebrations this year, how nice it would be if it became the norm, and we could all banish the commercial nonsense.  Fort our own girls, they get 3 presents, one larger one and 2 small ones, we stick to a budget and the girls have always understood we base their gifts on the Wise Men taking the three gifts to the baby Jesus.  Often times the gifts are books, as the girls love books like I do, and some of the books are  expenive and make up the large present.  Anyway, thanks for restarting this post, it gives loads of great ideas.  Love to hear if anyone has new ideas.

These ideas are great. Here are some gifts I’m making this year:

For my young nieces and nephews, I am making  felt board playset, I designed it to be 12×18 when open, it folds up to 9×12 and has a pocket on one side to hold the felt pieces and handles for carrying. Cost is around $5.00 ea

I am also making winter gift baskets for the adult couples we buy for consisting of: homemade cocoa, homemade chai tea, marshmallows & mint chocolate chips, candy canes, cinnamon sticks, popcorn, mugs, candle, blanket,confetti bean soup & Texas cornbread mix along with soup bowls. It sounds like alot but the cost is around $18 for 2 people so only $9 ea. Possibly less if I can get items on sale.

 I am making my own children a few items this year as well.I’ve done alot of research on homemade gifts so if anyone is interested I can share some blogs that I got some ideas, tutorials and patterns from.

I spend too much money on my children (they got laptops last year customed ordered from HP) so this year my hubby cut my budget to $2000. I’m really going to try not to go over my budget and if possible spend less. Keep the ideas coming.

The thing that has helped us the most is shopping year round.  This enables us to be able to buy decent gifts for extended family, but not pay as much.  It’s amazing what goes on clearance throughout the year.  We bought my 9yo sister-in-law a $50 gift for only $15.  Normally, by the time November actually roles around we have bought all the cousins/young children in the family their gifts at about 75% off.  Also, I love layaway.  Not many stores have it, but I frequent the ones that do.

It is so sad that in our society many equate Christmas with gifts and money, when we should really be celebrating His birth.  My own feeling is that you should continue to give homemade gifts, as to me they are more precious than anything store bought – and you should be happy knowing that you have put your love and time into those gifts for the people you love.  If some of those people are not appreciative, then I don’t feel that is your problem, that is on them… don’t let that worry or upset you.  Hearing about the hassles and pain gift giving can cause makes me very grateful, that my own family gave up extended gift giving a long time ago, and value any little handmade thing we may offer, and we don’t always give something to even family.  Maybe you could suggest that in the future gift exchanges are limited, or stopped all together especially for adults in the family.  Christmas has become so commercial and the joy has gone for many people, my prayer is that we can all get back to the real meaning, and leave the commercial nonsense behind.  One of the reasons the world is in so much trouble, is that we have become nations of greedy people who equate love with money and so many live way above their means, buying more and more stuff – our parents and grandparents had a much better handle on the whole money thing, we could learn a lot from them – people say we are progressing, I don’t think we are going in the right direction.   So hold your head high and give handmade gifts and take no notice of those who are less than gracious or appreciate the love that you give with your meaningful gift.  Christmas is a blessed time for us to rejoice, not be sad about the monetary value of things.  I like your idea of giving to charity.  Maybe you could make a donation to your favorite charity, and let your family members know you made a gift in their names – no-one should be offended by that.  Bless you and do not worry – yours is one heart that is in the right place, at least in my book.