I, as most, am on a tight budget. With the holidays coming I thought it would be nice to get some ideas of homemade gifts (cheap). Anyone got any ideas. In the past I have bought tins at the dollar tree and made candy for the teachers---would like something different.

ANY IDEAS??????

ONE

Homemade Pickles are good, easy to fix too. If you'd like an easy recipe, I'll be glad to fix you up.

Another idea is a pretty basket of pinecones with a beautiful red bow! You might have some baskets already, pinecones are free, ribbon is cheap right now or you might have some ribbon leftover from a prior christmas. (I save ribbons, just iron it lightly and walla, looks like new! )

Fleece can be used to make a variety of gifts from a scarf to a blanket. A lot of it takes no sewing. Walmart has a BIG variety and even has free patterns.

You can also find inexpensive kits to make Christmas ornaments.

Buy some memory wire and inexpensive beads and make bracelets. If you aren't sure how just let me know and I'll give you easy instructions. You can also use elastic to make bracelets as well.

DO you know how to macrame? A a little jute and a few beads can make many gifts - key chains, bracelets, necklaces. Again.. I've got a TON of patterns I could give you.

Check on the net for gifts in a jar. You mix ingredients for things like hot cocoa, cookie mix, etc. Put it in a mason jar and tie a ribbon around it. If you give the cookie mix you can buy a cheap cookie cutter to tie to the outside of the jar as well.

I've bought cups at Walmart - they are 2 for a $1. Fill the cups with hot chocolate packets, tea bags or individual coffee packets. Add a couple of pieces of candy or some of those individually wrapped chocolate candy sticks.

I've got a kazillion ideas for gift giving on a budget :D hope those help a little....

Macrame--crochet--I wish I am a lefty and have never found anyone that could teach me.

WHAT WONDERFUL IDEAS---KEEP EM COMING.

ONE

I was going to say fleece scarfs too! Really easy to make and keep your eyes open for sales and really good deals on the fleece.

Make simple stamps out of sponges or potatoes and make pictures with them. I've also made my own homemade wrapping paper.

If there is a newspaper in your town, call the newspaper office and ask if they sell the roll ends of paper. Alot of them do and you get TONS of plain paper cheap. Works great for wrapping paper.

Holiday Spice Potpourrie

4 Oranges
4 Lemons
1/2 c Whole cloves
1/2 c Whole allspice
10 Cinnamon Sticks, broken
10 Bay leaves, crumbled
8 oz Decorated jelly jars with -bands & lids
Using a vegetable peeler, peel fruit carefully, removing only the peel, not any of the white pith. Cut or tear into one inch pieces.

Spread peel on paper towel lined pan.

Place in preheated oven to 175, or set oven to WARM.

Dry in oven for 1 1/2 hours, tossing occasionally. Peels should be leathery and/or slightly crunchy.

Spread peels on dry paper towels and let air dry for 24 hours.

Combine with remaining ingredients.

Fill jars with mixture, place lids on and screw bands on tightly.

Yield: 3 or 4 half pint jars.

To use: remove lid and leave band on for decoration to fragrance a room. OR put one Tblsp into a jar and fill jar with boiling water to release fragrance.


Scented Pinecones
Cinnamon*
Ginger*
Nutmeg*
Craft glue mixed with equal amounts of
Water
Foam brush
Pinecones

*Add any other spices that you like the smell of. Mix in the proportions that you desire (I'd go heavy on the cinnamon as I love the smell).

Rinse pinecones under running water. Lay the pinecones on an old cookie sheet and bake at 200 degrees until the pinecones open up (this not only kills any little beasties that may be residing within the pinecones but also melts the sap resulting in a pretty glaze).

Spread pinecones out on layers of newspapers and set aside to dry completely

Use the foam brush to apply the glue to the pinecones.

Mix the spices in a bowl using a wire wisk. Roll the pinecone in the spice or add the spices to a baggie; add the pinecones one at a time and shake to coat (like shake-n-bake)

When coated, allow to dry thoroughly.

Use these wonderfully-scented pinecones in gift baskets, as christmas tree ornaments, on christmas wreaths, or placed in bowls to add a wonderful scent to a room.

If, after storing, you need to refresh the scent of the pinecones just stick them in a microwave until the smell if revived


Christmas Sparkle Ornaments
Trace assorted Christmas-themed cookie cutter shapes onto paper. Place waxed paper over design. Outline design with glue. Coat surface with glue and fill with the glitter.

Let set. Shake off extra glitter. Let dry (may take several days to dry so be sure to do this far enough ahead of christmas day).

Cut out and do the same thing to the reversed side.

Make hole in top and run a loop of thread or thin ribbon and hang it on your Christmas tree.

I love the pine cones, I was givin one last year for chrismas and it was a very nice gift :):)
I have it out again this year and it sets by my christmas tree and will forever :):)

I have a friend that made some pine cones and she as well went to the dollar store and got colored glue, she just poors it over the cones leaving streaks of glue on them and they are GEROGIOUS!!!
That is cheap and you can do as many as you wish for under 5 bucks!!
Its heart warming at christmas time :):):) They are very nice.. I love Mine :):):)

I just saw beautiful bookmarks made out of a piece of wire with some fancy beads on the top couple of inches. They were advertised as "jewelry for your books" and cost $10, but you could easily make them at home. They also had keychains. Even I could have made these!

I got some jars of honey, put a vanilla stick (is that what they are called in English??) in each of them, and after a while you have a great tasting and smelling honey!

I have seen some cool ideas for "Gifts in a Jar" that are pretty inexpensive but REALLY thoughtful - they range from Soups to Flavored Coffees. You can find them in Library Books or use internet searches. I found some cool recipes in a book called "Not Just Beans - 50 years of Frugal Family Favorites". They also have a website: www.notjustbeans.com
In the book they are listed under Mixes - not sure about the site.

You can also get a jar and put a string of lights (smallest string you can find, usually .99 cents) take enough of the plug end out to reach a plug-in , cut a circle of material, and put on top of the jar, use a rubber band to hold in place and then a nice ribbon or pony tail holder to dress it up. They are beautiful when lite up.

i do the thing with the lights in the circle fish tank things..but i put pine cones inside and when yu plug it in you have a beautiful bowl of lights and you can see the perty pinecones inside. it's pretty cheap and yu don't have to use a fishbowl just anything clear :)

I like personalizing items with embroidery. You can buy things relatively cheap and add a personal touch to them.
Homemade gifts are becoming more and more popular every year, and if you go to your local library you should be able to find all sorts of books with ideas and directions.

pillows, scented or unscented are pretty easy to make

to take your mind off the horrible summer heat outside. :)

I love LOVE to give gift baskets, all full with all kinds of goodies that each person would use.

One year I took my kids to the store and picked out fabric for everyone on our list, we then made pillows and we made a matching bag out of the same material and filled it with rice, for the adults to be used as a heating bag and for the kids to be heated up at night and tucked between the covers before they went to sleep at night so it would make their bed all warm and cozy. :) I also made little bags to fit in their pockets so they could heat them up on cold school mornings waiting for the bus. My kids had so much fun at the store picking out just the right material for everyone. (Barbie, race cars, horses, cats, spongebob, flames)

The other thing, all the girls loved was the koolaid purses. I made them until I was blue in the face. lol but all the girls wanted one.

When we were kids we used to use Reader's Digest magazines and make Christmas trees out of them. Here's how:

We would fold the top corner of the page and fold it to the center or binding of the magazine. We would then take the 'new' corner and fold that over the first fold toward the center or binding of the magazine. We would continue doing this on all pages until every page was folded like this. Then we would spray paint the 'tree' with gold or silver paint, drape it with 'garland' and glue small ornaments onto it.