Frugal And Thoughtful Gift Ideas
Knit Dishcloths (These take me some time to make but don't cost but around $1.20 a piece).
Holiday Pins
Framed Art From A Child
Nice Coffee In A Pretty Mug From A Thrift Store
A Journal And A Pretty Pen.
Some Nice Tea w/ A Pretty Thrift Store Tea Cup And Saucer.
Homemade Cocoa Mix (A friend gave this to us last year with spoons that had been dipped in chocolate...yummy!)
Homemade Bread
Homemade Jam Or Jelly In A Jar w/ A Pretty Lid
Photo Album w/ Pictures
Homemade cookie mix
Pizza Making Basket
Pancake Mix w/ A Bottle Of Maple Syrup
Movie Night Basket (popcorn, drinks, old movies, etc.)
Picture Frames, always make a great gift
Pedicure In A Basket (nail polish, nail file, lotion, loofah or pumice stone)
Embroidered Dish Towel (I did a strawberry on a $1.00 kitchen towel last yeaar and it turned out really nice!)
Nice Jar Filled w/ Homemade Candy
Embossed Glass Christmas Ball
Hand stamped note cards (you could include stamps)
Sewing Kit
Homemade Bathsalts (We delivered gingerbread scented bathsalts one year in pretty salt shakers from the dollar store.)
Homemade Apron
Muffin Tin w/ Homemade Muffin Mix
Family cookbook
A Picnic Basket With A Pretty Table Cloth
Book On Tape (recorded by you or your children)
Handkerchief Embroidered With A Favorite Bible Verse
Flashlight (always a winner with little boys!...but don't forget the batteries!)
Fleece Blankets can be expensive (between $10.00-$15.00 each), but are easy to make.
A Cold/Flu Basket With Tylenol, Tissues, A Puzzle Book With A Pen, A Rice Sock, A Homemade Chicken Soup Mix, ....I think that the possibilities for this would be endless
Pretty Christmas Candles Tied With A Beautiful Bow.
Homemade Jewelry Can Be VERY Inexpensive to make, especially if you use craft store coupons and stock up on your supplies early.
Frozen Cookie Dough and a Pretty Cookie Cutter for them to bake with their own family!
One big way that we save on gifts for our own children are to do a few things:
We rarely, if ever, purchase things that require batteries.
We try to buy wood, if possible...for instance, wooden kitchen set food.
We stick to one theme type toy (this takes up less room and is easier to keep clean)...for instance, all of our one and two year old's have always received little people sets for Christmas, our three and fours receive GeoTraks. We had started investing in Imaginext sets for my 5 year old son one year but I was not pleased at all with their quality...I'm glad to see that they are going back to the way they USED to be made (I noticed this last night while in the store). We stay away from fad items and try to only purchase quality, classic toys that run on imagination. As children get older we go more towards craft/sewing/building/electrical/science type sets that teach as they play. One HUGE benefit to homeschooling is that my children don't want the current trends...one of my daughters, this year, has asked for a quill pen and ink set.
Some ideas we've used for our children are:
A back pack (someone had give us new) filled with army men from the dollar store.
I'm currently making animal finger puppets which take me around 30 minutes a piece for my little boys to play with, with either blocks or lincoln logs. I'm still learning how to knit personally, but if you were really good, someone had mentioned to me that a knit or crocheted ark woudl be a great gift to accompany these little guys!
Pillowcase embroidered with their initials
I gave them rubber bracelets (the ones everyone is wearing right now) last year as a Christas gift....I received them because we made a donation at Christmas last year to compassion international in their name. They still wear their bracelets and it's a nice reminder to them to pray for children who might not have as much as they do.
I save sturdy pantry/kitchen containers when we are finished...for instance, a plastic cocoa container washed is a wonderful gift for a kitchen set. We save spice containers, butter tubs, and tea tins.
Homemade play dough is so much fun! Mixed up, it can easily be stored in a discarded kitchen container (see above). My favorite, is to make homemade Kool Aid dough and give this to my children...they love to play with it and it makes my whole house smell wonderful!
Cooking baskets...we gave by 7year old daughter, last year a box full of her own baking utensils, a cookbook, and a stack of 39 cent brownie mixes from Walmart. She LOVED that gift!
Frugal Gift Submission:
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