Ideas for Homemade Christmas Presents

[Princess_Abby]

Ha. I just answered your PM - but our camera cord that connects the digital camera to the computer was lost when we were out of town recently. But we’ll have a new one soon. When everything’s finished, I’ll post some pics. We’re moving soon too, so that might delay finishing some stuff - but it’ll all be done before Christmas!

Everyone should post pics! Homemade/handmade gifts are on of my favvvvvvvvvvvvvorite subjects.

 

[Starfish]

I make almost everything we use. I haven’t bought bread in ages, I make all our jams and can all of our garden. Today I made 3 dozen jars of pickles. Add this to the over 100 jars of fruit jam and you can see what will be given for gifts. I also make baskets from cattails and reed and other fibers. I spin the wool from my sheep, knit the yarn into clothing. Have you ever had fresh churned butter?



I do all these things and love it.

Hand made candies are also a great gift!

 

[aimee]

With a computer, scrapbooking can be made cheaper. I am in the process of making a scrapbook of my granddaughters’ first 8 years for the “other” grandma (she’s never expressed an interest in meeting the girls or sent them any presents or had any contact with them, but my attorney suggested it would be nice to do, as the adoption is tentatively slated for December). I am an expert with Word and other software, so it might be easier for me. Access to a scanner is necessary. The expense lies in different papers and ink, but inkjet cartridges are getting cheaper to fill. The cover is just a 3-ring binder covered over with batting, then fabric the girls picked out. I hot-glued then stitched the edges.

I always need pot holders. They get tacky after a bit. One year, one of my sisters made me a toaster cover, blender cover, pot holders and tea towels in my kitchen colors. I think she said there were patterns for such things, but the pot holders should be fairly straightforward. She also made me a fabric trivet with spices in it. When the hot pot sat on it, the spices gave off a fragrance. I used to heat water just to place it on the trivet for the smell!

Another cool thing to make is over-the-top popcorn, to add to those cookie and candy baskets. Food Network has several good homemade popcorn recipes.

If you check out the first Tightwad Gazette from the library, there are a bunch of really useful, yet cool things to make in there.

good ideas…
btw, I have all tightwad gazettes…aren’t they

 

[aimee]

This is a nice thread…helpful,too…I really enjoy homemade gifts:thumbsup:

 

[HouseArrest]

I love all these ideas! I am not too crafty but my daughter and I managed to make Christmas garland last year. We got a piece of flexible florist roping and some green wire from the craft store. It cost us about $6. We gathered different types of evergreen from the woods above our house. It looks REALLY nice if you can find some holly to use. We just started at the one end of the roping and wrapped the wire around the end of the branch and the rope. Then we set another piece on top of the first piece and continued. We didn’t even cut the wire, just kept wrapping. It took us about 4 hours to get 40’ of roping. We didn’t give it away - we did it for our own house. Our green fake stuff was not looking too good and I love having lights and decorations on the outside of the house so we did it as a cost saving measure. It was a nice afternoon together, too. If you don’t want to invest too much time you could make wreaths instead - just get a round wreath form and do the same with the wire.

 

[KCtheMommy]

So momma, I am SUPER crafty, and I do mean super crafty. I am also rediculously over-spent with these three kids and fourth on the way, so I don’t often have the “time” to do what I would like. I BARELY have time to sew the diaper covers and what not I need for Dashiell’s (my belly baby) upcoming birth.

BUT with all these great ideas I thought of something I completely forgot. Something that touched me so much, I totally plan on doing it, and “gifting” it to family this year. I heard about it on Oprah (which FYI I usually WONT watch – but Bill Clinton was on and I just adore that man - yeah yeah my opinion, we can leave it there – so I watched.) and my DD was watching with me. We tried to go to the website that day, but due to it being shown on Oprah the servers were over-loaded and shut down.

It’s called KIVA.org and essentially it’s all about helping other people all over the world to help THEMSELVES. It’s the ultimate “pay it forward” idea. So you donate $25 to a woman in Mexico who embroiders clothing, or a bread maker in Pakistan who needs a pot, or a budding restauranteer in the Phillipines who needs a refrigerator, or a shoemaker in Somalia who needs to purchase leather or tools. The point is: they get a small business loan from numerous people, they work hard to pay it back, and when you get the money back via KIVA, you can loan it to the next person. The BEST part: the loans are NOT anonymous, you get to email and get updates with the personal business owner from wherever in the world you choose. You get to WATCH them become a success! You then get to pay it forward to someone else when your money is paid back to you.

I just went and checked (again – it was your post that reminded me of this) and you can buy gift certificates from the website. Talk about a gift that keeps on giving! Not only do your family and friends get to help other’s with your help, they can continue helping other’s for years! Talk about making the world a smaller, nicer place!

I think this such a great idea, especially for kids, or families. Helping other’s rather than just gettign stuff, and being part of watching it all happen – it’s amazing! Check out the website…

kiva.org/

Up on the top is a hyper-link to Kiva Gifts.

No it’s not homemade, but it’ll help other’s support their families with their homemade goods. Amazing.

God Bless (oh and hey speaking of God…I missed that playgroup rather by accident – I just completely forgot. But then my DD broke her elbow the day before at school, so I was distracted. I’ll let you know how it all goes next week. Yes, I’ll bring my Holy Water! )

 

[SeekerJen]

So momma, I am SUPER crafty, and I do mean super crafty. I am also rediculously over-spent with these three kids and fourth on the way, so I don’t often have the “time” to do what I would like. I BARELY have time to sew the diaper covers and what not I need for Dashiell’s (my belly baby) upcoming birth.

BUT with all these great ideas I thought of something I completely forgot. Something that touched me so much, I totally plan on doing it, and “gifting” it to family this year. I heard about it on Oprah (which FYI I usually WONT watch – but Bill Clinton was on and I just adore that man - yeah yeah my opinion, we can leave it there – so I watched.) and my DD was watching with me. We tried to go to the website that day, but due to it being shown on Oprah the servers were over-loaded and shut down.

It’s called KIVA.org and essentially it’s all about helping other people all over the world to help THEMSELVES. It’s the ultimate “pay it forward” idea. So you donate $25 to a woman in Mexico who embroiders clothing, or a bread maker in Pakistan who needs a pot, or a budding restauranteer in the Phillipines who needs a refrigerator, or a shoemaker in Somalia who needs to purchase leather or tools. The point is: they get a small business loan from numerous people, they work hard to pay it back, and when you get the money back via KIVA, you can loan it to the next person. The BEST part: the loans are NOT anonymous, you get to email and get updates with the personal business owner from wherever in the world you choose. You get to WATCH them become a success! You then get to pay it forward to someone else when your money is paid back to you.

I just went and checked (again – it was your post that reminded me of this) and you can buy gift certificates from the website. Talk about a gift that keeps on giving! Not only do your family and friends get to help other’s with your help, they can continue helping other’s for years! Talk about making the world a smaller, nicer place!

I think this such a great idea, especially for kids, or families. Helping other’s rather than just gettign stuff, and being part of watching it all happen – it’s amazing! Check out the website…

kiva.org/

Up on the top is a hyper-link to Kiva Gifts.

No it’s not homemade, but it’ll help other’s support their families with their homemade goods. Amazing.

God Bless (oh and hey speaking of God…I missed that playgroup rather by accident – I just completely forgot. But then my DD broke her elbow the day before at school, so I was distracted. I’ll let you know how it all goes next week. Yes, I’ll bring my Holy Water! )

That’s a very cool idea.

 

[Saint_Gemma]

So momma, I am SUPER crafty, and I do mean super crafty. I am also rediculously over-spent with these three kids and fourth on the way, so I don’t often have the “time” to do what I would like. I BARELY have time to sew the diaper covers and what not I need for Dashiell’s (my belly baby) upcoming birth.

BUT with all these great ideas I thought of something I completely forgot. Something that touched me so much, I totally plan on doing it, and “gifting” it to family this year. I heard about it on Oprah (which FYI I usually WONT watch – but Bill Clinton was on and I just adore that man - yeah yeah my opinion, we can leave it there – so I watched.) and my DD was watching with me. We tried to go to the website that day, but due to it being shown on Oprah the servers were over-loaded and shut down.

It’s called KIVA.org and essentially it’s all about helping other people all over the world to help THEMSELVES. It’s the ultimate “pay it forward” idea. So you donate $25 to a woman in Mexico who embroiders clothing, or a bread maker in Pakistan who needs a pot, or a budding restauranteer in the Phillipines who needs a refrigerator, or a shoemaker in Somalia who needs to purchase leather or tools. The point is: they get a small business loan from numerous people, they work hard to pay it back, and when you get the money back via KIVA, you can loan it to the next person. The BEST part: the loans are NOT anonymous, you get to email and get updates with the personal business owner from wherever in the world you choose. You get to WATCH them become a success! You then get to pay it forward to someone else when your money is paid back to you.

I just went and checked (again – it was your post that reminded me of this) and you can buy gift certificates from the website. Talk about a gift that keeps on giving! Not only do your family and friends get to help other’s with your help, they can continue helping other’s for years! Talk about making the world a smaller, nicer place!

I think this such a great idea, especially for kids, or families. Helping other’s rather than just gettign stuff, and being part of watching it all happen – it’s amazing! Check out the website…

kiva.org/

Up on the top is a hyper-link to Kiva Gifts.

No it’s not homemade, but it’ll help other’s support their families with their homemade goods. Amazing.

God Bless (oh and hey speaking of God…I missed that playgroup rather by accident – I just completely forgot. But then my DD broke her elbow the day before at school, so I was distracted. I’ll let you know how it all goes next week. Yes, I’ll bring my Holy Water! )

I will remember that when I need to give someone a gift.

 

[Loren_1of6]

I make almost everything we use. I haven’t bought bread in ages, I make all our jams and can all of our garden. Today I made 3 dozen jars of pickles. Add this to the over 100 jars of fruit jam and you can see what will be given for gifts. I also make baskets from cattails and reed and other fibers. I spin the wool from my sheep, knit the yarn into clothing. Have you ever had fresh churned butter?



I do all these things and love it.

Hand made candies are also a great gift!

Can we come over to play? The boys would love to visit your sheep and I could learn how to do all those things to provide for my family (and friends ).

 

[Starfish]

Can we come over to play? The boys would love to visit your sheep and I could learn how to do all those things to provide for my family (and friends ).

You are more than welcome to come over! LOL, I can also use the help!

 

[CatholicSam]

Ooooh – That was my 1,000th post!!

Sorry, Sam, back to your thread…

Congratulations! You’re almost a third-way caught up to me :extrahappy:!

We want our dd’s Christmas to be entirely handmade gifts, so we’ve been busily working on certain things for awhile now.

Abby, please excuse me while I attempt to pick my jaw up off the floor. WOW!!

Who thinks Princess Abby and Sancta need to go into business together??? Me, me!!

You could make rosaries. A good source for crucifixes and centerpieces is olrm.org, and a good source for beads and other supplies is firemountaingems.com.

Thanks for the links! I love making Rosaries!

I think this such a great idea, especially for kids, or families. Helping other’s rather than just gettign stuff, and being part of watching it all happen – it’s amazing! Check out the website…

kiva.org/

Up on the top is a hyper-link to Kiva Gifts.

No it’s not homemade, but it’ll help other’s support their families with their homemade goods. Amazing.

God Bless (oh and hey speaking of God…I missed that playgroup rather by accident – I just completely forgot. But then my DD broke her elbow the day before at school, so I was distracted. I’ll let you know how it all goes next week. Yes, I’ll bring my Holy Water! )

Wow, what a great idea! I will definitely check it out And I was wondering how that playgroup went. I hope your poor little DD’s elbow heals soon!

You are more than welcome to come over! LOL, I can also use the help!

Can I join in the fun?

 

[mariyka]

Hi everyone,

I just got back from church and found this thread. I’d like to share an idea that was an absolute success with my 89 year old mother. My husband scanned and burned old family photos into a DVD, along with beautiful background music. We gave it to her and she plays it over and over. All of the grandchildren and great grandchildren that saw it asked her about “the olden days” in Europe and are now becoming interested in family history. It took some time, but was well worth it.

Mariyka

 

[CatholicSam]

Hi everyone,

I just got back from church and found this thread. I’d like to share an idea that was an absolute success with my 89 year old mother. My husband scanned and burned old family photos into a DVD, along with beautiful background music. We gave it to her and she plays it over and over. All of the grandchildren and great grandchildren that saw it asked her about “the olden days” in Europe and are now becoming interested in family history. It took some time, but was well worth it.

Mariyka

Such a great idea! Especially for the elderly who sometimes have a harder time looking at little photos. Seeing them up on the big TV screen must be awesome!

 

[mariyka]

Such a great idea! Especially for the elderly who sometimes have a harder time looking at little photos. Seeing them up on the big TV screen must be awesome!

Actually, she wanted to know where we bought it! Plus, she could share them with her friends (many of whom were in it), later.

Mariyka

 

[SeekerJen]

Abby, please excuse me while I attempt to pick my jaw up off the floor. WOW!!

Who thinks Princess Abby and Sancta need to go into business together??? Me, me!!

Especially with all of the lead paint toy recalls…they’d make a mint.

 

[Melo]

I would caution against blankets as a gift. We have several family members who are really into making those tie blankets with fleece and between the last few Christmases and now with awaiting the birth of a little one, we are overwhelmed by how many blankets we are being given. Also, consider other things that are either really trendy at large or popular in your family and think about staying away from giving these. While anyone with a heart would appreciate the effort, there’re some things you only need so many of.

One year someone made my mom a calendar with pictures of us as kids, one for each month of the year. That was just as computers were becoming common in people’s homes so it was even more novel than it would be now, but I think that is still a great idea, especially if you really dug and got some really old family pics or something.

For us since this is “grandma and grandpa’s first Christmas” with a first grandbaby on the way, I think a lot of our gifts will involve baby pictures–on mugs, t-shirts, in pretty frames, you name it–EASY!!! We already bought my MIL an ornament that says “Grandma’s first Christmas.”

The calendar idea is GREAT.

 

[Melo]

First year I was married to the ex, I made beautiful things for everyone. Knit hats and scarves and mittens for the entire gang (over 30 people!) also gave my wonderful jams and jellies, churned butter and flavored it with honey from my bee hives. Gave gifts of maple syrup that came from my maple trees.

I would LOVE to get a gift like that, but they were shocked that I didn’t take the time or courtesy to BUY something! In order to not be further embarrassed, the ex gave EVERYONE a $20, just so he could save face. What an idiot “wife” (me) he had.

Thank goodness not everyone is like that. I think that a gift from the heart and from your own hands and labor mean so much!

Good luck!

I would LOVE to receive gifts like that! I just don’t understand people sometimes.

 

[sanctamaria17]

First year I was married to the ex, I made beautiful things for everyone. Knit hats and scarves and mittens for the entire gang (over 30 people!) also gave my wonderful jams and jellies, churned butter and flavored it with honey from my bee hives. Gave gifts of maple syrup that came from my maple trees.

I would LOVE to get a gift like that, but they were shocked that I didn’t take the time or courtesy to BUY something! In order to not be further embarrassed, the ex gave EVERYONE a $20, just so he could save face. What an idiot “wife” (me) he had.

Thank goodness not everyone is like that. I think that a gift from the heart and from your own hands and labor mean so much!

Good luck!

That’s just rude! I would love your gifts! lol, I got a box of cookies from my aunt’s inlaws lat week and they’re amazing!

I’m trying to figure out what I’m doing for Christmas. I have no idea what to get people and i’m hoping to get a job soon but I don’t know how much money I’ll have. Maybe I’ll make my famous Mexican brownies? Or homemade hot cocoa mix?

Personally, I love homemade gifts. It shows how much thought someone really puts into it. And you usually can’t go wrong with making some sweets. Buying clothes is tricky because of size, buying books and music is tricky because, for me, I either don’t know what someone likes or I do know but don’t know if they already have that book or CD I find. And it’s hard when money’s tight too.

 

[Loren_1of6]

I remembered another thing aI have done in the past. I found a song that was meaningful to my mother and printed out the lyrics. I put the lyrics on a plaque that I had painted to match her decor. I wanted to add pictures of her family, but couldn’t get any without rousing her suspicions. It still went over well.

Another idea is to find a photograph or snapshot that embodies a special memory and get it enlarged and framed.

 

[Fitz]

About 6 years ago one of my college age daughters wanted to make all her presents due to the money factor. We were all so touched with her efforts that we decided to cut out the commercial Christmas in our family. We all drew one name and made one gift. Honest- for 6 years now I have not bought my kids any Christmas gifts. Here is some of the gifts that have been made by my family over the past 6 years:

home made wooden frame with sentimental picture inside it
sewn cloth napkins and table runner
candles
no sew blankets
sewn blankent- fleece of my husbands alma mater from college
sewn bag for travel- much nicer than the ones you can buy
sewn evening bag with handle and clasp found at an antique store
celtic design box out of cermic tiles, lined with velvet
map holder
Christmas tree holder of wood- replica of our first house when
we were first married
while you were out concept- my daughters painted and
decorated their brothers room
sewn skirt
blanket made with fleece backing and the fronts of many
tshirts from my sons races and schools he attended and
baseball teams he had been on (otherwise outgrown shirts)
picture book- hand decorated, and filled with favorites
wooden rack to hold baseball bat
moccosins, hand sewn
crochetted scarves (back in style now)

I am forgetting many of the items. I will have to say that since we quit shopping at Christmas (except for our giving tree at church) we have a much nicer holiday season. It is calmer and more focused on the events we want to attend and the real spirit. Money has been taken out of the equation and we all like that. Quantity is also taken out of it- we had all gotten too commercial. I highly recommend that a family try this. We kept the presents a secret unless we needed help- I even helped my sone operate a sewing machine! We all gained a few skills and we had to really think. I can’t tell you how much fun it was too . We always open up the gifts after midnight mass. WE open them slowly and we really felt the spirit of love after mass.

One very touching Christmas was the one where my eldest was in the Middle East (helicopter pilot in Navy). She had come home on leave right before she left and together we made the brocade evening purse with the antiue necklace as a handle She was able to buy some special paper and even wrap it before she left. So after midnight mass we came home- really missing her and praying for her. WE opened up the gifts and the daughter that received the purse was very touched. As good as God is, we then went on the computer and had an email from my eldest and we knew she was thinking of us. Our package to her had arrived, and she thanked us for her gift.

For extended family I make some great home made carmel corn and caramels. They love it. I pass out about 25 bags of the carmel corn. Every time I think I have enough my daughters borrow some to hand out!

Gifts are about love and you really feel it when you spend time making something. I promise you will save money, time, and you will be transported to a better place in your life.