Ideas for Homemade Christmas Presents

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CatholicSam said:
This was such a fun and creative post to read! Your dad’s climbing bear sounds so special 🙂 You really capture the spirit of making your own gifts that I’m trying to go for 👍 Reminds me of the wooden stilts my dad made for me when I was a kid. Boy those things were fun! 😃
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We recently built a house 3.5 hours away [Myrtle Creek - where my mother is] and split our household [we bought a house here with my daughter, son-in-law and three grandkids [aged 10 years, 20 months and 2 weeks!] last November, so the bear is packed up…if I think about it when I go down to MC, I try to take a picture of the climbing bear…it is in a box, I’ll have to find it…then I’ll have to figure out how to post it here…

I see that the Jar’s with cookie mix [and soups] seem to be a popular theme…practical - everyone eats…

I heard a news story today that said plain old wooden blocks do more to stimulate the intellect than any other toy [CD, DVD etc] according to a new scientific study…I have always liked wooden blocks and Lincoln Logs…simple things…
 
I don’t want to hyjack this thread…but I want to share this story about giving…

There is an organization called JOIN that moves homeless individals and families into permanent housing…last year for my grandson’s 9th birthday, he had his birthday party for JOIN. My daughter put together and age appropriate “Murder Mystery” kind of like a scavanger hunt - figure out who was murdered and who committed the crime and a couple of other games…

With his invitation he included the “move in box list” of items needed by the homeless; bedding, towels, dishes, pans, glasses, cleaners, small appliances…

So that is what he got…Tilex Glass cleaner, a toaster, silverware, several potato peelers, mixing bowls, spoons, spatulas, etc and $30…the next week, his mom and him gathered up the stuff and drove it to the JOIN office…

It was a struggle, deciding NOT to for go the birthday party haul…took him a couple of months wavering back and forth…but the party was a success, the kids had a great time…

And best of all, he got to help people…he has said he thinks all the kids in the family should do a party for JOIN at least once!
 
I have another idea. Every year my step-father makes his own egg-nog (spiked) and delivers it to friends and family. When he delivers the nog he sits down with them to catch up on the past year. I think that’s really nice because that’s what Christmas is all about.
 
StratusRose said:
I have another idea. Every year my step-father makes his own egg-nog (spiked) and delivers it to friends and family. When he delivers the nog he sits down with them to catch up on the past year. I think that’s really nice because that’s what Christmas is all about.
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Love it! My husband likes to hand deliver his beer too and will happily answer all beer related questions…even those not asked! He tries to evangelize all those not yet making their own homebrew. :rolleyes: 😃 Homemade gifts definately bring people closer together. 🙂
 
YADA said:
I don’t want to hyjack this thread…but I want to share this story about giving…

There is an organization called JOIN that moves homeless individals and families into permanent housing…last year for my grandson’s 9th birthday, he had his birthday party for JOIN. My daughter put together and age appropriate “Murder Mystery” kind of like a scavanger hunt - figure out who was murdered and who committed the crime and a couple of other games…

With his invitation he included the “move in box list” of items needed by the homeless; bedding, towels, dishes, pans, glasses, cleaners, small appliances…

So that is what he got…Tilex Glass cleaner, a toaster, silverware, several potato peelers, mixing bowls, spoons, spatulas, etc and $30…the next week, his mom and him gathered up the stuff and drove it to the JOIN office…

It was a struggle, deciding NOT to for go the birthday party haul…took him a couple of months wavering back and forth…but the party was a success, the kids had a great time…

And best of all, he got to help people…he has said he thinks all the kids in the family should do a party for JOIN at least once!
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You’re not hijacking at all! Thank you for sharing this beautiful idea. Your grandson is a very special boy for wanting to share his birthday gifts with the homeless!
 
dlltoms said:
Last year my youngest grandson and I did our presents as a joint venture. Went over well. He did the art work and I scanned it onto Iron on fabric then made aprons for the men and slippers for the women. Went over very big. And we had a ball doing it. This year we are doing cookies and candy. And they will all have a tag on them that says hand made by Kevin with Grandma’s help. It is great fun. And we spend alot of the year getting Ideas. He loves it because we do not let anyone know and it is our little secret. We give little hints but no one really knows. He is 9 this year so the cookies and candy will be alot of fun for both of us. I have most of my life made my gifts for Christmas. From quits to down jackets, lots of dolls and army outfits. When my mom was still here and my children were growing up it was a big thing for grandmas package to come because it was filled with homemade jam and jellies some sweet and dill pickles, tons of cookies and candies. Always a Christmas blessings and a family tridition we keep alive. There are lots of ideas from fancy breads and vinigars, homemade soap is a good one or your own sented candles, lots of things, second hand stores where you can find a lot of old door knobs and make the cutes little towel holders. Kind of your own little created thing. And you are recycling. It makes for fun things to do. We always have something for the empty stocking in our town. Several gifts of some kind for that but it is made. Some times it is a family quilt or a hand made doll or something on that order. Hope this helps.
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What a sweet tradition! Not only are you giving great gifts to your family and friends, but Kevin is going to cherish these memories with you for the rest of his life (and probably do similar things with his own grandkids one day!). 🙂 How special!
 
Scrapbooking is a fun idea. It’s not too expensive and it can be personalize to each person (get old family pictures together and make album for sister/brother/parents/etc).
 
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.
 
This year I am crocheting ornaments. They are small, so they use only a little bit of yarn/string and are inexpensive. They also don’t take up much space in the recipient’s Christmas box.

If you sew, a popular item is a corn cuddler. You can find directions online, but basically make a narrow pillow and fill it with dry feed corn or rice. You can add aromatic herbs as well. The recipient heats the cuddler in the microwave for a minute and has a lovely heating pad that stays warm for a long time.

Some people make those really cute candy dispensers made from Mason jars. You could probably find plans online.

I also like to give food. I really enjoy making cookies and candy, but try not to eat too much. Giving it away helps.😉
 
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.”
 
cathyt said:
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.
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We’ve been meaning to get around to doing this, this is especially good for large families and/or close extended families: make a list of everyone’s b-days (you can choose to go as far as 2nd cousins or whatever you wish) find pictures of everyone if you can, make a calendar with everyone’s b-day and and a collage of pictures of the birthday people for each month (or even a pic of them on their day along with their name). If you don’t have pictures of everyone or don’t have bdays on every month you can get creative and do whatever you want picture-wise, old pictures, themed pictures, whatever you come up with. You can include ancestors if you wish (grandparents that have passed away, etc). You can make one for each side of the family. You can include their birth year (at least of the younger kids 🙂 ) so you know how old they will be. Its nice to have a list with everyone’s bday so you don’t forget. Its nice to remember family (especially extended family that you may not necessarily remember the exact date for) on their bday and do something nice for them if you can 🙂 Once you have lots of nieces/nephews it gets hard to keep track, not to mention cousins and their kids.
 
I like this thread…always looking for ways to save money and neat things we can do that are more personalized. 🙂

The things we’ve done are:
Giving “coupon booklets” to family members.
Good for one free night out and we’ll watch the kids
Good for one ice cream dessert of your choice (must accompany gift-giver to redeem)
Good for one half hour foot massage / manicure: Your choice
Good for one household chore: Windows need cleaning? Floors need waxing? Closets need organized? You choose.

These were always a big hit in my family.

This year we’re giving coupon books to Mom and Dad from their Allie to give them more time together. Like:
“This coupon entitles the recipient to one trip to Walmart with Allie to buy stickers and crayons.”
“This coupon entitles you to one afternoon at the park to be spent with Allie.”
“This coupon entitles you to one sleepover with Allie in your bed at your home.”
“This coupon entitles you to one evening of chocolate ice cream and hot fudge sauce, shared with Allie. Allie will provide.”

etc…

We’ve also given personalized portrait mugs to the godparents/grandparents/greatgrandparents, and personalized tshirts made from whatever I designed on the PC and some iron on transfer paper.

For the kids, this year DH is making that plugnplay, latchnlock box thingy for Cash that I mentioned in another thread.

He’s also making Allie a wooden kitchen out of two unfinished cabinets from Lowe’s.

I’m making Allie felt playfood for her kitchen because we didn’t want plastic food and neither of us wanted to buy expensive wood food. WARNING! BRAG SESSION! See my food?! I’m so excited about it! 😃 I have more spinach but didn’t feel like digging it all out. And I have yet to make a pizza, ice cream bars, more donuts, bread, sandwich fixin’s and some other stuff…



DH is making cut out wood animals for DS for Christmas next year, and I’ll paint them. Like these: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/100/302810236_d3457db3ab.jpg?v=0

Sis and BIL are getting a portrait of their newest baby drawn by yours truly (I gave them a portrait of their first baby last Christmas).

I make my own keepsake tree ornaments for the kids out of Sculpey clay - each one commemorating something important to them that year. Allie’s first year - a windup giraffe toy she loved. Second year - a big truck (she was obsessed with trucks!) This year - still thinking. Cash’s first year - his blankie. Second year - still thinking…

I’m also planning on giving my goddaughter some handmade fleece booties: sewing.org/enthusiast/html/esb_fleece_chinese_slippers.html
and some embroidered burpcloths with her name on them.

My Mom loved the fleece no-sew blanket I gave her last year to keep in her car.

And I’m making paper dolls for our sponsor child in the Dominican Republic.

Lots of possibilities…not enough time to do all I’d like to do! 🙂
 
Sancta, all I can say is :bigyikes: you’re amazing! I love your felt food! You should give up your “day job” for sure! 👍 Eilla is going to be the best-fed doll in town! (and what cute coupons, too)
 
Sancta, I love that food! Does it take long to make? If not you should make them and sell them on ebay (in your “spare time” lol). 🙂 Now you have me craving chocolate doughnuts and bacon! geeee 😉
 
I like everyone’s ideas!

This is something I recently made: a rosary board, which teaches kids the rosary or helps them follow along. It would be good for a godchild or a family with children that you know says the rosary sometimes. My kids like putting up each picture as we get to the next decade. All the prayers of the rosary are on the left and the fruits of the rosary, 4 separate squares for the 4 mysteries, are on the right.
 
Faithful2005, never mind making that Rosary Board as a gift, I want one myself!!! 😃
 
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