Ideas for Homemade Christmas Presents

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I know somebody mentioned rosaries already. Just wanted to post another link. I’m making a rosary for my husband for Christmas, and bought my stuff from rosaryshop.com. I’m not at all creative or crafty, so I like this site. They have pre-made kits that you can buy, or you can customize your own. They give you complete intructions, tools, etc. Even I can do it.
 
skiblerrn said:
I know somebody mentioned rosaries already. Just wanted to post another link. I’m making a rosary for my husband for Christmas, and bought my stuff from rosaryshop.com. I’m not at all creative or crafty, so I like this site. They have pre-made kits that you can buy, or you can customize your own. They give you complete intructions, tools, etc. Even I can do it.
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Great idea. I am going to make rosaries for all my kids. They don’t say the rosary now. My mom made one for me for my wedding. I did not use it until long after she died. I am not proud of that, but you can’t imagine how happy I am to have it now!
 
Food is definitely a good idea. Make sure that the people you are giving it too are NOT allergic to any of the ingredients, ya been there. 😊 My mom normally does homemade banana nut bread and cookies. I have done a scrapebook for my dad. He sent us some homemade soap one year. I intend to try this and if it works out I will probably give homemade soap and candles next year. I would also like to try my hand at candles.

My dad also made dd a dollhouse for her birthday. His girlfriend even made curtains for the windows.

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For the record he mailed this from Atlanta Georgia to the Tulsa Oklahoma area. I did not dare ask how much it cost considering the thing is HUGE! To the top it’s 3.6’ tall. Unpacking it was a trip. We had to cut the box away and since they used packing peanuts our living room exploded with “snow”. It was fun.

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Of course once the house arrived it had to receive an official house inspection. Fortunately Inspector Chester was on the job. Yes the house did pass inspection so the people could move in. They and their furniture arrived several days after the house did. 🙂

My dh is currently into the homemade brew. It’s better than the store bought! He also does homemade rootbeer for the kids. 👍 The guys at work just talked him into bringing some to work Sunday night. One of the other guys is going to bring ice cream and they are going to make rootbeer floats. He is sooooo spoiled up there! :rolleyes:

I haven’t done rosaries but I have made a chaplet. It was a St Gabriel’s chaplet. My inspiration came from here.

This thread has some really awesome ideas! I love the felt food. 👍
 
Fitz,

It sounds like your family really has the right idea about Christmas. It must be wonderful!
 
Sabda said:
Food is definitely a good idea. Make sure that the people you are giving it too are NOT allergic to any of the ingredients, ya been there. 😊 My mom normally does homemade banana nut bread and cookies. I have done a scrapebook for my dad. He sent us some homemade soap one year. I intend to try this and if it works out I will probably give homemade soap and candles next year. I would also like to try my hand at candles.

My dad also made dd a dollhouse for her birthday. His girlfriend even made curtains for the windows.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y198/sabda/IM001664.jpg

For the record he mailed this from Atlanta Georgia to the Tulsa Oklahoma area. I did not dare ask how much it cost considering the thing is HUGE! To the top it’s 3.6’ tall. Unpacking it was a trip. We had to cut the box away and since they used packing peanuts our living room exploded with “snow”. It was fun.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y198/sabda/IM001670.jpg

Of course once the house arrived it had to receive an official house inspection. Fortunately Inspector Chester was on the job. Yes the house did pass inspection so the people could move in. They and their furniture arrived several days after the house did. 🙂

My dh is currently into the homemade brew. It’s better than the store bought! He also does homemade rootbeer for the kids. 👍 The guys at work just talked him into bringing some to work Sunday night. One of the other guys is going to bring ice cream and they are going to make rootbeer floats. He is sooooo spoiled up there! :rolleyes:

I haven’t done rosaries but I have made a chaplet. It was a St Gabriel’s chaplet. My inspiration came from here.

This thread has some really awesome ideas! I love the felt food. 👍
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WOW, Shelie! What a priceless gift for your daughter!
 
Fitz said:
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.
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Thank you for sharing your awesome family traditions 👍 I love the idea of drawing a name to make a gift! I think I might mention this to my mom and see what she thinks (although it might be a little late–maybe they’ve already started shopping 🤷 ).
 
It sounds like you are trying to find ways to make Christmas more meaningful in such a materialistic world. My children are 10. 9 and 8. We wanted to have fun with the Santa Claus idea without taking away from the true meaning… Santa still brings one unwrapped big gift to those who “Believe”, but our kids get three packages (which do sometimes contain more than one item). Gold - the thing they want the most. Frankencense- practical items such as snowboots, clothing, etc. and Myrh- a gift of time with someone else represented by a family board game, tickets to an activity together, etc. My husband and I have even started categorizing our gifts to each other the same way. I can’t take credit for this idea…I read it in Family Fun Magazine!

I had a friend growing up whose mother insisted that the kids made the gifts for their siblings each year. By the time they were 10-12 years, they were building wooden lawn ornaments, sewing on the machine, etc. As a working mom, I’m ashamed to say I don’t always have they energy to assist in that type of endeaver. My hat’s off to those who do!!

Merry Christmas. God Bless.
 
CatholicSam said:
My husband and I would love to make some of the Christmas presents this year! We’ve given up all TV/DVDs from now until the New Year, and so we have lots of time in the evenings to DO things–like making Christmas presents. 🙂

Any ideas? Do any other families out there make Christmas presents instead of buying them? What were they? I’m really looking forward to this little “experiment”!
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If you knit, you can always knit something. My friend also believes in making people blankets out of two materials, and cutting the material into fringes and tying them together.
 
That doll house is gorgeous!

Hey, how about a “service” instead of a “good” - labor of some type? Everyone’s always got something they need help doing. It would be time together. OR - tickets to some event?

This year since all my kids and their cousins exchanged names (there are about 25 of them) to buy presents, I think I will have my kids do something nice for each other for our immediate family name exchange. Otherwise there will be too much present opening.

I’m not sure how it will go…
 
angelacarvelli said:
It sounds like you are trying to find ways to make Christmas more meaningful in such a materialistic world. My children are 10. 9 and 8. We wanted to have fun with the Santa Claus idea without taking away from the true meaning… Santa still brings one unwrapped big gift to those who “Believe”, but our kids get three packages (which do sometimes contain more than one item). Gold - the thing they want the most. Frankencense- practical items such as snowboots, clothing, etc. and Myrh- a gift of time with someone else represented by a family board game, tickets to an activity together, etc. My husband and I have even started categorizing our gifts to each other the same way. I can’t take credit for this idea…I read it in Family Fun Magazine!

I had a friend growing up whose mother insisted that the kids made the gifts for their siblings each year. By the time they were 10-12 years, they were building wooden lawn ornaments, sewing on the machine, etc. As a working mom, I’m ashamed to say I don’t always have they energy to assist in that type of endeaver. My hat’s off to those who do!!

Merry Christmas. God Bless.
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I love the gold/frankincense/myrrh idea!
HouseArrest said:
That doll house is gorgeous!

Hey, how about a “service” instead of a “good” - labor of some type? Everyone’s always got something they need help doing. It would be time together. OR - tickets to some event?

This year since all my kids and their cousins exchanged names (there are about 25 of them) to buy presents, I think I will have my kids do something nice for each other for our immediate family name exchange. Otherwise there will be too much present opening.

I’m not sure how it will go…
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I hope my children have many cousins to do something like this with one day! 🙂 That must be so special!
 
We also only do the 3 gifts. They get so many gifts from other people that they really do not need us to get them tons of stuff. We also get them one thing that they really, really want and another that is practical. This year the practical gift is sleeping bags. Last year it was toy boxes. The one dd had was my old one and it was falling apart.

Blocks are always good! 👍
 
In the past I have done the Candy (almond bark, peanut brittle, fudge, lollipops, etc), Cookies… every variety, the jar filled with Christmas lights and potpourri with a doily on top, Hand painted tee shirts and sweatshirts, etc…

This year my daughter and I decided on black canvas, black and white photos decoupaged on and silver sharpie signatures… I did one as a going away present for a friend and it went over great… kind of contemporary so not really a good choice for the country grammy type but usually everybody can find a place for a little bit of contemporary. We will also be doing maroon paint and gold sharpie for the more traditional on our list… but dd thinks black and silver is the best for her best friends…

It is so cheap and so simple!!! Just xerox the pictures in black and white and paint some paint board black… glue the pics on with matte decoupage stuff and put several layers on top. When it is dry , people can sign their pics, or write funny comments by them.

Here is what I have spent so far… $3.27 for (3) 11X14 paint boards, $1.67 for black paint, $5.95 for matte decoupage glue, $.92 foam brushes 3 pack, and a pack of metallic sharpies for $1.21. That is $13.02 for 3 gifts… and plenty of paint and sharpie and decoupage stuff to do plenty more!!!
 
Princess_Abby said:
I’m giving away mini-dollhouses made out of small cd holder ‘homes’ that literally look like tiny dollhouses - two rooms stacked, with a chimney and two windows built in. I got this idea off of a craft blog, it wasn’t my own. The cd holders can be purchased at Michaels in the wooden section. They’re easily painted and decorated on a smaller scale of the bigger dollhouse I’m creating.
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I got the CD holder yesterday! I let Joey hold it in the car (he saw it and has an intense love/interest in miniature houses of all kinds). He has 2 other little house decorations I let him play with at home, but he really missed the CD house and even today keeps going to the front door and calling for the house (I left it in the car when we got home and later snuck it into our closet). I am going to make it into a little “garage” for him to park his matchbox cars in. Thanks for the idea! I think this will make for a very happy and excited little boy running around our house on Christmas morning! 🙂
 
Whoever posted the “3 Kings/ 3 Gifts idea” had a winner. DH loves the idea! We will be putting it into practice this Christmas.
 
OutinChgoburbs said:
Whoever posted the “3 Kings/ 3 Gifts idea” had a winner. DH loves the idea! We will be putting it into practice this Christmas.
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I like this idea! I had an idea from someone else who does five gifts;

Something from Santa (St. Nicholas on Dec. 6 in our case)
Something you want
Something you need
Something to play with
Something to read
 
Reading all of these great ideas has left me feeling really sentimental! What wonderful people you all are!

I’m not particularly crafty, but I do like the idea of homemade gifts. I’ve tried this in recent years with my brother…the one who seems most open to receiving a gift like that. (As an earlier poster noted, some people want the GOLD…something shiney that comes from a store.) Anyway, my first attempt at the homemade gift thing was the Christmas after my grandmother died. My brother and I were both very close to her. I wrote several short stories about her life…based on bits and pieces of stories she had told me over the years. I also included the “tribute” I had written and read at her funeral, as well as my version of stories she had told us or read to us when we were kids. I printed the stories on nice paper and made a cover that I decorated with some of Grandma’s tatting. I totally caught my brother off guard with that gift. He was deeply touched and shared the booklet with a couple of his close co-workers. (He isn’t married.) I know that he loved it. Last year, I bought a cheap collage frame and filled it with copies of old family photos. He loved that too and we had a great time sharing memories.

I still have some of the gifts that were homemade and given to me. I have a teddy bear that was made from my grandpa’s old wool coat and a gingham check “clown” with an embroidered face. (My 2 1/2 year old loves it!) We also have some great gifts that my MIL made for our older kids…stick horses, a sand bucket she painted with my son’s name on it, and of course, the baby blankets she made each one of them.

My husband is a wonderful woodworker. He made a rocking horse for our daughter when she was a year old. Together we made a video storage cabinet for his mom. He’s made wooden planter boxes and oak bookcases for me and our two older kids (definitely NOT cheap, but beautiful and just want I needed!).

I’ve tried to convince my older kids (18 & 15) that what I’d really love from them is a warm hug and a promise to help someone in need. They are willing with the warm hug and are both kind, helpful kids, but they are hung up on STUFF. Maybe one day they will understand…

Kathy
 
I have been baking fancy type desserts (recipes from food network) and putting them into beautiful, reusable canisters. I tie it with a pretty satin-like ribbon, and voila…homemade presents! The nice thing is that you can make 6 dozen cookies, and give one dozen each for example, in a nice canister, and take care of 6 family members. If your families are like mine, we only exchange with the kids, and so the adults usually do things like this.

I also make organic pies…I use all organic fruits, and natural ingredients, and buy fancy bags to place them in…again, tied up with a bow. They have been real crowd pleasers. (and by fancy I mean nice looking, but totally inexpensive…I usually go to the party store or somewhere like this)

Hope my 2 cents helped.🙂

I need to print this thread out–you all have great thoughts here!! I love homemade gifts!!!
 
I think homemade Christmas gifts are a great idea! I’m trying to do that this year as well to save money. Although I’ve come to find that sometimes, buying the supplies costs just as much!

For the girls in my life, I’m trying to knit scarves. We live in a pretty cold area, so they are always useful. And my mom and I found some beautiful white yarn with flecks of silver in it. They look great (well, they would if I was any good at knitting!).

It’s easier when you know what people like. For my step-dad and some of his friends, we make homemade fire kits. I know that sounds confusing. But we make homemade fire starters. You get pinecones and put them in muffin tins. Then you pour wax in the tin and add a wick. It’s a homemade fire starter and they work really well. Then we’ll toss some of them in a basket with one of those boxes of the really long matches. It makes a really fun gift for them, since they all love sitting by the fire.

We also do alot of ready made mixes. Just get big mason jars and put mix in them. Like cookie mix or hot chocolate mix. You just add the dry ingredients and then the person adds the wet ingredients. We put fancy instructions on there and some pretty ribbon. It looks like you b ought it at a store, but it’s home made. And it’s a fun project!

Have fun!
 
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