[lovemy2boys]

Ok - so my DH just went back to work after a back injury...Needless to say, between the missed time and the astronomical medical bills, gift money is practically nonexistent.

I finished my Christmas shopping for the kiddies ( and the wrapping! ) but I have not bought a single gift for anyone else.

I've already explained to people that we can't really exchange gifts this year, and of course everyone understands (well, except my SIL who insists I buy her something small...grrr)

Having said that, I'd still like to give something small to my loved ones - you know, parents, grandparents, brothers, teachers...

So, any ideas? I'd like to keep the amount around $10 per person.

Thanks, guys. I really appreciate the help!

[Leigh131313]

Teacher - get a group of parents together and pick out a gift on the world vision website. You can supply a classroom with school supplies for 30 bucks, supply a medical center for 100....there are SOO many options. Just get a few of you together and 5 -10 bucks each can go a long way! Besides, I doubt she needs another knick-knack!!

Family = pictures.

Have you done a family Calendar before? Just get 12 pictures together and take them to walmart (or your local copy store) and they'll make it up. You could either do it on your immediate family OR include everyone in your family (12 pictures can usually get everyone covered!)

Or homemade ornaments.

Dip your kids hand in white paint and place it on the bottom of a glass ornament (froma craft store) have it so the fingers point up and the palm is the bottom. Then, make all the fingers look like snowmen with a little paint.

A fun stocking idea for the kids.....Get a nice rectangle piece of cardstock. Cut out some pictures of your child and a shwack (is that even a word?) of assorted stickers from the dollar store. Then make a collage. Now take it to a place that makes photocopies and get them to laminate it. It's a cute placemat for a kid. THEN the rest of the year you can play eye-spy with it. Find something red....find the word Super.....find a superhero....yada yada yada. Good meal time talk!



I'm a BIG believer in the home made gifts. Hope you find some ideas that suit your budget!!

[melissa_bear003]

Originally Posted by lovemy2boys

I've already explained to people that we can't really exchange gifts this year, and of course everyone understands (well, except my SIL who insists I buy her something small...grrr)

Having said that, I'd still like to give something small to my loved ones - you know, parents, grandparents, brothers, teachers...

So, any ideas? I'd like to keep the amount around $10 per person.

Thanks, guys. I really appreciate the help!

Your SIL would be getting doodly. How dare someone demand a gift? Seriously?!

Homemade ornaments rock for family. Or, another really cool gift is hand moulds. Get pie plates, fill with damp sand, get littles to put their handprints in, then fill with Plaster of Paris. Stick a wall hook on the back, and voila! Instant memory.

Teachers, get a cpl of books for the classroom. 2nd hand book stores rock! Or, bake. Tray of goodies never gets turned down I've found, or even more popular, a loaf of homemade bread.

[jalapeno]

I'm up late tonight burning CD's of videos of my kids from the past year. The grandparents will love it!

[jalapeno]

Another idea . . . have the kids create some piece of artwork and buy a nice frame to put it in.

[gwenrenee007]

What about a picture frame with a pic of the person and your kids or just your kids. There are pretty nice inexpensive pic frames at Walmart for $3-$6.

Or have the kids bake cookies and put them in a decorative bag that you can buy at the dollar store.

Good luck! We aren't doing ANY gifts for adults this year. We may do the pink elephant thing, where you find something nice unused in your house wrap it up and everyone draws #'s, you open your gifts, and you can steal someone else's gift instead of opening one. just a thought too - it can actually be pretty fun and doesn't cost a cent!

[SamIAm2]

How old are your kids? If they are still young then this would be cute. One year when my adult children were little, I bought a plain white sweatshirt and some fabric paint (in pastel pearl colors....pink, purple, and blue, since there were only 3 kids at the time ) I had the kids all pick a color and put their hand prints all over the shirt....then I wrote on the front of the shirt with one of the paints "Handmade for Grandma". My mom still wears that shirt today Grandparents love crafts from their grandkids!!

PS....I used a silver glitter paint pen to write each kids name on their handprints. It turned out really nice

[lovemy2boys]

These are all really great ideas guys...Thanks!

And melissa....When my SIL and I were talking about scaling back, I told her that I talked to my brothers and we had to scale back bigtime, and since they are grown men, they completely understand (mind you - both my boys bdays are also in December so it adds an extra financial element to the picture)...

And she says "Well, you don't mean you're cutting ME out do you? You can at LEAST buy me something small!"

Small it is - the kids can pick her up something at santa sale (all gifts are under $5.00, and really, you get what you pay for!)

How's that for holiday spirit!

[adobe1234]

anybody have economical gift ideas for those of us without kids? (Somehow I don't think people would appreciate it if I made a calendar or framed artwork from fingerpaintings that I created!)

[Sohmakun]

How about redeemable "coupons" for your services? Like free homemade cookies

[crystalp]

This year we did a cookie recipe in a bag - all of the dry ingredients to do a batch of cookies in a ziploc bag along with the recipe, what wet ingredients to add, and instructions on how to mix and bake. Really inexpensive.

[bethy724]

Photo books start @ $5.99. I am making photo books for my parents, Aunts & Uncles. They buy what they want when they want so my giving something is nice but not unique. A photo book of our year is special & economical.

Fot those w/ out kids - you can include pets, home renovations, your year in general. Pre-kids I used to send pics of myself & where I traveled that year.

[startedover]

Like pp I was thinking the cookie receipe, except we do all dry ingredients in a canning jar and you layer the dry ing andthen tie a ribbon on it and with card stock paper cut out a small peice with the rec written on it and tie it on.

Something I have always done with the little kids might work with the adults. I always go to the dollar tree and get how ever many gifts there are kids and wrap them in tissue. We sit iin a circle and I read twas the night before Christmas and every time I say the work "the" everyone passes the gift to the person beside them. When I am done that is the gift they get. You could even not wrap them so the people know what they are getting (or passing) You could do candles and candy and kitchen utensils, kitchen towels, gloves, warm socks ect.

My daughter is probably getting her friends at college some warm fuzzy socks with hand lotion.

you could get the men gloves and nuts or something

[nikkianni]

All of the adults in our lives are getting goodie baskets this year. I'm doing pretty baksets full of cookies, bread, buckeyes, choc. pretzels, hard candy, etc. and each couple or family gets a basket or tin depending on the size of the family.
I got pretty ornaments and hand towels on clearance after the holidays last year and I'll use those as accents. I already have the baskets but you could always do gift bags or have the kids decorate shoe boxes, etc.
The outlay for the baked goods can seem high, but if you break it all down it's not that bad. I'm doing something like nine baskets and it's really pretty cheap compared to gifts for 18+ people.

[Stormster]

I just got this for myself, it's about 7.00 and comes in some really cool colors. It's not fancy but I LOVE IT. It is the most functional thing I've bought in a long long time.

Bed Bath & Beyond Product