Christmas Ideas [Advice?]

[maeflowers]

As newlyweds with our first Christmas together approaching, the thought of paying for at least a dozen gifts sort of frightens us. I am one to ALWAYS go all out (as budget allows) to really treat my friends and family during the holidays. I love to give things! Unfortunately, this year, we are now on our own and learning how to balance a budget and things like that.. and I just don't see how Christmas shopping is going to fit into that budget this year.

So!! I (er, we) have decided to *make* gifts this year... within the past few months I learned how to make jam and can things... I've already made strawberry-rhubarb jam, and a banana pineapple jam that I am giving away at a monkey themed baby shower I'm throwing this weekend. I enjoy it, it's fairly easy, and so far I haven't messed that up. But I don't want to just make jam! I want to do more! Anyone have any suggestions as to other things I can make to give out? I was thinking of doing gift baskets with one or two of each thing in them... I can also buy smaller things to throw in there like lip balms or socks, or hot cocoa packets.

I also *of course* considered stitching but I have never done that as a Christmas project for several people. I'm worried I might be starting too late... Plus I have school as well, so it would have to be something small and easy that I could do a lot of. Do any of you stitch for Christmas presents? And what do you stitch? Do you turn them into little boxes, or do you make them into cards?

Sorry for asking so many questions! I'm just trying to brainstorm and you all seem like such a creative bunch!

[Squirrel]

It is a difficult - and delicate - subject at times and especially when newly wed and learning to live on a budget.

I often give stitching gifts - usually small things, or stitch cards, Depending on how fast a stitcher you are and what time you have available you should be able to do a few cards just for family and or special friends. I sometimes buy cards but add a hand made tree decoration either stitched on plastic canvas or made with beads. I am sure others will have great ideas for you.

Well done on the jam making - they sound yummy. What about sweets as in fudge or coconut ice??

Sally

[rcperryls]

Maybe you can do some stitching, cards or bellpulls and also make some baskets up depending on the number of people, time and money available. Most everyone I know loves and appreciates anything handmade or put together specially for them. I think that way you won't feel under pressure to get a lot of stitching done. just a thought.

Carole

[Newfie Princess]

How about an experience? It is so cold here in the winter that someone always arranges a scavenger hunt for the crowd. It's so much fun. Christmas themed, break everyone up into teams (young and old and older - my dad is 86 and just likes to be along for the ride and laughs) Everyone piles into cars and off they go with their list. Things to find from a car window. Visit to the seniors home with a quick carol, take a pic of yourselfs in front of something, arrange a person to meet with a clue to recieve, the possibilties are endless. Then end up at your house for a small tea and a small gift to end the event with a special trophy (goofy) for the winners. Everone will have so many stories and so many laughs. It could be your signature annual event with last year's winners making a big show of passing the award on. Make your own invites if you wish to give something before or on that day. Sorry rambling here and remembering lol

[tiffstitch]

I've been there in not having a lot of funds for Christmas, in fact it seems to happen every year. That's the slowest time at work, and sometimes I don't make enough. I've stitched many gifts over the years.

I think your idea of gift baskets is a good one. You can personalize each one with different things they'd like and you should be able to fill baskets, even if there are many small things. I've received gifts like that and enjoyed them immensely. Lots of stores will have small gifts that are useful, cocoa, sweets, lens cloths, pens and pencils, etc.

[Midge]

How about giving make your own cookies in a jar? I do this for the school PTA and church Christmas fayre and they go down really well. I also give them to friends who have children instead of a bottle of wine and they really enjoy making them up during the holdays and it is an easy task as almost everything is weighed and all that is needed is stir and bake.
In the jar you put all the dry ingredients for cookies in layers in the jar - including the goodies like choc chips, M&M's or fruit and nuts. Then pop on the lid and a fancy fabric lid secured with an elastic band. All you need to do then is write a label explaing what to do i.e. how much butter to add, the method and oven temp.
Start saving 12oz jars (or whatever size your recipe is) if you wanna do it.
I can give more ifo if you need it.

[Squirrel]

What a fabulous idea Midge. I love it. Might just do something like that next year when this muddle over my abode gets sorted out.

Sally

[Mabel Figworthy]

Your jams sound scrupmtious, and if you do nothing else I think your giftees will be well satisfied! though midge, your idea is another great one, might have to pinch that

[Lenne]

Kirstie Allsop (Hope I spelt that right) did a show on channel 4 called "Kirsties Homemade Christmas" and she learned to make some absolutely amazing stuff including her own crackers! It's probably on 4OD to watch, and I am pretty sure there's a website with all the crafty stuff she learned about if you fancy a Google.

Edit: Found link for you.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/kirs ... -christmas" target="_blank

[flosaxby]

I love Midge's idea of Cookie Mix in a Jar!

A friend of mine has also made some lovely handbags from offcuts of fabric. Here's a few links to her blog posts because she always links to the tutorials that she used to make them and you might get even more ideas once you're there!

http://emmalm.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/denim-bags/

http://emmalm.wordpress.com/2011/01/15/reversible-bags/

She also made this really cute hat and scarf set: http://emmalm.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/ ... and-scarf/
And a Kindle cover: http://emmalm.wordpress.com/2011/01/11/kindle-cover/

Hope this helps,
Flo

[MaggieM1750]

I've given out jam to aunts and friends the last few years at Christmas. But I know what you mean.. it takes a lot of work to make it but you don't want to give "just" a jar of jam. Last year I made spaghetti sauce and gave that out as well. This year, so far, I have canned strawberry and strawberry-rhubarb jam, raspberries in sauce, orange marmalade (putzy to make but tastes sooo good), salsa, and spaghetti sauce. Now that I have seen peaches at the farm stands, I might do something with them.. and apples will be ready in October and know that I will be making apple butter again (really really easy to make). I just got a pressure canner from Craigslist.. so I could can vegetables or soups/ chili this year if I wanted to.

My cousin has bought a book on various .... In a Jar recipes. (you could probably find one at the library) She's given me cookies, brownie mixes, Chai tea (my favorite), Russian tea (which isn't Russian at all.. made with Tang and all sorts of spices). A friend of mine makes up baskets to sell at craft fairs/ church fundraisers. Shes soo creative with hers. A popular one is her movie basket.. The basket is a big popcorn bowl, add in a few boxes of candy, a few bags of microwave popcorn, a gift card for a movie rental, small bottles of soda, shaker popcorn seasoning.. you get the idea. She finds her baskets and bowls, coffee mugs, tea cups and saucers, even a lot of the tissue paper/ basket filler stuff at thrift stores.

[caitief]

Those jams sound wonderful! People have given great ideas - giving homemade treats is always great, especially if you know what people like!

If you want to do SOME stitching an easy project is bookmarks. You could make one for any reader and they are usually a few hours instead of weeks!

[maeflowers]

You guys are giving me some great ideas here! I knew I could count on you!!

If anyone needs ideas, I suppose this is the perfect thread for them. I am thinking of doing the cookie mixes, I have seen those before but never thought to do it myself... I am thinking about stitching but to be honest I already have so many projects, and jamming is my new venture. I'd hate to get the stitchy bug and NOT make progress towards my many many wips and then be all tuckered out from that and not want to stitch for a long time. And many of my wips are gifts anyway.

I also considered making spaghetti sauce or salsa, and APPLE BUTTER... oh my. My grandma used to make it. I really miss her and I think it would be a nice tribute to her to make it myself. I don't know anyone else who even knows about apple butter besides my close family, etc. I have always loved it and one thing I like about holidays is sharing new things with people. New traditions, new flavors, etc. So I will definitely try that out!! Thanks to MaggieM for that.

Thank you all!

[hanma]

I really like the idea of experiences that is mentioned above. Does any of your recipients have children? Would they like giftcards for babysitting? I know that is a popular gift around here, young parents who seldom have the opportunity to go out together on a "date" really appreciate this gift! This requires that you like to babysit, though...

[MaggieM1750]

... jamming is my new venture...

I have really gotten into jamming and canning this year as well. And have made quite a few beginners mistakes.. my strawberry jam didn't set the first time around (The canning lady at my farmers market said to empty all the jars back into a big pot, add another box of pectin, let it reduce a bit and re-can with new lids.. success the second time around!) One of my jars of marmalade broke while sealing.. never did figure that one out but think it was just a bad jar. Attempted to can green beans.. that was a mess, potential food poisoning because I didn't use a pressure canner. By the time I got my hands on one.. it was too late and fuzzies had started growing in the jar. Cut my losses and threw them out.. jars and all.

[Kute Kitty]

I often make some Christmas presents, and they're always really well received!

A few examples of the gifts I've made...
- Snoopy and Woodstock keyrings, for my brother and his girlfriend
- Coasters for everyone - each couple gets one each, with their names on them (first letter in fancy full cross stitch, remaining letters in simple backstitch), the singletons get something a bit fun like a beer glass on each one with one labelled "my drink" and one "your drink". If you did a gift basket with maybe some nice tea or coffee these could make it that bit more special too! (Examples here and here)
- A very silly Pacman sampler, for my cousin who I used to play Pacman with
- Cheap t-shirts with fun stitching on, a motorbike for my bike-crazy uncle for instance
- Scarves, knitted with wool I found on clearance at 10p a ball
- A hat and scarf set from the pound shop with stitched patches sewn on saying "let it snow" (I was later blamed for the heavy snowfall that year...)
- A set of monogrammed handkerchiefs for my grandmother's partner. These actually cost me nothing, the plain handkerchiefs were a gift to my partner the previous Christmas that he felt he had no use for!

I have also done the cookie mix in a jar, for a friend who had a young daughter just old enough to be interested in baking, that went down VERY well with both mum and daughter...and the rest of the family when they got to steal some cookies! Your family and friends will understand that you're on a budget, and, being people who care a great deal about you, they don't care how much you can afford to spend on them. "Made" rather than "bought" gifts are the more precious for not having a price tag and for having so much more thought and effort go in to them, and so are appreciated a great deal.

[sillypants124]

Apologies for this being long.

I know what you mean about budget and having to live by one. My parents one year had us make presents for each other. I will admit I was not happy because I really wanted hot wheel cars (I was . We had to pick one thing to make and make everyone that item and it could be the same to everyone or something different. After working on my presents for everyone I really liked the idea and every now and then we decide as a family if we are going to make something for each other and do that. I also want to suggest something I have done is a "Baked Good Swap". This is something that you can do with your friends and or family and make it a party - something that could follow the "scavanger hunt" adventure. This swap is pretty good also if you have friends or family that are out of state and you are not going to see them and want to do something fun. I have done this and will be doing this again this year. We have already decided that we will send our favourite baked goods to each other so that way we can decide if we want to send a "christmasy" cookie or something we personally like and want to share.

Some of the gift baskets I have put together have consisted of:
-Cookies, brownies, and muffins or any other baked good.
-Candles.
-Soap (Hand Made or from Bath and Body Works).
-Lotion/Hand Sanitizer (Bath and Body Works).
-Tea and hot coco.
-Salsa.
-Spices.
-Biscornu.
-Ornaments (Stitched or Non-Stitched).
-Movie Passes (My sister works for Harkins so she gets them for free)
-A couple of cheap t-shirts with either some funky socks or scarf.
-Wine.
-A joke present: Lump of Coal.
-A book.
-Cologne or Perfume.


The gift basket I do put together for someone I do modify depending on the person I am giving it to. I also try and personlize it with at least one or maby two items like get them a book from their favourite author or a book they want to read. Not everyone gets a book and not everyone gets a movie. I do make my own candles but I have found that the dollar store has some really great candles and again they are very very cheap and from personal experience they last quite a while - of course this depends on the person using them. I also make it fun by adding in a gag/joke present. Within my family we pass around a lump of coal and that person has to decide who they are going to give it to and in what way. I have it this year and I am going to wrap it in a small box and then put it in a bigger box and that one in a bigger box and so on and so on. So the joke present can be a gag that is like an "inside joke" between you and whoever you are giving it to. Most of the items tend to be handmade (except for the perfume, cologne, hand lotion and hand sanitizer) but sometimes if the budget allows I do buy something and I make sure what I am buying is the item that is personal to the person I am giving it to. I always give an ornament as well whether that be stitched or something cute I see and get. Everyone gets the same stuff except that personal item so they know some thought went into the gift for them and I just didn't throw stuff together.

Edit: I just started making biscornus last year so that is a new thing I am adding in for this year as well as last year. .

[maeflowers]

Those are some great ideas. I would love to do a scavenger hunt, the problem is that the traditions that my husband's family have don't really allow any extra time for something like that. It'd have to be something I do with friends instead, on a day close to Christmas. I also think the idea of doing a bake swap afterward (and hot cocoa!!) would really be awesome so I'll have to start thinking about that. My friends and I love going to this street that is all decked out in lights so I could even invite them all to go out and then treat them to cocoa at our house and a bake swap afterwards.

I really like the idea of mixing homemade items with one or two store bought items just to give myself a little leeway to buy things so I don't have to spend every free moment making things... and yet I'd still keep costs down.

So far I'm def. thinking about making: some sort of jam/jelly, cookie mixes, and something small stitched (hopefully). I just threw a jungle themed baby shower and the jars of banana jam had really cute tops on them. We cut circles of fabric and then my MIL had the genius idea of putting 3 cotton pads underneath the fabric before screwing the lid on to create a puffed up appearance!

I could use that as an idea for something to stitch and then add to the jars of jam, like the family's last name or something

A friend of mine also knows how to make homemade candles so that would be really cool to do!! I used to work at Bath & Body Works so I know how expensive some of their stuff is... I'll have to check out the dollar store!

[-SunshineGirl-]

Not sure what everyone else have suggested, but here are my suggestions.

- Cookies, different kinds
- Caramels
- Boiled sweets

The jam sounds lovely too.

What about homemade vanilla essence (google it for recipe its real easy)

[Evedeve]

Another idea for stocking the gift baskets is to visit not only the thrift stores (as previously mentioned) but if you have dollar stores around you - can usually find mugs, wooden spoons, and other random things for cheaps.

Maggie - if you love your green beans and want canned ones without a pressure cooker you should try dill pickled green beans - its basically a brine with dill, garlic and spices (red pepper flake/chili powder) then fresh, uncooked green beans added - it all goes into can then into a water bath and bingo - you've got tasty, crunchy pickled green beans - so good and easy