Cheap Christmas Gifts

I heard about this idea for a children’s Christmas gift and it blew me away! Yes, it is homemade but even those who aren’t that artistically inclined can do this and have fun with making this gift!

How about creating a homemade costume box for kids this Christmas? Simply go and find or reuse a large over-sized box. Then decorate to your heart’s content. Glue on colorful fabrics, letters, designs, glitter and sparkles. Think of cartoon characters or hobbies that the kids like and press these pictures onto the box as well. After you’re done with decorating the box comes my favorite part… you get to fill it with goodies!

Raid Goodwill or other thrifty vintage stores and collect all types of clothes, accessories and other assorted items that would be perfect for costumes or dress up play. You can look for dresses, tutus, striped shirts, cargo slacks, vests, sunglasses, necklaces, hats, scarves, etc! The kookier the items the better and it doesn’t matter if they’re in perfect condition since they’ll be reserved for play time anyways. Throw all these items into the box and you have a gift that any kid is sure to adore! The best part is – this gift will provide amusement throughout the year and prove to be useful during themed parties or even other holidays like Halloween.

While you’re out, if you happen to find some good quality plain t-shirts that aren’t costume material and perhaps too plain as a gift, consider dressing them up with stencil designs and create your own homemade t-shirt print. See how adding a few simple green clovers to this plain white tee makes it super cool!

For those celebrating Christmas, we all know that December is the most expensive month of the year. It’s a time when most of us overspend on presents, wrapping paper, entertainment and food since we’re spending a lot of our time with family and friends enjoying the holidays. And make no mistake the Christmas season is a jolly good time for laughter and cheer – the only small problem is when January rolls around and the laughter and cheer fall flat as we moan over astronomical credit card bills and empty budgets.

Make a new Christmas resolution and don’t let this happen to you any more! Follow my budget-friendly tips and you’re guaranteed to keep your Christmas costs down this season. Some of the tips work best after this holiday season, but if you follow them, you’ll definitely be ahead the game on savings for next Christmas!

**Christmas Elf’s budget-friendly tips:**

1. Write a list of all the people to whom you intend to give Christmas presents. Keep this list reasonable (I personally keep it to close friends and family); it’s okay not to give gifts to everyone. Next, write down the maximum amount you’re willing to spend on each person. This gives you a good idea of how much you’ll be spending on gifts total. Adjust until you’re comfortable with the expenditure and most importantly keep to the budget as you’re shopping.

2. A good way to make sure you don’t overspend is to leave your credit cards and checks at home. Bring only the specified amount you’re willing to spend in cash to your shopping trip.

3. So avoid credit cards at all costs. They’re too much of a temptation to overspend.

4. See if you can swap tangible gift exchanges with friends in favor of spending quality time together instead. For example, make a date for tea and you can each bring refreshments or special treats. This gives you time to talk and really show how much your friendship means.

5. Keep a closet of small assorted gifts collected during sales throughout the year. This stash can be used for Secret Santa or White Elephant gift exchanges. It prevents you from running out last minute to grab these gifts, likely paying more than you need to. You’ll have all your future holiday parties covered.

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Let’s be honest – everyone loves to decorate their homes in red, green and white during the holiday season to get the Christmas feel in the air. In addition to the staple Christmas tree, most even like to add a few other holiday touches like lights and indoor decorations to envelop your home Christmas cheer. Ideally everyone wants this, but in reality Christmas decorating can get pricey. Not many want to spend extra on decorating a home for a month or so when so many other things need to be paid for.

Well I’m here to offer very cheap (if not free) ideas on how to decorate your home this season so you won’t be busting your budget. These 10 ideas are inexpensive, but they make such a dramatic and elegant holiday statement for your home. Guests to your home this Christmas won’t believe how you could do so much with so little!

1. Everyone needs a wreath for your home, so why not make your own? Go out and grab a couple branches from a suitable evergreen and tie them into a circle shape with string, rope, whatever works. You can make a large one for your door and smaller ones for the dining table to encircle candles. Spray paint or add flowers and pine cones to make even prettier! These wreaths will also lend a natural earthy and fresh aroma to your home.

2. Make couch pillows more festive by wrapping them with holiday ribbon to look like presents! You can pin on bows or glue rhinestones to give them extra flavor.

3. Raid your local Dollar Store because you won’t believe the amazing finds you’ll discover for dirt cheap. Some items may look a little tacky at first but it’s nothing a little craft-y TLC won’t fix.

4. Dig out those boxes and boxes of holiday greeting cards use them as decorations around the house. Simply line them up on mantles or coffee tables, or if you’re feeling more artistic mount them on boards in a collage.

5. Frame holiday gift wrapping paper and hang it on the wall. You’ll be surprised how elegant and artistic this can look.

6. Pile ornament balls in a pretty shallow dish or bowl. I think clear bowls work best.

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Christmas stockings - they are a joy to see stuffed to the brim with gifts Christmas morning, but those of us who fill them know they can cost a nice bundle (especially if you have more than a couple to fill). For those of us who are looking to keep our budgets low this holiday season, consider creating homemade Christmas stocking stuffers instead. They’re  definitely a cheaper alternative and will still put a big smile on the recipient’s face.

1. Wool mittens/scarf: If you’re handy with knitting needles then now is the time to put them to work. Personalize each of these with the recipient’s favorite colors. If you’re better than average, consider adding initials or designs to your custom creation. If you don’t know how to knit, this idea could still work if you substitute another material like fleece for wool – fleece creations will only require some sewing skills.

2. Cross-stitched bookmarks: Few people think of including bookmarks as gifts, but these are actually very useful for both prolific and leisurely readers. The best thing

3. Perfume, cologne or other beauty samples: If you’re like me, then you collect all these little samples from the mall or magazines and throw them into your bathroom drawer and forget to use them. These are perfect sizes for stocking stuffers. If you don’t have a collection of samples like me, it’s never too late to make a trip to the mall and gather a bunch of these – department store reps are always giving out these samples during the holiday season.

4. Handmade charm bracelets: This is a gift any girl is sure to love! All you need is a narrow piece of pretty string and an assortment of little items like buttons, single earrings, game pieces, etc.

5. Paper dolls or paper airplanes: There are links all over the web to sites where you can print out designs for these. Simple print out on sturdier paper and then the recipient can create their own toys Christmas morning. Here are example sites for paper doll designs and paper airplane designs… just print these out and you’re done!

6. Homemade treats: Like fudge or cookies. The best part is you can make these in bulk and divide up the treats among all the stockings you have to fill. Try to experiment with holiday flavors to give these treats an extra special Christmas kick. For example, add a couple drops of peppermint flavoring to your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and suddenly – ta da! Chocolate mint chip cookies.

7. Bag of tasty gourmet nuts: To the secret to making this gift extra special is how you dress it. Try wrapping nuts in a vibrant cellophane sheet and dressing it up with a pretty ribbon, just like how they do it at the mall. Also, try to find an easy candied nuts recipe online and make these treats extra delicious.

8. Homemade play dough: Check out this how-to for homemade play dough. Essentially it’s just baking soda and corn starch. The link even provides an all-natural version if you’d like to make a more kid-safe version.

9. Homemade bubble making solution and wands: Bend pipe cleaners into fun shapes and put the water/corn syrup/dish washing liquid solution into a colorful container

10. Chocolate-covered fortune cookies/graham crackers/pretzels

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