Homemade Holiday Presents! Lets help each other! Ideas WANTED!

[Tweevil]

Once while visiting a friends mom's house I recieved a very nice cutting board, knives, towels, fancy schmancy dish soap, and candles in a basket. I can't tell you how much I loved that gift. I USED every one of those items.

So, I have been stocking up on bargains and plan on making everyone a basket of something they can use.

Pasta pot with sauce, pasta, tongs, embroidered towel, and something else...
Cutting board with the stuff mentioned up there...
Movie Night, popcorn bucket with Blockbuster certificate, candies, and these cute popcorn plastic bowls I found.
For the guys, buckets with car stuff in it, cleanser, tire squirty stuff, interior cleaning stuff, and a gift cert to a local no touch car cleaner place.

I am still looking for gifts for my 50 staff members that won't break the bank. Any ideas?

 

[PrincessParty]

DD(13) is making fleece scarves in school colors for her friends and also an ornament. I just ordered a grab bag from Burt's Bees to use as fillers. 1 of her friend's family just lost their house and another one's Mom just lost her job. My DD is trying to keep the gift's budget-friendly, yet useful, and special. She is learning a lot this year with all that is going on in the economy.

 

[dawson5]

I am still looking for gifts for my 50 staff members that won't break the bank. Any ideas?

I've made coffee cup gifts. We found (have to look really hard to find them) inexpensive coffee cups and put hot chocolate and biscotti in them, wrapped them in the cellophane wrap with pretty bows. We've also done M&M sugar cookies in a jar with pretty printed instructions tied to the top, these are in mason jars. Have even taken pinking shears and cut fabric to wrap around the top.

After Christmas I start looking for things like this for the next year. Best time to buy the holiday coffee cups is right after, when everything is 75% off. You can get some really nice ones economically. Sam's sells bulk of hot chocolate, it's like $11 for 50 of the flavored kind (Land o' Lakes maybe?) We make our own biscotti. When we have done these for their grade school teachers, I let my boys pick out which mug and hot chocolates to put in with them. Sometimes we throw in a few Hershey Kisses. Hubby usually takes a few to work for the girls in the office.

I also have a friend who does a "Year in Review" for a Christmas card. He takes beautiful photos all year long of where they go, things they do and their children and puts them to a cd with some holiday background music. These usually go out to immediate family and close friends. He tries to find unusual music, things that you haven't heard before. He spends quite a bit of time doing this. It's a thoughtful gift and fairly inexpensive to do.

 

[Dowellfam]

I made a dvd slide show of Christmas Memories. I scanned old pictures/used recent digital pics and put them together using microsoft dvd maker and added Christmas music to it. I gave it as a gift to my parents and we watched it Christmas Eve as a family. There wasn't a dry eye in the place! If you have DVD making software and some christmas music, it's super easy and CHEAP!

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

For a change of pace we are filling mason jars with BBQ rub and putting it in a small basket with a t-towel, oven mit and BBQ tongs or spatula.
Here is the recipe for the rub.

1 cp brown sugar
1/2 cp salt
2 Tbs paprika
2 Tbs red pepper
1 Tbs ground cumin
1 Tbs ground celery
Mix together and store in a tightly sealed jar.

 

[Praise2Him]

I'm sure that it has been said, but I am doing homemade, gourmet-style, flavored nuts. I was going to use jars and I will for some, but I just got a sweet deal on pretty custard dishes. Could be used as nut dishes or on table for butter/sour cream. Will be putting nuts in these dishes with colored wrap and ribbon. My mom is putting hers in those clear Christmas bags.

What is the recipe to make the nuts? This sounds good!

 

[mickeygaga]

Let me in on the nut recipe too please!

 

[Mom2JaSaKa]

I made a dvd slide show of Christmas Memories. I scanned old pictures/used recent digital pics and put them together using microsoft dvd maker and added Christmas music to it. I gave it as a gift to my parents and we watched it Christmas Eve as a family. There wasn't a dry eye in the place! If you have DVD making software and some christmas music, it's super easy and CHEAP!

I am using a smilar idea to this for my Grandmother(on Mom's side) for x-mas this year only I am using any pictures. She had 6 children, 13 grandchildren & 13 great-grandchildren.

 

[loveysbydesign]

Great ideas!
Here's an easy one for kids to make!
One year I made neat snowflake ornaments with my then 3 y.o. son.
Take a small piece of Model Magic, flatten into a circle(about 3 inches in diameter or a little smaller..sdoesn't need to be perfect if your child makes it!!!), stamp in the imprint of a pinecone(the short fat kind with a rounded bottom). Poke a 2 small holes in the top to add ribbon later. Let dry and then paint and add glitter. String small satin ribbon through hole and voila...a cute ornament that kids can make!

On that note..anyone have a foolproof, easy fudge recipe as we'd like to make fudge this year to give away!

 

[thebeesknees]

Bump!

I've just spent the last 2 hours reading all of this and love all the ideas! I'm going to do the I Spy game for my nieces as stocking stuffers- I know I have everything for that sitting around the house, so it won't even cost anything! I like the key fob idea, as well. Easy and quick to do for all the teachers.

 

[Local_Girl]

Here's an idea that I haven't actually made yet, but I've seen the finished product and they are cute! It's a dry erase note board made from a picture frame w/glass (not plexi)--the 11 x 14 inch size works well. You use the backing and decorate it with coordinating scrapbook paper of your choice (muted colors so the writing is visible when you use the board), using something like rick rack or coordinating ribbon to divide it into sections and cover your seams. The sections might be "Notes", "Things to Do" etc. Attach a dry erase pen to the side with a pretty ribbon--the whole thing is about $5 if you can find the frames on sale. I'll be making one for myself and perhaps a few others too.

 

[Cinder-Belle]

Hi--

Several folks have asked for flavored nut recipes. I have found various places. This link has a bunch: (hope it is ok to put a link in)

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/cat/767/

If that does not work or is a violation of policy, just go to cdkitchen. Then do a search. I just googled and found lots of sites. This one had a bunch of sweet, spicy, etc. So, lots of options.

Good Luck!

Another idea is homemade hair bows. I make my daughter's hair bows. There are several sites with free instructions for various styles. You can buy the clips at various craft stores or online. You can find inexpensive ribbon, etc.
They are great gifts for girls up to age 10 or so. I make them for toddler and baby gifts. Bows are really expensive in stores. **You can also make bows for foo-foo dogs. Those instructions are similar and online. Just Google...

 

[MapleGirl]

Last year I made my mom a custom calendar. She mentioned that she likes Pierce Brosnan, so I found pictures of him online and made her a pin-up calendar. The best part was I put in everyone's birthdays and anniversaries along with their pictures (so for my brother's birthday on 9/29 there's a picture of my brother). I also asked her if there some special days for her and added them in (like her and her husband's first date 16 years ago). I made it on MS Publisher and printed in on index stock, binding it with ring clips. She loves it!

For my birthday this year she made me custom luggage tags. She bought some nice black leather tags and wrote stuff like "Mine" "Hands Off" "Disney Princess" and my name on them. she also put on a couple of pink sparkly crowns that she found in the scrapbook store. I LOVE them!!

Another year I sent away to artscow.com and had some pictures made into christmas ornaments for everyone. They were a big hit. That same year I also sent away to have a business card holder made with my sister's small business logo. She thought it was magical that her card holder had her own designs on it!

Sometimes I make fudge, peppermint bark and chocolate dipped pretzels for gifts. This year I'm making everyone custom t-shirts with their favorite Disney characters for Christmas b/c we're all going to WDW in january!

Another good tip is to give the gift of time and expertise. For my mom's birthday last year I went to her house in VT and spent the weekend organizing all her baskets of old photos. Together we went through them and filled 6 photo albums. Then I took some of her favorites, matted and framed them. I hung them up in her hallway to make a photo gallery. I plan on giving her a couple more every year to add to her wall.

 

[PiperPizzaz]

Great ideas!

On that note..anyone have a foolproof, easy fudge recipe as we'd like to make fudge this year to give away!

YUP here you go...
Peanut butter fudge using canned frosting and small jar PB
Chocolate fudge using chocolate chips and canned frosting you can use walnuts or actually any chopped up candy bar like snickers is good too!

The last one I have made many times and it is really good.

 

[jdes88]

I haven't done this, but I've seen it for sale in stores.

Take a cute cookie cutter and fill it full of homemade fudge. Decorate if you'd like. Wrap in celophane and give out! Duel purpose gift! Sugar and a cutter for future use!

 

[cre8tivangl77]

A book of family recipes are fun to make and the expressions u get are wonderful. Make it like a cookbook, but scrapbook. Include pics, and certain things they said while baking. Don't forget to add ur touch, things u can find here and there...

Another fun gift is the poop...(Treats in the bag) like the reindeer, snowman, or elf...they are cute with the poems...

I have made many...everyone loves them

And another my boys really enjoy are the hot chocolate in the cones...love, love, love these...easy to make...

If anyone has any ??? about any of these ideas just let me know...love from your heart is better then from your wallet...God bless...hope these help...

 

[Schmoodle]

The handpainted plates sounds interesting. How hard was this? And, did it cost a lot for the supplies?

I am hoping to really cut some corners this Christmas and would love something special to make my Mom, MIL and GMIL.

luvsJack, I'm sorry so slow to respond, I hadn't had time to come back and read more of this thread for a while. It was not too hard. I got the clear glass plates and glass paint at the craft store - it probably cost $3 - $4 for each plate. I found a design I liked online, reversed it, printed it, and taped it to the front of the plate and did the painting on the back. I will try and post a picture - I don't have one of the plates, but my mom has hers in her china cabinet. The only thing is to warn the recipient not to put it in the washer or to wash it by hand too aggressively.

 

[Promomx2]

regarding the glass plates, I did this for me when my kids were little. I did a christmas tree and used their finger prints for the ornaments. Of course do it backwards but it turned out soo cute. On another note, does anyone know of the site where you can download for the family receipe book? I want to make one for my daughter's wedding shower.

 

[luvsJack]

luvsJack, I'm sorry so slow to respond, I hadn't had time to come back and read more of this thread for a while. It was not too hard. I got the clear glass plates and glass paint at the craft store - it probably cost $3 - $4 for each plate. I found a design I liked online, reversed it, printed it, and taped it to the front of the plate and did the painting on the back. I will try and post a picture - I don't have one of the plates, but my mom has hers in her china cabinet. The only thing is to warn the recipient not to put it in the washer or to wash it by hand too aggressively.

Oh, that's ok; sometimes life gets in the way of the important things like dissing !!

This really sounds like one I want to try. I was thinking maybe a painted plate with a homemade loaf of banana nut bread would be a nice gift for our moms!

 

[Schmoodle]

That would be a lovely gift! I'll be at my mom's this weekend and will try to get a picture up.