Christmas Gifts

[harmony]

Deleted

[Valley]

What a great idea! I might just steal it for myself.

[Kat]

Awesome idea, harmony! Simple, cute, and practical! :)

[bke]

That does sound like a great idea!

[Mighty Frugal]

Everyone needs a new wallet. It seems we wait until the one we have is falling apart before we buy a new one! Love this idea, if I ever see them on sale I will also follow suit!!!

[Zoebird]

that's a really great idea. yes, definitely "theft-worthy." ;)

[happystuff]

The wallets are a great idea! I'm reviving this Christmas gift thread as I have started doing my holiday shopping - mainly for the kids, but only 3 gifts under the tree from us and a stocking from Santa filled based on the Victorian Stocking poem. (It's nice to have the guidelines!) I have to say I'm having fun since I've been able to order several items from Amazon for free. (Gosh - I love that word!)

Anyway, for extended family, we try to get each other something that is functional yet inexpensive. I'm talking my adult siblings and their spouses/partners. I need something that would be good for both males and females, that is in the $5 - $10 range and is useful/functional. For example, last year one of my siblings gave us all one of those emergency devices to fit on a keyring that will cut a seatbelt and then shatter a window. Little, useful, yet not something I normally run out to get for myself.

I know I may be asking the impossible, but any ideas?? Oh, yeah... I would need 20 of whatever!

[frugal-one]

Flashlights.. either wind up or plug in .. great for use in emergency.

[Nella]

I have my gifts "figured out." Now I just need to make them!! And Christmas is...what???? Only four months away!!!

[flowerseverywhere]

I was thinking I was going to make a bag for grandkids swimming stuff. Then put new beach towels and some other things inside so that when they went to the pool or beach everything would be together. I am done with toys for them, they get so much stuff from Aunts, Grandparents etc. I think the parents would approve.

Then I went online and found some neat ideas for card table tents and I think I am going to make one of them as well. I am a quilter so usually make someone a big quilt each year, it's one of my sisters turns and she has had a rough year so she'll appreciate it.

[happystuff]

Thanks for the suggestions/ideas. The more I think about it... and with recent weather events... I'm thinking of making a small trunk or car glove-box emergency-type kit. Matches, mylar emergency blanket, whistle, sewing kit/floss & needles, etc. Still thinking about specific contents, but I'm liking the idea... so far.

[domestic goddess]

Harmony, thanks for a great idea! We all mostly exchange gift cards, and finding a way to wrap, and give them, is becoming a chore. Everyone can use a new wallet, even if they don't need it immediately, they soon will.
Even the kids now are old enough to understand what a gift card is. Those aren't their only gifts, but they like having something of their own so they can pick out just what they want, or get something they wanted but didn't get. The older girl is getting quite fashion conscious and likes to put together her own outfits. The little one likes to add to her collection of small toy animals.
Gotta start thinking about Christmas gifts. I like the idea of "survival" type things. Disasters large and small, from bombings to power outtages, affect us all.

[beckyliz]

If you have a Charming Charlie's close by, check there for women's wallets. I was in one near Atlanta this summer and bought one off the clearance table for $2.00.

[chrissieq]

Last Christmas I gave my niece and nephews $$ inside socks - tucked away so they had to put on both socks to find the "real" gift. I might use the wallet idea this year - they are 6, 8 and 9 - and I'm sure would think a wallet of their very own would be fun!

[Zoebird]

I know it sounds nuts, but i'm giving everyone emu oil.

there is an affordable product line here that is great for sore muscles, arthritis, etc -- and emu oil is the carrier. it actually carries the herbs across with it, and soaks it in deeper. my aunt swears by it -- and so I'm giving it to everyone. LOL

and it's only $5 per pot, and from the central location, my aunt is sending the gifts onwards to family.

[Stella]

I am excited because no one is buying anyone "stuff" in my family this year. We're always pretty good about frugal gifts, but this year we are all traveling to be together in SoCal and our gifts to each other will be things to do. I'm taking the kids and nephew and hopefully my teenage cousin whale watching.

My gift to my mom is that hauling her four small grandkids on an 13 state roadtrip to see her. :) That is all she wants. The trip is our gift to ourselves too.

My Dad is a Franciscan, so he's not big into gifts.

[Marianne]

We haven't exchanged gifts for probably 10 years now - except for our one grandson, the only child in the group. Everyone buys him something. We all get together, eat too much, play cards or board games.

The last year we were doing gifts, my kids said they didn't want anything so I could use the money to buy a new friend shoes, some clothes and a winter coat. She was mentally ill, wearing flip flops and a sweater in the dead of winter. I was taking her to cancer treatments three times a week and it just broke my heart to see her wading through the slush in those flip flops.

My mother gave our kids savings bonds for gifts several times. But the gift they always seemed to enjoy was 5 lottery tickets (scratch type) each from their bachelor uncle. Maybe because they didn't blow their own money on them? I don't know.

One year each of our kids got a $2 bill from someone. All these years later, they still have it.

[Spartana]

I'm so excited.....I have my Christmas gifts figured out already!

I was in Target with my dd looking at wallets that were marked down and I had the idea that for next Christmas, I'm going to get everyone a wallet (on sale) and then put gift cards and cash in it as their gifts!!

I was planning on doing mostly gift cards and cash anyway and I think this would be a fun, creative and *simple* way of doing it! I'll also do stockings, as is our custom, and if there's anything they "need" I'll just put it their stocking!

I'm just so excited!

You might also want to add a little wallet sized photo of something funny or the family pic for each person. I gave a friend I've known since we were 8 or so a new photo album and made copies of photos of us a kids together to put in it. I gave another old friend a nice 3-picture frame with pics of him as a wild teenager in it. Fun, personal, and practical! and inexpensive too :-)!

[happystuff]

I got it!!! Umbrellas! Functional, compact in size enough to go into backpacks or car glove compartments. I bulk purchased 25 of them and they are good quality and, since I bought in bulk, very economical.

[Blackdog Lin]

I'm trying to perfect the best "soup in a jar" idea for this year - something I've never done for gifts - but it will fit well if I can get a recipe figured out. My family always does little inexpensive and useful gifts, and I'm thinking I could do a big batch of these frugally and give them out to friends and anyone else we feel a need to gift too. We do a very simple and minimal Christmas.

I've found a recipe that was delicious (I made it for us, of course, to test it out), but (a) it makes too much, (b) calls for too many ingredients-on-hand, and (c) ingredients were too much for a pint jar and too little for a quart - all we have on hand. Am trying to get it down to 1 lb. of ground beef, 1 can of tomatoes, and water, along with the contents of a pint jar.

I'll get there, I'm very close - but DH is gonna get sick of this soup, 'cause he had it last Saturday night, and he's gonna have again next weekend and probably the weekend after that, till I get the jar perfected.

:)