In this series so far, we’ve talked about the importance of creating and sticking with a Christmas budget. We’ve also discussed how to create a gift list based upon your budget.
While you can take your budget and gift list and just go pick up a gift at the store or wait and find a deal online, there are other options to traditional gifts that can be less expensive. And for some on your gift list, these would be more meaningful than just buying something at the store.
Homemade Oreos from I Heart Naptime
1. Food Gifts
Unless your recipient has food allergies, it’s hard to go wrong with food gifts. Gifts in a Jar are always popular, though I’d recommend that you make and try the recipe-in-a-jar first, before making extras as gifts. We’ve had a few that looked like a great idea but actually turned out not to work well when you dumped the contents of the jar into a bowl and put the recipe together.
I also love the idea of giving homemade cookie dough. It can be frozen and saved to use after all the Christmas goodies are eaten up. And nothing quite beats freshly made chocolate chip cookies!
Other food gift ideas: Year-Round Yum, Vinegar Infusion Set, a coffee & tea gift basket, Homemade Marshmallows, and Homemade Hot Drink Mixes,
12 Days of Christmas Gifts for Teachers from How Does She
2. Consumable Gifts
As a minimalist, I love consumable gifts! They can be meaningful and memorable, but they don’t result in clutter. I shared five of my favorite consumable gift ideas here. JesseLeigh also shared a great post last year with many clutter-free gift ideas.
Other consumable gift ideas: Homemade Body Scrubs, Gluing Craft Box, 12 Days of Christmas Gifts for Teachers, a calendar, stationery or note cards, and gift cards.
Fingerprint Ornaments from The Gardner’s Dirt
3. Handmade Gifts
Most food gifts and consumable gifts are handmade, but there are plenty of other handmade gifts that don’t fall into those two categories. Handmade gifts are usually very economical and they can be customized especially for the recipient. Not everyone appreciates handmade gifts, but even if the gift you give isn’t something the recipient loves, I can guarantee that most people will feel very honored and blessed that you took the time and effort to make something for them.
I shared a number of do-it-yourself gift ideas for children here. Amy has a great list of 36 handmade gift ideas. And Brandy blogged on some great ideas for handmade gifts that won’t cost you anything.
Other Handmade Gift Ideas: The Question Jar, Homemade Playdough, DIY Car Mat Backpack, Fingerprint Ornament, and Build-Your-Own Snowman Kits.
Those are just a few of my ideas. I’d love to hear your favorite homemade gift ideas–especially those that have been especially well received! If you’ve blogged about it, be sure to leave your link in the comments.
Practical Application
1. Sometime in the next 24 hours, sit down with your Christmas gift list and finalize exactly what you are giving each person. If you find it helpful, use the Master List here or the Organized Christmas list here
2. Plan a shopping day or days in the next week and make a plan for where and when you’ll buy each item. If you’re planning to make any homemade gifts, write down all the supplies you need to buy and block off time on your calendar in the next week to ten days to make and finish these.
3. If you begin to feel overwhelmed at any time, step back and re-evaluate whether there are some things that you can cross off your list. It’s not worth making something if you’re going to be all stressed out about it for three weeks!
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it 
