Almost Free gifts

**Patty A** · 10-13-2008, 11:49 AM

I was thinking that I will use some of these for Christmas. You can beat that the price is free or almost free gifts.

Collection of family recipes, type up in to book form and give as a gift to someone that enjoys cooking.

Gift basket from free samples. Gather all the shampoo, conditioner, lotions, razor and a scrubbie. Wrap some plastic wrap around it and add a bow.

Coupons, no not for food and things but for things such as, one night of babysitting. A car wash, a massage, weeding the garden, taking out the trash,
doing the dishes, a game of your choice, get out of time out free, 15 minutes extra time before bed, skipping a chore, making your bed, 20 minutes extra TV time, 20 minutes extra video game time, breakfast in bed, dusting for mom, lawn mowing for dad, one hour of quiet time for mom, one hour bath time for mom no bugging her, I need a hug. Just a few ideas that might help.

For little kids, record their favorite book on tape.

Make a family calendar. Include all birthdays and anniversaries of family members. This makes an awesome gift for grandparents and they love if each month has a picture of someone in the family on it.

find a picture frame, let the kids put old buttons or something to decorate it with. Then frame a piece of their art work.

Take an old sweater and make a pillow.

Take a cutting of one of your plants, paint an old pot and start them a flower.

Make tree ornaments with picture of your kids.

Make a book of quotes you find on the web. Make them ones that will fit the person.

Make a dress up suitcase for kids to play. Old suit case stuffed with old clothes or customs, old shoes and necklaces. Little girls love this. Or you can stuff it with old baby clothes that they can put on their dolls.

Write a book of favorite memories, or traditions to give to your kids.

Make a collage of your favorite photo out of photo copies. Give to someone who doesn't get to see the kids often, or someone not living at home.

Hope this gives you some new ideas.

**Michelle68** · 10-14-2008, 10:32 PM

Thanks for all the great (and frugal) ideas!

--Michelle

**elphie** · 10-15-2008, 08:42 AM

Thank you! My aunt took all of my grandma's recipes and REFUSES to give even a copy to my dad. After reading this I started calling around to some of my grandma's friends and have been able to obtain copies of many recipes she had shared with them. My parents will be so surpised to finally have this collection of recipes... it will probably be the best gift I've ever given them all for the price of the recipe cards and a book to put them in. Thanks so much.

This post was truly a blessing as this has really bothered my dad... you didn't just save me some $$ you gave me a way to help heal my dad.

**MandaRenee** · 10-16-2008, 10:35 AM

Those are some great ideas.

I've done the recipe thing in the past and my grandma's cousin is doing that this year for everyone.

I've made the coupons for my parents growing up and I make them occasionally for dh. Although I don't know if he cares.

Picture gifts are always great. I'm going to be doing a few this year for the grand & great grandparents. I bought some picture snowglobes after Christmas last year and will be putting dd's picture inside them. I've also taken pictures of friend's kids and then framed them for gifts. Its a nice surprise.

I've been doing mypoints and just cashed in points to get several gift cards for birthday gifts. That's a great deal.

Baking something is always well received also. And easy to do.

Sometimes just writing a very nice letter can be a great gift. Let someone know how you feel about them.

**cmr3399** · 10-23-2008, 01:11 AM

These ideas are wonderful thank you

**kittykatstrong** · 10-23-2008, 01:37 AM

Gift basket from free samples. Gather all the shampoo, conditioner, lotions, razor and a scrubbie. Wrap some plastic wrap around it and add a bow.

I did this last year for my sister. She travels a bunch and I bought her a case to put them in at a thrift shop and filled it with the samples.

**purktoni** · 11-08-2008, 04:53 PM

I"m sure this isn't an original idea, but I"m going to take all my Christmas C.D.'s and load them on my computer then take some blank c.d.'s and make a bunch of them, then scrapbook cases for them.

**pigtailsmom** · 11-08-2008, 10:21 PM

Collection of family recipes, type up in to book form and give as a gift to someone that enjoys cooking.

-My friend did this for a few of us one year-she put the recepies into 4x6 photo albums with a personalized messge on the front. I love it

Make a dress up suitcase for kids to play. Old suit case stuffed with old clothes or customs, old shoes and necklaces. Little girls love this. Or you can stuff it with old baby clothes that they can put on their dolls.

-my girls (2 and 4) would love this! You could even go now to Halloween clearance sales and find princess dresses, tiaras, wigs, wands, etc. You could do this for boys, too. My friends 3 year old loves to dress up in costumes (spiderman, power ranger, etc) that she found at garage sales this summer. I bet you could find masks, pirate swords, etc for little boys on your list.

**MecheleP** · 11-10-2008, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by elphie

Thank you! My aunt took all of my grandma's recipes and REFUSES to give even a copy to my dad. After reading this I started calling around to some of my grandma's friends and have been able to obtain copies of many recipes she had shared with them. My parents will be so surpised to finally have this collection of recipes... it will probably be the best gift I've ever given them all for the price of the recipe cards and a book to put them in. Thanks so much.

This post was truly a blessing as this has really bothered my dad... you didn't just save me some $$ you gave me a way to help heal my dad.

Awwwwwwwww

This made me cry

**Patty A** · 11-20-2008, 08:56 AM

Thanks everyone for adding to the ideas. Even when money is tight you can find ways to make a gift with meaning. It doesn't have to "cost" anything and can really bring joy to everyone!
I hope I can come up with some more, I know money is tight here for me and all these things help.