Dirt Cheap Christmas Gifts

[many houseapes]

I have been going down the list that I have of what I have for everyone's Christmas....some of the gifts I realized were very inexpensive to make(or obtain). Thought that I would share some ideas.

For my father, I have been printing out crossword puzzles/solutions for everyday of the year. I catagorized them into 12 different folders(1 for each month). Since the co that dh works for supplied all the paper & ink that we needed(plus paid for the internet) -this part was free to us. The folders are the ones w/ the brads that I picked up for .05 ea.....so total cost of 1 yr's worth of crossword puzzles - .60 cents
I did the same type of thing for the younger kids...I made coloring books & activity books & bought them 16ct. boxes of crayons for .20 each.
My father also likes to read about homesteading & I'm giving him this past year's Backwoods Home Magazines plus 2 anthologies that I had extra.
My mother is getting a wealth of bath items to pamper herself with that I got for .10 each at Michael's after Christmas...I'm talking about 30 different items that will last her all year.
I also made her some stationary using 10 sheets of printer paper,cutting it in half to make 20 sheets, then attaching small hummingbird stickers at the top & bottom of the pages(in the center)-also took 20 plain envelopes & put hummingbirds on the back to match.
I used up my Hobby Lobby gift card & bought a pretty blue hardback journal book for $1. Then I found a ton of Great Depression recipies on line that I hand copied into the book...so now she has a cookbook with recipies form the Great Depression.
There are other odds & ends that I made using up what little was left on my Gift card.
I would love to hear everyone else's ideas

[Dancing Lotus]

I cant top yours. Great job.

I have BBQ gift baskets for all the men. I got veggies racks for half price after summer, I collected spices and herbs all year and jared them ( free to me) then I printed receipe cards for BBQ corn and grilled watermelon. Comined with my homemade BBQ sauce its a full basket for only a about 2.00

[lullaby80]

Wow. I really like your ideas! And though very inexpensive you clearly put a lot of thought in them. I might copy your idea and do a sudoku one for my mom.

[erstbrmom]

Good ideas!

[baxjul]

I've been working on some scrap afghans, one for my sister and one for my friend up north. Other than that it is only dh, dd and myself to buy for.

I got myself the KitchenAide mixer, on sale.

[sdrjeolsen]

Not as good as you did, but here are my bargains:

2 snow boards off craigslist for the 2 youngest. Saved well over half on those.

got DS a pair of shorts on clearance at Kohls for 6.00 (reg $32)

Got oldest dd a pearl necklace for just 1.00 shipping, 3 free lip glosses, free flip flops from VS, A nice hardback horsdouvers book on clearance (she loves to make them for parties) from borders for 4.00.

Got youngest dd a High Shcool Musical DVD/board game on clearance for 5.00 at the grocery.

[dolphin]

Need to make some potholders and 2 dishtowels out of already purchased fabric for my real life girlfriend. Dh will buy her dh a 12 pack of beer for his Christmas present.

Got dh a bar mirror with his fav. beer advertised on it for $5.00 at a thrift store. He can hang it in his garage. He loves stuff like that.

Ds wants a mustache/beard trimmer. If I can get the 4 ebay buyers to pay me for the books I sold, I 'll have enough to buy that.

That's pretty much it for our Christmas.

You're doing great to saving on gifts and have some nice stuff listed. It's always good to look ahead.

[sunshine]

I took my digital camera and took TONS of pictures all year. Some are scenic, some are of local landmarks, some are of family members.

With these pictures I've made:
calendars

T-shirt transfers

printed onto transparencies, put in clear frames with tealights behind them

made into necklaces, bracelets, keychains, money clips, fridge magnets ( either with magnetic paper or with the glass marbles)

Used recycled 20 oz soda bottles to put soup mix in, then decorated to look like Santa.

[Tater]

Sunshine -


Could you post a picture of your Santa bottles? I would love to put homemade bath salts in something cute like that!

[sunshine]

My digital camera is fried So, alas -- no pictures.

I simply paint the top portion of the bottle, red,(we use Coke ones that are sort of pointed) I paint the bottle cap white.

Then I just add wiggle eyes, and some cotton balls for the beard. sometimes I add chenille stem glasses, or other things to perk it up more.

[Sillyhippiemom]

Hi! We are very tight this year, so I did buy some games and a sit n spin for my kids. But I am also making items which come from "Santa's Elves." Here is what I am making:

**(FYI: my children are 5 and 3)

*A Bean Bag toss game - I am cutting an old pair of jeans into squares - filling with dried beans and sewing together. Then DH is taking a piece of wood and cutting a big hole in it as a target (lean against a tree or wall to play)

*A Ring-toss game - I am not sure if I will use embroidery hoops and wrap yarn or fabric around them, or if I will sew hoops (like the bean bags). I am buying a hat-rack as a target (the wooden accordian-style peg racks that you can usually get at a thrift shop used for a couple dollars - just paint it fun colors!).

*My husband is using twigs from our yard to make a bird feeder for my 5 year old daughter. There is a tree right outside her bedroom she likes to look at. This will also give her some responsibility to keep the bird feeder full!

*I am also making one of those "cookies in a jar" for my daughter - a plastic jar filled with the ingredients for choc. chip cookies - she'll love this because she and I can make them together and she loves to help in the kitchen!

*I am cutting out star-shaped fabric, soaking it in modge podge mixed with glitter, hanging them on string for dd to decorate her room. I saw this on a decorating website and know she'll think it is soooo magical!

*Bead bracelets

*A simple Family Photo book handmade

*A coloring book for each of my children - I am printing off coloring pages from free coloring page websites, then drawing a custom cover for each of them.

*A plastic empty peanut butter jar that I am going to fill with handmade fabric snakes (long thin fabric stuffed with just a little poly-fill, then button eyes) for my son - he is really into snakes right now! And A jar of them will tickle him! LOL

*I came across a bag of wood star-shapes I forgot I had - I am going to paint them with sparkly craft paint, and put them in a little bucket for dd. I will include a grapevine wreathe I also found and add a long piece of fishing line to it - she can hang it in her bedroom or on our porch - it will be a magical star toss game (try to throw the star through the wreath).

I am a terrible horder and have a jar of broken, tossed aside crayons, so I am going to try that melt and mold crayon idea - where they end up as rainbow-crayons...we'll see! LOL

I am going to buy some Hot Chocolate and putting that in their stocking with candy canes...

OH - yes, my children also started their own little "rock collection" so I'm going on a nature walk this week to pick up some smooth river rocks...then wrapping them in tin foil to place in their stockings...they'll think they are from the North Pole!! TOO CUTE!


I would really like to hear more handmade ideas....I think this may end up being the best Christmas ever in my house. I am very excited...funny in the past the children generally had about 5 - 8 gifts each - I used to spend around $200.00 for each of them. Now I've spent around $50 and they will have more gifts than I can imagine!!

I have to start planning for next year! LOL


Last year my DH took a job in a rural town as a police officer (after years in a VERY dangerous city), the salary is a HUGE drop, and we did this for our family; but there have been serious struggled....I came up with these gift ideas after panicking and fighting with dh about our kids getting jipped this Christmas (feeling guilty for being mad about the situation when I realized what wonderful ideas I found/came up with - I've always complained about all the store-bought gifts we buy and how I've always wanted to do a homemade Christmas...while their little it is easy! LOL ).

[Sillyhippiemom]

Then I found a ton of Great Depression recipies on line that I hand copied into the book...so now she has a cookbook with recipies form the Great Depression.

Oh my gosh - what a FANTASTIC idea! I would never have thought of this, my mother in law would LOVE that!!

[toile]

Wow you ladies have great ideas!!!!!!

Ok mine seems lame compared to you alls but.. LOL...
I buy those Bath and Body Works antibacterial soap pumps for really cheap.
I get all sorts of scents.
Some are gifts and some are saved in a box for my families use all year.
The kids use these as "gifts for mom" on holidays.They do a chore to earn the items etc..

The Kitchen Lemon and Pomagranite are just the best.
I can usually get them for around $2-$2.50 on sale.

[sunshine]

Other homemade ideas:

fleece scarves -- I buy fleece on sale at JoAnn's -- cut cross selvage to selvage in 8-12 inch wide pieces -- I fringe the ends and if I have any trims, I'll add those to them too.

soft jewelry -- sewn/quilted , plastic canvas, crocheted or knitted.

I make mats for hot wheel cars - crocheted and sewn from scraps. I make them to look like race tracks.

rice bags - from fabric scraps, for use in microwaves or freezers.

[sunshine]

Milk jug ball catchers -- I paint them or use colored electrical tape.

fabric covers for card tables that turn them into various "tents" - castles, teepees, etc.

fabric checkbook covers -- for kids you can do search online and print out fake checks for them to play.

fabric checker boards and tic-tac-toe games