By: Trinidad Guardian

Tuesday December 22,

Christmas is a special time of year and homemade gift ideas can add to the excitement of the holiday season. Christmas shopping and gift decisions can make the season a lot less jolly, but making the gifts yourself can make Christmas more personal and memorable. It can also help you save money too! Getting the children involved with making the gifts can start a cherished tradition. Here are some money saving homemade Christmas gift ideas to help you show the special people in your life how much you care:

Christmas candles: purchase plain pillar candles (at least 3” wide) at a discount store and dress them up with ribbon, plastic berries, or gift tags. You can also use fabric or Christmas pushpins. Another idea is to purchase a small votive candle, a small votive holder and a wide glass vase. Partially fill the vase with Christmas decorations— holly, poinsettias, red/green/gold glass beads—and then place the votive in the small holder at the bottom. You can find all kinds of decorations that will work—just use your imagination.

Christmas tray: purchase a plain wooden tray from a craft supplies store. Decorate it with paint. Another idea is to paint the tray a solid colour, then place a photograph in the centre of the tray. Cover the photograph and the bottom of the tray with a thin sheet of glass. (This will make it waterproof.)

Christmas ornaments: you have many different options for homemade Christmas ornaments. One of the easiest ways to make homemade ornaments is to buy the plain wooden, ceramic, or glass ornaments from a craft supplies store and then decorate them yourself. You can also make ornaments from paper. Another idea is to get plain glass ornaments and cover them with swirled paint or use decoupage techniques to cover them with decorative paper.

Photo ornaments: purchase scrap booking supplies and several sheets of card stock. You can use pre-made scrapbooking picture frames and use the card stock as the backing for the ornaments.

Gift baskets: these are always a good choice and are one of the least expensive gifts to create. Plus, you can make them unique to the person or event!
Purchase a cheap basket at a discount retailer.
Add some filler (tissue paper, newspaper, popcorn, etc). Put just enough in the containter/basket to make it look fuller (the items won’t sink down into the basket).
Mix in a few larger items to fill the basket—throw in some inexpensive items too, such as bath and body products, candles, etc. Make the gift baskets unique to the person or event—if the person is a golf junkie put together a basket with some balls, tees, a glove, etc. If you need a gift for a pet lover, you can get an inexpensive gift of items for their pet. Purchasing five or six treats, toys and other items can make a very thoughtful gift.

Rainy Day Box:

This cheap unique gift idea is more for the moms on your list or the familes—tailor it to fit your particular need. Pick up a large plastic bin and load it up with some toys five to eight, add some bubble bath, candles, candy, crayons, paper, a deck of cards, and maybe a movie or two. Add a card that states “Open in Case of a Rainy Day.” When the fam is stuck inside—bust out the rainy day box—entertainment for everyone!

Other cheap unique gift ideas are homemade cookies, cakes and other treats. You can even bake a large amount and then package it so that the recipient can freeze it and enjoy it later. If you do this make sure that you let the recipient know that they can freeze what they don’t eat right away (you don’t want anything to go to waste unnecessarily). Make it unique by putting the treats in a hand painted glass jar or other container.

Just because you don’t put a lot of money into a gift doesn’t mean that it’s not thoughtful. A few minutes of consideration can make any gift special, no matter how much you spend on it. Use these cheap unique gift ideas to help brighten any type of special occasion.

By Trinidad Guardian