'Tis the season to be jolly...falalalalalala...la...la... The holiday's are upon us. The weather has changed and the cold can be felt in the air. With all the spending done around this time, our wallets can feel the holi-daze as well.
In the past, when my budget for gift giving has been really small, I've turned to my crafty side for help. & personally I feel that personalized gifts and homemade gifts are more heart warming.
These are some ideas anyone can make. You don't need to be the craftiest of them all to make these great gifts. You can even include your kids and make a fun night out of it!
First lets start with all the chocolate goodness... Because who doesn't like chocolate???
Chocolate dipped pretzels- Such a yummy treat and very easy to make.
Ingredients and materials needed:
-Pretzel rods or small pretzel twists
-melting chocolate (milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate) whichever you prefer or better yet, the person you are gifting to prefers.
-chopped walnuts
-Chopped or slivered almonds
-Sprinkles
-tray
-wax paper
-treat bags or boxes
-Cute ribbon to tie bags
This recipe found on foodnetwork.com is very easy to follow. Check it out here.
Chocolate truffles: A delicious truffle will make anyone happy this holiday. Put them inside a cute box lined with mini muffin tins. & No one will even know they are homemade.
I usually follow a recipe found online. Check this one out here from allrecipes.com.
Another gift we've done is giving the grandparents a picture of our son with Santa. All we had to buy was the picture frame and of course the pictures with Santa. Usually when you get those pictures at the mall etc... they offer different packages. We chose the smallest package that included three 5×7 photos. We created a memory and got a gift out of it. (Laughing at ourselves because we're cheap sometimes...)
In our defense, grandparents love that stuff!!!
Also if you don't have enough money in your budget for the Santa pics. Let's be honest, they can be pricey and times can be hard. Check your local public libraries, they usually host events with Santa and do free pictures.
Another easy homemade gift is a sugar scrub. Something useful and organic. (Since it's made at home, you can watch the ingredients used) This recipe is from One little project's blog. Check it out here.
Then there's always gift baskets. Super simple and full of goodies that can be truly appreciated. This one here is one we made for my son's teacher.
Materials needed:
-Basket that can be used in the classroom
-Milk chocolate biscuits
-Box of teas
-Cellophane paper
-Tissue paper
-Ribbon for a bow
-Chocolates
-Bolero Beverly Hills products-hand soap, vegetable bar soap
-Journal found at dollar tree
-Biscotti (also found at dollar tree)
-Card
I spent around $16 making this basket. Simple and inexpensive!
I know not all the ideas I listed were "homemade" because some were simple as putting a photograph in a frame. However they are gifts that are much more meaningful than a plain store bought item. (In my humble opinion) If hope you enjoyed them and they have inspired you to make some easy homemade gifts this holiday season.
Please share your ideas with me as well in the comments.
Xoxo,
Carla
In the past, when my budget for gift giving has been really small, I've turned to my crafty side for help. & personally I feel that personalized gifts and homemade gifts are more heart warming.
These are some ideas anyone can make. You don't need to be the craftiest of them all to make these great gifts. You can even include your kids and make a fun night out of it!
First lets start with all the chocolate goodness... Because who doesn't like chocolate???
Chocolate dipped pretzels- Such a yummy treat and very easy to make.
Ingredients and materials needed:
-Pretzel rods or small pretzel twists
-melting chocolate (milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate) whichever you prefer or better yet, the person you are gifting to prefers.
-chopped walnuts
-Chopped or slivered almonds
-Sprinkles
-tray
-wax paper
-treat bags or boxes
-Cute ribbon to tie bags
This recipe found on foodnetwork.com is very easy to follow. Check it out here.
 |
| Photo credit belongs to Foodnetwork.com |
Chocolate truffles: A delicious truffle will make anyone happy this holiday. Put them inside a cute box lined with mini muffin tins. & No one will even know they are homemade.
 |
| Photo credit belongs to all recipes.com |
I usually follow a recipe found online. Check this one out here from allrecipes.com.
Another gift we've done is giving the grandparents a picture of our son with Santa. All we had to buy was the picture frame and of course the pictures with Santa. Usually when you get those pictures at the mall etc... they offer different packages. We chose the smallest package that included three 5×7 photos. We created a memory and got a gift out of it. (Laughing at ourselves because we're cheap sometimes...)
In our defense, grandparents love that stuff!!!
 |
| All rights reserved on image. |
Also if you don't have enough money in your budget for the Santa pics. Let's be honest, they can be pricey and times can be hard. Check your local public libraries, they usually host events with Santa and do free pictures.
Another easy homemade gift is a sugar scrub. Something useful and organic. (Since it's made at home, you can watch the ingredients used) This recipe is from One little project's blog. Check it out here.
 |
| Simple yet beautiful! Photo credit belongs to Onelittleproject.com |
Then there's always gift baskets. Super simple and full of goodies that can be truly appreciated. This one here is one we made for my son's teacher.
Materials needed:
-Basket that can be used in the classroom
-Milk chocolate biscuits
-Box of teas
-Cellophane paper
-Tissue paper
-Ribbon for a bow
-Chocolates
-Bolero Beverly Hills products-hand soap, vegetable bar soap
-Journal found at dollar tree
-Biscotti (also found at dollar tree)
-Card
I spent around $16 making this basket. Simple and inexpensive!
 |
| All rights reserved on image. |
I know not all the ideas I listed were "homemade" because some were simple as putting a photograph in a frame. However they are gifts that are much more meaningful than a plain store bought item. (In my humble opinion) If hope you enjoyed them and they have inspired you to make some easy homemade gifts this holiday season.
Please share your ideas with me as well in the comments.
Xoxo,
Carla
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