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6 Frugal Gift Ideas

December 8, 2009 at 7:58 am 3 Comments  

The Countdown to Christmas is on—17 days until Christmas.

Day 8 of our countdown with thanks to Lakeside Collections: Save up to 50% on great gift ideas at Lakeside.com


I’m not as great with the handmade gifts as Renae. However, there are a few things that can be put together at home for thoughtful, budget Christmas gfits. (Because, when you make it at home, it’s homemade, right?) One quick & easy idea is to compile themed gift baskets. Create a pampering present by pairing a CD with bubble bath, lotions and tea or chocolate picked up free with coupons or CVS ExtraCare Bucks. Include a small jingle bell ornament & hot cocoa packets with the Polar Express book or DVD.

Crayons are a very inexpensive item, but always a huge hit with younger children. Consider ways to piece together a memorable coloring gift set for the little ones in your life. My mom is giving each of our girls a craft case filled with paper & crayons. It is one of the least expensive gifts she purchased this year, but will probably be one of their favorites. You could even make your own coloring book. Make it even more personal by printing coloring pages made from your own photos!

Small gifts can really add up for a big impact. There are a variety of ways to arrange more expensive looking gifts out of a few, smaller purchases. Slip a few handfuls of Hershey kisses into a whisk as a cute gift for teachers. Attach a tag that reads “We whisk you a merry Kissmas!” in holiday greeting. It is a fun way to give a very useful, but otherwise boring, gift. Kitchen accessories are one of those items that everyone truly needs, but they don’t usually make for enjoyable gifts. Even the least crafty person (ahem!) can handle this!

I have made these dish towel angels several times in previous years. It is yet another way to make a utilitarian gift a little more festive. Who couldn’t use new pot holders or towels? I know I seem to be constantly replacing mine. I have also gone even more simple in jazzing up kitchen items—oven mitt stockings! Fill one with a whisk, spoons, rolling pin or other items for holiday cooking, and tie a festive ribbon around your gift.

While we’re on the subject of teacher gifts, I really love Chris’s idea for giving festive soap & antibacterial lotion. My girls’ school goes through that stuff like crazy, and I think it will be a lot of fun to let the girls decorate the clear bottles. I’m going to go with snowflakes & snowmen over Christmas decorations, so they can use it through the new year as well. It really doesn’t take much to make an inexpensive gift look like a lot more. If you have more frugal Christmas gift ideas, we’d love to hear them!

Filed Under: Gift Giving, Holidays Tagged With: Countdown to Christmas, holiday gift guide, homemade

About Heather Sokol

Heather Sokol is the founder of Inexpensively. She has been married to Spencer for many, many years. Together, they have five kids, fourteen pets, seven fish, and a web development company. What they lack is sanity.

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Comments

  1. Madame Deals says

    December 8, 2009 at 11:48 am

    All great ideas! And yes, “homemade” means anything put together at home! Love putting together gift baskets of items I have gotten for free or really cheap.

    Crafts are always a hit with kids. My three year old has been really into crafts lately. Even my 18 month old loves to color! Another idea is to pick up craft kits on clearance after the holidays have passed. I did this last year and bought stuff for next to nothing. We have been putting these little kits together over the last week and my son loves it! I will stock-up again this year.

    Reply
  2. Live Solid says

    December 11, 2009 at 10:10 am

    Love it! These are thoughtful gifts that are easy on the wallet. Thanks for the tips and way to Live Solid this holiday!

    Reply
  3. Heather @MyFrugalFamily says

    December 12, 2009 at 10:01 am

    Thank you so much for the feature of my Dishtowel Angels! You’ve comprised a great list of inexpensive gifts.

    Reply

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