time for some frugal christmas ideas!

Hot chocolate in a jar is usually a big hit if the person isn't allergic to chocolate. You can layer the sugar, chocolate powder, the milk powder, anything else you want like marchmellows. I bought stuffing years ago. So now I buy cheap fabric and make pillows as gifts, just sew up the sides and stuff them and then sew up the rest. I try to put zippers in, but that doesn't turn out very well. Maybe I should just do pillow cases?

I try to keep gift-giving in mind all year long. I frequent tag sales, auctions, and library book sales (I sell on ebay) and often find items for family and friends while hunting for inventory. I don't care for the commercial side of Christmas and refuse to go into debt for the holiday. I love finding something for a few bucks that I just know will be appreciated by the recipient.

We were just working on some tree ornaments with my grandson today. Got some star shaped candy molds, and other small molds, and filled them with plaster of paris. This huge box of plaster of paris only cost $2.50 and it will make a ton of stuff lol. My grandson likes making ornaments to give each year, and each year it's a different theme (as well as a different medium: last year we made personalized fridgie magnets to go with each person's own decor in their kitchen.) We decorate them with silver or gold acrylic paints and sprinkle the paint with iridescent powder to make them look more shiny. For hangers, we use bent paper clips and twist one end out to make a hanger. We put those in before it sets up. These make really nice ornaments, and it fits his little budget.

Hi Cher, Yes, it is that time of year again. I do have plans of making things for people this year as opposed to buying their gifts. This year has been full of family and friendship memories, we have had so far 3 weddings, 14 birthdays, 6 anniversaries and several get togethers and picnics. I have taken the opportunity to take wonderful pictures all year long at all of these events and more. So, I am taking these photos and creating albums, starting scrapbooks for some, wonderful photo art for others, photo CDs with music attached and more ideas. I also do a lot of baking home made breads, cookies, tortes, candies, fudge and pies. I usually put them in nice tins, dishes and pie plates as a part of the gift also. I like giving and receiving the home made gifts as there is a lot of love going into each and every one of them. My 13 year old niece will also be helping me make some of these and passing some out to her friends, teachers etc.. A great gift for me is sharing our time and helping her learn to bake. You also gave me another great idea of soups in a jar. I found this great website with a wonderful list of different soups in a jar. It is called Recipe Gold Mine and it is just that,with lots and lots of great recipes and a link called "Gifts in a Jar". Hope you can use some of theses. Here is a link for all the readers of your discussion. http://www.recipegoldmine.com/foodgift/foodgift.html Hope everyone can give the gift of love this season!;)

Thanks for starting this discussion Cher913. Christmas is fast approaching and I booked the tickets to go home this morning. I have not figured out what gifts to get till now. My first wedding anniversary also coming along with Christmas. I need to get a good gift for him. I am seriously thinking and searching web for ideas.

I sometimes make food items like flapjacks or muffins for people and package them in boxes or pouches which I make. You can also do this with bought items such as chocolates. Buy them in bulk from a cheap store along with wrapping materials and it is surprising how much you can get for your money. Great for kids too. Look on Ebay for bulk sale items too like jewellery or cosmetics which can give you lots of gifts at a low price. Charity shops are worth looking in too for individual items, they often have nice jewellery, ornaments and candles etc.

Oh I like that idea of a shadow box. They are so pretty. I had them made for our daughters when they all married with their wedding invitation glued inside. I am making poinsetta coasters along with a holder to place them in and keep the coasters clean. They did turn out great but are time consuming. It's cheap enough to use plastic canvas and yarn. Will see if I can find a photo on my computer and post it here for all to see. I did change the holder and made it flat instead of the photo that shows it standing up.

I am moving out of state this weekend. I have no money or meansfor Christmas. So this year will be rough. I am going to try and have enough to at least get each one of my kids at least one nice p[resent a piece.

did you try a jar with potpouri and some christmas lights in them when they heat up it makes the potpouri smell really good and then you can also but some material and make a throw my son gave me one the last two years and things like that comes in handy.

I hope you get a lot of great ideas. I'll come back to this discussion to see how it goes. I have no clue how I'm going to get through christmas this year... I'm just trying to survive September. We have FIVE birthdays in my family in Septemeber. Most importantly, my daughter. But also, my brother, his two daughters and another niece. My daughter's Birthday is tomorrow and I'm still trying to figure out what to do for her and still get all my bills paid on time.

I go to yard sales, thrift shops etc to find things that I can make into something else for gifts. Like I find yarn for a song at thrift shops (and yard sales) and knit hats and scarves for gifts. I also start early in the year and make afghans out of different colors of yarn for gifts too. Since I sew, I used to make my daughter clothes for Christmas, and one year as an extra special gift I made a rabbit fur coat for her Cabbage Patch doll. (NO I won't ever do that again!!! Working with rabbit fur is like petting a shedding cat in summer. The hair embeds in your face and you nearly scratch it off!!!) I have done a lot of sewing for gifts, and it cuts costs by 75%! Same with making scarves and hats. People love them because they are useful. I also will get flour sack material and make dish towels and either stencil or embroider designs on them. Stenciling the designs doesn't take too much time and they turn out so beautiful- again people love them because they are so useful.

i do native american beadwork and also crochet. now if i can just make myself get started with it i'd be fine i dont know. im hoping i'll have a little saved by then to send the kids. i really hope so cause i've went thru all i had left moving here and dont like thinking on it.

Hey cher! I am not quite ready to really start thinking about Christmas yet! It is just a bit early for me! My birthday is in two weeks and then my boyfriend's birthday is around Thanksgiving so I have some time to go before I can actually start to think about Christmas! I do like the idea of making Christmas Baskets! A fellow mylotter had some great ideas last year for some baskets! And all the stuff in it actually came from the dollar store including the baskets themselves! And it really sounded like a wonderful idea! You can get the greatest things for all different types of people in those dollar stores from children to adults! They have childrens toys to candles and crossword puzzle books which all make great gifts to make up a basket! I think that is what I am going to do this year!

Yes, this Christmas will be more frugal than the years before for many people. I think it is okay to give cheap gifts as long as your sincerity shows. It is always the thought that counts. Like me, I don't care if the gift I received is less than five dollars. As long as I saw the effort the person poured into the gift, I will appreciate it. Some gifts I received over the years that I treasure but costs only a few bucks are a cd my friend burned with all my favorite songs in it, a picture frame with our photo together, a collage, a dozen brownies a friend baked, etc.

I'm knitting a lot of my presents. For some of it, I'll need to purchase yarn, but I can mostly use what I own. I like to look at websites like oneprettything.com for ideas of things to make.

I am knitting fingerless gloves and a matching scarf and hat for all of the girls. I have not figured out what for the guys yet. a couple years ago I made cookbooks for all of the adults and I add to that every year. Good luck!

Don't know how computery you are, but you could get people some stuff online, software, movies, music, or whatever. Stuff that's free, but more time consuming to put together. You could try taking up something like cross stitching, too. It's actually really easy, just takes a while. You can buy a cheap book with the patterns and instructions at a craft store, and some thread (which is pennies a colour), and then put them in some dollar store frames, too. It'll look nice, and the face that it took you time and effort will mean something to people. I think there's even a software out there that will convert actual photos on your computer to a pattern, so you could do a picture of someone's dog, or child when they were a baby, for example.