Inexpensive Christmas gifts

Camy here! Have you started thinking about Christmas yet?

I love Christmas. I mostly like giving gifts to my friends and family. I especially like being able to give them something they’ll really enjoy and could use.

I’m also dirt poor, so the challenge is giving a gift that’s not cheap-looking, but that’s inexpensive to make or buy.

Yarn craft

I’m big into knitting, so I like asking my friends point blank what they’d like me to make them for Christmas. I give options like a scarf, hat, mittens, fingerless gloves, bag, etc. It makes it easy for me, and it guarantees they’ll get what they want. Then I buy the yarn and make something for them.

Do you crochet or do some type of yarn craft? Why not make your gifts this year? You can also learn to knit or crochet really easily online. Believe it or not, I learned to knit from watching knitting videos.
Knittinghelp.com videos
Knitpicks.com community learn to knit tutorials
Lion Brand website for knitting and crochet tutorials

Sewing

There’s a sewing group that meets at my church who have volunteered to show me how to sew, although I haven’t taken them up on it yet. But it makes me think that if I do, I can make cute sewing projects for gifts, too. iPod or phone cases, bags, pillowcases.

If you sew, consider some cool sewing you can do for your friends or family as gifts. Pillowcases in cute fabric are always great gifts and they’re very inexpensive, too.

If you embroider, consider buying something small and embroidering the person’s name or designs on it. Regular or ribbon embroidery can really dress up something that’s otherwise very plain.

Cards

I also like making cards for people to use, because everyone could use thank you cards or birthday cards. I get stamps, colored paper, double-sided tape, and ribbon trim from the local craft store and then go to town. It’s fun because I get really creative, and it’s fast because I can make several copies of the same card really easily.

And if I make several different designs, I can give everyone one or two cards of each design, for a total of a dozen or two dozen cards as a gift. I wrap the bundle of cards in ribbon and it looks great!

If you’re creative and wise with what stamp sets you buy, each card can be as little as 25 cents each to make. There are some stamp sets that are hearts or flowers, with several stamps in the set, and you can mix and match with different colors, different paper, and different ribbon or trim to make different types of cards with the same set.

Are you a photographer? Why not develop several copies of your favorite pictures and paste them to cardstock to make fantastic blank cards to give away? You don’t even have to embellish the cards if you don’t want to, because the photos themselves make the cards special.

Sparkly stuff

Some of you do beading, and jewelry is a great gift to give. Earrings, a pendant, or a bracelet are relatively inexpensive, and you can make them in your friend’s or relative’s favorite colors.

And you don’t have to limit yourself to jewelry. You can also make cell phone charms, bookmarks (see those book thongs in Borders?), zipper pulls. Be creative!

Any other ideas?

What are you considering for inexpensive Christmas gifts this year?

Camy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. Out now is her humorous contemporary romance novel, Single Sashimi, and her romantic suspense, Deadly Intent. She also runs the Story Sensei critique service. In her spare time, she is a staff worker for her church youth group, and she leads one of the worship teams for Sunday service. On her blog, she gives away Christian novels and ponders frivolous things. Sign up for her newsletter YahooGroup for giveways!

Creative Gift Giving

My friend Jennifer and I decided not to exchange Christmas gifts this year. We’ve been friends since we were 3 years old and have always given each other books, perfume, lip gloss, and other “stuff.” This year, however, my family has very little to spare so Jennifer was nice enough to suggest that we skip the stuff and opt for a gift of time. We plan to get together over my kids’ Christmas break and let that be our gift to each other. Jennifer will treat us to lunch and I’ll cover coffee and dessert, or one of us will buy movie tickets (matinee of course) and the other will be in charge of stuffing her purse full of snacks.

I had already accepted that my gift giving would have to be creative this year. So far I’ve gone with books that I make special by having them signed (I order them directly from my author friends) and fun things like jars of homemade cocoa mix. It’s actually fun! You might want to try. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

· Get a box of small canning jars from the grocery store (they don’t cost much). Choose one for each person on your Christmas list and fill it with their favorite candy, cocoa powder (recipes can be found on the Internet), tea bags, or gum. Cover the lid with a small piece of Christmas fabric or tissue paper and tie it with a ribbon.
· Give a gift of time by treating your best friend to coffee or ice cream.
· Offer to make dinner for your parents or grandparents, promising to do all the clean-up as well.
· Give service “gift cards” – Decorate 3x5 cards and write a service that you would like to provide on each one, such as a night of free babysitting, a manicure for your little sister, or tutoring for a friend who is struggling and wants help in a subject that you excel in. Make sure they are things you enjoy doing so you won’t dread following through.

You can do all kinds of things on very little money. So set the stress of Christmas shopping aside and have fun being creative!