I'm looking for something that I can make for Christmas that is home-made and functional and really cheap.

Question

I'm short on cash this year and I want to give my extended family something ,but what? Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks

Answer 1

soap. using the hot preocess method you could make a batch of soap for under 10 dollars that would make about 30 bars of soap. You can sent the soap with fresh herbs or something like cinnamon and oatmeal. You can use just about anything as the molds.
http://www.pioneerthinking.com/soapmaking.html
there are several other websites available.

Answer 2

Mini heating pads............take scrap cloth, or a cute sock. If using cloth, cut a rectangle 9" by 10". Fold over so now you have a rectangle 4 1/2" x 10".(right sides together). Stitch one end and up side. Turn right side out and fill with dry shelled corn, beans or rice. Stitch end up and you're done. I made several of these about 10 years ago and we are still using them. All you have to do is heat them for about 1 1/2-2 minutes in the microwave and they will stay hot for a long time. Beats dealing with a cord.

Answer 3

You could buy small ceramic tiles, use a hot glue gun to apply felt to the bottom of each tile and you have a coaster. Stack them in a group of four and tie with a ribbon. You could also go through family pictures or take some of your own, go into walmart or a drugstore and use the picture scanner to enlarge or crop. Print them out and buy some frames at a dollar store.

Answer 4

I am in the same situation this year. I made recipe books for everyone. I used recipes that have been passed down in my family and my husbands family. I also added new recipes that I have found. With each recipe, I noted who the recipe came from.

Good luck! I know it's hard to decide what to get for people, especially when you're trying NOT to spend money!

Merry Christmas!

Answer 5

I always appreciate new pictures of family members. You could print them on the computer and get or make an inexpensive frame. Food gifts are nice too - there are lots of recipes for sugared or spiced nuts that are nice to receive. How about candy - fudge is easy. Coupons for services like baby sitting are nice too!

Answer 6

REAL CHEAP:
Go to home depot and get one of those glass cubes ( the kind you build interior walls with) all price ranges from $2.00 - $5.00. Drill a hole near the bottom. Put in a short string of white lights(.99c) and you now have a night light. You can wrap a wired ribbon around and it in the persons color scheme to really personalize it.

Answer 7

All I can think of is cookies. Don't buy them; make them. Give each person two, three or four with a note saying that each time they take a bite of the cookies they will remember the one ingredient they can't taste, your love for them.

Answer 8

A photo calendar using pics of your family and yourself.

You can have them binded for about $5, or just use a hole puncher and tie decorative ribbon for your own personal touch.

Answer 9

handmade coupons. good for mowing lawns, raking leaves, running errands, grocery shopping, babysitting, spring cleaning, washing windows. you can really creative with these

Answer 10

What are your crafting/DIY skills? The following suggestions are all fairly inexpensive, and I tried to stick to quick projects, since I'm not sure how much time you have or how many people you'd be making things for. Good luck!

Really cheap:

A. "Gift certificates" for services. Virtually free! Give the gift of time. Depending on your skills and the needs of the recipients, the gift certificate could be for a night of babysitting, help with putting in a spring garden, yard work, a car wash, changing oil or spark plugs, grocery shopping, help with housecleaning, installation of an appliance, moving furniture, infant or invalid care... etc., etc.

B. Fleece Scarves (some sewing may be needed) . Fleece is on sale about now at most fabric stores, and you can get 8 6-inch by 72-inch scarves out of two yards of fleece (total cost for 8 scarves, about $10). You don't HAVE to hem fleece, but I'd sew around the edges with a zig-zag stitch to prevent too much stretching. You can add trim or applique if you like, but trims can be awfully expensive. A coordinating yarn fringe is pretty cheap--just make SURE you stitch twice along the ends of the fleece, so that the edge is stable before you knot the fringe.

C. Bottle-cap magnets. All you need is bottle caps, magnets, some hot glue and your imagination. Really cool bottle caps can stand on their own, or you can paint them, decoupage interesting papers to them, or hot-glue on other decoration. Cost: about $2 for 10 magnets.

D. Button magnets: see above.

E. Potholders: can be as fancy or plain as your sewing skills allow, and can be very inexpensive if you already have scrap material on hand. Just make sure to use 100% cotton fabric and batting (or old cotton towels)-- blends tend to melt at inconvenient times. Cost per potholder: $0.25 and up.

F. Bowls, coasters, mats etc. made from old magazine pages (as seen selling for LOTS of money on various world handicraft sites). Dead cheap if you get lots of junk mail. Takes a long time to glue and seal, though.

G. Record bowls. Simply heat an old record in the over a Pyrex bowl or other oven-safe form and then carefully (with potholders!) bend the softened record down into a curved bowl shape. Cost: anywhere from $0.05 per bowl, depending on the yard sale price of the records. Do check first to make sure you're not bending something valuable!


Medium cheap:

A. Picture frames or blank books (requires hot glue and an interesting junk drawer, or white glue and interesting paper or fabric scraps). Decorate picture frames or blank journals for people. You can get fairly cheap unfinished wood frames at most craft stores. You can also SOMETIMES find frames with potential at dollar stores, but check to be sure they're sturdy--too often, dollar-store frames fall apart the first time you use them. You can usually find blank journals at the dollar store, or make your own from recycled paper. "Mixed paper" journals seem to be popular with younger, more artistic types (incorporating regular paper, interesting printed paper, etc.) Paint if needed, and hot-glue on items that fit the recipient's interests: flowers, game pieces, circuit boards and LED's, etc. Or you can decoupage with pretty paper or fabric scraps. If you already have rubber-stamping, embossing or gilding supplies, and the time, you can do some truly stunning effects. Cost per item: $2 and up.

B. Cookies or brownies. Very inexpensive, but a little time-consuming --although there's very little hands-on time--mostly just waiting for them to cook and waiting for them to cool.

C. Amigurumi. (requires crocheting skills). Fun, cheap because you can use up little bits of yarn and embroidery thread, and wildly popular with younger people--although a holiday-themed amigurumi could be appropriate for any age group. Time-consuming to produce lots of them, though. Cost per toy: Virtually free, if you already have yarn left over from other projects.

D. Knitted or crocheted hats. Can be as cheap as you like, depending on the yarn used, and hats are a fairly quick project. Cost: as low as $1 per hat.

E. Reusuable shopping bags. If you can sew, here's a link to a good tutorial: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=177482.0;topicseen If you can't sew, you can still pick up canvas totes at most craft stores and decorate with fabric paint. Cost per bag: $2-$10.