Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas – The Gift Basket

Like so many others, you are probably feeling the pinch in this bad economy, and you're looking for ways to save some money, especially with the Christmas holiday coming quickly. It's too late to have started shopping in January like the super organized person you'll resolve to become in the new year, so what options do you have?

The first thing that springs to mind for many when they are trying to save money is making at least some gifts themselves. So the first thing you do is go online and search for “homemade Christmas gift ideas,” which may be how you got here in the first place. Even if you came by a different route, you're here for the same reason – you want to see if you can find something to make that will save you money and not take up a ton of time.

This post is the first in a series of posts you'll see here offering homemade Christmas gift ideas. Some of the ideas will take some time or will take some skill. Some of them may not save you any money over something you would have gotten in the store, though most will.

There is something you should definitely understand first, before we dive in. Most craft type ideas have a learning curve associated with them. They will take a lot more time and money than you would think or even believe. If you haven't ever picked up knitting needles before (or if you're not exactly sure what they are) then you shouldn't think about trying to knit everyone a new scarf. The same holds true for most crafts.

But homemade gifts don't have to be crafts, do they? Of course not. And in fact many of the best homemade Christmas gifts won't look homemade if you put in a bit of effort. That will make it more special when you tell people you made it, or more acceptable if you don't think the person would appreciate a homemade Christmas gift.

One of those homemade gifts that can look store bought is the gift basket. Most of us have gotten or given a gift basket in the past, or at the very least have seen them in the stores. Many stores use these to help them move some merchandise that wasn't selling well on its own. When it is packaged with related items and you get everything for a discount over the individual prices, it sells.

How does that relate to us making gift baskets? We need to keep in mind how the stores put these together. They package together items that go together in some way. They are all skincare products, or they are all things for a backyard barbeque. This is the first thing you need to keep in mind when putting together a basket – stick to the theme.

Pick a theme based on the person receiving the basket. If he is a sports fan you might make up a baseball package with peanuts, cracker jacks, hot dogs, beer, a baseball and a bobble-head player from their favorite team. (NOTE: Use caution when including things that need refrigeration, like the hotdogs. Make sure they don't stay out for too long.)

Themes centered around tea, coffee or cocoa can be a bit more generic and still thoughtful, or you can tailor them to the person's more specific tastes if you know what she likes.

The most important skills needed for making a good gift basket are creativity and thoughtfulness. If you can be creative and thoughtful, you can almost always have a hit.

One last word about cost. Gift baskets can be as expensive or inexpensive as you want to make them. Everything from the contents to the basket (or other container) can make it more or less so. In other words, if you don't want to spend $5 - $25 per basket for nice wicker baskets, try using other creative containers like a large plastic bucket for a home improvement basket, or a big pretzel container for the sports package.

All the best,

Chris

Check in soon for our next installment of Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas.

Homemade Christmas Cards

The frantic pace of the Christmas holiday season may leave you feeling like you can't wait for it to be over. All of the last minute shopping, preparations for parties you are hosting, parties you are going to, family gatherings, office gatherings, it just keeps coming.

While this may be at least part of the reality of the Christmas holiday, you can set the tone and make things different for your family by planning fun activities that everyone can be a part of. You may already do this with some things, like trimming the tree, but all too often chances for family activity are swept aside due to lack of time.

One family activity that can bring the whole gang together and give you memories for years to come is making homemade Christmas cards. This is perfect because it is incredibly flexible and can therefore be fit into almost anyone's holiday schedule.

Before you disagree and tell me there is no way you can fit this in, stop and think for a minute. If you can't fit a few hours in all at once, you can split this up into several sessions. You can task the kids with doing things between sessions like finding fun shapes and pictures, or coming up with fun poses for the family portrait.

And if you already send out Christmas cards, you already have to go to the store to find the right ones, write them out (including the envelopes), etc. While making the cards yourself won't necessarily save you a lot of time, you could design them and then send them to a copy shop for printing and folding, which shouldn't take any more time than you already spend.

Stuck for ideas? Check out this gallery of cards which were made by people all over the world and submitted there. You're sure to find inspiration there.

http://familycrafts.about.com/od/homemadechristmascards/ig/Christmas-Card-Gallery/

And if not, the Family Fun site from Disney has a section on homemade Christmas cards at this site here.

http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/specialfeature/holiday_cards_ms/

My personal favorite is this one:

http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=11560

So, use this time wisely and make as many memories as you can with your kids. They will thank you for it, and have one more reason to think of this season as special.