HomeschoolChristian's
Christmas Section

Homemade Gifts

Homemade gifts are frugal and have a personal touch that just can't be found in store-bought gifts! Many of the ideas below were submitted by HSC members on the HomeschoolChristian message boards.

Homemade Gifts for Anyone

Below are many ideas for relatives, teachers, co-workers, and other acquaintances!

Cookies
Christmas tree ornaments
Bookmarks
Homemade Stationery
Homemade Bath salts
Personalized clothes (scrunchies, fancy socks that you can hand-decorate, etc.)
Purchase some inexpensive photo albums and have your children collect pictures and then creatively mount them. This makes a great gift, especially for elderly relatives.
Collect some jars with lids (you might have some of these around the house) and make some of those really neat mixes in the jars
Purchase a bag of nice-smelling potpourri and make some sachet bags out of fabric scraps and ribbon.
Cheap soaps or bubble bath

If your parents or other relatives live out of state, make a little scrapbook with pictures of the basic things that go on in your house in a typical week, so your relatives can see the everyday things that they miss.

My grandmother lives far away and is very ill. She doesn't see very well because of diabetes and numerous strokes. For her we are doing a Christmas program on tape that will go something like this:
13 yodd will read "The Night Before Christmas"
10 yodd will read the Christmas story from the book of Luke.
8 yodd (who's reading skills still need work) will read an easy reader holiday story.
Sprinkled throughout the tape will be carols sung by our family along with funny stories about our Christmases past.

A gift for a grieving person: Take the clothes of the person who died and make a quilted throw. They will feal like they are wrapped in the love of the one they lost. It doesn't have to be terribly detailed for those with minamal knowleged. If you have cable tv watch a quilt in a day for really cool short cut ideas! (Editor's note: You may want to check with the griever to see if this is okay before you do it.)

"Pop, Pop, Fizz, Fizz"

You'll need:

A cellophane bag (like a clear lunch bagl)
Twist ties to close it
One package of microwave popcorn
One can of pop
A couple of Hershey's kisses

Put the popcorn, pop & Kisses in the bag and with the twist tie to close put this gift card:
"Pop, Pop, Fizz, Fizz,
Oh what a great ______ (teacher, aunt,uncle etc.) you is!"

Homemade Gifts for Boys

Marshmallow guns made out of PVC pipe link: Marshmallow guns
Snuggly blanket
Home-sewed lounge-around clothes or PJ's

Easy Homemade Gifts for Kids (boys or girls)

Quick and easy package topper or gift: Simple snowman snowball. Two circles of white fleece, with a snowman face stitched on one side, [or painted on with fabric paint] then stitched together and stuffed. Kids can throw them around like snowballs. Add ribbon, and it can be an ornament.

Save two Parmesan cheese containers. Find a large bag of those small, colorful, rectangular pieces of gum, and fill up the container. Cover with decorative or wrapping paper, and write: "Gum-body loves you!"

Homemade Gifts for Women

Make a cold weather comfort basket with hot chocolate mix, soup mix, mug, rice pack, something along those lines. Maybe add some lotion, lip balm, perfume samples.

Buy some clear scented liquid soap, soap bottles, and some decorative beads. Put the beads in the bottom of the soap bottle, pour the soap over it, seal it, and give it to your lady relatives and friends!

Homemade Gifts for Men

Many find it challenging to find suitable gifts for men. Here is what HomeschoolChristian members suggested:
The Red Green Show DVD
CD's of old radio shows
If you sew, you can make a pair of those flannel lounge pants and get a long-sleeve t-shirt to match. These would be easy to fold & add into a "cold weather comfort basket" along with some special coffee and/or chocolate mixes, some homemade shortbread or biscotti, Chex 'trash' mix, spiced/barbq/sugared pecans or walnuts, their favorite jerky or homemade jelly & biscuit mix, a few coupons for their favorite meals or for help cleaning/organizing the garage or yardwork, a coupon for a weekend doing whatever "he" wants with no 'demands', a coupon for free car wash/wax, coupon for help with household jobs such as painting or gardening/weeding/edging - whichever part he dislikes the most, some thick 'around the house' socks, or maybe a "mixed bag" of guy stuff with maybe a wordsearch or crossword puzzle book with a special pen or marker, gift certificate to their favorite bookstore or music shop, men's devotional book or tape or subscription, a nice manicure set, some handkerchiefs (for the 'older, more mature' types), a nifty flashlight or small tool such as a fancy tire gauge or one of those car-escape hammer thingies with the blade to slash a seat belt, nicely detailed key map, movie passes, football/soccer/hockey/baseball tickets, warm ear muffs if they work outside, a pair of thermal underware, a thermal coffee mug with lid for taking along in the car, a nice wide-mouth thermos for soups/stews for lunch, a new lunch bucket or pail (that could replace the basket), a gift certificate to Lowes/Home Depot/Academy or a particular shop they like if they have a particular interest such as NASCAR or woodworking, a magazine subscription for a particular interest (woodworking, sailing, hiking or mountain climbing, exercise/bodybuilding, photograph, stamp collection, hunting, etc.)
Magazine subscriptions
Small tools from the dollar store.

Suggestions from HSC supporters

"Lowe's has some small silver paint cans with lids. These are brand new & have never held paint. I'm going to make labels for the cans that say 'Christmas In A Can'. I'm not sure exactly what else the label will say, but something like this: 'Contained in this can is everything you'll need to celebrate Christmas: Christmas Cash, Christmas Candy, Christmas Chocolate, Christmas Confetti' I plan to put a few dollars in the can, along with small candy canes, red & green Hershey's Kisses, and some Christmas confetti. Once the cans are sealed, they'll have to be opened with a screwdriver just like a regular paint can. Now I'm working on something similar for my sisters. We always try to make something for each other. Lowe's also has the large, one gallon paint cans with handles. I'm thinking of making one that says, 'Dinner In A Can' and fill it with spaghetti sauce, spaghetti noodles, parmesan cheese, etc. I may do one that says, 'Breakfast In A Can' and fill it with pancake mix, syrup, chocolate chips & other pancake fixings. The last one may be, 'Dessert In A Can' I may fill that one with waffle bowls, hot fudge, nuts, a jar of cherries, and other ice cream toppings. I may use Christmas stencils and paint to decorate the cans."

"Last year I did some cool baskets. I found chenille throws on ebay for $10/each. I got some baskets at Goodwill -- brand new picnic baskets with a closed lid -- inside I put the throw, a goofy DVD (that I got really inexpensively at the drugstore), candle and munchies. I gave these to my family members and it worked out great."

"I got one of ds's old lunch boxes from when he was in 'real' school and we went around town here, buying $5 gift certificates from various fastfood places. I made a 'sandwich' of two slices of bread with one of the gift certificates inbetween and packed it in a baggie. Then I put another gift card in one of those small cans of pringles (perfect fit). And the last gift card I taped to the back of a Hershey bar. I could have packed a thermos as well, with a gift cert from Starbucks, but I didn't think of it at the time. So, our lunch box had a sandwich, chips and a dessert (all with a different $5 gift card for lunch). It was a cute gift and was well received."

"One of the things we are making is chocolate bars. We have a large chocolate mold that says Merry Christmas, so we will use white chocolate w/ dried cranberries and toasted almonds to make large bars. We'll wrap them in cello. Also bought a number of nice ceramics bowls that say POPCORN on the front. We'll fill those with a can of coke, microwave popcorn, licorice and candies, again wrapping the whole thing in cello. Also my dd found a really easy pattern for fluffly looking fleece scarves. She made one up and when she told me how she'd made it, I couldn't believe it was so easy to make. It looks so fancy. We will most likely make those for the nieces and maybe some friends, too. Also found some yummy recipes for flavoured popcorn, so we'll probably make some for the neighbours."

HomeschoolChristian's Christmas Section