Save Money with these Christmas-Gift-Ideas!
I thought I'd post some of our favorite Christmas-gift-ideas that cost little or NO money, in light of the fact that many families have suffered loss of income (or at least an extreme tightening of purse
strings) in this past year!
Share YOUR best frugal Christmas-gift-ideas by using the convenient form at the bottom of this page! Let others benefit from your knowledge and creativity this Christmas! Your post will become an instant WEB PAGE right here on Homeschool Faith and Family Life! Thanks in advance for letting YOUR IDEAS help others
to SAVE MONEY this holiday season!
Choose one or more of the following and create your own low-cost gifts today!
1) GIVE a TREE! Our son Jacob loves a certain tree in a clearing in our woods. He plans to build a house in this spot some day. So...we GAVE him the tree for Christmas two years ago! We did spend money on a small wooden plaque and some paint...we made a sign that says "Jake's Tree" and our older son built a bench (from tree logs and scrap wood) that we placed up against the tree for Jake to sit on and whittle, or read, or just relax! On Christmas Day, we had a little "procession" carrying the sign and nailed it to the tree. We then gathered 'round and "dedicated" the spot to Jacob and prayed for God to grant him many peaceful and happy moments there in the years to come. You needn't have woods to enjoy Christmas-gift-ideas like "TREE
GIVING"...any favorite climbing tree in your yard will do!
Sometimes it's fun when your Christmas-gift-ideas can celebrate a particular family member's interests and hobbies! You can get an unfinished wooden box for low-cost at most craft stores (or use a cardboard one from home!). Paint and decorate this with your child's name such as: Mary's Letter Box or Mary's Treasure Box and present it to your son or daughter for them to keep all of those pen-pal letters or treasures inside. If you are using it for letters, you can add a special touch by including a letter inside the box that you and your husband have
written to your child!
Hands-down, some of our favorite Christmas-gift-ideas are those we make ourselves, involving service and special times and treats given to each other. Coupon Books are a GREAT way to do this! These are so much fun and easy to make! For your spouse, you can offer a box with twelve coupons inside...either a dessert a month or a breakfast in bed a month. This keeps giving ALL YEAR LONG. Label each coupon with a yummy dessert or breakfast meal and include a note that tells your husband that he can redeem a coupon of choice each month as long as he hands it in before shopping day so that you can gather supplies. For the kids, here are some of our favorite coupon ideas: (These Christmas-gift-ideas will THRILL your kids!) NO SCHOOL DAY Come to School in Pajamas Day Sleep In One Hour Day Choose the Dinner Meal Get Out of Chores FREE Card Movie and Popcorn Night with Mum and Dad (at home) Invite a Friend for a Special Play Day Breakfast in Bed (kids LOVE this too)
Stay Up Late Tonight Card
4) a POEM Write a poem for/about your child Decorate and frame it When our Christmas-gift-ideas include homemade items, it allows us to express ourselves in unique and appreciative ways! Share a bit of your heart with those you love! You needn't be a professed writer or poet...just write
how you feel and what you love most about your son or daughter!
Do you have any Christmas-gift-ideas that the kids can treasure throughout the years...and even save until their grown? If so we'd LOVE to hear about them! Here's one of our treasures: You can purchase blank cardboard books (Oriental Trading usually has them) and create personalized stories about your children! I did one of these for each of the Littles a few years back and they STILL love reading them today! No need to be a great artist or writer...just simple sketches and a few lines per page...you can even rhyme it if you like. Here are the words from Mary Clare's book, who was 3 at the time I gave it to her: Mary Clare, Mary Clare So cute and very sweet Loves to dress up, loves to sing, loves to move her feet She can peel potatoes and she can brush her hair She likes cheese and apples and eats them EVERYWHERE Sometimes she helps her sister Sometimes she snuggles close Sometimes she gets in trouble...for painting her own toes Mary Clare can brush her teeth and dress herself just right She can kneel and say her prayers with her family every night Mary Clare is full of JOY and loves to run and play She is learning all the time and growing every day! Not all of my story books rhymed like that...some just contained simple sentences, telling a little about the child's favorite activities or special virtues. Your Christmas-gift-ideas needn't be elaborate nor expensive! My kids treasure these homemade christmas gifts and even my older ones whine
and pout that they didn't get one!
Use plain copy paper and some markers or tiny stamps, hole punches, etc... and create a stationery kit for the kids in your family who enjoy letter-writing (or maybe use this gift to INSPIRE this new hobby!) Create simple borders and headings and design envelopes to match Tie together with a pretty ribbon and tuck in a decorative pen or pencil. If you are able, add some postage stamps, decorative stickers, and/or address labels to the box. Purchased stationery kits can be VERY expensive...using these Christmas-gift-ideas
helps you to give an elegant gift for VERY LITTLE cost!
6) APRONS Have a child that LOVES the kitchen? These Christmas-gift-ideas are for YOU then! Customize them by painting the child's name and a design on the front! Bringing kids along-side you in the kitchen is a great way to restore family time! And they'll LOVE having their own special apron to wear while you cook! Click the link below to see a variety of styles, including some SETS that come with a chef's hat too! (Add some Dollar Store Kitchen Utensils like rolling pins, spatulas, and whisks to
create an entire CHEF SET ENSEMBLE as a gift!)
This dough keeps well in sealed sandwich baggies OR empty play-dough containers! Use food-coloring to create a few different colors Add some cookie cutters and a small rolling pin to the box and give your child their very own home-made play-dough kit! Sign up for our FREE NEWSLETTER and order the December, 2009, issue for an easy homemade-christmas-gifts play dough recipe! (Newsletter
sign up form also at the bottom of this page!)
Use a Christmas candy mold Melt down your old crayons in a double boiler on the stove Pour into molds (Some people have suggested chilling at this point but I don't think it's necessary) Pop out when solidified and gather together in some pretty plastic wrap with ribbon! The kids now have fun, special, Christmas crayons to use during the season.
This is a GREAT stocking stuffer!
Find some nice-sized rocks outside Allow the kids to paint them Glue a small, cut-out photo of your child on the rock and present
this to Daddy for his desk or shelf!
Use craft foam to cut-out picture frames (two identical ones per ornament) Use a hole puncher to place holes around the frame Insert a photo of your child and allow them to stitch some green or red yarn around the frame to "sew" the two frames together. Add a hole at the top and string with pretty ribbon. We gave these to my husband a few years ago and he delighted at seeing 9 beautiful ornaments of his children in the
package...and of course, we now hang them on our tree each year!
TASTY AND EASY HOMEMADE-CHRISTMAS-GIFTS FOR YOUR TASTEBUDS!11) HOME-MADE Reeses' Cups Easy and inexpensive to make and a really TASTY treat!
CLICK HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS
Easy to make and you can even "pour" it out into the shape of a Christmas Wreath and attach a bow. (We've used a cleaned and
wrapped pizza box to hold this!)
Great for kids or passing out to neighbors...or setting aside for holiday visitors that drop in to say hello! CLICK the link below and scroll down to the
DESSERT section for those recipes!
FOR YOUR TASTEBUDS
14) HERB GARDEN Have a budding chef in the house? Plant a small window-sill herb garden and give as a Christmas gift this year! If you like, add a specially painted sign with your child's name:
"Mary's Herb Garden"
My kids are THRILLED when we give them things like their OWN gallon of chocolate milk or their OWN block of cheddar cheese or stick of pepperoni. These are low-cost and great stocking stuffers...(the milk, of course, won't fit in the stocking) Tie a
big bow on the milk and hide it in the fridge!
16) GRAHAM CRACKER TREATS Spread tiny squares of graham crackers with peanut butter...cover with a second cracker to make little "sandwiches"...melt some chocolate on the stove...dip each "sandwich" in and let cool on wax paper. Low-cost, yummy treat for the special KIDS in your
life!!!
Christmas-gift-ideas that involve the element of "SURPRISE" add that very SPECIAL-SOMETHING to you children's celebration! Make tons of beautiful snowflakes and while the kids are sleeping hang them from their bedroom ceiling...add some twinkly lights around the room if you like and surprise them as they awaken to a winter wonderland for a gift! You can hang a MERRY CHRISTMAS, LOVE, MOM AND DAD sign too and place a candy cane or other treat
by each pillow!!!!!!!
Your spouse will really enjoy the love that goes into these homemade christmas-gift-ideas! Gather the kids and use different colored paints to place each hand-print (Mommy's too!) on a portrait for your husband with a caption that reads: WE LOVE YOU and APPRECIATE ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK! (We added GOD BLESS YOU as well) ...if you an spend a little money, you can add a frame. Don't forget to label each handprint with a name. My husband treasures his portrait...he actually has two...for we added a few more when more babies came and the second portrait says "US TOO DADDY!" You can see ours by clicking the link below! Scroll down until you see the HANDPRINTS OF LOVE FOR DAD post. You'll find other Christmas-gift-ideas on that page as well. BEFORE you click that link, we'd sure appreciate it if you
used the form below to add some thoughts to this page today!
More great Christmas-gift-ideas for DAD can be enjoyed by sending the kiddos outdoors to collect some nice-sized ROCKS! Clean off the dirt and debris as best you can and bring the rocks inside to your craft table. Invite your children to beautify these soon-to-be "desk sculptures" by painting them in their most creative designs and patterns. Allow paint to dry. Then, allow each child to cut out a small photo of him/herself and glue it to the painted rock! TA-DA! Now Dad can see the smiling faces of his kids AND hold his papers down on his desk! (My husband's desk was getting rather full, so we took all
of our rocks and placed them in a window sill for his enjoyment!)
Care to share YOUR low-cost or NO-cost gift ideas with us?
We can use YOUR HELP to assist our visitors in Check out the ideas from other visitors!Click below to see the great ideas that other Homeschool Faith and Family Visitors have shared!
Reasons Why We Love You
A Special Tradition
Memories Box
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