Share your ideas for Holiday Gifts!

[homesteadmomma]

Tagging for later!

 

[kimnkell]

Most of our family isn't even polite about it. If we gave soap, eggs, and jams, they would throw them out. That's what happened to the last soap I gave as gifts.
Each year we have a 'gift exchange' where we draw names and we must purchase $75 worth of gifts for that person. The price was determined by my ritzy 'high class' sister in England. So for a family member, when she was opening the gift from me, I joked that it was $75 of handmade soap. Needless to say she did not laugh.

That is exactly how my family reacts to the home made gifts I gave one year. I had cross stitched a set of pillow cases with Angles..and the words..."Angels on your pillows, and always in your dreams." Put them in a beautiful gold lattice basket with a soothing scented candle, and a ceramic angle. I gave each of my sisters one set..my oldest sister opened her and said..." Oh, pillow cases" My other sister said.." since both of our gifts are the same shape, I guess I can assume they are the same thing, I will open mine later" I was crushed. I worked hard on that cross stitch. I thought they turned out beautiful. The cross stitch on the reverse side matched the front. Not easy to do! So, now, they get gift cards, or booze. 2 things they both like more than anything. SNOBS!!! I dread the family holiday get together. They always want to have it here....and guess who gets to feed them all?? "because we butcher a hog, and raise a garden, we have it all" Their words, NOT mine!! Maybe this year we will be "sick" People don't like to come visit when you have diarrhea

Wow, that's a terrible thing to do to someone who has worked so hard to make something and then to have them not even open their gift! I have learned my lesson too over the years with my own family. I made my Mom some jelly. It was elderberry and kudzu jelly. Both she had never tasted before and all she did was set on the bar and I was just over at her house last week and they were in the top of her cabinet never opened... My MIL we gave her some canned items as well and made her pumpkin roll and she says she doesn't like sweets or canned food.... then I went and made her a very nice scrapbook album and she won't even put pictures in it... I have quit giving handmade gifts to my family. There are very few select that get anything handmade that takes alot of my time because they just don't appreciate it. I have a couple of my family members and some of my neighbors really appreciate what you do for them and that's it. I don't waste my time...it's too precious to throw away on someone that could care less.. Now, if they get anything it'll be a popcorn tin or something really cheap and easy for them...

 

[Wifezilla]

Raggedy Ann dolls for my kids and a few neices. All from scraps, including clothes for dolls.

I recently discovered these...
http://www.ehow.com/how_4916788_dotee-doll.html
http://sympletymes.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-make-dottie-doll.html

Talk about a cute way to use up scraps. They could be made in to ornaments as well.

 

[kimnkell]

Those little dolls are too cute! Would make great little gifts. Christmas is getting close and I am trying to think of some good things to give as gifts for my teenage kids that can possibly be homemade. My Daughter is 18 and my son is almost 13... I also have a stepson that is 25 and have no idea what I could make for him. Any suggestions?

 

[lorihadams]

My MIL does a grab bag each year....wraps everything in it and sometimes hides money in a few and we each get to pick one item out a time and if we don't like it we can take someone elses gift. We go round and round until they are gone. It takes forever but it is a lot of fun. She's sneaky about hiding the money too....each year she always hides several 1, 5 and last year she even hid a 10.

She will slice open the plastic coverings and slide it inside so that you have to open it up to find the money. One yr she wrapped up a can of pringles and hid money under the plastic lid!

She will even wrap up cereal boxes, but mostly just useable stuff from the dollar tree type stuff. I think she spent $50-100 on it each yr for the 9 of us.

Now for her, I give her about 5-6 bags of epsom salts mixed with different soap scents and soap coloring and we also buy her a bag or two of "good" coffee.

We really don't care about getting gifts for the adults. For my parents and grandparents we got digital picture frames one yr on Black Friday and every year we take all the pictures of the kids from the entire year and put them together on a new memory card. They get a yrs worth of pics and it just costs us the memory cards.

I always ask for money. I would rather give the kids money and put it in savings and take out $20 and let them go to the store and pick out what they want. That way they get to learn about spending and making mindfull decisions and I get to supervise what they get.

One yr I put together one of those picture frames with like 20 holes in them for the grandparents and that went over well too.

We don't do gifts for extended family at all.

 

[Emerald]

After having to try and explain to my grand daughter that her diapers just don't fit her baby doll I am gonna try to make a few fleece "diapers" for her baby doll and a small bag to put them in and I have extra empty boxes of the wipes and so maybe will make some "wipes" and little blankets and clothes for her favorite baby! Should keep her busy for hours, or me busy for hours as she likes to take the clothes off and have me put them back on baby!

 

[homesteadmomma]

I haven't really started thinking about Christmas yet BUT definitely need to for sure. I think I will make pinecone fire starters for the family members that have wood stoves. They are easy, cheap and everybody loves them.

 

[LetsBeSelfSufficient]

Emerald, I love your idea! So cute!

This year, I'm going to be giving away homemade beer, handbound journals, soap and jam.

I'm also going to try my hand at making whipped shea butter and honey to fend off dry skin during those long winter months!

 

[me&thegals]

Well, I know that my cousin posted on my facebook about her favorite shampoo was a beer shampoo but it was discontinued. So if I can figure that one out, I can make her some beer shampoo for x-mas. Facebook certainly makes gift-giving so much easier, lol.

TheDish forum is a great soapmaking forum, and beer soap has been talked about quite a bit there. Good luck!

 

[mandieg4]

Today I'm making these banks for my youngest son and my 3 youngest nephews.

I made these checker boards for my oldest two sons and my oldest two nephews about a week ago.

I'm making this doll for my daughter and two of my nieces.

Grandparents are all getting peach jam and pear butter that I canned. My mom is getting a clock I made from one of her favorite kids books. My dad is getting a bag of pecans from our trees. I am getting my FIL some new gate latches. (Mainly for my benefit, I'm tired of having to untie rope to go through the gates ) I don't have a clue what I'm giving my MIL. She's so hard to please, she may not get anything.