One can save money on Christmas gift giving this season by exploring ideas for inexpensive Christmas gifts and by learning how to make homemade and personalized Christmas gifts. Some inexpensive, personalized, homemade gift ideas and instructions are explained in this article.
Making Personalized Christmas Calendars
A creative, personal, and inexpensive Christmas gift idea is a homemade Christmas photo calendar. A photo calendar can be made using Microsoft Publisher, digital family or friend photos, matte-finish photo paper, and a magnetic clip or spiral binding to fasten the calendar pages together.
Making Scrapbooks, Photo Albums and Picture Boxes
The gift of memories is a most personal and enjoyable gift. One can create a photo album or scrap book using photographs of the gift recipients and their family and friends. Photo album and scrapbook material can be acquired at craft stores, such as Michaels Arts and Crafts Store, or at discount retail outlets, such as WalMart or Target.
Photos can be put into picture boxes as a gift alternative as well. Decorative cardboard boxes can be purchased online or in most craft stores and retail outlets. Detailed instructions for making a homemade decorative picture box can be found at the website, Learn Crafts Online: Your Online Craft Connection.
A CD upon which digital images of the gift recipient have been saved is another inexpensive gift idea with a personal touch. To make it more personal, one can make a personalized gift bag for the photo CD using a lunch bag.
The CD is placed in the lunch bag with the bottom of the bag unfolded. From the top part of the bag, 1 ½ inches is trimmed and the remaining top part of the paper bag folded into the bottom fold at the back of the bag. Christmas stickers, rubber stamps, markers, crystals, sequins, snowflakes, or other art supplies can be used to decorate the gift bag or create a design using the recipient’s name
Making the Gift of Music
The gift of music can be an inexpensive gift idea. Using a CD Burner, one can burn song selections especially suited to the recipient’s musical preferences. The CD can be presented in a decorative homemade CD gift bag using the same instructions for making the photo CD gift bag mentioned in the previous section of this article.
Making Gift Coupons and Personalized Gift Certificates
One can give homemade gift certificates that can be redeemed for personal services or favors, such as a massage, a promise for a night out on the town, a car wash or detailing, or any kind of favor or service that would be appreciated as a gift. Individual gift certificates can be made and printed out using Microsoft Publisher. In addition, instructions for making gift coupon booklets can be found at Kodak:Gift Coupon Book.
Making Christmas Gift Novelties and Ornaments
Most golfers find oodles of golf balls on the golf course and clean them up and keep them. One can give the golfer on his gift list an inexpensive gift by cleaning and presenting a dozen recycled golf balls in a painted and decorated egg carton.
A plethora of ideas for making gift novelty items, such as homemade gift bags for giving a bottle of wine, instructions for decorating and personalizing a couple of wine glasses with sequins, tips for making centerpieces, Christmas ornaments, and other novelty Christmas gift ideas that show love and a personal touch can be accessed online.
To find the directions for making such Christmas gift novelties, one can access such craft sites as Tall Mouse Christmas Projects, Kids Crafts: A Jar of Nothing, Craftbits.com, BillyBear4Kids.com, ScrapbookScrapbook.com, and the craft link from Crayola.com.
Remembering an Important Point
Since everyone is strained in these difficult economic times, there is no shame in giving a homemade, inexpensive gift. Taking the time to make something personal is one way of demonstrating love and a valued relationship. Kahlil Gibran summed it up eloquently in The Prophet with his wise words, “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”