by Tara Kolton
Each year the holiday season creeps up on us without warning, and we're left scrambling to find gifts for friends and family. You want to select a gift that will show your appreciation and understanding of the person you are giving it to. Unfortunately, it's all too easy to lose sight of the meaning behind the gift-giving, as we get lost in the mad dash towards the check-out line. It''s possible to select just the right present to show your consideration whether you are on a tight budget, looking for a gift that's out of the ordinary, or just an extra little something to stuff stockings with. With a little thought and imagination you can get everyone on your list a gift, which will be enjoyed long after the holiday season has passed.
Read on for some holiday gift alternatives:
Holiday Shopping on a Budget: Do-It-Yourself Gift-Giving
When the holiday season comes around we''re all looking to save money, especially when there's a large family or circle of friends to give presents to. Homemade gift-giving is a great way to save money, while at the same time giving a heart-felt, one-of-a-kind gift. This doesn''t necessarily mean making presents completely from scratch, but combining a little time and creativity with available materials to create inexpensive gifts that are perfect for just about anyone.
You should take note that not all "handmade" gifts are as cheap and easy to make as they might initially seem. Certainly any gift you make yourself will take planning, work, and time to make. In some cases it may end up costing just as much money as going out and purchasing a gift from a store. If you are sure to plan ahead, all the ideas below can be accomplished inexpensively and in fairly short amounts of time.
Home-baked goods:
- The holiday season is an ideal time for indulging in sweets. It is a great time for baking cookies, cakes, and breads. Giving a platter of your own home-baked goods can be a welcome holiday gift. To do this you will want to plan ahead how much you are going to bake for how many people, and when you will be giving your baked goods away. You want your cookies and goodies to be fresh when the time comes, so plan to bake at the most a few days ahead of time. If you are planning on giving many people cookie platters, you can make batches in bulk to save time.- If you are making cookies, you'll want to make a few different flavors for variation. Add some brownies to the mix. Look online or in a cookbook for some original cookie and brownie recipes. Dress up brownies with frosting and sprinkles. Unique goodies will really give your homemade gift a gourmet feel.
- The trick to making this idea special is in the presentation. You can buy inexpensive yet attractive, reusable tins, plates and platters from local discount stores. Wrap each brownie up individually and separate cookies into bags by flavor. You can label the flavor of each goody with a tag, for a professional finish. Sprinkle some holiday-wrapped chocolates into the mixture.
- Get some color-tinted plastic to wrap around the whole creation, and seal it up with a nice display of ribbon.
- Tip: if you are really in a rush or don''t have the baking skills, you can always purchase ready-to-bake cookie dough and brownie mix from the supermarket.
- A mug filled with candy has become a common holiday gift idea, and is a nice idea for acquaintances. They are easy to throw together, and several can be made at once. Here are some ideas to add something extra to an old idea: Find inexpensive, over-sized, soup mugs at a discount store. Fill them up not only with wrapped holiday chocolates and candies, but also packets of flavored tea, coffee and hot chocolate for a nice surprise. Wrap the whole thing up in plastic with a ribbon for a lovely presentation.
- You can spice up cheap, plain items like journals and sketch-books yourself. Buy them on sale from an art supply or discount store, and decorate the covers yourself to make them personalized and special. Dress up the cover by gluing on tissue paper, ribbons, buttons, rhinestones, glitter, felt, dried flowers, etc. Finish it off by writing a thoughtful note inside the cover.
- Photos are always appreciated by family members, particularly relatives you only get to see around the holidays. You can find nice photo frames for fairly low prices and enlarge photos to fit the frame. You can also get doubles of some of your favorite family photos from the past year and put them together in a mini-photo album. You can make scrapbooks with photos, and adding personal touches with notes and memories. This will take more time and thought, but given to a parent, grandparent, or good friend, will be something treasured forever.
- If you have young children, you can even get them into the spirit of gift-giving early while nourishing their creativity. Have your kids frame their own sketches and paintings, or buy cheap Christmas ornament globes and have your kids paint them. Your relatives will adore these gifts.
- You can hand out your own "IOU" coupon books or cards to people, offering such services as: cooking a loved one dinner, dessert, and coffee; washing their car; cleaning a room; mowing the lawn; baby-sitting; snow shoveling; etc.
- Make personalized mix tapes and CDs for friends and family. This can be a creative, fun gift that also allows you to share a bit of yourself.
Untraditional Gifts For The Person Who Has Everything:
Sometimes we run out of ideas for gifts, or just want to find something special and out of the ordinary for someone who seems to already have everything they need. Around the holidays we get so wrapped up in shopping and spending money that it becomes a stress and we lose the spirit of the holiday itself. When you''re selecting a gift you want to think of what a person already has; do they really need this gift? Here are some ideas that capture the generosity and reflection of the season, and will be remembered and enjoyed by the recipient for a long time to come:
Charitable gift-giving:- When you step back and look at the big picture during the holiday season, gift-giving can seem to be meaningless. How can we buy yet another toy and feast in excess when there are people in the world who do not even a bed to sleep in, let alone enough food to get by on each day? You can honor a loved one, and make your gift really count, by donating money to a cause in their name.
- Search online for humanitarian and environmental organizations that you know a certain person supports, or a cause they are interested in. Most organizations have certain gifts available that you can donate in another person's name. For example: give a family in a third-world country a bed, donate clothes to homeless children, support a child's education, plant a tree in someone's name, etc. These gifts can range as low as $15 to even hundreds or thousands of dollars. Your friend will receive a note of recognition, and very often, updates on the status of the cause they have helped to support.
- You can also purchase someone a membership to an organization. This is frequently available for environmental organizations such as WWF and Sierra Club. Membership often comes with additional gifts and monthly newsletters or magazines.
- Magazine subscriptions are ideal for family members, and show your thoughtfulness. Think about what your loved one is interested in and chances are there will be a magazine perfect for them, whether it be film, music, fashion, art, gardening, home improvement, children's interests, science, photography, nature, entertainment, etc. This is a gift that can be enjoyed all year long.
- Memberships to museums and zoos are perfects gifts for families. They will also encourage them to spend time together. You might also want to consider a membership to a local gym for the fitness enthusiast. Encouraging activity and intellectual stimulation is a great way to show you care.
- Finally, you want to show family members and friends that you want to spend time with them. This can much more rewarding gift than a material item. Instead of a gift certificate for them to go out and buy something, make your own gift certificate to arrange a "date" to spend time with a loved one. Offer to take someone out to dinner, for dessert and coffee, or out to the movies. This will give you a great chance to catch up with someone and show them how much you enjoy spending time with them.
Stocking Stuffers: Filling in the Blanks
Filling stockings can be the perfect way to finish off the touches on Christmas morning. Stockings aren't just for the young. They are a great addition for all ages and can be an ideal way to give a few extra things to someone. You want to get stocking stuffers that a person can actually use, and not just filler. Naturally, there are a great many ideas to choose from. Give thought to the person, what they like and can really use, to put together an extra handy and thoughtful stocking gift. If you've run out of ideas for friends and family who don't live with you, you can buy a cheap stocking and stuff it for them to take with them. Try to focus on things they can use for the winter and rest of the year:
- Gloves: Get a quality pair of gloves that are insulated and flexible. There are many designs to capture the personality of the wearer.
- Socks: An obvious gift, you can make them special by getting soft, fuzzy socks or slipper socks that the person will want to wear all through the winter.
- Ice-Scrapers and Snow-Brushes for cars: everyone can use an extra one if they don''t already have some.
- Lotion: therapeutic lotion for the body, especially useful during the winter.
- Lip balm / Chapstick
- Unique sets of flavored tea bags, coffee mix and hot chocolate
- Candy: What stocking would be complete without some chocolate bells and candy canes?
Some items are always useful, especially around the holiday time. Stuff stockings with extra:
- Rolls of film
- Batteries for all the electronic gadgets people have received
- Head phones
- Stamps and stationary
- Mini photo albums
- Small candles and candle holders
- Change purses and wallets
- Toothbrushes
- Travel-size toiletries like shower wash, shampoos and conditioners
- Calendar / Address and Date Books
- Prepaid Phone Cards
- Scratch-off Lottery Tickets
Consider a loved one's needs and interests for some handy and appreciated extras you can throw into the mix:- Art supplies and drawing pads
- Journals and small notebooks
- Portable alarm clock for travel
- Calculator
- Small Flashlights: Book and Travel lights
- Wine opener
- Screwdriver sets and handy tools
- Travel size sewing kit
- Eye glass repair kit
- First Aid Kit
- Paperback books and How-to guides for special interests: for example, for Lawn and Garden Guides
- Inexpensive jewelry, necklaces, and hair accessories
- Compass
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