Times are tight in the Muddy Household this year. Plus I am feeling somewhat Grinchy (again), so I have decided to take matters into my own hands. I have very little money to spend on people, but I wanted to use my money wisely, so I went shopping downtown at all the single business owner boutiques and shoppes (no, I did not misspell that!)
Sadly, I could afford very little that these shoppes had to offer. I bought some handmade soap and organic lip scrub as stocking stuffers for the women in the family. I found a lovely hand dyed scarf for my mother in law and that was about it. So I am taking matters into my own hands.
My dad is a getting a dvd of E singing Christmas carols and some homemade meringues.
My mom is getting a sweatshirt designed and painted by E and a handmade sachet made with lavender from my yard.
My fellow employees are getting homemade cranberry cherry chutney and the shut-ins are getting dried fruit truffles that I make and are really good and not so heavy in sugar and fat.
And Hubby...well, Hubby is just getting me and that will have to do.
If you have any other suggestions for handmade gifts, I am ready to hear it. I have tons of rosemary growing in my yard (for wreaths and oils) and I can hand sew and cook. After that, I've got NUTTIN'! Just remember, I was a Montessori teacher for years and know all about the cookie mix jars and beaded ornaments and such.
Being poor sucks...but to be honest, I just don't want to spend my money in the big box stores and buy junk no one appreciates. But I also know that most people don't appreciate handmade gifts anymore either. So help me out if you can.
Bah Humbug!
10 comments:
Being poor does suck. I do most of my shopping on Etsy. I just type in the interest area of the person I am shopping for and hundreds of handmade items pop up, normally in a range of prices. For example, my brother likes Star Trek. Last year he got a handmade tie tack and a handmade cover for his Ipad. Take that, big box!
For this past Mother's Day, I mopped my mom's whole house. I would love it if someone offered to wash my truck and change the oil. Maybe you could make 'coupons' offering some task like cooking or cleaning.
I get a couple of of boxes of the small canning jars and make some dill dip mix; dried dill, parsley, minced onion and garlic. Slap a home printed label with the ingredients and the recipe for diil dip and ranch dressing. My BFF does the same thing with blackening spice and a couple of recipe cards. This year I did mulling spices; cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise and dried orange peel. Add some red raffia ribbon for a nice touch. We got invited to a football game watching party tonight and I brought these for the hostess. Lot's of oohs and ahs from other guests and questions on where to get everything. I get the bulk spices from a local gourmet grocer and it's really cheap. My BFF gets her stuff from World Market.
We are just giving the kids gifts this year and spending money on food and drink to get together. I love to give books because, well, BOOKS! I, personally, would prefer to get spices from a garden than any plastic crap anywhere else. I have a friend that only gives homemade foodstuffs and I love that, too. Anything wrapped beautifully with a very meaningful hand made card is instantly more beautiful. I also shop all year and buy little quirky gifts and stash them away so when the holiday comes I shop in my own closets first. It makes this time of the year less stressful for me and it helps with keeping my money situation in check.
/ dw
I bought a flip-flop pot holder at a church festival in Myrtle Beach and I wish I had bought two of them. The gal made a nice-sized pot holder and then created a flip flop strap that you slip your hand in which allows you to wrap your potholder-covered hand around a hot handle or cookie sheet. Genius and cute.
If you'd like I'll message you with a photo.
On Facebook type in Craft magazine, its full of ideas.
Craftzine dot com
homemade spice rubs are great gifts! or you could learn knitting or crochet and that would open up another whole realm of possibilities. I recommend crochet just because it's faster to make gifts :)
i love doing handmade gifts, but i often feel that the effort isn't appreciated either :(
One of my friends just made sugar body scrubs for all the ladies on her gift list. Pretty cheap and very easy, most expensive part is the containers for them.
My parents are each getting a hand-knit scarf from me.
There are several ways to make pretty holiday ornaments for not much money. Buy some plain glass balls and personalize them with glitter, for instance. Could be a stocking stuffer at least.
One of the craft stores had a free pattern for a tied fleece blanket. If you can find a shop with fleece on sale this is quick and easy and pretty cheap.
Rosemary ideas
*Rosemary salt scrub
*Sachets (use clearance fabric or scraps)
*Small hand-tied wreathes or swags for the kitchen
*Bread
I've got a huge rosemary bush in the yard, I like Anonymous' suggestion for a rosemary salt scrub. The pint sized mason jars would work nicely for this. A dozen cost $8.50 at my local grocer.
I think people, especially now days do appreciate something homemade. I know I do.
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