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Handcrafted, inexpensive Christmas gift ideas.


Posted: Dec 1, 2014

Hi everyone! I have been working on some inexpensive Christmas gift ideas and wanted to see what everyone else might have to share. Here are a few: 1. Keep or find clean, empty baby food jars. Using hot glue, attach a cute, tiny figurine to the lid. Then fill the empty jar partially with cheap oil, glutter, and water. Glue the lid to the jar. Turn it upside down and you have a snow globe! 2. Gather those really giant huge acorns, take them home and shine them. Cut out a cardboard wreath. Use poster paint to color the wreath green, red, silver, etc. Using hot glue, design the acorns upon the cardboard wreath. Can be used as a candle holder or add a wall hanger to the back for the door or the wall. 3. Cut out just the front of beautiful Christmas cards from years past. These can be cut out into tree ornament shapes, decorated with rhinestones, glitter, buttons, ribbon, etc., and hung upon the tree. Let's keep this going! ;

What awesome ideas! - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm not at all talented when it comes to crafts, but I might be able to handle no. 1 and no. 3.

I bet no. 3 would also work if we want to make our own Christmas cards out of card stock. Hmm....I can't wait to see!

Silverware roll - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
I will be using fabric scraps to make a silverware roll for DH. He takes his lunch often and is not a fan of plastic silverware. There will be a slot for fork, spoon, knife and chopsticks.

My daughter will be making holders for travel tissues. Cut 3 pieces slightly larger than a pack of tissue, fold 2 rectangles in half and sew edges and then attach to larger rectangle. Slip the pack of Kleenex inside and is something pretty in the purse for grandmas.

Mason jar idea - easy

[ In Reply To ..]
Use one of the smaller size Mason jars for this.

Take a small Christmas tree, about 3-4 inches tall and glue it centered on the inside of the jar. Sprinkle just a little bit of fake snow in the bottom of the jar to cover the tree stand. Screw the lid back on. Decorate the rim and top of the jar lid with bling, flowers, ribbon, lace trim and a tag for gift giving.

So simple but really cute. Makes a cute Christmas tree for a desk.

A twist on this is to use a spray adhesive and a white tree. Spray with a coating of the adhesive and sprinkle any color of extra fine glitter on the tree and then decorate the lid, etc., with coordinating colors. I made one with all pinks.

An easy, sew-it-yourself plastic bag dispenser: - Artsyfartsy - (sm)

[ In Reply To ..]
I still have this gift a friend gave me about 25 years ago! It's a tubular bag with a drawstring opening at the top, and an elastic opening at the bottom. It's made with pretty fabric that looks cute in the kitchen.

I hang mine in the kitchen, and when I'm done removing my groceries from all the plastic bags, I put them into the top of the bag dispenser, and when I need a bag,I just pull one out from the bottom. I reuse shopping bags in lots of different ways, like lining wastebaskets, or scooping cat litter, etc., and this is a great way to do it.

It's a cute hand-made gift that's inexpensive and easy to make. It could also be used as a mini laundry bag, or storage and retrieval of all sorts of small objects, or pieces of clothing.

My Ideas - see msg

[ In Reply To ..]
I am so NOT crafty, but some things I manage to pull off.

Make styrofoam or glass Christmas ball ornaments. Styrofoam is safer. Just wrap leftover ribbons around, put some decorative push pins to hold the ribbons on, use glitter glue. EVERYONE loves home-made ornaments, no matter how many ornaments they own.

For those who can draw: Get some inexpensive wine glasses, mugs, whatever you think they would like and draw some pretty whatevers you are good at; flowers, foliage, palm trees. Make sure you use the right paint and properly "set it" over heat---or they also have paint that doesn't need any special setting, but you have to be careful about how you wash them.

For those who can't draw: Ditto on above, but make a stencil out of something pretty you saw in a magazine or wherever, and paint in between. Or buy inexpensive stencils.

I like to buy "blank" Christmas stockings, then glitter glue designs or the person's name on them.

All the above can be found at your local dollar store!

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