We're getting close to the holidays. Can you feel it? Do you have your decorations up already? Yeah, me neither. Still, I'm trying to be happy and cheerful despite the challenges of this past year.
As I said in my earlier post, Caleb and I have committed to a (mostly) debt-free Christmas. To do this means I have to get creative with my gifts. I will be making some of my gifts as well as giving experiential gifts. For instance, I gave my grandmother a certificate for a meal out with me for her birthday. I ended up taking out both of my grandparents, who no longer drive and miss eating out which they used to do a lot. We went to Applebee's, which was pretty inexpensive, and we had a blast. I don't see my grandparents as much as I'd like, so this was a real treat for all of us. So, I will be giving both of grandparents a gift certificate for a meal out with me for Christmas. I am sure all 3 of us will be looking forward to the dinners. The added bonus of these gifts? I don't have to put out any money right now. We'll probably go once in January and once in February, which will be much easier to absorb into my regular budget.
Other great, inexpensive experiential gifts that you can give as gift certificates:
1. A homemade meal, delivered to your door step
2. A lesson on applying makeup ('ll probably be giving this to my young cousin)
3. A free night of babysitting
4. A night out- dinner and a movie
5. Yard work (raking leaves, mowing the lawn, shoveling snow, etc.)
6. A batch of brownies, cookies, salsa, or anything else you're good at making
7. A free lesson at something you're good at (baking, cooking, drawing, crocheting, etc.)
8. A mani/pedi
That leads me to the topic of homemade gifts. Sadly, most of my family does not appreciate homemade gifts. I once gave a basket with homemade pasta sauce, breadsticks, and dried pasta to my aunt for Christmas. I thought this was great since she doesn't like to cook very much. I went over to her house over a YEAR later and saw the basket in their kitchen. They hadn't even used the dried pasta. My mom is no better- I made her a beautiful, hand-knotted, grey pearl necklace. I've never seen her wear it.
Then again, there are a couple of gems. I made a fleece hat with ears and a matching scarf for my young cousin last year and she loved it. I usually give my in-laws homemade pasta sauce but I didn't last year. My mother-in-law looked at me and said, "Where is our spaghetti sauce and salsa?" I'll never again disregard how much some people appreciate homemade gifts!
Needless to say, homemade gifts are something I have to thing long and hard about. There are a ton of homemade food gifts out there but they just don't work for my family. Crafts and random bits are worthless as well. My dad doesn't want a tie made out of old fabric and my mother doesn't want spoons dipped in chocolate that she can use as coffee stirrers. While making gifts is an inexpensive way to gift, I still want the gifts to be thoughtful and enjoyed by the recipient. Here's what I've decided to make this year:
1. For all of the ladies in my family- a pack of 12 homemade cards that they can use later on. The cards will include 1 card for each of the following holidays: Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Christmas, wedding anniversary. There will also be 3 female birthday cards and 3 male birthday cards.
2. Homemade canned salsa for my father, uncle, and father-in-law. I'm known by all who know me for my salsa and these guys love it.
3. Homemade canned spaghetti sauce for my mother-in-law.
4. Root beer samplers for my father-in-law and Caleb (okay, this isn't exactly homemade).
5. Makeup brush holder like the ones at Sephora (filled with lip gloss and lotion) for my cousin
That's all I've got so far. I'd love to hear your favorite homemade gifts are and what you intend to give this year.
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