Be Creative With Your Gift Giving!

The holidays can become expensive, so you need to be creative in order to keep a fat wallet. Before you spend every last penny at the mall, try your hand at making some gifts at home. For friends or your entire family, these ideas are sure to please everybody.

Get Cooking
If you’re good in the kitchen, there are many gifts you can make. Perhaps there’s a family recipe that’s to-die-for, or a delicious cookie that is sure to produce a smile. Individual gifts can get complicated, but the best thing about baking is the fact that you can make big batches large enough for all of your friends. Try chocolate spoons. Buy a pack of plastic spoons, they come in a variety of sizes, and some chocolate. Melt the chocolate in a saucepan, and then dip the spoons in the pan – voilà!

Be Charming
If crafts are your thing, then make some unique jewelry. Many dollar stores offer a variety of inexpensive beads to create necklaces, earrings, etc. You can even make beaded charms for your friends’ purses or cell phones. Attach a clip on the end of the string of beads, or leave some extra length of string so that they can easily attach the charm. This is sure to add some personality to their accessories. Design patterns and mix colours to create beautiful personalized gifts!

Aromatherapy
Almost every girl loves beauty products, so make some sweet smelling soap or candles. There are inexpensive kits available at most craft stores with easy-to-follow directions. Look for a kit with natural ingredients; this will ensure your recipients have no allergic reactions. To make them look good, you can purchase small containers at any dollar store or department store and personalize the items with glitter and stickers. This idea works great for stocking stuffers!

Get Crafty
For those family members out there, especially the grandparents, create a photo calendar or fill up a photo album with pictures from a recent trip with the family. Personalize your gift by taking a trip to a craft store or dollar store to pick up some stickers and add style to your photo calendar. You can even write a letter or poem to include with your project . Even a simple picture frame with added personality will be a great addition to any family member’s wall.