Last Minute Ideas

I'm always so excited to see what my blog buddies have come up with next, when I log in, and rarely am I ever disappointed in new posts to read. With Christmas less than 2 weeks away, time is of the essence. Time to finish decorating, shopping, wrapping, and, of course, crafting.

Is there enough time left? Who knows. I have my first get together next weekend. I think I'm done. I finished last night, and have decided that despite the other ideas I have floating around in my head, that's it. Each of my 3 nieces, and 1 nephew have a gift. My mom has a gift. The rest of us don't exchange gifts individually. We each bring a wrapped ornament, and we blindly pick the package we want, then we can trade with someone who picked before us.

I digressed, didn't I? I do that a lot.

Here are some ideas I found on blogs, and around the net, for last minute items to make for Christmas. Enjoy!

Donut Snowman, the Paper Pony- Frosty never looked so good!

{photo credit: The Paper Pony blog}

Surprise Christmas Balls, Alpha Mom- A cute ball ornament filled with surprises along the way.

{photo credit: Alpha Mom website}

Snowflake Coasters, Mad In Crafts- A cute wintery set of dollar store coasters.

{photo credit: Jessica at Mad In Crafts blog}

Make A Frosty Kit, That's So Cuegly- Make a kit to have on hand for snowman building. Yes, you can buy them premade, but they are no where near as stinking cute!

{photo credit: That's So Cuegly blog}

Make a Cookie Kit Gift, Blue Cricket Designs- This makes for a great neighbor gift. To give this gift to someone at work, or school (without immediate access to a fridge), swap the dough for a cookie mix.

{photo credit: Blue Cricket Designs blog}





There you have it! Some great frugal gifts to give this year, or crafts to make, or items just to have on hand!

The Gift of Time

Last year, I was active on a website that is sort of a mix between a blog, a forum, and a social network, called Gather. Actually, I'm still active there. Last year, people were concerned about Christmas. Many people were laid off, or hours were cut, and a lot of people around the nation found themselves worrying about how to deal with the costs of the upcoming holidays.

This is a post I made last November on Gather, which I still feel is a great gift to give, The Gift of Time.

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This year, many people have lost their jobs. Many have had to take cut backs in income. Even those who haven't are feeling a pinch with the raising costs of living, and the failure to accommodate the income accordingly- though, it goes hand in hand with the economic crisis. In a few years, maybe we can all look back on these lean times, and smile that we got through it, and learned to be a bit more resourceful and frugal at the same time.

But that's the future, and this is the here and now. In the hear and now, many people are struggling on how they will survive Christmas as frugally as possible. More and more people are looking to cut back their list of gifts, by excluding people, participating in gift drawings instead of all out exchanges, and many other solutions.

The list of people signing up for help is outstripping the prior years by a lot. More and more people are in need of assistance, and because of the longer lists, and less people being able to donate, people won't get nearly as much help as in years past.

Being creative is something not everyone is familiar with. Working online is helpful- very helpful when you can earn even 1 or 2 gift cards from Gather or other places, but it still takes more than that.

One of the most frugal, but most appreciated ways to provide a holiday gift this year is by simply giving of yourself- give the gift of time.

Here are a few ideas on things you can give through the simple gift of your time-

• Parents: Offer to babysit for friends or family with young children. Two or three hours of babysitting can easily run parents $20-30 these days. That's daunting enough to make a simple trip to the theater not doable. Or even just to let them go to the grocery store together without the kids.
• The Elderly or Sick: Offer to help transport back and forth between doctor's appointments. Sometimes, they don't have transport themselves, or don't want to drive in bad weather, and those appointments can be very important.
• Anyone: Offer to spend an evening or afternoon cleaning their house up- maybe limit it by rooms or hours.
• Anyone: A get together with a friend or family member- a night of playing cards together, or watching a rented movie, or taking the kids to play, etc.
• Anyone: Offer to make dinner for someone
• College kids, or people living on their own: Offer to send them a small baked goods care package when they want it
• Dog Owners: Offer to walk their dog for a week, if they live nearby
• Pet Owners: Offer to pet sit for a week- going over and feeding, watering, and letting dogs out, or cleaning litter boxes, etc.
• Anyone: A shoulder to cry on- offer an over worked parent, or a stressed friend a quite night and a shoulder to cry on when they need one.
• Women: An at home 'spa'. Bring buckets for warm water to soak your feet in, nail polish, soft music (or upbeat if you like!), a cucumber, and some scented candles. Relax together, paint your nails together, and giggle and talk.
• Anyone: A car wash when it's nice out
• Anyone with a yard: A lawn mowing when it's nice out
• A Teen: A ride to the mall to meet up with their friends, or a ride to the movie theater.
• Your Child: A free day off from chores
• Your Child: An afternoon of 1 on 1 time

The possibilities are endless- there are so many wonderful things you can do just by providing your time. And to a lot of people, your time is worth far more than a gift card, or a trinket, or a new sweater. It's priceless to the over worked, or lonely, or sick.

Sure, there are people who won't appreciate it, but those are the people who are far too materialistic for their own good.

I hope in reposting this, it will give some of you out there an idea. I think time spent with someone is far better than money spent. The memories can last a life time.

Dollar Store Craft Day!

Inspired greatly by all the wonderful frugal craft sites I've found over the past 18 hours or so, I decided to take a quick trip to Dollar Tree for some supplies today. I had certain craft projects in mind when going in, and picked up a few other ideas after looking around.

In total, I spent $13 on supplies at Dollar Tree, and $1.97 on ribbon at Walmart. Here's what I got:

4 Decorative Towels
1 2-pack of Pot Holders
2 1-pack of Pot Holders
1 2-pack of Dish Cloths
1 pair of knee high socks
4 knit scarves

And here are my ideas.

Fancy Ruffled Scarf

What You'll Need:
2 lengths of fleece, or 2 premade scarves
Scissors
Thread
Sewing machine, or needle to sew by hand.

1. Cut the lengths of fabric or scarf into squares. The blog I found them at suggests 58-64 4" squares, but said that it came out very long. She used cut up old leggings, but found the pattern herself in a book suggesting using t-shirts. I wanted a practical scarf, so I bought 4 knit scarves premade.
2. Once the squares are cut, turn them sideways, and layer them on top of one another in a diamond, or argyle type pattern.
3. Sew straight down the middle. When it's done, the scarf should form natural ruffles along the sides. My hope is that with 4 scarves, I can make 2 decently sized fancy scarves. One to keep, and one to gift away.
   

Fingerless Gloves/Arm Warmers

What You'll Need:
1 pair of long socks
Scissors
Sewing Machine or Needle
Thread

1. Cut the sock right above the heel, and set the foot portion aside. I have no immediate crafts for them, but I'm sure something can be found!
2. Roll the cut edge inward, and sew a hem along it, to keep it from fraying.
   
3. Measure them on your arm, and cut a slit where the thumb will go.
4. While they are on, use safety pins to pin the fabric between each finger- you may need help doing this.
5. Remove the gloves, and use the sewing machine to tack the fabric together in between the fingers, where the safety pins are.
   
6. Embellish the gloves however you wish! On the blog I found them on, she used a little velvet ribbon and a single pearl bead. I'm not sure yet what I'll do. I may make rosettes out of the left over sock material.
   

I bought the items needed to make 2 more of my Dish Towel Angels. This time, I'm making more of a harvest colored theme, as at least 1 person I am going to give one to has a darker colored kitchen.


And lastly, I bought the material to make 2 of the Inexpensive Children's Aprons. This is the reason I bought a spool of white ribbon for $1.97. In total, it will cost me about $3 to make each apron, though that's dividing the cost of the ribbon between 2, and I know I'll have plenty of ribbon left over afterwards. I'm planning to give one apron to my niece, who is 2, and I think the other apron I'll gift away here, on my blog.


Not a bad little haul for $14.97 total! I'll be able to make 2 aprons, 2 angels, 2 scarves, and a pair of fingerless gloves!

Gifts in a Jar

Gifts in a Jar have been popular for enough years, that even the stores are cashing in on this by selling pre-made gifts in a jar now. Yes, really! By now, we all know what a gift in a jar is- a large jar with layers of different dry ingredients in it, and a recipe attached to the jar.

Tonight, as I sit here sleepless at almost 2am, I did a web search for frugal homemade gift ideas. Of course, Gifts in a Jar came up quickly.

Did you know, though, that there are gifts you can make in a jar that don't require the person to cook something? Here are some ideas.

Family Movie Night

What You'll Need:
Popcorn Kernels
Candy
Movie Store Gift Card
Jar

Keep the popcorn in it's own bag, or put it in a smaller baggie, and tie it off. Insert the gift card, then pour candy in around it, so the card is hidden. Wrap with black tissue paper, and add a 'recipe' card to it that reads like a real recipe.

Ingredients:
1 Air Popper or Oil & Pot for Stove Top Popping
1 Free Night
1 Trip to Video Store

Steps:
1- Go to the video store, and pick out a (or more, depending on the value of the card) movie, on us.
2- Pop the popcorn
3- Start the movie, and enjoy the candy, popcorn, and time together!

The cost of making this gift is dependent on how much you get the gift card for. I would recommend seeing what the cost of 2 brand new releases are, and making the card out for that much. If they pick older rentals, they might get 3 or 4 rentals instead of just 2.

Game Night in A Jar

What You'll Need:
A Deck of Cards
Poker Chips (or, raid Goodwill for old games, and put fake game money it it!)
Dice
Card Game Book- This wouldn't likely fit in the jar, but would be a nice addition to the gift.

Fill the jar with the items, and on the attached card, write out something like:

Have a Fun Family Game Night
Just Add The Family!

Sewing Kit, for someone you know who likes to sew

What You'll Need:
An assortment of thread
Thimbles
A packet of new needles
Ribbon
A pair of new scissors
Fabric- this is to cover the top- it should be a round swatch about 2" wider than the jar lid.

Simply fill the jar with the 'ingredients'. Cover the lid with the fabric, and tie off with a ribbon.

Gifts in a Jar are limited only by what will fit in the jar- if you have any other ideas, please let me know! I'd love to share them!