This may be a little early to plan for next Christmas, but I wanted to share all of the homemade presents I made this year. We are on a very tight budget. My husband is a teacher, I work part-time and we homeschool. It's a choice we made, but I knew I had to be very thrifty this year. I was perfectly fine with not having to fight the crowds, walk in the slush, freeze my butt off or keep track of gift receipts. I've done homemade presents in the past, just not on this scale. I literally made 95% of the gifts I gave, or bought items to create a kit (except one gift from Santa per child, a couple new shirts for my man, the Shutterfly calendars I make every year, and some bowls for my sister who is a grad student with bare cabinets).
Some of the presents I found on Pinterest and others I just made up. And, let me just say, my daughter's favorite gift was the art kit I put together for her. They loved everything though! Here's what everyone received:
To: Grandpa
My dad received a canvas painting that the oldest grandkids collaborated on. Once that was dry I used Modge Podge to adhere the grandkids pictures inside "PAPA," which was just cut out from colored card stock.
To: My Man
This was my attempt at art. Paint, Modge Podge with fake sheet music and goldfish I printed off the internet, and a lyric from his favorite band. Depressing? Romantic? I haven't decided.
To: My kids
All my kids received shield pillows. I found the tutorial on Pinterest and they were incredibly easy for a first-timer. Luckily I had the fabric on the front of the shield from a project I never completed. I hit up Jo-Anne's for the fleece back and lettering on the front. Here's the tutorial from
busily spinning momma, mine is a little more simplified. And if you're looking for one for easy pajama pants, use these:
simplesimonandco.com
The cape I just used left-over fleece and drew one half my best cape with a circle to cut out for the head. Once it looked good I traced it onto the fabric and the then flipped it to trace the other side. Sorry I don't have a tutorial. I saw it somewhere once and catalogued it into my super-mostly-forgetful-brain-that-somehow-remembered-this.
They also received matching pajama pants (which they received on Christmas Eve), a cape made from left-over fleece (no-sewing required), and a foam sword I found a Michael's for about $4.
To: My Dear Daughter
My daughter is obsessed with art, so I put together a custom art box for her. I chose paints, scrapbook paper, stickers, a couple of cheap stamps, ink pads from the dollar store, foam letters, glue, crazy scissors, and decorative tape. I purchased the cardboard box from Michael's for $5 and decorated it with colored Sharpie markers. Sorry for showing my feet but I failed to edit before uploading…enjoy!
To: My sister
My sister received an infinity scarf that was finger-knitted. I also gave these to my mom and nieces. They take about 30 minutes and you can find many tutorials on YouTube. The earrings were super easy to make! I've been holding onto four strands of various beads for a couple years now. I purchased them at a flea market for a great cost and I will probably be able to make 100 pairs of earrings. The hoop and ear piece were purchased at Michael's for under $6 (it can make 60 pairs of earrings).
To: My siblings
I made a set of coasters for my sister and brother. My sister's had chemical elements on them to spell out "DRINKS." Here's where I found the link for that:
myfunstudio.com
My brother also received a set with pictures of his new baby on them. I simply made black and white copies on my printer and cut them to size. Once the photos were the size I needed I used Modge Podge to adhere them. After that was dry I sprayed them with a sealer two times. So far, my brother said they work great and doesn't have any water rings on them. YAY! (FYI: the marble tiles were purchased at Lowe's in a 9-pack for under $4)
To: My kids
The older children received a "Spy Kit." All the items for the came from the dollar store and after I did the math I think they came out to $8 per kit. I purchased small blue tote bags and used a thick Sharpie to write "TOP SECRET: SPY KIT" on the front and a couple doodles of a magnifying glass and question marks. Inside the bag they found black ski hats, pens, small "spy journal," mustaches and wacky glasses for disguise, I made envelopes that read "Evidence" on the the front, Q-tips & cotton balls in a zip lock bag that read "evidence gathering tools," and the dollar store had these awesome detective sets (see at the top of my picture). One was a finger printing kit, one that let the kids put together a face for the criminal and the last had decoding markers. Pretty cool! One of the gifts my kids received from Santa was walkie talkies so those went along great with these kits.
To: Moms, Grandma, Sister & Aunt
These were a very last-minute gift that I whipped up. I purchased one yard of ivory fabric and one of the red/ivory. I cut them into various sizes and used all of my fabric to make a total of six hand towels. Before I sewed them together I used a fine tip Sharpie and drew little Christmas inspired doodles on them. Under each drawing I wrote a little phrase. (i.e. "Be Merry," "Shine," "Let It Snow," "Give Love," "Celebrate") Then I sewed them together and wrapped with twine.
To: My Rainbow Guy
Again, another last-minute gift. My son is OBSESSED with rainbows and told me on Christmas Eve he wanted Santa to bring him "Rainbow People." I knew I bought these wooden pegs for something! Pulled out my beautiful Sharpies and got busy. He loved them, but even though they went in his stocking he somehow knows I made them.
I also made a fishing set for my son, but for the life of me I cannot get it to upload. Also, something that wasn't a big hit was the "Fort Kit" I made for my oldest son. Ya win some, ya lose some! This was tons of fun and really didn't consume a lot of my time. I probably got everything done sometime after Thanksgiving until Christmas. I procrastinate like it's my business.
