Cutting costs with handmade gifts

Gifts for Nik's three preschool teachers.

This year we celebrated our first single-income Christmas.  We didn't want to cut back on gift-giving, but we needed to cut back on spending, and so inexpensive handmade gifts presented a good solution.  We didn't make everything we gave this year, but making some of what we gave helped us save money, and lower our overall gift budget.



These ornaments are made from one sheet of light blue EcoFelt, which I picked up inexpensively at a local craft supply store.  The embroidered snowflakes were done in white embroidery floss, and I managed to do all the stitching with just one skein of floss, that I already had on hand.  I didn't use a pattern, but the inspiration for the ornaments came from a book that I borrowed from the library; 'Fa la la la Felt' by Amanda Carestio .  Stuffed with a bit of wool, and finished off with a little bit of ribbon that I already had, making these ornaments only cost me about 18 cents in new materials.



This infinity scarf was completely free.  I got a bag full of yarn (25% wool/75% polyester) from a friend, whose mom was looking to find the yarn a new home.  Because I am a novice knitter, this scarf's very basic pattern of rows of 45 stitches, (Knit 3, Purl 3, repeat to end) was a perfect project.  Hours of knitting in front of the TV I was watching in the evenings anyways, and this gift was complete for $0 of new materials.  Win.



I picked up five holiday-themed cookie tins at a local thrift store for 49 cents a piece.  After I had washed them thoroughly, they were filled with tissue paper from my gift wrapping supplies, and cookies from a cookie exchange I participated in, in early December.  Because I managed to keep the cost for the cookie exchange cookies within my monthly grocery budget, the money for the cookies didn't need to come out of the gift budget, giving me five more gifts (for teachers and our next door neighbours) for essentially $2.50 plus tax.

These cinnamon-scented ornaments are the most expensive of the gifts featured here.  For the cost of half a jar of applesauce, a container of cinnamon picked up for a bargain (less than $3) at Costco, and half a bottle of white glue that we already had, I was able to make a cinnamon dough with some direction from Martha Stewart and the website, Homemade Gifts Made Easy.  Using cookie cutters that I already had, I made gift tags for several gifts, and a set of ornaments for my mom, as well as one commemorating my brother's recent engagement.

Jump rings for the ornaments are made from gold wire that I had leftover from another project.  The most expensive part of this project was purchasing the paint pen that I needed for the writing.  At $3.99 for a pack of 2, they made this project exceed the $5 mark, but still under $10, and the pens will now be around for other future projects, too.