Today I’m excited to show you ideas OTHERS have come up with!! I love all of these great gift ideas!! If you missed part one of this series you’ll find it here.
Donna posted here about making Simmering Jars. I bet these smell great! What a fun gift idea! I love that you can reuse the contents of this jar over and over!
Each jar contains approximately:
1/2 a lemon, cut in slices
1/2 a lime, cut in slices
1/2 an orange, cut in slices
1 t whole cloves
2 or 3 cinnamon sticks (you may need to break them for smaller jars)
1 or 2 sprigs of rosemary (or other of choice or home-grown! …or to keep it more frugal, sprinkle in some dry herbs)Then cover with water and if you like, make a label with instructions to simmer, add more water, and return to jar and refrigerate until next use! The amounts could vary based on jar size.
My friend Summer has a new blog and she’s got several really cool gift ideas!
Here’s an idea Summer shares for making scarves.
These velvet belts Summer is making are super cute.
And THESE SUEDE PILLOWS? Summer, no pressure or anything…but those would look great in my living room in say…earth tones. I think they are SO cool. You know where I live. Just drop one off anytime and put it under my tree. :) (Right now Summer is rolling her eyes at me and saying, “Make your OWN pillow, girl!”)
In case you’ve been curious, here are some of the simple gifts the boys and I have been making for cousins and grandparents. (If your name happens to be Aunt Kari or Grandma Coppinger…you are NOT allowed to click here to see these gifts!! Not even a peek.) :)
I’ll continue to share more ideas in this Inexpensive Gifts to Make and Give Series. Here’s what’s in the works right now…
Gifts of Food
Treats for Teachers, Coworkers and Classmates
Wrapping it All Up
If you have ideas to share in any of those categories (or others), please email or leave a comment!
Between all these ideas to share and all the cookie recipes and other Christmas ideas…I’m not sure there’s enough time before Christmas!! How many days before Christmas anyway?!
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More Frugal Fridays here.
Thanks for posting the jars! I loved the gifts that your boys made! They did a great job!
Love those suede pillows!
Snowflake cookies:
http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2008/04/snowflake-cookies.html
Bon Bon anyone?
http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2008/03/bon-bon-anyone.html
Easy candy:
http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2008/02/my-idea-of-homemade-candy.html
My kids fave, Potato Candy:
http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2008/02/potato-candy.html
Quick breads are great gifts. Plain bread too, with a jar of homemade honey butter or homemade jam.
Fruit leather for children,rolled and wrapped in colored wrap with a ribbon. (You can buy huge cans of applesauce for like $4 in some places, to make these with.)
Peppermint sticks or pretzel sticks, dipped in melted chocolate and rolled in sprinkles or Christmas colored sugar. I’ve also seen these made with plastic spoons covered with plastic wrap and a ribbon; attached to a coffee cup with and without a small sack of coffee.
Once, we took a cheap clock, took the back out and with the computer, printed the kids pic on a canvas (where the numbers would have been) and installed in back into the clock. (great for grandparents)
THose are great ideas! Isn’t making stuff MORE fun than buying????
We are doing ALL handmade this year whether I make it or buy it from ETSY from another artist!
AND my Hubby is even getting in on all the fun! His brother and him started making a new Banister for their parents home… theirs is 32 yrs old and is falling apart (thank goodness I am not made like that since I am also 32! Although at times I feel as if I am falling apart!)
How neat! I love these ideas especially the simmering jars. :D
HA! Those suede pillows are actually giving me some trouble! They aren’t hard to make they just take a little more time than I thought:) Thanks for posting links to my site, it has been so fun working on gifts.
There will be more handmade gift ideas to come!!! I’m working right now on some handmade baby items that I’m trying to get posted by Sat, so fun!!
I am having such fun making a felt board with felt paper dolls to go with it for my neice. I am using free Betsy McCall patterns available on the internet and printing them on printable fabric transfer paper. Print the dolls and clothes on the transfer paper and then iron the image onto white felt. They come out very crisp and they are very very cute. You could also create a farm scene, cars, or pretty much anything you think your little ones would like to play with. I am making travel sized felt boards out of felt sheets glued to quarter inch fun foam foam but you can make any size you like. It is all very cute and I am having fun being a kid again cutting out paper dolls. :)
I have a few posts up on this topic too:
Gifts for teenage boys
Gifts for teenage girls
Gifts for kids to make
Hi, this is Aunt Kari here. Oooo, I’m not peeking,just like you asked. Exercising restraint is hard… :-)
I love these ideas!
There is a surprise for you at my blog!
These are great ideas.
Last year we made some super easy soap balls:
Old Fashioned Soap Balls
and a fun <a href=”http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/AussieinAmerica/221026/”New Sew Fleece Blanket
hi from Italy!!!These jars look very interesting….but I’havent understood their use, can you help me?? sorry for my english…