We’ve taken to making gifts lately. Not simply because it’s frugal but also because we can put some serious effort into what we’re giving our loved ones. Last Christmas we gave our loved ones holiday-themed spa baskets with “Candy cane” and “Christmas Tree” scented bath salts and a decadent home-made peppermint hot-chocolate lip balm.

Canned goods also make a wonderful gift (my aunt gave me two jars of an heirloom family relish a few Christmases ago—sentimental, yummy and useful all at once).

Consider what you have available to you—I scan my kids’ classroom art projects to make calendars for grandparents. I upload the pictures to a service like Shutterfly and can inset a photo of “the artist” and for twelve months a grandparent can treasure the images of the artwork without worrying about the damaging side effects of stray glitter, pasta or the goldfish crackers involved in creating the art. These are especially handy for out-of-town relatives, as the calendars mail easily.

This post is part of a series I’ve entitled “Frugal August” and is inspired by (though not copied from) the book The Complete Tightwad Gazetteby Amy Dacyczyn. My tips are meant to build on hers, but generally are not duplications.