Day 13: Make Gifts

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Day 13: Make gifts

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.

  • skeenum

    Another great way to gift and save if you dont already do it is cloth napkins. I buy the discounted fabric at about $1-2 /yard and get 12-18 napkins out of it depending on size of the napkin and width of the cloth. I have about 2 dozen that my husband, myself and my 5 boys use.

  • jessc098

    Skeenum, what kind of fabric do you use for cloth napkins? I'd love to get some going on around here, but never seem to find the right kind of fabric. Is it a polished apple? I always see napkins as woven fabric, but kind of fluffy, and I guess I don't know my fabrics well enough to know what to buy.

    We used to have cloth napkins years ago but they were all white, and they ust weren't faring well with the kids, but switching to a print color might work.

  • skeenum

    The best Ive found so far is the cotton or a cotton poly blend.  I usually find it for a $1-2 a yard at walmart.  I cut out 12×12 squares or 18×18 squares .   I fold over the edge and sew it then place two squares sewn sides together and sew together.  This gives the napkins a nice finished look that resists fraying.   I'll see if I can upload som finished products.  I might buy some more cloth and make more napkins in the next month or so. 
     
    BTw LOVE THE blog.

  • skeenum

    The best Ive found so far is the cotton or a cotton poly blend.  I usually find it for a $1-2 a yard at walmart.  I cut out 12×12 squares or 18×18 squares .   I fold over the edge and sew it then place two squares sewn sides together and sew together.  This gives the napkins a nice finished look that resists fraying.   I'll see if I can upload som finished products.  I might buy some more cloth and make more napkins in the next month or so. 
     
    BTw LOVE THE blog.