Best Christmas Gift Ideas from Dollar Stores

What - shop for Christmas gifts at a dollar store? "Won't that make me look cheap?" you might ask. Not at all - if you know how to choose the right items at a dollar store. No one need know where you actually bought the gift. It'll be our little secret.

Many Christmas gifts you purchase at a dollar store could cost 5 times as much at a major retail store. In these tough economic times, dollar store Christmas shopping may be the answer to your budget Christmas shopping needs, whether you are shopping for a man, woman, child, or a co-worker.

Candles and Decorative Accents

Candles for the home bought at a dollar store look just like more expensive candles. Get a little creative and pair up a candle with a holder for a Christmas gift. I got a heavy, square-shaped clear glass holder for a short fat candle - both bought at a dollar store. Looks great and no one would suspect I got the pair at a dollar store.

Even more creative, you can put together a decorative candle set as a Christmas gift. Include three different-sized fat candles, some decorative stones, and a plain white plate. The decorative stones are a dollar store item also. I saw a decorative candle set like this at Target for $20, while at a dollar store the whole set will cost you $5.

Coloring Books and Crayons

What kid doesn't like to color? There's a really great selection of coloring books at most dollar stores. Look in the stationery / school supply aisle for colored pencils, markers, or crayons. Give a child a number of coloring books with the crayons as a Christmas gift. Three coloring books with crayons or markers at a regular retail store can easily cost $15, but at the dollar store it will run you $4. These make great stocking stuffers, too.

Picture Frames & Framed Pictures

You'd be surprised at what nice picture frames you can buy at the dollar store if you just look. You could easily pay $5 to $20 elsewhere for a picture frame in a dollar store. Combined with a personal or family picture, they make great Christmas gifts.

Along the same lines, you can also find framed pictures in dollar stores nice enough to give as Christmas gifts. Again, you could pay $5 to $15 for the same item in a regular retail store. At the dollar store it's just a buck.

Plates, Cups, and Kitchenware

Dollar stores have a big assortment of plates, glasses, cups, and kitchenware. They come in all sorts of styles and colors. Usually the plates, glassware, and cups are sold as single items, but you can buy 4 or more of them and wrap them up together in a box to make a Christmas gift set. Dollar stores carry stemware as well. Wine glasses and champagne glasses come in various styles, perfect for drinking toasts at Christmas or New Year's.

Dollar stores have kitchenware galore. If there is a budding cook among your giftees this Christmas, check the kitchenware section for items such as a meat thermometer, egg or tomato slicer, apple corer, or other "extra" accessories for the kitchen. If there is a bachelor on your list, pick up a set of kitchen utensils such as a spatula, large serving spoon, slotted spoon, and other useful kitchenware and box them together as a Christmas gift.

Tchotchkes

Dollar stores have a wide variety of tchotchkes - small toys, knickknacks, and figurines. You can find quite a variety of seasonal knickknacks at dollar stores, too, such as Christmas figurines or tree ornaments. The regular small figurines that dollar stores carry are quite varied. If you look a bit, you can find figurines that would be fine for a girl's or boy's bedroom, collector of animal figurines, or even as a shelf or tabletop item for an adult.

To Sum It Up

Don't overlook dollar stores for Christmas gift shopping this season. You can buy some of the nicer individual items or buy a few similar things and put them together as a themed gift. Walk into a dollar store during one of your Christmas gift shopping outings and just see what dollar stores have to offer.

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