Handmade Christmas Gifts

Wondering when is the right time to start your Christmas planning? Now, especially if you find yourself daydreaming about gifts and wrappings and baking! If you are looking for ways to stretch the Christmas budget, or you are tired of buying impersonal gifts again, consider making homemade Christmas presents. Not only can this save money, and stress from shopping in the malls, but it also can be extremely fun and very rewarding. You can even get children involved, and create some nice Christmas memories while also establishing a new tradition. If you think that homemade just means baking cookies and cakes, you will be pleasantly surprised at the limitless ideas that .are available today.

One of my favorite homemade gifts is a MasonJar Gift. You can fill these jars with almost anything to create a special gift with extra love for a friend or family member. Some ideas that you can use are:

Cookies: Simply add all the dry ingredients in layers into the jar. Different colors and textures will add extra flair (graham cracker crust, chocolate chips, sugar, cocoa, flour, brown sugar, etc...). Seal the top of the jar, and decorate with ribbon and lace. Add a tag that has the complete recipe written on it.

This can be done for brownie and cake recipes as well.

Bean Soup/Chili: addd dry ingredients;add tag with recipe

Holiday beverage mixes: same process as above; just add the dry ingredients needed.

Bath Salts

Puzzles: add pieces, and also add a photo to the front of the jar of the completed puzzle.

Crafts: add materials for a special craft project; add a tag with complete instructions.

For those that enjoy knitting and crocheting, so many possibilities are there. Depending on you time limits, you can decide what items you would have done in time for the gift-giving season:

Sweaters

Baby blankets

Hats

Gloves

Potholders

Vests

Ponchos

Scarves

Beading jewelry is fun and not too expensive. There are designs on the Internet, kits at hobby stores, and your local library will have books with designs and ideas.

Have a Cook on your list this year? An Herb Plant would add a special touch to their kitchen. Start one now from seeds and it will be ready come christmas!

A fun gift for a family is a Movie Night Basket. Fill a nice basket with a movie, handmade Carmel popcorn, and cookies from your oven, apple cider, and any other goodies you want.

Be creative and fill gift baskets with other themed ideas for additional gift -giving. Many items can be handmade, and others can be less-expensive items purchased at the store.

Get the whole family involved in baking this Christmas. Baked goods are wonderful gifts for neighbors, teachers, mailman, pet walkers, and so many more! You can wrap breads, cookies, and cakes airtight as soon as they cool completely. They should freeze very nicely up to six months. A good tip to share is to let the frozen item reach room temperature before opening the airtight container. This will help lessen cracking of the baked item.

Christmas should be so much more than shopping and rushing. Start slowly now by organizing your gift list and seeing whom you think a homemade gift would be welcomed by, and for whom these types of gifts might not work for. Make your list of items needed for the gifts you will make; brainstorm with your children on creative ideas for baskets and mason jar gifts, and you will find yourself ahead of the rush come December.