"Home-assembled" Gifts

Even if you feel, like I often do, that you aren't up to the challenge of making something gift-worthy from "scratch," you can still give a unique gift with a personal touch that you have put together rather than "made." Assembled gifts retain the frugal factor of homemade items and still impart that self-esteem boosting feeling of accomplishment without requiring confusing step by step instructions and the personal assistance of Martha Stewart. And if you are a person blessed with creative or artistic competence, you can take gift assembly to any level you can imagine; even incorporate homemade gifts into the process!

Everyone who has eaten my baked goods knows that the outcome of my creative baking endeavors is... hit-and-miss. Still, for better or worse, I love giving edible gifts for the holidays. With so many people feeling generous, gifts can pile up by the end of the season. So gifts that can be consumed are sometimes just the thing. Instead of taking my chances with cookies or brownies or pies, I like to give the main dry ingredients as a gift and leave the hard part to people who are better at it. All you need is your favorite recipe on a card, and a jar. Place the dry ingredients for the recipe (flour, sugar, cocoa, spices, chocolate chips, nuts etc.) in the jar, seal it and tie the recipe to it with a ribbon. Tada! You can gift soups and powdered drink mixes this way as well.

You can also use the idea of "home-assembled" gifts to put together a non-edible gift perfectly tailored to an individual personality. An aspiring gardener might love a few seed packets or bulbs and a spade in a small bucket, basket, or flower pot. A female friend who loves smelly things might enjoy a fun bag of potpourri in a pretty bowl with a few candles. Perhaps your mother is in desperate need of some at home spa relaxation and you can let her know you appreciate how hard she works by bundling together comfort items like bath salts, foot scrub, and an eye pillow. Buying small things that fit a theme and packaging them nicely (even with cellophane or saran wrap and a bow) can be an inexpensive way to give a unique gift. The only limit to the amount gift combinations you can think up is the number of people you have to give them to!