How to Turn Your Hobby into Gifts

This past year was not an easy one for my husband and I financially. As Christmas approached we weren't sure what we were going to do for gifts. We couldn't spend a lot of money, but we still wanted to make it special and give things to all of our friends and family. What could we do for everyone that wouldn't cost too much but would still be fun and special?

We decided to go the "home-made" route. My husband brews beer as a hobby, and I bake cookies. There's nothing like sometime home-made and from the heart to make someone feel special. Anyone can just buy something at the store, but when someone puts in their time and effort and love it makes something that much better. I always joke that my cookies are better than any you can buy in a store anyways!

My husband already had a lot of the equipment needed for this holiday batch, so we just had to get ingredients, bottles, and personalized holiday labels. For my cookies I just needed ingredients and containers. The beer took about a month from start to finish, and the cookies just took one morning. Once everything was made, we played elves one day and hand-delivered the gifts. People were delighted to receive these goodies, sometimes sampling them before we even left. Several told us that home-made treats were their favorite gifts to receive.

I found that regardless of finances, this idea was one of our best. We were happy, the recipients were happy, the gifts were fun to make, unique, and appealed to the mass market. i would definitely consider doing something similar next year.