Short on Funds This Holiday Season? Try These Easy & Inexpensive Homemade Holiday Gift Ideas

Short on funds? Try out these handmade gift ideas! Everyone on your list will be pleased with something from this list, and you'll be happy too, since they're all quick and inexpensive to make!

Handmade Glycerin soap

All you need for this project is some clear glycerin soap, some molds, and the appropriate coloring and fragrance agents. There are full kits you can purchase which contain all of these things, but you can probably get them for cheaper by checking out a large local craft store.

Handmade glycerin soap is easy and fun to make because you choose the shape, color, and scent of your soaps, and all you have to do is melt down the soap in a double boiler (or a saucepan suspended over a pan of boiling water), add your smell and color to it, and then pour it in the molds.

You can get very creative with glycerin soap by adding glitter to the melted soap before pouring, separating the soap into two batches and making bi-colored soap, or by placing plastic toys in the molds before adding the soap, so that the toys are suspended inside. Handmade soaps make excellent gifts, and are fully customizable. This is one handmade gift that's acceptable for recipients of any age!

For more information about making your own soaps, check out this website.

Handmade ornaments

There are literally hundreds of ways to make your own ornaments, and each ornament you make will make the recipient feel special. Ornaments will be treasured for years, and every Christmas, when the ornament is used, it will remind the recipient of you.

Here are some links to instructions to different ornament tutorials for you to try out:

Punchenello Angels:
Click here for the project!
I think these angels would look amazing done in iridescent cellophane as well!

Dough ornaments:
Find dough recipes and project ideas here.
Simply follow the dough recipes and then use cookie cutters to shape the ornaments. Hang them on strings after they're baked, and paint them bright colors if you desire. Dough ornaments look great decorated with glitter, and are a lovely topping for special packages. This is an excellent project to do with children.

Beautiful beaded snowflake ornaments:

For instructions and a list of supplies, click here.
These instructions are very straightforward, and the results are breathtaking.

Baked goods
Everyone likes receiving homemade baked goods around the holidays, and baking is a fun and inexpensive way to show you care. Baking will make your house smell like the holidays, and a plate of cookies or basket of muffins is a great way to include large amounts of people in your holiday spirit.

Sugar cookies are an excellent choice for baking during the holidays, and they're extremely versatile. There are literally hundreds of sugar cookie variations, and tons of ways to decorate them and make them your own.

One of my favorite holiday recipes for sharing with friends is Pumpkin bread, and one of my favorite recipes is the Spiced Pumpkin Bread recipe from Epicurious.com, which can be found here.
This recipe yields two beautiful loves, but would also make lovely mini-loaves, or muffins. When I prepare this recipe I use %50 percent more of all of the spices, and double the cloves.

I also use real pumpkin instead of canned, but this method is time-consuming, and not always practical. I find that this recipe is always moist and delicious, and disappears very quickly. It's excellent warmed with a scoop of ice cream, but is just as good cold and plain as a midday snack.

Handmade blank journals
The holidays can be a time of relaxation and deep reflection, and so a gift that is almost always appreciated is the gift of a journal. It is easy to make journals yourself, and it's extremely fun to get creative and embellish handmade journals with beautiful papers, rubber stamps, beads, and glitter. This is yet another project that's great for the kids, though adults appreciate the gift of a journal just as much.

A great website for beginning your journal-making project can be found here.

Handmade greeting cards
Greeting cards and stationery make excellent gifts around the holiday season, especially since this is the time of year when people really spend time writing to family and friends. Stationery and greeting cards can be very expensive, so the gift of handmade stationery is extremely thoughtful.

There are lots of ways to approach this project: you could buy fancy stationery paper and envelopes separately and package them with some nice pens and give someone their very own stationery kit, or you could get creative and design your own line of greeting cards with pens, glitter, paint, colored pencils, or magazine cutouts.

You could also design some greeting cards on your computer, print them out and put them in a pretty box. The possibilities are endless! For inspiration, go here, and here.

Etched glass bottles and glasses

Etched glass projects can come out looking so professional that most of your friends will never guess that you've made their gifts yourself. Simply buy glass bottles or glasses, mask off your design, and apply an etching compound to get an amazing, foggy, etched look. This technique is great for personalization, and also works for labeling purposes, on spice jars, etc. For a more in-depth explanation of etching, check out this link.
You'll be astonished at how professional your results look!

All of these ideas will make excellent holiday gifts, so I sincerely hope you try some of them out, and start spreading the holiday cheer!