Ten Homemade Christmas Gifts for the Family

Christmas is a wonderful time of year, not only to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but for families to come together and spend some long overdue quality time. Each year, families would celebrate with a nice ham or turkey dinner, then would come the event of exchanging gifts. Store bought gifts are easy and nice, but the one gift that is most touching, is the gift from the heart. The thought of someone taking their time and making a homemade gift, in my opinion, means more then a commercially generated gift. Homemade gifts are really easy to do, and various gifts can be made, for each individual person. I left out the obvious of the fruit cake, as many people I know, do get these, and do not really like them. Below are some homemade gift ideas, we do, and have received, that maybe your family will enjoy too.

1. Gift Jar:

This is a nice gift, as you can share your favorite cookie, or brownie recipe with anyone in the family, or even the mailman. The materials needed are, 1 quart mason jars, Christmas print material cut into circles larger then the mason lids, ribbon, large gift tags, and hobby glue. First, take your lids, and glue the Christmas printed material onto each lid, and over the side, feed the ribbon through the tag hole, and wrap around the edge of the lid, to keep the material down, and finish by tying into a bow. Set aside to let dry. Do some searching on your favorite cookie or brownie recipes. What you will need to do is, assemble the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Yes, you can even use the Crisco in the dry ingredients if it calls for it, it can be stored into a mix, in a sealed tight container. Place ingredients into the jar, and seal with the lid. Add a personal label to outside, and your done, you have your cookie or brownie gift jar. You will use one recipe of dry ingredients per jar. You do not have to limit the gift jar to cookies, you can make jam.

2. Beef Jerky:

We make this for the men in our family, as they love jerky. What you will need to buy is 1 large rump roast(have the butcher cut into thin strips), zip locks, and gift bags. If you have a dehydrator, the booklet should have recipes in there. If it does not, here is a simple recipe: Take thin slices of meat, and marinade for couple hours. Place the strips, into your dehydrator and leave until done, when you tear the meat, it should have fine white looking hairs. This is telling you the jerky is done. Remove and cool. Take and place pieces of jerky into a zip lock, store in the refrigerator until ready to hand out. The day of Christmas, place the jerky into gift bags, and address to which ever person you wish to give this tasty gift to. You do not have to use beef, you can use chicken, turkey, or venison. The choice is up to you, or make each kind, and give a variety pack of homemade jerky.

3.Crocheted Throw:

If you have the knowledge of crocheting, this is a great gift, you can use different color yarns to accent the recipients bedroom or living room decor. It will keep them warm during the cooler months, and with each use, they will remember the love that went into making them that throw. I received on three Christmases ago, I still use it and love it.

4.Baked Goods:

Large platters, or cookies tins can be found at practically any dollar store, as can the Christmas Cellophane, and curly ribbon. Here you bake everything you can think of, frosted sugar cookies, ginger bread men, cream cheese cookies, and mini squares. Place cooled baked cookies into individual boxes, wrap and tie with curly ribbon. Any person who loves their sweets will surely enjoy this gift.

5. Hats and Scarfs:

Again, this is for those who can crochet or know someone who does. With the different kind of yarns including Boa Yarn, Fun Fur Yarn,Boucle Yarn, just to name a few, you can make fancy scarfs, and hats, and not like the bulky ones we remember as kids. This is a nice gift, as just about everyone during the cold winter months uses hats and scarfs, and each time they use them, they will think of you.

6. Family Recipe Book:

Make phone calls, ask your relatives for their favorite recipes, and have them email them to you. Search your own recipes, and put together a Family Recipe Book. By each persons recipe include a page with their picture, and why this is their favorite recipe. Many of us who enjoyed old time family cooking, do not enjoy them so much anymore, as we either moved far away, or the spouses do not know the recipes, and we miss them. As in my case, when my brother comes home, I make the pasties we enjoyed as kids, and he keeps telling me send the recipe to to his wife. This allows the entire family on both sides, to enjoy the different ethnic and family recipes we all loved growing up.

7. Bird House:

This is a nice gift as your imagination can create an awesome birdhouse, unlike the commercial ones you find in stores. Any one can do this men, women, and children with adult supervision. If you make one for Grandparents, think about placing a mini wooden welcome mat with their name, or a little sign with their name. The design and finishing touches are endless, and anyone would enjoy to receive this gift, as would the birds.

8. Wooden musical Bank:

This musical bank is a nice gift for any adult to make, or even a teen who is taking wood shop, to give to a young child. It is an adorable musical bank with see through tummy, which allows the child to see his or her savings add up. I have personally made this myself. It is quite easy to do. All you need is 4 pieces wood 2 x 12 cut to about a foot and a half, musical coin insert ( found at hobby shops), plexiglass, paint, glue on eyes, ribbon. Cut the wood into pieces, or have home improvement center cut the wood, as they do the first four cuts free. Trace the bear outline onto each piece of wood. The design and pattern can be seen at the web page, www.cherrytreetoys.com, search banks, for exact look of bear bank, and the general idea of inset of tummy hole. Use a template, for the tummy opening. Cut one out and use this piece for the other 3 pieces of wood. Cut opening, and sand. On the top of the head, you are going to cut, and notch out an opening large enough for the musical coin insert, all the way down to the tummy opening. Sand the notched out area, glue and clamp pieces together. Once dried, sand the entire teddy bear. Make a template of the tummy hole, draw a circle about an inch larger on newspaper, this will be the pattern for the two plexiglass circles. Gently cut the circles out of the plexiglass, and drill two small holes on top and bottom of circles to secure it to the bank. Sand the entire teddy bear, and paint. Once the paint is dry, glue on the eyes, the bow tie ribbon, and insert the musical coin slot. Secure the plexiglass circles to the front and rear of the bear, and your done. The bank can be a bunny, bear, dog or cat. Use your imagination for what the child likes.

9. Wood Butchers Block Cutting Board:

Again, a nice gift idea, for any adult to make or the teen in wood shop. With imagination, this gift can be made almost totally free. My spouse made me two, using oak wood pallets that were being tossed out by a store. He ripped the individual planks into 1 1/2 inch strips, drilled two holes on the sides,one at top and one near the bottom, for dowel plugs to secure the pieces together. When you have all your pieces ripped, and drilled, spread glue evenly over the sides and into holes. Tap the dowel into holes with mallet, tap another strip onto the dowel, repeating with glue and dowels, until all pieces are secure. Clamp and let dry. If you have a surface planer, this makes the sanding easy and fast. When all dry, sand the entire board, and wipe off the dust. At the top, you can burn a message into the wood such as Grandmothers kitchen. To cure the board, you should use mineral oil.

10.Giant Fortune Cookie:

This is a unique gift in itself, as the message you place inside, has endless possibilities. It is easy to make, when first making the shape, it may take you a few tries, but after, it does get easier. The decorating of the giant fortune cookie, is up to you and your imagination. You can dip it in chocolate, cover it with sprinkles, nuts, or leave it plain. Inside your message can say something romantic, or be a gift certificate. The possibilities are endless. I have not seen one person who has not enjoyed this giant Fortune Cookie. The recipe for the Giant Fortune cookie can be found at, www.theromantic.com/stories/food/food1.htm.

With money becoming tighter as Christmas nears, homemade gifts, may be the way for many of us to go. It can be done, relatively cheap, and free, if you use your imagination. If you decide on making homemade Christmas gifts, I hope you get a few ideas from the list above. Also, may you and your family have a safe and Happy Holidays.