Low Budget Christmas ideas Welcome!

i'm using gift cards from gather to give as christmas gifts. hope this idea helps.

That's a good one, but I'll need more points :-) Thanks!

I am only buying for my immediate family this year, and the two youngest in the family. The rest of us will do some kind of gift card grab bag. We might each put in a $25.00 card and pick one from the bag or we will play that game where you steal the other persons gift card in a kind of round robin thing. I have to investigate more on that game, but I think it would be fun. That way everyone only buys one card for $25.00 and that is it. Prices are too high on everything this year to buy a bunch of stuff.

Oh ya, that's a great idea! My family out in AZ does that gift stealing game, because there are a lot of them, but I'm not really sure how that works either.

candles from the 99 cent store
with a book, and maybe some candy
in a fancy bag

Last year for my aunts(and my boyfriend's aunts since I do his presents for him), I made spa baskets made up from stuff at dollar and discount stores.

I started with a gift basket and that crinkly paper filler stuff from the dollar store. Line the basket with the crinkly paper(or if you have a paper shredder, just shred your own paper and save a $1 for each basket.

In each basket I put the following:

Pack of emery boards

Magazine(my dollar store has Family Circle and others for $1, otherwise you could check walmart for cheaper magazines)

Nail clippers

Assorted nail polishes(about 3-4 per basket)

lotion(I got mine at a huge sale at Bath and Body works, but you can get coupons for full-size lotion at the grocery store, or get smaller sizes from the $1 store.)

some of those foam nail divider things if you can find them

I also grabbed a few bags of candy as filler, make sure they are individually wrapped though, otherwise its a huge mess.


Assembling the baskets:

First of all, before you leave the dollar store, try and arrange all the stuff you have in the basket to make sure the basket is not too big(I got the baskets too big the first year, and ended up spending more than I wanted to make them look full.)

1. Take shredded paper and fill basket with it(it should be level with the top of the basket, or just a little over the top, before putting stuff in)

2. Stand up magazine in back of basket so everything has something to lean up against

3. Decoratively place all the other stuff you've bought, bigger stuff in the back, smaller in the front.

4. Throw candy around the basket "decoratively"

5. I get those shrink wrap gift basket things-looks like saran wrap for a gift basket and can be found at dollar stores or party supply stores) You basically cover the basket in the plastic and then take a hairdryer to it and it heats and shrinks the plastic, making it look professional.

6. Slap one of those sticky bows on the front and be done!

I usually spend somewhere between $15-$20, but you can go more or less depending on what you buy. I start stocking up on stuff right after Christmas, and buy a ton of smaller items to stick in there. Now most of my family knows they are getting a basket for christmas with a bunch of goodies and looks forward to what they are going to get.

Wow that's incredibly long, sorry.

You can do the baskets with any type of theme: nail care, bath and body, cooking, gardening, whatever their hobby is.

Oh wow, that sounds like something I can actually do! Thanks for the ideas! This will be fun :-)

I'm back. :)

I thought of another thing. I posted this the other day, but now I'm not sure where(probably something unrelated). Wrapping paper, especially Christmas wrapping paper, I find incredibly expensive(and only good for about a month).

I buy plain white wrapping paper(or any solid color or non-holiday related pattern will do, my mom is a big fan of white with siver scroll work from Target). Go to wal-mart or to a fabric store and get grosgrain ribbon(or whatever kind you like). I buy this in massive amounts throughout the year and save it until Christmas.

I wrap all my packages in white and use the different colored/patterned ribbon for each person. For example, last year I found Batman ribbon and used it for my boyfriend(he's a dork and loved it). My mom got a beautiful gold scroll work pattern. I also write the name on the back side of the package though so I don't have to try and remember 50 types of ribbon and who they go to.

While they are under your tree ready to go somewhere, they look cohesive, and once they get to wherever they are supposed to, it looks like you planned ahead. :)

I like the ribbon idea, and the pie idea. I'm a big fan of baking! Thanks, please keep the ideas coming!

I was just reading your discussion and i had an idea. My mom and i are getting Christmas Coffee Mugs at the Dollar Store then stuff some tissue paper on the bottom and fill them with Chocolate Kisses and a candy cane and then wrap them with cellophane tie a ribbon around it. Now if they are on a diet or if someone you know has diabetes then we stuff extra tissue paper in the mug and fill it with some tea bags of different sorts. It's really easy and turns out to be like $1 and some change for each person.