Christmas Giving On A Budget

This year most of us are on a tighter budget than in years past. Which makes our gifting giving a little more creative. I am going to share some ideas for the people on your list and giving to those less fortunate.

First, give a gift to a whole family rather than buying each individual a gift. Give them a family night gift. You can create a gift basket with a movie or game theme. The new Harry Potter movie came out yesterday and is $15 at Target. Combine your movie with a few bags a microwave popcorn, 2 liter of soda and a couple boxes of movie candy (WalGreens has 3 boxes for $3). Package this all up in a plastic bowl you can pick up at a dollar type store. You can keep this gift between $20 and $25. Another idea is a game night, Steals and Deals posted about getting games inexpensive at Kmart this week. Combine a game and junk food and you got a great gift for the whole family.

Another idea is to stretch your baking with gifts to be used when the food is gone. Here is the idea instead of overloading on baking, who really has the time, whip up a few potholders from my tutorial. One yard of fabric will make you 4 potholders and they take no time at all. For those with a little more time and sewing skills make a matching apron. I found this apron in an hour tutorial. It is very cute, I think I am going to try it!

Most of use give to those less fortunate than ourselves at this time of year. The bad news is some of us are close to being less fortunate this year too. So here are a few ways to give to others that wont break the bank. If you usually adopt a family, why not ask a few friends to adopt a family with you. You each buy a gift for a member of the family.

Also the Toy Society has a big Christmas drop each year. All you do is join their group, they e-mail you the link to the letter to print to enclose with your toy, make a toy and drop it for someone to find the weekend before Christmas. ALL of my toys have been made from scraps, with the exception of the felt I bought.

Another idea is make a donate a pillowcase. I know of two different groups doing this. First is Jackie over at Canton Village Quilt Works sent out a call to help donate 2000 pillowcases to the Hole In The Wall Gang. If you are local and would like to send pillowcases to Jackie's group I will be mailing my box by Jan 15th and would love to include yours in the box. So far I have 12 going to Jackie, 6 made by my friend Bonnie and 6 by me. The other group is American Patchwork and Quilting is looking for 1 million pillowcases to be donated, to the cause of your choice. They also have a few different tutorials on how to make different pillowcases. I will also be posting a tutorial in the next 24 hours on how I make mine with no exposed seams, tons of photos.

Here is my last idea, it is for soldiers serving overseas. There is a group in Stockton that sends boxes to soldiers year around. The group is called Packed with Pride. They have a list of items that you can donate that they will ship in the boxes or you can make a monetary donation. Each box that is shipped cost $8.95.

Merry Christmas Everyone!