Christmas Gifts on a Budget

I love shopping for gifts.

It's probably my favorite part of the Holidays.  Finding that perfect gift for a special someone in your life and seeing the look on their face when they open it.  It's the best.

Some years money is tight, however.  This was one of those years for us.  It's unfortunate, but not a problem.  I also happen to love making things.  I needed to make Christmas gifts for my family on a very, very tight budget, and a very limited time frame.
Challenge accepted.

Lotion

A couple months ago, I had decided to try my hand at making lotion.  It was a success and I am now selling the finished product, "Chill Out body lotion", which can be purchased from my Etsy store.









I had some left over lotion in a slightly different scent from when I was experimenting before settling on the scent for "Chill Out".  I put it in some small canning jars I had in storage, printed out a new label and slapped it on.  One gift for each household done.  $0

Homemade Seasoning

The next idea I had was to put together taco seasoning for each household.  I make amazing tacos, and the key is that I use my own taco seasoning, not the prepackaged stuff from the store.

I bought cheap salt and pepper shakers from Walmart and used seasonings from my cabinet to make the taco blend, filled the jars and put a piece of plastic wrap under the lid to keep it from spilling out.  I used Adobe Illustrator and a few free images and fonts online to make a label.  Second gift done.  $1

Two presents for each household just didn't seem like enough to me.  I hopped on Pinterest and scrolled through pins of DIY gifts until I settled on a couple quick and easy crochet patterns.

Crochet Dishcloth

Everyone washes their dishes.  And as hard as it is for me to relate to it, there are still people who hand wash their dishes.  Weird, right?  Most of the members of my family are those people.  A dishcloth is a perfect, practical gift for their households.










I found this adorable waffle stitch dishcloth crochet pattern by Chip Flory on Ravelry.  It took me no time at all to make and the Peaches & Cream 100% cotton yarn is only about $2 per skein at Walmart.  Third gift done.  $0.50

Crochet Pot Scrubber

Three gifts per household is probably good, but I wanted to throw in a little something extra.  Keeping with the kitchen theme, I found another awesome pattern on pinterest.  A pot scrubber made by crocheting tulle! Genius!  The pattern I used is by Angi Vale from Whipping Stitches.










While I was at Walmart getting the cotton yarn for the dishrags, I found some cheap tulle for only about $2 per roll.  I was able to find colors that matched the colors of yarn I had chosen and made all three scrubbers in about half and hour!
Fourth and final gift done.  $0.50

Total cost of gifts for each household:  $2

That's right, TWO DOLLARS!  I managed to make thoughtful, useful, adorable gifts for each of the three households in my family for two dollars.  That's insane!  Of course a lot of the stuff I used were items I already had at home, but that's the point!

Christmas gifts don't have to break the bank.

Utilize your creativity.  Know the people you are creating for.  Would they like something practical?  Do they value aesthetics over practicality?  Shop in your own house before you shop at the store.  Use up those left over craft supplies and make something truly unique for your loved ones.

I hope your Christmas was awesome, and have a Happy New Year! 

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Copperccino Crafts & Accessories

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