Monday, December 18, 2006

Making Do on Mondays: gifting on a dime

Need some ideas for homemade gifts? Hopefully you still have time! Here are a few worth noting... these are especially geared toward people like myself who don't sew too much and aren't especially gifted bakers:


  • Body Scrubs

Sia wrote about this a while back... why pay big money for something so simple?! Fill a small jar with sea salt, enough oil (edible like olive or sunflower, etc.) to barely cover it, and a few drops of whatever essential oil you like best. Adding a teaspoon or two of baking soda will work as a skin softener. Lavender is a popular aroma... as are citrus and vanilla scents.

  • Personalized Rocks

A couple cans of contrasting spraypaint, letter stencils or leaves from your garden and a steady hand can make a beautiful assortment of rocks... present them on a pewter tray or in a pretty box with tissue paper. Use a large piece of card stock to trace your design, then cut it out. Hold it over the rock and spray away...

  • Mosaic Art

Rather than doing a hodge-podge job of detailing this myself, I'll link you to a site with how-to instructions. HERE. We did this a little bit this year, doing tile work on old mirrors and picture frames we picked up at the thrift store.



  • Homemade Soaps

Homemade soaps can be a lot simpler than you might think if you take a shortcut! Simply buy blocks of glycerine soap at a craft store; melt it down (using a double boiler works better than the microwave), add herbs, dyes, fragrances or basically whatever you want (don't use FRESH fruits or herbs with this particular process... only dried) and pour it into molds! You can use either real soap molds or stuff around the kitchen. If you want to make soap the old-school way, here's a good site on that.

  • Personalized Garden Stones
Buying a bag of cement is relatively cheap. Mix it up and pour into forms you have or old cake pans from the thrift store. The kids can put hand or footprints on it, you can do different designs and you can put in mosaic tiles or glasswork too. Easy, fun and appreciated by all!

Finally, remember that this is all about giving in love... though I know firsthand the frustration of feeling "what do I give?!" when you have to watch your budget and you want something unique. Most people appreciate your time more than you money so keep that in mind. Here is a good site I found on gifting ideas and moneysavers.

-Ellie: Oak Harbor

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one of us :: 8:21 AM :: 0 Comments

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