Handmade Gifts for Christmas

December 23, 2011

Author: William M. Davis

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”
~Kahlil Gibran

Come December and what’s the first word that comes to your mind? Christmas! Well, the first word that comes to my mind is consumerism! Every year with the inundation of malls and advertisements, we seem to buy more stuff, waste even more and pile up on consumer debt. This Christmas do yourself a favor, stop this cycle, and let your love shine through soulful, handmade Christmas gifts for your friends and family and see how they are relished.

1. Recipes. We’ve all got at least one special recipe that everyone seems to enjoy. Make use of your baking and culinary skills and give tasty homemade Christmas gifts. Fill up cookie jars with homemade cookie mixes, bake truffles or chocolate barks or gift someone your favorite recipes bound in a book.
2. Memory jars. Someone once said that essence of one’s life is contained in its memories. Relive those memories with a memory jar. Take up a large jar and fill it up with photographs, poems, notes that represent memories that you have shared together.
3. Gift certificates. There’s nothing as personalized as IOU cards. Promise to babysit, help in an assignment, do the cooking or the dishes or to just quit nagging.
4. Greeting cards. Out of all the hundreds of greeting cards that I have received in my life, the only ones that I still have with me are the handmade ones. Don’t visit the nearest stationary store for Christmas greeting and gift cards, just make use of the stuff around you and see what you can come up with.
5. Felt. Say it with felt. The internet is filled with loads of crafty ways to make use of this wonderful and versatile material. You can use it to make puppets, scarves, pockets, coffee sleeves and stockings.
6. Tin box organizer. For all those of us who have a hard time remembering and organizing stuff there’s nothing that is appreciated as much as organizers.
7. Skills. May be you are good at photography, or love to do décor, or are a budding gardener, or maybe you can knit stuff like Grandma. Whatever your skill, use it to produce unique and personalized Christmas gifts.
8. Gift baskets. If you want to make it truly special, combine a couple of the things above and gift them together in a lovely gift basket.

Get rid of your inhibitions and give these ideas a try this Christmas. The gratitude that you would receive will make you want to continue.

Hope you have a soulful, resourceful and debt free Christmas this year!