Gift Subscriptions to a Family
Newsletter
Don't have a family
newsletter yet? Start one. Truly, it's an excellent way
to keep family members in contact with one another and is
a great homeschool tie-in, allowing your children the
opportunity to learn a vast array of journalism related
skills. Notice of
Surprises
This was one of my
mother's favorites. I gave her a card one year that
promised a surprise a month for the next twelve months.
The surprises didn't have to be expensive; some were far
from it in fact. The fun part was that it stretched
Christmas out over the year.
Promise of Service
Many are familiar with
the little coupon books you can give friends and family
members (ie. "Good for one 20 minute back rub")
but even including a simple offer in a Christmas card
makes a great gift. Services could be such varied things
as offering to sit for a couple of hours so the young
mother can get out, committing to keep a neighbor's yard
mowed, helping with spring cleaning....
Promise of Contact
Commit to write a
letter every week (two weeks?). Commit to spend time with
someone on a regular basis (Thursday night is game
night!). Commit to call long distance and chat for a
certain period of time every month.
Garden Gifts
Promise all of the
year's rose cuttings (the healthy canes you remove when
you prune - properly rooted of course) or ivy prunings to
the recipient, or to plant one special vegetable just for
them, the produce to be delivered regularly.
Video Tape Exchange
Give a video tape
'letter' from you to them, with the promise that if
they'll record another letter and send it back, you'll
keep the lines of 'video communication' open.
Stories
One family I know
gives each other stories. Children and adults write
stories about something that happened in the previous
year. It not only helps them communicate (and often work
through the trauma caused by difficult events) but also
gives them something to keep, family stories that will
last more than a lifetime.
Blank Books
It's easy to make
blank books even with nothing more than a stack of typing
paper and a common stapler. Cut paper to a size that will
fit into the stapler (so that you can place staples in
the fold) and place a wallpaper (or other) cover on the
outside. Fold in half and staple on the fold. Voila, you
have a blank book. Young children especially enjoy
recording their own stories in these little books.
Multi-Colored Macaroni
Manipulatives
Color various sizes
and shapes of noodles by placing alcohol and liquid food
coloring in zipper-closed baggies and submerging the
noodles until they absorb the color (THESE ARE NOT
EDIBLE). Give the manipulatives to a child, and a sheet
of usage suggestions to his parent.
Craft Box
Go through your craft
supplies and pull out scraps and leftovers of assorted
items. Fabric stores will sometimes let you have the
snippets off the ends of ribbon bolts, but also think of
other businesses that manufacture things and might let
you have scraps or leftovers. The fact that you can't
think of a way to use these things means nothing. Put
them in the hands of children and scraps become works of
art.
Poem
Write a poem and
present it with a small, significant gift.
Story
Write a short story
with friends or relatives as the characters. Children
especially appreciate this one.
Book
Collect some of your
own writings (or those of others close to you) and
'publish' a book. Illustrations would add interest. This
could be a family project.
Hair Bows/Barrettes
These are not as
difficult to make as they may look. Buy the clips at
craft stores. Ribbon can be attached with thin wire, and
odds and ends can be glued on with a good glue (I like
E6000). Before you begin, open the clip and remove the
spring. When you've attached your decorations, put the
spring back in and you've got hair care for a fraction of
the cost (especially if you're using scraps!)
Family Timeline
Put together a family
timeline and give copies to your family as gifts. Or set
up a basic timeline and take it to a family gathering
(Thanksgiving?) so that all family members can add events
from their own lives. If you include extra sheets for
them to record their stories, you can attach these sheets
to the back of the timeline. Make copies of your master
and give the copies as Christmas gifts. Laminating them
ensures that they'll last for years.
Things to String
Young children love to
string odds and ends on shoe laces. Give laces and an
assortment of beads, buttons, etc., making sure not to
give a small child something he could choke on.
Sewing Kits
Hit your scraps bin
again. Give precut pieces of fabric, ribbons, stuffing,
etc.. Put some of your extra sewing pins and needles in a
little box or make a pin cushion. Buy measuring tape and
scissors. Put it all in a nice box. Even a cardboard box
will work, but you could cover it with contact paper or
give tackle or sewing boxes instead.
Art Collection
Collect the fronts
from old 'art based' Christmas cards and give a mini art
collection.
Coupons
Coupon shoppers love
receiving coupons they don't have to cut out and sort.
This is one way to use old magazines, which you can
usually buy cheap at the thrift stores. Also, the really
old magazines usually have coupons with NO EXPIRATION
dates, which is music to any coupon shopper's ears.
Faces
Another way to use old
magazines or catalogs: Artists usually need something to
refer to when they draw. Be it faces for their portraits
or horses for their animal pictures, they may well
appreciate a collection of pictures to use as reference.
Old Magazine Uses
Other things you could
get from old magazines..... recipes, topical articles (I
love biographies, historical information and Christmas
stories, for example), art pictures (copies of famous or
not so famous paintings), pictures to make children's
picture books or paper dolls, articles for unit studies
(find out what units your friends are planning for the
coming year)
Marbles
Marble With Note --
"I heard you'd lost your marbles"
Aggie (or other) Bubble Bath
My cousin gave my
husband this one. She covered a can of beans with a label
that said 'Aggie Bubble Bath'. The instructions indicated
that you should consume the contents of the can and then
lower yourself into a tub full of water and soap. Yes,
silly, but he chuckled. (He's an Aggie)
Shop in Your Own Home
One year was rough
financially, so I went garage sale-ing in my own home. I
walked through the house and picked out things I would
put in a garage sale if I were to have one, and these
became Christmas gift potential.
Book of Love
Fill a blank book with
letters, poems, your own thoughts, collected poems and
quotes, wise sayings, photos, etc., and give it to a
loved one. A slightly different option would be to pass
it around, letting everyone add their contribution, so
the whole family is giving the gift.
Hand Made Paper Items
Making paper is really
easy. You can likely find detailed instructions online or
in craft books, but you essentially grind paper scraps in
a blender (with lots of water, of course) to create pulp.
Have a screen prepared -- I covered an old picture frame
with screening (as in window screens). You can either
place cookie cutters on the screen and pour your pulp
through till you have a layer or pulp in the mold...then
lift the cookie cutter and carefully turn the 'paper'
onto wax paper to dry.... Or you can place another frame
over the first and pour the pulp through till you have a
thin layer, transfer it to wax paper to dry, then you
will have a rectangle (or square, depending on your
frames). You can then use this paper to make hangings,
art work, note cards, bookmarks, or whatever your
imagination decrees.
Stationary
Purchase inexpensive,
plain note cards and decorate them to create personal
stationary. To make the gift extra special, make large
envelopes from paper doilies and slip the stationary
inside, presenting it as an elegant gift.
Calendar
Create your very own
personalized calendar for the coming year. If you want,
you can even have copy shops like Kinko's turn it into a
durable work of art. Children would be really proud to
give this one if they had the honor of doing the monthly
art.
Handmade Mixes
In today's world, we
want the convenience of mixes but long for homemade
taste. Find good mix recipes for seasonings, cookies,
pancakes, hot chocolate, etc. and give the mixes with
instructions so that the recipient needs only to add the
final ingredients.
Video Tours
Record a video tour of
your home or home town. You could also record a family
skit or songs relatives telling family stories... Share
your family with others.
Blessing/Encouragement Jar
Fill a jar with
blessings you wish for the recipient, good things you
would say about them behind their backs, reminders of
their accomplishments, favorite scriptures, etc. When
they're down, the jar will give them the boost they need.
Bath Salts
Epsom or rock salts
mixed with a few drops of an essential oil and food
coloring make excellent bath salts at a fraction of the
cost of store bought. (one recipe recommends 20 drops of
oil to 9 oz. of salt.)
Lots of ONE Thing
This could be serious
or a joke. If he has a favorite pen, buy him five of
them. For she who can never find a nail file...give her
50. For the post-it note fiend, buy a whole stack of
notes. Postage stamps, herbs, batteries, film....
Whatever is appropriate, give the recipient a great many
of that one thing.
Memory Gift
An item designed to
bring back special and/or specific memories. This could
be something as simple as a particular candy or snack
that was enjoyed as a child. (food items, a children's
book, a child's game, a video of an old TV show...)
For the New Homeschooler
Cut up old homeschool
catalogs to make a book of suggestions the new
homeschooler could refer to. I've never done this, but I
hand out catalogs with notes in the margins quite often.
I think giving the new homeschooler an assortment of
tips, things you've learned from experience, would be a
great gift.
Bean Bags
Cut up old jeans for
these. Even older kids can have fun with them. Present
them with a 'how to juggle' book, and they're twice the
gift.
Story of ME!
This is especially
good to give grandparents. Have the child tell their own
story, sharing who they are today.
Old Appliances
Yes, old appliances.
The mechanically inclined or the snoopy (like my 11 year
old son) would love to be given a collection of old,
non-working appliances to take apart at his leisure.
Books/Stories on Tape
Make your own books on
tape. There is something special about having a parent or
grandparent read to you. Be that parent or grandparent,
and do it on tape (audio or visual) so the child can
replay it whenever he wishes.
"If I Could Spend a
Million"
Cut out pictures from
magazines and catalogs and give a gift that tells the
recipient what you would buy for them if you had a
million dollars to spend. You can glue these pictures in
a book and write explanations of why you chose the things
you chose.
Recipe Book/Box
For new cooks,
newlyweds, or the college bound, this can be a lifesaver.
Include family favorites, and include a section where you
can record the basics (don't leave them not knowing how
to boil water <grin>)
Office Supplies
Yes, office supply
nuts like me would love to receive pens, legal pads,
sticky notes, index cards, glue sticks, etc. Look for
sales and businesses that have leftovers to get rid of.
Musical Instruments
Percussion instruments
are easy to make. A juice can filled with beans, peas, or
grains and sealed at both ends makes an excellent 'shake
it.' Glue sandpaper to blocks of wood and make the blocks
we used to play with in school music classes (not that
I've ever seen one in the 'real' music world). Bells
attached to an embroidery hoop is a great (and less
noisy) alternative to a tambourine.
Christmas Ornaments
Stiffen doilies to
make snowflakes.
Glue pictures or photographs to juice can lids and
decorate the edges.
Name Keepsake
Invest in a book that
gives names and their meanings, possibly even character
traits that are usually associated with the name and/or
scriptures that apply. Use your computer to design a
'picture' you can print on a pretty or rich paper. Frame
it and you'll have a gift almost anyone would appreciate.
Nightgowns
Add lace and other
trims to a man's cotton tee shirt and you have a lovely
and comfy nightgown for a little girl.
Sweatshirt Cardigans
Buy a plain sweatshirt
(1 size larger than the recipient would wear) and cut it
straight up the front, from the hem to the middle of the
neck. Cover the raw edge with bias tape and, poof, it's a
cardigan. Give your cardigan as-is, or decorate it with
paints, lace, appliques, doilies...
Ethnic Foods
Pay a visit to an
ethnic grocery and buy strange new foods to give as
gifts. This can be great fun, and doesn't have to be
expensive (though it may well look expensive if you give
these foods in a nice gift basket
Paper
Give a collection of
paper in all sizes -- leftovers from your own projects,
scraps begged from local print shops, packing papers...
Add a collection of colored pens, art pencils, whatever,
will make your gift go even further still
Puppet Kit
Give a collection of
old socks with materials for making them into puppets.
Letter Writer's Dream
Keep a stationery box
and whenever you find an odd sticker, one envelope, the
last two sheets of some cool stationery, a card that's
too "girlie" for you, etc., stick it in that
box. Then give this box to a little (or a big) girl who
loves writing letters.
Scrap Book
You can make wonderful
scrap book pages from watercolor paper. Slip these into a
binder, or cover them with a cover you've designed. Give
these at times other than Christmas too. For instance...
Take one to a baby shower and start filling it right away
-- with the invitation, the gift list, wishes written in
by those present... Be sure to include a glue stick with
your gift so the recipient can start adding right away.
Candy Making Supplies
Give a chocolate mold
or two, along with some of the chocolate wafers they sell
in craft and baking shops. This makes a great hobby for
even fairly young children, and is a gift that will make
them think of you every time they eat their creations.
Solitaire
Give a solitaire book
and a deck of cards.
House Building
Collect decks of used
(or cheap) cards and give them with instructions for
building a house of cards
Hand Made Games
Take a look at the
games you enjoy playing and use them to give you ideas
for creating your own games. Your games could be about
things the child takes an interest in; about family
memories, customs, and history; a trivia type game....
Handprints
Reproduce your
children's handprints in some creative way. You could use
paint, letting them dip their hands in it and leave their
prints on a pillow top. You could trace around their
hands and cut out a stencil, then lay it over a sheet of
paper and spatter paint all around it. You could
embroider outlines handprints on a tablecloth and date
it, starting a family heirloom that could be added to
every year.
Mail
Give a college
student, someone who's moving away, or even the home
bound a collection of stamped post cards or envelopes.
The Best
Give a 'common' item
(like a hairbrush or kitchen accessory) of exceptional
quality -- something the recipient will enjoy but would
never have purchased for herself.
Money With a Twist
Give the recipient
bills and coins from his birth year, or from a country
that especially fascinates him.
A Remembered Treasure
Take time to track
down an old favorite -- a book that was cherished as a
child but has been out of print for years, recordings of
special songs, or a beloved old toy. Hit those resale,
antique and junk shops. You'll be amazed by how
inexpensive some potential treasures can be.
Candles Made New
Save scraps from your
burned candles, buy old and used candles at garage sales
and junk shops, and scavenge scraps from friends. You can
melt these down and pour them into discarded tea cups
(adding wicking, of course) to make elegant little gifts.
If your cups happen to have matching saucers, so much the
better.
Earring Holder
Invest in some plastic
canvas, cover any raw edges with colored tape or fabric
binding and attach a ribbon hanger. Pierced earrings
attach through the holes, and you can cut slots to allow
for clip earrings.
Trinket/Treasure Boxes
Collect small,
discarded boxes (checkbook boxes, for instance) and cover
them with paper or fabric. Line them and voila, you have
adorable little trinket boxes.
Dispenser
Glass bottles are
plentiful right now, and usually not too very expensive.
Buy a tall bottle, and get a dispenser from a liquor
store (the stopper-like insert used for dispensing small
amounts of liquor). Give with a bottle of dish soap or
some other liquid that the recipient uses often.
Costume Trunk
It's an old favorite,
but one easily passed by. Find a box and fill it with all
manner or clothing and accessories.
© 1997 Tammy Cardwell
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