Crafting Secrets

A priceless gift idea is something whose value cannot be measured in monetary terms. So, in other words it is irreplaceable and precious. If it is the birthday of someone you love and cherish, then that person deserves a invaluable present on this very momentous occasion. Some really interesting options which can be termed as a priceless gift idea are as follows:

Personalised Birthday Gift Ideas
Any gifts value lies more in its emotional value than its material cost. Price tag need not matter every time and this is especially true in case of gifts. So, personalised birthday gifts are priceless in their sentimental quotient.

Anything which has a personal touch or imprint is a personalised gift idea.

Photo frames, photo tiles or mirrors, photo canvases, photo mugs

Engraved gifts like bracelets, pendants, key chains

Monogrammed gifts or birthday gifts with initials of a/many names, monogrammed leather articles and apparels

Expensive Birthday Gift Ideas
A gift can also be considered in terms of the money or currency spent. There is a sizable number of people among us who seem to measure gifts in terms of their monetary value. For such people, a priceless present is something that is expensive. Some pricey gifts (in no particular order) are,

Jewelry of Precious Metals like Gold, Platinum, Diamond or of Semi Precious stones

Collectible Accessories like watches, cuff links, brooches, caps and hats etc.

Designer Gifts which may include any gifts that have been made to order

Branded birthday gift ideas, the brand value is the reason behind the high price of these options

Birthday Gift Idea of a Holiday
If you are making travel plans for someone, then be assured that its value may be much more than you realise. This kind of birthday shopping is priceless in many ways than one. It is a way of creating memories that are treasured by the recipient for a longer period of time. It may also turn out to be much more expensive in terms of the cost involved than any tangible present.

Self Made or Handmade Birthday Gifts
If the investment in your gift is not of money but also of time, effort and is backed by selfless love and bound by cherished emotions, then its price is unmatched.

Collages, scrapbooks and diaries

Self made decorative pieces, and craft ideas

Delicious recipes like cakes, cookies, chocolates or the meal itself

Any art work like paintings, poems or music compilations

A gift basket of collectibles

Christmas is a special time of year and homemade Christmas gift ideas can add to the excitement of the holiday season.  Christmas shopping and gift decisions can make the season a lot less jolly, but making the gifts yourself give can make Christmas more personal and memorable. It can also help you save money too!  Getting the children involved with making the gifts can start a cherished yearly tradition.

Here is some money saving homemade Christmas gift ideas to help you show the special people in your life how much you care:

Christmas Candles: purchase plain pillar candles (at least 3” wide) at a discount store and dress them up with ribbon, plastic berries, or gift tags.  You can also use fabric or Christmas pushpins.  Another idea is to purchase a small votive candle, a small votive holder and a wide glass vase.  Partially fill the vase with Christmas decorations – plastic holly, fake poinsettias, red/green/gold glass beads, etc. – and then place the votive in the small holder in the bottom.  You can find all kinds of decorations that will work – just use your imagination. You can spend less than $20 at a local dollar store and make up to 10 candle gifts, now that’s how to keep more money in your pocket.

Christmas baskets: purchase a large, plain, wicker basket and any type of Christmas fabric with a small print.  You will need to purchase 2 to 3 yards of fabric.  You will need fiber fill material and a 2 yard strip of elastic.  Place the fiber fill material in the bottom of the basket.  Sew the strip of elastic around the edge of the fabric.  Place the fabric in the basket so that the edge with the elastic sewn in it is covering the outer edge of the basket.

Christmas tray: purchase a plain wooden tray from a craft supplies store.  Decorate it with paints and premade Christmas designs.  (You can find all of these items at the craft supplies store.)  Another idea is to paint the tray a solid color, then place a photograph in the center of the tray.  Cover the photograph and the bottom of the tray with a thin sheet of glass.  (This will make it waterproof.)

Christmas ornaments: you have many different options for homemade Christmas ornaments.  One of the easiest ways to make homemade ornaments is to buy the plain wooden, ceramic, or glass ornaments from a craft supplies store and then decorate them yourself.  You can also make ornaments from paper.  Another idea is to get plain glass ornaments and cover them with swirled paint or use decoupage techniques to cover them with decorative paper.

Photo ornaments: purchase scrap booking supplies and several sheets of card stock.  You can use premade scrapbooking picture frames and use the card stock as the backing for the ornaments.

Homemade Christmas gift ideas are a great way to let your creativity and thriftiness shine through during a very special season of the year.  Making your Christmas gifts by hand will ensure that your gift stands out. The only thing that limits you is your budget and your imagination.

Christmas is a special time of year and homemade Christmas gift ideas can add to the excitement of the holiday season.  Christmas shopping and gift decisions can make the season a lot less jolly, but making the gifts yourself give can make Christmas more personal and memorable. It can also help you save money too!  Getting the children involved with making the gifts can start a cherished yearly tradition.

Here is some money saving homemade Christmas gift ideas to help you show the special people in your life how much you care:

Christmas Candles: purchase plain pillar candles (at least 3” wide) at a discount store and dress them up with ribbon, plastic berries, or gift tags.  You can also use fabric or Christmas pushpins.  Another idea is to purchase a small votive candle, a small votive holder and a wide glass vase.  Partially fill the vase with Christmas decorations – plastic holly, fake poinsettias, red/green/gold glass beads, etc. – and then place the votive in the small holder in the bottom.  You can find all kinds of decorations that will work – just use your imagination. You can spend less than $20 at a local dollar store and make up to 10 candle gifts, now that’s how to keep more money in your pocket.

Christmas baskets: purchase a large, plain, wicker basket and any type of Christmas fabric with a small print.  You will need to purchase 2 to 3 yards of fabric.  You will need fiber fill material and a 2 yard strip of elastic.  Place the fiber fill material in the bottom of the basket.  Sew the strip of elastic around the edge of the fabric.  Place the fabric in the basket so that the edge with the elastic sewn in it is covering the outer edge of the basket.

Christmas tray: purchase a plain wooden tray from a craft supplies store.  Decorate it with paints and premade Christmas designs.  (You can find all of these items at the craft supplies store.)  Another idea is to paint the tray a solid color, then place a photograph in the center of the tray.  Cover the photograph and the bottom of the tray with a thin sheet of glass.  (This will make it waterproof.)

Christmas ornaments: you have many different options for homemade Christmas ornaments.  One of the easiest ways to make homemade ornaments is to buy the plain wooden, ceramic, or glass ornaments from a craft supplies store and then decorate them yourself.  You can also make ornaments from paper.  Another idea is to get plain glass ornaments and cover them with swirled paint or use decoupage techniques to cover them with decorative paper.

Photo ornaments: purchase scrap booking supplies and several sheets of card stock.  You can use premade scrapbooking picture frames and use the card stock as the backing for the ornaments.

Homemade Christmas gift ideas are a great way to let your creativity and thriftiness shine through during a very special season of the year.  Making your Christmas gifts by hand will ensure that your gift stands out. The only thing that limits you is your budget and your imagination.

Despite careful planning and sometimes months of Christmas shopping, at least once, every gift giver inevitably finds herself scrambling to pull together a meaningful gift for a friend or relative at the last minute.

Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas A great gift for Christmas can be crafted at home with a little imagination and a few craft supplies. Consider the personalized Christmas gift ideas below in a pinch.

Easy Last-Minute Present to Make at Home – Printable Coupon Booklet Gift for Christmas Instead of giving a tangible gift, consider giving a loved one the gift of time or attention. Printable coupon booklets are inexpensive and only limited to the imagination. Depending on the recipient, consider giving coupons for hugs, a date night, breakfast in bed, or ball tossing sessions. Also, consider coupons for errands like taking out the trash or vacuuming.

Personalized Gift Idea for Christmas – Photo in Custom Picture Frame Find an existing family photo and choose a plain picture frame from somewhere in the house. Customize the picture frame by painting a message on the edge of the frame to coordinate with the photo. For example, write “Summertime” for a beach photo or simply “Me & Grandma.” This homemade Christmas gift would work especially well for a parent or grandparent who would truly cherish a photo of a child or grandchild. However, this easy last-minute present could work equally as well for a best friend or sister.

Last-Minute Christmas Present Idea for Mom, Aunt, Sister – Scrapbook Page Kit Need a gift for a scrap booker in the family? One easy last-minute present to make at home for this person is a scrapbook page kit. This would require memorabilia from a recent trip or event (think: concert tickets, park admission tickets, brochures). One or more photos would be nice, as would homemade embellishments. Use craft supplies on hand to create cutouts, glittery letters, and unique paper scraps. Also consider contributing journaling ideas. Just write down what you can remember about the trip or event and include that in the package.

Don’t Want to Make a Homemade Christmas Gift? Be Sneaky with Holiday Gifts To be sneaky, consider ordering a bulky Christmas gift online for a visiting relative, then have it delivered directly to his or her home. Write the name of the gift in a card and explain that the present is being delivered to save the relative the hassle of lugging the present back home.

Holiday Gift Articles – Hottest Christmas Presents & Personalized Gift Ideas for Kids The easy to make homemade Christmas presents above are more appropriate for adults than children.

Refrigerator magnets make a great homemade gift idea because they are fun to make, pretty easy, and can be delightful for people to receive because you really can personalize it by using photos that are unique to each gift recipient. You can use photos of their children, their favorite musician or actor. If the person is into birding, you can use images of different species of birds. If the gift recipient is into astronomy, you could use images of a galaxies or other phenomenon.

Items you will need:

Flat glass gems…

Flat glass gems are like flattened glass clear marbles that are perfectly flat on one side, and rounded on the other. They can be found at Michael’s, your local craft shop, or at online retailers like wholesalersusainc.com. They come in a wide range of sizes and colors. I would stick with the clear 1/2 inch to 1 inch varieties, as the magnets will support them better, and they have a more gem-like appearance at a smaller size.

Magnets…

Avoid the thin sheet-like adhesive magnets as they will not support the weight of the glass very well. I would recommend strong 3/16″ non-adhesive thick circle magnets. I found some at Michael’s, and at save-on-crafts.com. You also might want to try your local craft store or hardware store.

Adhesive…

Any strong clear adhesive from your local craft store will do the job, but I have found that Diamond Glaze Adhesive dries crystal clear and bonds very securely.

Images…

The important thing is to think when decided on images is who is receiving the gift, and what are they interested in. You can clip images out from magazines, use some of your own photos, or download free images from a royalty free site like everystockphoto.com. You’ll want to get the part of the image down to a size so that it fits the diameter of the glass marble. There many ways to do this on the computer. If you have a program like Photoshop just go up to the Image menu, go to Image Size and just enter the size there. If you are using Windows’s Paint, use the square selection tool to draw a box around your image and drag a corner point to resize the image to the desired dimensions. In the application Preview on a Mac, go to the Tools menu, select Adjust Size and enter the size there. I think there are ways to do this in other programs like Microsoft Word, as well as many other ways, or just cut the photos out of photos or magazines

The process..

Putting it all together is quite easy.

Cut out your photo to fit the diameter of the glass marble gem. Use the clear adhesive to glue the face of the photo to the flat side of the glass marble gem. Let dry… it shouldn’t take too long but refer to the instructions on the adhesive tube. Glue the magnet to the back of the photo. Let dry and your gifts are done!

I had a lot of fun making these gifts. It would be fun to get kids involved in this, because they probably would have a knack for find some fun and funny images and ideas to use.

Christmas is a season of gifts and sharing, and every family will have their own traditions and ideas, such as hanging decorations together, having a big family feast, and exchanging presents.

Although we sometimes hate to admit it, choosing presents can be a headache, especially if you have a large family and a tight budget.

MAKE YOUR OWN UNIQUE AND INEXPENSIVE HOMEMADE GIFTS THIS CHRISTMAS

If you are good in needlework, you can sew, knit or crochet small projects as Christmas gifts.

You can sew cute animal plush toys for children. They can double up as fridge magnets or pin cushions. Cute animals like a tortoise or food with faces are always hits with the kids and even adults.

Handmade throw pillows or knitted fleece blankets are excellent as gifts too. You can also knit scarves, mittens, and hats for everyone. They make practical gifts.

You can have the blankets or pillowcases embroidered with the recipients’ names to make them personalized. You can also let the children to pick their favorite cartoon fabrics as their pillow or cushion case.

PAPER CRAFTS

If you love paper crafts, you can make mini scrapbooks or altered journals. Mini scrapbooks are excellent as memory keepsakes. There are many samples available online that you can follow. Just make them according to the recipient’s favorite theme, add photos and sentiments on the pages, and that is it. This will be a very special gift and the recipient will surely appreciate your effort.

You can also compile poems and quotes for those who love collecting them. Altered journals are great for this purpose. Just print the poems and quotes, cut them nicely and stick them onto the journal pages. You can write your own messages too.

Another paper craft that you can make is personalized stationery. Print the stationery sets; add a nice writing pen and you have yourself a gift ready.

CONTAINERS MADE TO ORDER

Household items such as jars, bottles, tins and baskets can be made into beautiful Christmas gifts too. They can be altered, decorated with ribbons and other types of embellishments, and filled up with various items. Fill a nice tin can with homemade potpourri, while a jar can be decorated with ribbons and filled with goodies.

Be creative with the goodies, they can be anything from crafting materials such as buttons, brads, and ribbons, to delicious edibles such as candies. All these ideas can be personalized according to the recipients’ preferences.

You can fill baskets with goodies too, and they can be anything from food to perhaps sewing or other crafting materials. Make these gifts more personalized with photos and sayings.

MAKE A SPLASH WITH HANDMADE SKIN CARE AND BATH

For something adventurous, unique and wildly appreciated, you can make your own handmade skincare and bath items.

You can make bar soaps, shower gel, bath bombs, lotions, shampoos, conditioners, and even homemade cream masks. These items can be scented or non-scented. Use essential oils for the extra benefits.

While you are at it, why not make some scented candles, these are a natural with handmade bath items for a spa experience extra-ordinaire.

The ingredients used to make scented candles are similar to those used to make soaps. You can make a range of items with the same scent, pack them up nicely in reusable plastic jars and bottles, wrap them together in a basket, and you have got yourself a nice Christmas gift.

HOMEMADE CAN BE INEXPENSIVE, EASY AND MORE FUN THAN THE MALL

Homemade gifts are not difficult to make and they usually don’t cost much. All you need is your imagination and lots of effort.

Save some money this Christmas and make beautiful, thoughtful gifts for everyone.

You will be amazed how much your homemade gifts are appreciated.