The doll cradle Josh made for his 4 yr old sister

Last year for Christmas Josh (then 8 years old) made this wooden doll cradle for his 4 year old sister. For the cost of a 1x 10 and a couple dowels, he fulfilled his sister’s desire for a rocking cradle for her dolls. 

The complete materials list requires a 1×10, a 1×6, a 1 inch dowel, a 1×1 firring strip, and finishing nails, screws, and wood glue. We had everything but the 1×10 and the dowel.  The remaining wood and the paint we had, gleaned from Freecycle earlier in the year.

Josh was involved in each step with either his father or I helping him as needed. It was a fun time, when the garage was off-limits, as our own little Santa’s workshop.

Candle Decorated with Candy Canes and Ribbon

My 9 year old cub scout came home with this great little gift idea last week. It’s made with a religious candle from a dollar (or 99 cents) store, ribbon, and candy canes (also from a dollar/99 cent store). It’s a quick, and festive gift idea that kids can make easily. And it’s cheap (er…frugal) at less than $3 for all the materials. It could be less if you pick up the candles at a thrift store or in bulk.

Basically, they tied ribbon around the top, and then tied a short piece of ribbon to hook end of the candy cane and tied the other end of that ribbon to the ribbon around the top. And did this so there was candy canes hanging on all sides.

Today’s great gift ideas come from another work-at-home, homeschooling mom, Frazzled Mom. Tuesday, she posted these great gift ideas on her blog: Adventures in Homeschooling.

1. Homemade bread – either a yeast bread or a quick bread. Cook, Cool, and wrap in an individual bag, or for a homespun touch, wrap in a pretty cloth and ribbon.

2. A bread and bagle slicing guide – for those who bake their own bread or who have to slice their own bagels. (Oh I wish I had one of those!)

3. A gourmet meal basket – just think with a basket, a red and white checked cloth, some candles, and the yummy food Frazzled Mom suggests. I wouldn’t mind recieving one of these!

4. A Game Day Snack Pack - Check out the picture she posted; this is brillant. She’s covered a box in wrapping paper, and stuffed it full of game day snacks.  Snack foods make great stocking stuffers too, but this is a wonderful idea for the men or sports fanatics in our lives!

5. Movie Tickets and free babysitting. Frazzled Mom’s got a creative idea for packaging these in a candy or popcorn container. (Definitely a great idea!)

6. A stuffed animal with a Zoo Membership. This is a neat idea for grandparents or for siblings to go in on. I know my kids would love it!

7. A theme park gift basket, including all the essentials for a fun day at the theme park. Check out her suggestions on her blog. While not inexpensive, this is a great custom idea for a special family in your life.

What do you think – any of these ideas sound good to you? All very easy to do as a family, can be cost effective, and thoughtful.

Remember December is our Gifts and Sanity for the Holidays month. Please share any inexpensive, homemade, and/or thoughtful gift ideas you have or have recieved on your blog and/or in the comments. If you blog about your holiday traditions, please let us know about your post.

My friend Kathy started a new tradition for her family a few years ago, that I absolutely love – especially when I’m at her house visiting. She bakes something for Christmas, every day in December. This way she breaks up the tasks, freezing her goodies until it’s time for their grand apperances. I have not yet been this organized, but I love the idea.

For this month’s challenge of sharing our favorite homemade holiday gifts and traditions, Kathy has agreed to share with us some of her recipes through out the month. So, periodically, I suggest heading over to her blog and checking out what she’s working on.  Today, she posted a neat little decorated candle gift idea, using store bought candles, tissue paper, and glitter, as well as a list of gifts that she is knitting this year.

This year, I refused to take part in Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with two exceptions: the unbelievable low subscription price on a magazine I had been waiting to get and CurrClick’s offer of freebies with no purchase required. My reason for not “shopping until I dropped”, in real life or online, is purely from a realization I had about 8 years ago when we had very, very little money for Christmas. During that time, I found that I liked myself, my family, and the holidays better when we focused on giving gifts that would mean something special and that we had made.

That year we purchased our Angel Tree gifts new, as required, but from there everything we gave as gifts was either made or purchased from a thrift store and repurposed. At the most, we spent $20 on gifts that year, not including the Angel Tree gifts.

For my little sister, who was 3 or 4 at the time and in that “little helper” stage, I made a little apron, pinafore style. The pattern I drew on the back of a paper shopping bag and used muslin I had already on hand from another project I had abandoned. I’m not a very good seamstress, and had never made my own pattern before, but somehow it turned out cute.

For two of my younger brothers who were maybe 7 and 8, my husband made little treasure boxes from two left over fence boards we had. I lined them with felt I already had. We bought hinges, a clasp for each, and a small keyed padlock for each. They loved having their own little treasures boxes; what little boy doesn’t like having a secret place to hide their treasures.

That year I discovered that precious little gifts, inexpensive in cost, but thoughtfully put together, meant more than all the money I could spend. Since then, we’ve carried on the tradition of making gifts where we can, or buying gifts that we put a very personal touch on. Not only does this save us money but it also builds bonds within our family. We spend November and December brainstorming, creating, and wrapping, talking, laughing, reminesning about our family and friends.

Instead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday and all the other commercial ploys to get us to buy and over extend ourselves financially, let’s embrace the spirit of giving, sharing, and fellowship that should come with Christmas. 

For the next 24 days leading up to Christmas, I’ll be sharing some of the great gift ideas, traditions, and insights that we’ve run across during this journey.  Please join in by sharing your favorite homemade and/or thougtful gift idea, favorite traditions, or stories of a favorite gift. 

The more we can encourage each other and give each other the ideas and tools we want and need, the better.