What are you getting/making? I have been thinking about this, and thought it would be a good thread to start considering if we want to be frugal about Christmas we generally need time. :D

For my kids:

I am going to get them a few things this year I would not normally get them because we will have a little bit of money for the first time in 3 years. So Christmas is going to be a little more extravagant this year than the last two.

#1 I am making them a nicer kitchen. I am using Meeshi's dh's design and making shelves above, and a stove. I am in love with this project already and I am moving the smaller one down into the play house. I am also collecting a set of camping cups etc from good will to put in there considering I will not let them take the indoor kitchen stuff out into the play house. They can find nature things to use out there... mud pies and such. The little wood food stays inside. :)

#2 I am getting Alex a garden spider frame. We have so many and he is facinated by them... having his own little garden spider web would be special to him... espically in the season where the garden seems so dead.

#3 I am getting Alex a nice sketch book and a set of really nice colored pencils or those chalk sicks (the name is not in my head right now). I am making him a roll up holder for those.

#4 I am getting Alex that set of Magnet toys. Or a set of Legos. He loves both of those right now and I am torn because he has so many Legos, but I know how much he plays with them. My instinct is for the magnets... my brain says he would like the Legos better. lol...

#5 I am getting Cyan a little bike. Hopefully with a little baby carrier on the back, but who knows. I don't want the princess one... I want one that is one color and not so commercialised... but that is the cheapest little bike I have found. She is so into it... whoever decided to market the Disney princesses is a marketing genius. (dam them...)

#6 I am getting Cyan a set of tree blocks and a wooden car for her doll house in a home made bag.

That is it. Don is going to have one gift to get them too... and then they are done besides little things in their stockings. I feel good about this year. Extravagant... but good.

For family, I am going to try to get out some lap quilts. I have all the stuff, just need the motivation.

What about you all???

Love Val

Hey, on the next Marketplace or Morning Edition, can't remember which, they are talking about Marketing Princess Culture. Could it be more appropriate? Our little girls are getting SOLD on this stuff. I know Katie has...she is in love w/Disney princesses, and more so since we went to the Magic Kingdom.

I am thinking already. I don't know what I am going to do for family gifts...like my parents, Matt's parents, and my two brothers. I also usually get all the little kids that we are friends with something small, but I might skip that this year, or have Katie make a piece of art for each of them.

I am downsizing this year. We always do a handmade Solstice gift, then usually 2 or 3 Christmas gifts. This year, we are all going camping for Christmas break. That is our family gift.

For Solstice, we will watch the sun rise at the beach with warm cider and cookies. I will give Katie a calico pioneer dress, apron, bonnet, tights, and boots. I will make the dress, apron and bonnet.

For Jake I am going to make a small tee-pee. Maybe a dressup to go with it.

That is it. I am probably going to try to use up the soap base and herbs I have in my closet to make bath teas, herbal teas to drink, and melt and pour soaps for the rest of the family. Or the flaxseed packs that I didn't have the chance to make last year! People loved those. I can do things like make little slipper ones so they can slip their feet into warmth...or just the yoke-style ones that go on neck and shoulders and are so relaxing.

Yes, sure am. We cut back on the number of gifts we bought for the kids, and I'm going to be making them some clothes (they get a kick out of this, especially when I use character fabrics), a couple of pillowcases, and a quilt each.

DH and I are making each other one gift. I *think* he will be making a hope chest for me, and I already have the top of a quilt pieced for him. I'll also make him some cozy flannel lounge pants.

We're also not holding our annual Christmas Eve party this year. It's a lot of fun, but it was too much work, and people can never stay for more than an hour. I can already feel the stress relief! :)

I think we're going to institute the 3 gift tradition this year. Last year I went crazy buying gifts for Lauren. I was so excited that this was the first year she'd really get to open her gifts and enjoy them. I got most of her stuff at a thrift store or gently used from here, but I overwhelmed her completely and we both ended up upset. This year, I'd much rather her have 3 nice toys and focus on more important aspects of the holiday (for us).

So far, I've been thinking we'll get a doll house (I'd love to find one of the older Fisher Price ones...I think those are so neat:) ), a tee pee-made by me if I ever get the urge to sew again, and maybe some dress up clothes-again, made by me. For my grandma and Joe's parents I started a tradition of doing a Lauren calendar every year. I take special pictures of her and then have them printed at Staples. It's a great personal gift for about $20 and they treasure them. We actually framed a few of last years pictures and they look great! This year will be a Nascar calendar lol. I think most of our friends will get baked goods baskets again. Those always go over well.


I love Christmas...I can't wait for it to get a little bit closer!!


j

The boys get three gifts from mom and dad and one from each other. They also get a combined gift from Santa and a few items in there stockings. Last year it took us less than an hour to open all our gifts which gave us 2 hours to play before we had to be at our family Christmas party.

Dh and I will get one or two gifts for each other. I would like to get him a full body massage and I have already made him some pj pants.

Everyone in the family and friends category other than my dad are getting mama sewn gifts or candy/ baked good/ canned good baskets.

I should be able to get by with spending less than $150 this year and that includes all fabric and baking supplies:thumbsup:

I am making them a nicer kitchen. I am using Meeshi's dh's design and making shelves above, and a stove. I am in love with this project already and I am moving the smaller one down into the play house. I am also collecting a set of camping cups etc from good will to put in there considering I will not let them take the indoor kitchen stuff out into the play house. They can find nature things to use out there... mud pies and such. The little wood food stays inside.

Ooh, where can I find this at? That would be great for my kids!

clothes, clothes and more clothes.

they're all getting clothes!

Originally posted by MamaWolf
Ooh, where can I find this at? That would be great for my kids!

The first one I made is this one:

http://www.amitymama.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=972069

http://www.amitymama.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=972064

I asked Meeshi for the pic of the other one that her dh made... it is truly beautiful! But I felt pretty good about this one for winging it. lol...

This one is so easy... it is literally two H's with a cool top. That is it. With the other one I made, I used cd's for the burners, and a friend got new sink stuff... (It looked REALLY cool. It was a Christmas gift for her dd). It is 24" tall, 2' deep, and 3' wide. :) Easy. :D

Love Val

clothes! My almost 7yo got Samantha for her birthday last year (everyone pitched in $5 so it didn't cost us an arm and a leg adn my oldest dd didn't get stuff she didn't want/stuff I don't want her to have/stuff people bought because they felt they had to buy her a b-day gift! LOL!)

I am so flattered she has her doll wear exclusively the floral peasant top and the undyed hemp cord capris I made her doll from fabric scraps! I was thinking about buying her a real AG Samantha outfit but they're $20-26 before shipping and I could buy a ton of fabric for that price and sew up a rather expansive wardrobe for her doll!

*It's a nice doll with wig hair so the hair doesn't get matted.

We draw names in our family for the kids to buy presents for since there are 14 grandkids in the family. We couldn't afford to buy for everyone.

We also do the 3 gift tradition. Something they want, something they need and something from Santa. They will only be 4 and 2, so they don't know what they want yet and it's still up to us :) So far I got a little tykes stand-up basketball net for $5 at the thrift store for ds. I really haven't given much thought to the other gifts as I am sure that will sort itself out. (I love the tee-pee idea someone mentioned!) We have a $50 limit for each of them. Dh and I usually give each other one gift. Oh, I also make the kids jammies and they open them on xmas eve to wear that night-I don't count that in the $50 limit.

As far as family-I do have that planned out. I am making pj bottoms for my mom and dad, a bag for my sister, and I will probably give the standard Best Buy gift certificate to my brother since he is impossible to make gifts for and doesn't appreciate. My MIL is still up in the air. Grandparents and other relatives get nice cards that I make with pics of the kids. That's it.

We have never spent much on the holidays. Two years ago we bought an artificial tree so that was a biggie, but I make or have made almost all of our decorations or they are hand-me-downs from family. We also don't do outdoor lights because we feel it is such a drain of electricity and really isn't in line with simple values. we do put lights on the tree though :)

I really love the holiday season!

For my grandma and Joe's parents I started a tradition of doing a Lauren calendar every year. I take special pictures of her and then have them printed at Staples. It's a great personal gift for about $20 and they treasure them. We actually framed a few of last years pictures and they look great!

Ooh, great idea. I think I will do this for both sets of parents. Thank you!

I forgot a couple of other "traditions" that we do at this time. I spruce up the Waldorf dolls - I sneak them away, sew them new outfits, brush out/add hair, wash thoroughly, and mend anything that needs mending. I think I will make Katie's AG doll (she was handed down a Samantha from a girl in our homeschool group) a matching Prairie Dress...great idea! Last year I made her Waldorf doll that I made, a beautiful red velour Christmas dress.

And then I want to start a tradition of making them holiday jammies, so I will probably do that, too.

One thing we did for the first few years was go to a pottery painting place and make ornaments with the kids' handprints and the year on them. I think I missed a year or two, though. That was so fun and a great way to remember the baby years! Don't know if I should start it again...maybe we will go and make ornaments, not nec. w/handprints, just painted by the kids.

Well last year I got rid of tons of Christmas decorations etc. in order to have a more simple decorating scheme this year.

For our son~ This sounds extravegant, but bear with me. Dh is going to make him a train table and we will purchase a generic wooden train set and a few Thomas the Train actual train cars. Just to defend myself since this doesn't sound frugal or simple, we don't buy anything for our son. My mom buys or acquires through trades/sales him an entire wardrobe each season, my mil buys his shoes. My son also doesn't play with anything other than cars/trucks/trains/airplanes etc little animals/people and books. He doesn't have a lot of toys at all and dh and I really thought that our money would be well spent on the train and table.


For my mom~ I am making her a rag quilt and some quilted placemats. I also bought her a couple of pieces of blue and white china for her collection.

For my dad~ I scored a clothes hanging valet at a yard sale. I am going to get him a nice key chain to put on the top and maybe a shirt.

For my brother~ My brother is always impressed with my homemade goodies/food so I will make him some of that stuff.

For my mil~ dh handles that

Lisa,

I chuckled when I read that the train table idea was "extravagant". Dh made one for our son last year and it has more than made up for the $$ the lumber cost. It has been train table, puppet theatre, restaurant, village, fort, etc, etc, etc. It is played with nearly every day. If only every toy I provided got so much use! I don't think a simple gift necessarily has to be inexpensive. Something that is handmade and provides hours of open-ended creative play is a true value.
Your son will love that gift!

Christmas is VERY simple around here.

The day after Thanksgiving, we put up the tree and have popcorn and cider and that sort of thing. I don't have many decorations except the tree and a door wreath, and white lights strung on our deck and porch.

Abel will get one gift from me (a bike) and if everyone else is paying attention, he'll get 1 gift only from each of his relatives as well! My mom can never control herself however, so he'll get one gift bag, but with lots of things in it probably. Can't control Nana, now can I? LOL

We have already prepared for the holidays by purging our home of things we have grown out of or no longer needed. I always do it the week before school starts. Abel and I both went through all of our things and chose a pile of stuff to give to the needy. That way, we don't get overrun with stuff!

For gifts, I am going to either knit for people, or make flavored vinegars from scratch. If I don't think people will like either of those things, I will get them gift certificates, or get Abel to draw them pictures and we'll frame/mat them.

Hi all!!:waving: I've been mia for a while. I've started nursing school...so I've been so busy.

We've start planning for Christmas already.

We started the 3 gift thingy last year and it was great!!! Saved tons of money and the boys just seemed to do better with less.

So far they each will receive a cooperative game that was bought through the co-op with shanka. $11.50 each.

My dh is going to craft each of the boys a "magic wand". He has made one prototype and the boys drool over it. So he's going to surprise each of them on Christmas morning with their own. They will love them and they only cost a few dollars to make.

So that only leaves me with one more to buy. This will be their gift from Santa. Probably something nice from their wish list.

For the extended family and close friends, I also purchased a co-operative game from shanka. $11.50 for a family gift is reasonable IMO.

I don't know what I'll get dh yet. Probably something pertaining to sword fighting....that's what he does.

For my mom and mil I'm going to get some WAHM's body butter or soap.

I'll bake cuz that's what I love to do. And we'll have a huge feast at our house for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. The feasts can get expensive so I'm going to really delegate this year.

We had what I thought was a pretty simple Christmas last year...each child got 3 gifts from Santa, one from us individually, and also a big block set from us to play with together. This year they are each getting one "big" gift and maybe a few small things. Justin and John (dh) are going to build a "lowrider" bike to go along with John's truck to carshows, so that will be Justin's big gift. I guess the toddler doesn't need a big gift, sicne she's more than happy to play with cups and toilet paper tubes, lol, but we'll find something for her. I am also making them each a quilt, but I don't know if that will be in time for Christmas since I want to do it all by hand.

John and I will set a spending limit for each other...really, I am very happy to get a gift certificate to the bookstore or the fabric store. He usually wants a CD or two, and maybe something else.

For family, it's my goal to make most of the presents, and they need to be somewhat small since we need to ship everything this year...any good ideas? I'd love to do quilts, but I won't have time with the kids' quilts as well....

Michelle

I haven't read all of the posts yet, but I am going to come back and read them later. About this princess thing...UGH.....My little girl is all of 9 months old and my in-laws are already calling her the little princess and they are all excited about all the princess things out right now, because they're "just perfect" for her--she is the 1st granddaughter of 6 grandkids. Molly will turn one Nov. 18, and then there's Christmas...I'm ready to put out a list for her right now to try to ward off their impulses, but I know it won't do a whole lot. Maybe I can get them to get her playsilks or something so she can PLAY princess. I am almost hoping that my SIL has a girl in November, so they can have another girl to lavish crap on but my gut is telling me she's having a boy...

I want want want a simple Christmas. Unfortunately, DS is already asking for a playstation 2. I suppose that would make things simple by the fact that it would not leave any money for anything else, eh??? My beloved sister-in-law (18) informed him that he could ask Santa for a gameboy (to which I replied, "Thanks, Kate."), and, well, Killian doesn't wat a gameboy, but a playstation 2 would be great. I have been eyeing Melissa and Doug toys. I am so so so sick of plastic I could puke. DH and I are working on a Total Money Makeover, so maybe that will help if we get our budget set pretty soon and we can discuss the whole Christmas thing a little more.

I'm loving all the great ideas!!

For the grandparents I am making one of my personalized scrapbooks, 20 pages scrapped on the computer from pics of Ryland.

No real ideas for Ry or DH but I would love to make them some things. I do have a Melissa & Doug Puzzle already for Ry for Christmas.

We get so overwhelmed this time of year. G's birthday is Oct., J's is in Nov. and then Christmas is Dec and E's birthday is Jan. So it can become toy central here. Our plan for birthday's is one nice gift and one book from us. For Christmas I really like to do the 3 gift thing with one of those being something that I have made. But this year I had no idea of what to make for them. I am hoping to trade for one of their gifts but again I am really at a loss as to what they would enjoy. I don't know why it is so difficult for me this year. We have decided on G's birthday present and on J's birthday present but the Christmas one really has us stumped.

We also like to give them an ornament for Christmas so that may be what they get in their stocking this year.

There are some great ideas here. I think I will do some baking for our friends here. I need to find a recipe for monster cookies and then I will make some yummy fudge. We already have some of our present bought for family from last year so that will help somewhat.

I have a monster cookie recipie. I will post it later--that is what I made for a couple of years--until I discovered I was allergic to peanut butter. I haven't been able to bring myself to make them for everyone if I couldn't eat any :) Maybe I'll manage to do it again next year, but I don't plan to this year.

Originally posted by Kbsmama
I have a monster cookie recipie. I will post it later--that is what I made for a couple of years--until I discovered I was allergic to peanut butter. I haven't been able to bring myself to make them for everyone if I couldn't eat any :) Maybe I'll manage to do it again next year, but I don't plan to this year.

I would be very interested in this recipe. I'll be looking for to seeing it.:thumbsup:

Monster Cookies
3lb peanut butter
18 cups oatmeal
1 lb. each, choc. chips, M&Ms
1 doz. eggs
2 lb. brown sugar
4 c. granulated sugar
1 T. vanilla
1 T. Karo White corn syrup
8 t. baking soda
1 lb. margerine

Blend everything except oatmeal, choc. chips, and M&Ms together (in a BIG bowl). Add oatmeal a little at a time, may have to use hands to help stir toward the end. Add choc. chips and M&Ms. Spoon onto a lightly greased cookie sheet ( I usually did a full tablespoonful--not giant cookies, but good sized). Bake for approximately 10 minutes at 325 degrees.

ENJOY! These freeze really well! They are also good frozen :)

Thanks for the recipe those sound exactly like the ones I have had.

I always start planning Christmas gifts by August. Before we had Louisa, I used to make them all, but the last 2 years I have bought a few small things. This year I think I'll be back to all homemade. We spend Christmas eve with a large group of my relatives and Christmas day with dh's family. The gift-giving in my family used to be really excessive, but my mom finally convinced my aunt and her family to cut down, which made it easier for everyone else not to feel they had to keep up with her. One thing that helped with that is that for several years there always been friends or more distant or non-biological relatives who not everyone knows, and it wouldn't be nice to have them sit through hours of gift-opening with hardly anything for them. Anyhow, I still haven't been able to let go of trying to give everyone a gift (and of course I try to give something to the new people), so it gets overwhelming. One of the reasons I stopped making things for everyone is I decided I wasn't going to waste the time and effort making gifts for people who don't appreciate them. Now I'm trying to do a lot of gifts that I can easily mass-produce: lip balm, jam, melt-and-pour soap,etc. We don't get Louisa much for Christmas, since her grandparents get her plently. I do plan to make her some new toys, but I haven't decided what yet.

I want to start a tradition where we each have a small list (10 things under $20, and 5 things under $50) and then we each get ONE OR TWO people each (like a pick two names out of a hat thing) and we pick 2 $20 things or 1 $50 to get them off that list. I think that it would work well... But I have been veto'ed by my mom three years running. I think it would make it so much easier. That way, we get two things we want/need instead of tons of stuff we don't need. I know it sounds terribly inpersonal and way too, oh I don't know... it just seems like another way to beat the holiday clutter... and be able to put a lot of heart into one or two gifts sounds a lot better than working my butt off and resenting them. I mean we can still make the small food gifts... but I want to know that the people that I am actually spending money on, need the thing that I am spending money on for them... lol.

Love Val

These are all great ideas! I love hearing Christmas traditions from other families. :)

We're trying to cut back on the number of gifts, too. Our stocking are huge and I have this urge/need to fill them. :rolleyes: Anyhow, I've done and am doing trades with many people to help alleviate costs. The girls birthdays are in Feb so if I think it's too much I may be holding it until then so I don't have their birthday's to worry about. :o

8 yo dd: handmade journal, books (quite a few), embroidered robe, possibly a crocheted bag from me. stocking/santa: WAHM necklace & bracelet, lotion (made by me), art supplies/pencils for journal, small soaps and our traditional toothbrush. ;)

2.5 (going on 20) dd: book, embroidered robe, waldorf doll, felt animals (made by me) and a knitted doll, possibly crocheted scarf from me. Stocking/Santa: small soaps, knitted and wooden food, toothbrush, art supplies.

~2mo old ds: wool balls, tag blanket, knotty doll & knitted dolls and farm toy. Santa/stocking: toothbrush, baby spoon & fork, maybe a diaper set (lol)

DH: slippers, hanging lantern, quilt from me. Santa/stocking: undies (lol), salt water taffy, toothbrush, gummy worms I'm trying to get some of his fav soap for him, we'll see. That would replace the candy, lol

Brian is contemplating making a folding playhouse for the girls but I don't think he can do it without them noticing. I would make curtains, etc. for it. :)


relatives: mostly making gifts: picture frame w/pic, baked goodies, wooden large box with name/soccer ball cut out, vehicle sets, wool balls, dyed clothing, shape sorters, scarf, handpainted aprons, wall pegs, decorating a stepping stone. For a couple people we will be trading.


:rolleyes: Did you know you can't write salt water as one word?