Why homemade, you might be wondering? Well, homemade usually translates to less expensive (monetarily, not time-wise), which is a necessity for us right now. I also really want to help my children appreciate the gifts that took thought, time, and heart to produce. I don't ever want my children to believe that they need gifts for Christmas, and even more so, that they need the cool, expensive, trendy, whatever toy that every other kid has/wants/is getting. If I were to ask my children what they got for Christmas last year, I highly doubt they'd remember a single thing. Would your kids remember? I want my children to understand the real meaning of Christmas, and to favor the celebration of Christ over the celebration of "stuff".
That's why we've done homemade.
What did we make? Here are the homemade gifts we've done for this year:
Zoe's Hello Kitty T-shirt turned into a bag. Her name is sewed on the back, too. (Total cost= FREE)
Both girls are getting a fleece scarf, with matching hats. Zoe is getting matching pj pants.
They are also all getting fleece hats.
(Total cost for 5 pj pants, 5 hats, 2 scarves, and enough leftovers for another 2-3 hats = $20)
Ellie is getting some new bookmarks. (Total cost: FREE)
Zoe is getting a hat for her doll made from an old sweater. Ellie is getting a dress for her doll made from an old shirt. (Total Cost: Free)
Both girls (and maybe Aaron, if I have time today) are getting a small pillow, upcycled from an old pillow. (Total Cost: FREE-I had the fabric from an old project)
Both girls are getting a crayon roll made from cotton fabric and felt. They are both different colors, too. (Total Cost: $1 for both)
Zoe is getting this scrap fabric tutu. It is made from a variety of fabric scraps that I found in my fabric bins. Ellie is also getting a tutu, but hers is a traditional tulle one (dark pink and lime green). Sorry, I didn't take a picture of it. (Total cost: $1.00 for the elastic for both-I used a giftcard for Ellie's tulle, but otherwise that would have been $6)
The girls are getting pink and purple flower clips, made with hot glue and scraps of felt. (Total cost: $1 for both)
Zoe is getting handmade beads, made from scraps of scrapbook paper (wrapped paper strips around a pencil and glued the ends together- no picture). (Total cost: FREE)
Aaron is getting some boxes and balls made from felt and stuffed with rice. (Total cost: $.50)
They are also getting a handful of books that I got from a "fill a bag for $5" sale at a local used bookstore. I set aside about 10 books from that bag to use as Christmas gifts. (Total cost: $1)
I also filled a couple containers with my homemade playdough in a different colors (Total cost: $.75ish)
All kids will get some printed coloring pages of their favorite Disney characters. (Total cost: FREE)
As you can see, I utilized fabrics and materials that I already had on-hand for most all of my projects, and for the fabrics and other things I needed, I shopped the clearance racks for inexpensive fabrics at Jo-Ann's. My kiddos will have some fun things to wear, play, color, and read.
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