Having trouble deciding what to give family and friends? There’s one thing you can give that everyone needs and appreciates — food! HGTV offers 45 easy-to-make recipes for mouthwatering seasonal treats that are equally good for entertaining or gifting. Whether you try your hand at toffee or fudge, marmalade or bread, crinkle cookies or caramels, giftees will appreciate the time and effort you put in to create holiday cheer from scratch before devouring your tasty treats. You can make extra so that you have some on hand for those surprise guests, too!
Tag: holiday gifts
Reasons Not to Shop on Black Friday
The circulars are out, and the buzz is building. There are so many deals to be had on the busiest shopping day of the year — how could anyone just sit around the house enjoying a long-awaited day off and some Thanksgiving leftovers?!
As tempting as some of those deals might be, you don’t have to shop on Black Friday. In fact, it might save you lots of money in the long run if you avoid the crowds and keep your credit cards hidden away in a drawer. Otherwise, you might overspend.
“We go with a list, but other tempting deals reel us in,” says Simply Organized Home. “Then, all of a sudden, we had to have it. After coming home and realizing we went over our budget, we get a sickening feeling down in our stomach.”
That sickening feeling foreshadows bills that might be a lot more than you want to pay after all of the gifts are given and all of the tidings are told. What’s more, a lot of that impulse stuff is probably unnecessary, so you and yours will have to find places to put it.
Then there’s the hassle of fighting the crowds — those legions of people who, like you, want to save a buck or two on whatever the “it” item is this year. Do yourself a favor and turn tail on those crowds unless you truly regard shopping as a competitive sport.
The fact of the matter is that you can probably get just as good a deal by shopping online, and do so in a more targeted and efficient way. If you know exactly what you want, you can probably get just as a good a deal while sipping coffee in your bathrobe.
And if you don’t buy those things nobody needs, you and your giftees will have less clutter to cope with at home. Less clutter means less anxiety — and less time spent simply managing one’s own possessions.
Use the day to plan what you want to give to your family and friends. Consider giving a gift that take up no space whatsoever, like a charitable donation to the Vietnam Veterans of America or another worthy nonprofit.
Or take a day to decompress. Instead of going to a mall or big-box store, “Go ice skating,” says The Minimalists. “Donate your time to a food bank. Play in the snow (or in the sand). Or just relax and enjoy the holiday season. Simply be together — no purchase necessary.”
Decorate Your Gifts to Make Them Distinctive
To dress up your holiday gifts on the cheap, add evergreens or edible tags made of iced gingerbread, Good Housekeeping says. Make gifts into the likeness of a cartoon animal or attach cut-out paper snowflakes. Use a tulle pouf instead of a bow, or weave ribbon on top of gifts instead of tying it. Wrap gifts in reused paper from maps, newspaper or sheet music. Make beaded gift toppers or attach sparkly monograms. Or top your gifts with mini ornaments or candy canes — your creativity is the only limit when it comes to decorating your packages to make them stand out under the tree.
Use Kraft Paper as a Canvas for Gift Wrapping
Kraft paper is an inexpensive canvas to use when wrapping holiday gifts, Loves the Find says. Simply wrap up your gifts in the plain brown paper, then use your creativity to make it distinctive. Tie them with ribbon, fabric trims or twine and add tree trimmings or pine cones — or go more exotic with feathers, chalkboard paint and glitter. To create a repeating pattern, cut simple stamps out of potatoes, linoleum or a lint roller, and imprint the paper with a stamp pad or tempera paint. Kraft paper isn’t just for the holidays, either — you can use it at any time of year gifts are given.
Use ‘Santa Sacks’ to Wrap Sustainably
If you have a lot of gifts to give to one or more young children, go a step beyond the stocking with a sustainable Santa Sack, Holidappy suggests. Personalize a cloth laundry bag with a tag or embroidery, and have the child put the empty sack under the tree on Christmas Eve. Then fill each sack with unwrapped gifts; in the morning, the kids can open their sacks and discover what Santa brought overnight — and you’ll save money on gift wrap and ribbon while saving time on cleanup. And if you have large or oddly shaped gifts to give, hide them and leave clues around the house for the recipients to find.