Holiday Gift Guide 2012 - for the Thrifty, Nifty, and Crafty

Every month, I look forward to the day that I get my Real Simple Magazine in the mail. And every year, I look forward to their special Christmas edition - particularly as it has a lengthy gift guide section, divided up into who you're buying for. But for the past several years, I feel like this gift guide has gotten less and less helpful - aka. more and more expensive/weird. 

Christmas Countdown Stockings
~compliments of Sarah

However, I have some great friends and sisters who are fantastic gift-givers! Some of them are really crafty (and so they can, using very little money, make great gifts for our whole family). Some of them are really good bargain shoppers, and can put together gifts for the family that look like they'd cost a fortune (but didn't). And some are just really creative and can combine any of the above abilities. So, putting our holiday heads together, we Sisterhood sisters have compiled our own little Holiday Gift Guide 2012 for those of you that might need some inspiration beyond the traditional holiday-mug-full-of-candy realm in the next few weeks. 

For the Thrifty: some budget-friendly finds and ideas

• Amazon.com - Especially if you are a Prime Member, amazon.com can be the way to go. Not only can you get free shipping on just about anything, their prices tend to be the lowest in most categories. And every day this month, they've been revealing a Gold Box Deal of the Day (see the upper left corner for the Gold Box to click on). For example, today I found a DeWalt cordless Hammer Drill 18-volt set (including charger and extra batter) with a bonus flashlight knocked down to $194.99 - and then it also had a special $25 off coupon with it. I checked, and my husband said this was a really REALLY good deal for a DeWalt. You can also create a Wish List on Amazon (with sub-categories for each person) that anyone can find by searching for your email address - and you can add things to your wish list from any other website you want (ie. I have some stuff from Vera Bradley on mine). 
• Home Goods - If you're looking for great hostess gifts or things for women, you can usually find some good deals on the clearance aisles at Home Goods. I found several little items there that I put together in a basket for a gift recently. Very budget friendly, and also very chic. 
• Target - I'll admit, I'm a little bit of a sucker for the Bargain Bins at Target - you know, those ones they have up by the front door, so that as soon as you walk in, you get stuck there for an hour. I know some of it's just cheap toys, but I have found a lot of little items to fill some gift baskets with - some calendars with a dry-erase board attached (cute), gift bags (some made out of felt - super-cute), books (they currently have 4 different Beatrix Potter stories with the original illustrations in them for $1 each!), tube of ornaments, fun socks, etc. Not to mention that some Targets have clearance aisles with a lot of their dishes for cheap (so I've gotten some classy-looking mugs & bowls there to fill with goodies). 

Just a few of the goodies I've found in the Target bins that
will end up in someone's package.

• Your Local Grocery Store - I know it might sound weird, but especially around this time of year, your local grocery store (not talking Walmart) may have a lot of their toys and things on clearance. I know my mom got my son a Fisher Price Toy Phone for only $4 there last year - and he plays with that thing all the time, especially on long car trips. He even learned the alphabet song and can count to 10 as a result of it. I'm not even kidding. 

For the Nifty: some creative ideas we've been given

• Gift Cards to eat out WITH a Babysitting coupon - This is definitely a favorite (if you have kids). I love eating out with my kids; but I also LOVE getting to eat out and have someone else take care of my kids. This idea definitely speaks to my heart. I also love the restaurant gift cards that have 3 or 4 different restaurants to choose from. Of course, if it's one for just Cracker Barrel, I won't refuse. :-)
• Year-Long pass to a Local Attraction - this is a great idea for a teacher, a mom, or a grandma. I have friends who get a year-long pass to a nearby city's zoo for their parents - who then take the grandkids a number of times throughout the year. Museums, children's museums, science/history centers, amusement parks etc. can all work great for any particular person.

A few items you could put in
a "Family Fun Package"

• "Packages" for a fun night - I've seen several variations of this, but the general idea is to put together some kind of package for either a family fun night, or couple date night, or friend movie night etc. My dad, who's a teacher, one time received an entire meal "package" - a definite winner with my mom! Family packages can include a fun game, a family movie, some popcorn, hot chocolate, or other goodies, and anything else a family might enjoy. 

All the kids in their superhero capes & masks 

For the Crafty: some homemade ideas & inspiration

These ideas are mostly from the other sisters, but I have definitely benefited from them - and LOVE being a recipient. Last Christmas, we all decided to do completely homemade stuff for the family gift exchange. So that kind of played out like this: I gave everyone jewelry that I made (for the women), Joanne made super-hero capes for all the kids, Julie made the super-hero masks for the kids, Jill made us all aprons and these make-up bags & lanyard sets, and Sarah made me a set of advent/Christmas countdown stockings (which we have LOVED using this year - see photo above). So if you want to try the crafty thing, here are a few resources:

Jill's little guy in a
fleece frog hat

• Fleece Hats for Kids (big kids too) - Jill found a great site here for making fleece hats for kids. The frog one looks adorable on her 4-month-old. You'll also find loads of other ideas on here if you like working with fleece. 
• Super Hero Capes for kids - the capes that Joanne made for the kids can be found here. She even personalized them for each child with different colors and each child's initial. 
• Christmas Stocking Countdown - instructions for making these can be found here - and you can decorate them however you want. If your recipient has kids, I can guarantee you they will love getting the treat out of the stocking every day. 
• Fabric Storage Bins - I got one of these from Jill at my baby shower - and they are great for storing diapers in. But I would also say that they can be great for storing anything in. So this might be a great gift to make someone (maybe a matching set) and fill with some goodies from the Target Bargain Bins. :-)

One of the fabric bins I got from Jill, used for diapers and wipes. 

• Blue-Jean Apron - These aprons are so cute I might have to get crafty and try this myself. If you scroll down to the bottom, you can also see pictures of what these look like for little kids - cute!!
• Edible Goodies - Joanne always wins the prize for her tasty treats. Last year she made everyone bouquets of these Oreo pops (a big hit with the guys); and this year, she's making the Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls for everyone (and putting them in 8" round pans she got at the Dollar Tree). And in case you didn't know it, anything by the Pioneer Woman tastes amazing. 

So there's our Holiday Gift Guide 2012! We hope it's a help and blessing to everyone in some way. 

for the Sisterhood