This Christmas, everybody’s stressed out about money, from autoworkers in Detroit to bigwigs on Wall Street (OK that’s a lie) to college students everywhere.  If you’re short on cash (or if you need to save your pennies for Chanel bags or PS3 games), it’s a good idea to consider creating homemade gifts for your friends and family.   Most people won’t care that you didn’t spend much money on them because they’ll be touched that you spent so much effort to come up with such creative DIY Gift Ideas.  Unless you’re buying gifts for 10-year-old boys who only like video games and sugary cereals, you can easily get away with a DIY Gift for Christmas.  Just roll up your sleeves, put the whiskey on the shelf, and get the right side of your brain rolling.

In Five DIY Gift Ideas for Christmas, I’ve presented some sure-fire concepts that really don’t take too long to complete.  If you’ve got a Sunday afternoon to spare, you could probably put one of them together with ease and creativity.

One really cool DIY gift idea is to make someone an original t-shirt by using an iron-on transfer (which costs about $10 for a pack of 10 transfer sheets).  Just print out a nice family photo or an embarrassing one with a funny tag line and then use an iron-on sheet and an iron to make your own, one-of-a-kind, DIY gift.  If you think that putting a photo on a t-shirt is a bit of a tired concept, you could always make a little collage of their favorite things: puppies and gossip girl for your little sister; wolves and ice cream for your older brother.  In total, you could make 3 or 4 original t-shirts for about $5 each, which is less than the cost of 3 burritos.

Rounding out the five homemade gift ideas are sock puppets, homemade fishing lures, and more!

If the items on this list are too difficult, confusing, or artsy for your taste, there’s a bunch of other cheap DIY gift ideas listed here.  Merry Crafting!

Cheap Christmas gift
If your Christmas gift budget is anything like mine, you’re thinking about who you can take off of your list without offending anyone. But, after doing some brainstorming and thinking, I found numerous ways to not remove anyone’s name and find a cheap Christmas gift that would be suitable and unique to everyone. There are lots of cheap Christmas gift ideas that are to be found, though some of them might require a bit of time and energy. If you’re willing to put some holiday spirit into those cheap Christmas gift ideas, then you may be receiving lots of hugs and kisses this Christmas.
My favorite of all of the cheap Christmas gift ideas was to make things for the intended recipients. Whether it be some type of food or an item for the house, homemade gifts are not only very appreciated but make a wonderful cheap Christmas gift that contains a great amount of love. If the recipient is a big fan of fudge, cookies or even cake – run with that idea. Fudge and candy can be made with little expense and lots of bowl licking for your family members. Once you have fudge or candy made, you can wrap it in festive cellophane or boxes tied with ribbon. Yummy treats are a wonderful way to win some points in gift giving. Making a cake is a great cheap Christmas gift that can be just as delightful as candy or fudge. Find out your recipient’s favorite flavor and make that. Add some creative decorating flair to it and it will be received with smiles.
If you’re not much for spending time in the kitchen, there are many other cheap Christmas gift ideas that don’t involve cooking. If you visit a craft store, such as A.C. Moore, there are tons of ideas for making a cheap Christmas gift. You can make beautiful candles at a low cost, small wreathes, candle holders, pot holders, and knit lots of different items. Knitting something heartfelt for someone is a wonderful way to show your creativity and love for others and is a cheap Christmas gift that won’t break your wallet. I knitted a few scarves for family members and they all loved them tremendously. Knitting all of them simply cost me the price of the yarns and I made 3 scarves for less than $10.00. I managed to cross 3 names off of my list at for a low cost.
Another cheap Christmas gift idea is to create a coupon book for someone. You can include coupons for babysitting, massages, breakfast in bed, car washes, dish duty, almost anything that the recipient may appreciate. This idea may work best for people who live in the same household and would appreciate you helping with chores or some extra attention.
Using your imagination and putting some extra love into finding a cheap Christmas gift can leave the recipients incredibly pleased and your wallet a bit fuller.