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For some of us, the mere mention of Christmas sends us into a fluster. We love it, we really do, but why does it all have to cost so much? It's the same with birthdays, we don't want to be stingy but a decent gift these days costs far more than our tight budgets allow for. It doesn't have to be that way however, and I am going to show you how. I have here as many examples as I could muster of gifts I have put together for $5 and under, and you'd never know it. The handmade touch is always appreciated, you have an original gift and your wallet won't hurt a bit.
I'd like to start with one of my favorite gift items - terracotta pots. The smaller ones (approx. 5-6" high) are readily available from garden centres and shops for around $3. These can be left plain or decorated and filled with whatever takes your fancy. If you wish to keep to our $5 limit, you may want to make the pot itself a decorative part of the gift. If you are handy with a paintbrush, give it a basecoat of your chosen colour and paint a pretty design on it, maybe even the persons' name. If not, there are plenty of other ways to decorate your pot. Shells collected from the beach can be glued around the top rim of the pot with a hot glue gun or a PVA based glue, giving a seaside effect. Another idea is a length of coiled rope glued around the rim and tied in a bow, maybe with a shell glued to the front, just under the rope. A great way to give a more dramatic effect with shells is to glue them around the rim and give the whole pot a coat of gold or bronze paint. Of course, the pots and shells can be painted contrasting colours(blue and yellow looks fabulous with this theme) if you have access to acrylic paints without spending more money, but they look just as good left natural.
If shells are not your thing, try this country look: cut a square of fabric of your choice (gingham works great for this, but use any scraps you have), big enough to glue to the front of your pot as a decoration. You may like to fray the edges too, or use pinking shears for a ragged edge. Glue the square onto the pot using a PVA glue (this is white glue that dries clear, around $5 for a large bottle that will last many, many projects). Instead of gluing the fabric square on straight, you may like it at an angle, making a diamond. Once it is in place, brush more glue over the top of the fabric, ensuring all of the edges are secure, and gently push out any air bubbles with your fingers by pressing from the middle of the square out to the edges. Because the glue dries clear, it acts as a varnish so brush the whole outside of the pot with it and leave to dry. After an hour or so (depending on the weather), you should have a pot that looks glazed with a pretty square/diamond on the front. To finish it off, tie some raffia around the rim and secure with glue, and glue a button to the middle of the fabric square. A variation on this would be to use two or three squares in differing sizes and colours, layered as a patchwork effect. This sounds simple and it is, but is very effective.
As for what to put into your terracotta pots (and they really do look better filled!), use your imagination. A gift should always reflect the person it is intended for so think about what they would like. You could pot up a plant (minimal cost if you get it on sale) or even a propogated cutting from one of your plants (no cost). A potted herb like parsley will only cost around $1.50 and it's plastic pot can sit straight into your decorated pot. Garden seeds are another great filler. I once filled a pot with garden seed packets as I found them on sale for 20 cents each! I finished it off with some garden gloves (79 cents) and the recipients loved it.
If your intended gift recipients' tastes don't run to the garden, how about food? If you like to cook, perhaps you could whip up a batch of brownies or fudge and fill the cellaphane-lined pot with those. A cheap gingham teatowel looks pretty as a liner, it's corners gathered up over it's contents and tied. Do you have chickens? If so, fill your pot with fresh free range eggs. If you grow herbs such as lemon balm or chamomile, you can dry them in the microwave, crumble and spoon into cellaphane bags with instructions to add boiling water for a cup of herbal tea.
Another great food idea is to choose a relatively simple recipe like Apple Pie and write it out on a pretty card. Fill the pot with the ingredients needed to make the recipe, simplifying if you need to (if you didn't want to use fresh apples, you could add a tin of pie apples for example). This will rarely cost much at all if you choose your recipe wisely, as some or even all of the ingredients will be found in your own pantry. Things like sugar and flour can be measured out and presented in cellaphane bags (around 10 cents each from craft stores and handmade confectionary supply shops). In fact, you can replace the terracotta pot with a pie plate for this idea, especially if you come across one with the recipe on it, and you often find these in secondhand shops for next to nothing.
A quiche flan would look great filled with the eggs (preferably free range!), herbs and other ingredients required to make Quiche Lorraine, or how about a fancy shaped cake tin filled with cake ingredients and a recipe? These items can often be bought on sale very inexpensively, or you can scour the second hand shops; you just need to be constantly on the lookout for interesting things to spark off an idea.
Picture frames are another great gift idea, and the liquidation shops are the place to buy them at the right price. At my local liquidation shop (also known as "crazy bargain" shops or variety stores), they sell a standard 7" x 5" varnished timber frame for $3. These are available in larger sizes also, at more cost but still inexpensive. If you pull the frame apart by removing the backing board, you can take out the glass, which can then be discarded or saved for future projects as it isn't needed for this one. Take the backing board and give it a coat of your favorite colour paint, as it is now the background of your frame. Once dry, it is ready to have any decorative object adhered to it for a three dimensional effect, which brings me to my next favorite item: Plaster of Paris.
A bag of this plaster will set you back around $3, which will provide you with enough plaster for many gifts. The next thing to get hold of is a chocolate mould (but not one that will be used for anything other than the plaster). These are around $2-$5, depending on the durability (some are heavy duty for candle wax etc), but once you have them you can use them repeatedly. I chose a chocolate mould of cherubs such as those for making Valentines Day chocolates.
First, rub a little cooking oil into the mould shape, then mix the desired amount of plaster with enough water to achieve the required consistency (not runny but not too hard to pour). Spoon the plaster into the moulds and leave to set, usually half an hour is plenty. Tap the mould gently on the benchtop to loosen the shapes and carefully turn out. The shapes can then be given colour and once dry, adhered to the backing board with PVA, before carefully reassembling the frame. As mine was an angel picture, I chose gold for the plaster cherub and for the frame, and dark green for the background, giving a very elegant look. A beach theme works well too, with a shell or starfish plaster shape (shell chocolate moulds are very common) and a blue and yellow colour scheme.
If your plaster shape doesn't fill the frame space adequately, you may like to add some journalling with a gold pen if your background is dark, or a small paintbrush and your contrasting colour. The journalling may include the occasion and date (eg Merry Christmas 1999)or the "to and from", or even a little verse if space allows. The ideas and different looks for these frames are endless and only limited by your imagination (and available chocolate moulds!) I found it worthwhile to invest in around 10 different moulds (and some have multiple shapes), so I have them on hand if something pops up and there are so many uses for the plaster shapes made with them. For example, I also use the angel shapes for Xmas tree decorations by painting them gold and glueing to a craftwood coaster (50 cents at craft shops) that I have painted dark green or red. Drill a small hole at the top and tie some ribbon to hang. Write the year in gold pen and it can even be a small gift for a nieghbour or such.
As you can see, gift giving does not have to be spoiled by the cost. If we adjust our thinking a little, and learn to invent ways to embellish inexpensive objects, we can have very frugal but stylish gifts for all of our family and friends. If you are really determined, do what I do: collect all year around things when they are reduced like frames, moulds, ribbons, terracotta pots, cellaphane, soaps (look great in a pot with some bath oils) etc. Take a corner or old cupboard in your home to store it all and before you know it you will have a treasure trove of ready to make gifts that you will give with love, because they didn't cost you the earth.
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