Christmas is literally days away people, DAYS! You may have checked off all the kid’s Christmas gift wishes, but what about their teachers? The neighbors? Hostess for the party you go to on Christmas Eve? Your boss? Your husband’s boss (you know your hubby didn’t remember!)? I don’t know about you, but every year we get someone knocking on our door with a box of chocolate or poinsettia, wishing us a Merry Christmas, and I’ve got nothing to give other than a big, warm hug and thank you. Which mind you, totally suffices. However, I vowed not to let that happen to me this year. I wanted to have a few gifts on hand in case such an occurrence was to happen again! Here’s a few easy and thrifty gift ideas that may come in handy this season, no matter the situation.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I love mason jars, and they make great gift containers around the holidays. Here’s a few fun ways to use them- dump the ingredients for hot chocolate or chocolate chip cookies into one. Even if you “gift on hand” doesn’t get handed out, you can use it for yourself!
Scrabble Coasters! These are fun and very easy to make. Pair it with a bottle of wine,or wrap them into a set of four, and you’ve got yourself a great gift. Here’s the full DIY on a previous blog post of mine. To see it live click here.
I recently did a blog post on wax transfers that I applied onto garden pots. This would be a great holiday gift. Grab a cute pot at Thrift Town, find a holiday inspired graphic, insert a poinsettia or mini Christmas tree and you’ve got a very heartfelt gift! Click here to see how to do these.
DIY Chicken Wire Frame. This is super easy, and makes a great gift. Take a thrifted frame and use a staple gun to attach chicken wire to the back of it. Makes for a great place to pin up reminder notes, pictures or inspirational quotes. I actually use mine for my kid’s chores! You can make one on a much smaller scale, or instead of chicken wire, chalkboard paint the glass front of the frame.
Last, but not the least, create a book journal using parts of a thrifted book. These are a little more intensive as far as prep goes, but make for a very meaningful gift. I actually keep a few of these on-hand all the time and make great birthday and teacher gifts. Click here for the full DIY on the project. You can use children’s books for moms to be, or cook book inspired ones for people who enjoy cooking.
Hope these ideas help! Happy holidays and happy thrifting!
Gina Doglione-Nielsen is featured every week on Good Day Sacramento’s Thrifty Thursdays, and owns GNJ Consulting which handles Public, Social, and Media Relations for Thrift Town Stores. Gina lives in Northern California with her amazing husband Josh, and is constantly on the go with three “very active” and “strong personality” bambinos; aka Team Nielsen, and loves every minute of it.