Last Minute Christmas Gifts

Last Minute Christmas Gifts ~ Episode 483

hat do you do for that hard to buy for person? How about some great last minute Christmas gifts? Over the years I have a list of great things to help you without much planning or spending lots of money!

I have found that personal gifts are difficult to buy but my best buying tip is to think about things they may enjoy eating. One year we gave away mason jars filled with ingredients to make cookies. Layered looks nice, but baggies are more practical especially when mixing the ingredients. What about homemade bread? You can buy tiny loaf pans you can bake in that are festive and perfect for gifts. It is always fun to receive something that is personal

Have you checked out the calendar lately? Is it time to freak out? What do you do for that hard to buy for person? Don’t worry, I’ll share some things you can have on hand for the times you need something quick!

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Here are some other shows you may enjoy:

Best Christmas Ever

Christmas Memories

Last Minute Christmas Prep

Christmas Countdown

I love giving gifts. I love to give gifts that have value but are not ridiculously expensive. It depends on your individual budget, but many times we give gifts based on what we want to give rather than on what the person wants.

Last Minute Christmas Gifts …The key to giving gifts is threefold:

1. Know the person
2. Have a budget
3. Listen

This is great for your individual family and some of you have special traditions. You may have a special way you handle gifts within your own family. My daughter’s family (a household with eight children ranging in age from sixteen to three) select a name to gift one other person among the children. Another friend with a large family purchased large, plastic Christmas storage bags and filled it with wrapped gifts for each of her children. There was no scrambling to find gifts under the tree. She kept her gifts to under twenty dollars. Another friend purchased each child and Christmas ornament for each year. When they were adults, they took these with them. It was a wonderful keepsake.

Last Minute Christmas Gifts: Take a Trip!

Perhaps you take a trip instead of giving each other gifts. This is something I think that adults enjoy more than kids. If you do something like this, perhaps consider sharing a few inexpensive items with each other that are meaningful on Christmas. Having something on hand for gift-giving is not always possible, especially if you have a budget. But I promise these ideas won’t break the bank. I know we all love to purchase personal gifts but that isn’t always possible.

Here are some suggestions for inexpensive last-minute Christmas gifts:

1. Think about storage if you are short on space. Under the bed in a flat storage bin is one idea.
2. My favorite isles are the discount isles in stores such as Hobby Lobby. I picked up about ten nice kites for several dollars each. These are stored there until I needed them. I can also pick up craft books and art books at discounts.
3. Gift cards are great, and while impersonal, they are enjoyed by most. If you are on a budget you may consider restaurant gift cards. You can get them in smaller increments. Buy ones that have two or three restaurants on the card. By having these on hand you will be ready in case a friend “unexpectedly” brings over a gift and you have nothing in return. I have other ideas upcoming. I would buy gift cards to my family’s favorite restaurants and often you get a free $10 card or more with a larger purchase. You can use the gift card to pay for your meal and then gift the smaller increment.
4. Once again depending on how you celebrate the gift exchange, you may want to keep an ongoing list of age-appropriate gifts handy. Over the years our list has grown but crowd favorites are roller blades for the teen and under set, airsoft for the fifteen and older sets, and Rubik’s cube for eight and older. (Tell Mike’s story)
5. Some families like to give one main present and then have some filler gifts. For example, a pair of roller blades and the filler gifts are pads, a helmet, and a homemade gift card to the roller rink with a note that they can redeem to bring a friend after the holiday.

Last Minute Christmas Gifts Include:

For Kids:

1. A book on how to make paper airplanes with a small pack of colored heavyweight papers.
2. A craft or drawing book with a small gift card for supplies.
3. Watercolor pencils and a pad of blank paper
4. Yarn crafts: including yarn
5. Gift cards
6. Christmas Ornaments
7. Slingshot
8. Rubik’s cube (a crowd favorite)
9. Origami book and paper
10. Binoculars

For Adults

1. Plants
2. Decorative towels
3. Recipes: recipe card and cheap card holder that you decorate
4. Cutting boards
5. Gift cards
6. Christmas ornaments
7. Framed family pictures.
8. Homemade trail mix in a decorative mason jar.
9. Homemade bread such as pumpkin (you can bake these and freeze them).
10. Re-gift (be sure you write down the name of the person who gave you the gift!)

On Hand Gifts

Smaller gifts that I have on hand (when my children were little and now for the grandkids) are as follows:

1. Parachutes: family favorite and nice ones are about six dollars for three and made of cloth instead of plastic. (Kid favorite!)
2. Airplanes – These are the quick kind you can put together and fly
3. Glow sticks. Evening gift
4. Bubbles
5. Cracker Barrel novelty items such as puzzles and games.

One more last-minute favorite gift idea especially for people who are difficult to buy is a gift of food. Most people enjoy eating, so food is a favorite. One year we gave away mason jars filled with ingredients to make cookies. Layered looks nice, but baggies are more practical especially when mixing the ingredients. What about homemade bread? You can buy tiny loaf pans you can bake in that are festive and perfect for gifts. There are many ready-made mixes that you can make at home as well if baking is not your thing. It is always fun to receive something that is personal and has some extra thought behind it.

Well, there you have it! Gift ideas that won’t break the bank and will help you with those who are hard to buy for. Keeping to a budget this time of year may be difficult, but putting thought behind a gift, even if it is not lavish is what is important.

Have a blessed Christmas and I pray these ideas are helpful!

The post Last Minute Christmas Gifts appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

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