Christmas gifts - homemade ideas

[kristadb]

Going to wrap a few cups into a plastic party bag for workmates.

Maple Nut Granola

6 cups oatmeal
1 cup Cream of Wheat
1/4 cup whole flaxseeds
1/4 cup ground flax
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
2 cups prunes, chopped
1/4 cup coconut
1.5 cup almonds
1 cup walnuts
3/4 cup cashews
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup maple syrup

Mix well. Baked at 225F for 1 hr, stirring a few times. Store in the fridge for prolonged use.

[delicious]

Sounds good, but you can't digest whole flax, can you?

[kristadb]

Sounds good, but you can't digest whole flax, can you?

Fibre, dear, fibre.

[CharityAJO]

You just poop it out. But you can eat it all you like.

If I gave out granola for Christmas presents, I'd really be the crunchy hippie everyone already thinks I am. :)


I was thinking of making quilts for some of my close family members: Getting fabric at the thrift store, and digging up the sewing machine.

[kristadb]

I have some hippies at work - they get the granola :D

[Gracie]

I think granola is a great gift! Last year, I made a HUGE batch of granola (probably 2 or 3 gallon bags full) to give to my partner's parents. Her dad keeps a handful of it in his pocket when he goes walking (yeah, it's strange, I know.)

I buy Gingerbread Syrup from Starbuck's and use that for my sweetener. Yum! And right after Christmas, you can get the syrup for half price. I always stock up for the next year.

[glamboy]

Right, so i think the number of hit lists I am on would grow if I gave out granola. I have been making purses for the lady friends (and the odd gay ones) and designing new shirts for my guy friends.
*GB

[rvijay]

Search at:

http://frugalliving.about.com for Christmas Presents that you can make on your own/are frugal.

Vijay

[Marie]

One year someone gave me a really nice homemade salt type scrub in a pretty jar.. I'm not sure what it was exactly but it made my skin extra soft. Another year she gave me some homemade soap. It smelled nice.

[Gracie]

Oh, I know a salt scrub recipe! Use equal parts coarse sea salt, epsom salts, and sweet almond oil (or jojoba oil, if you'd rather.) Add essential oils for fragrance, package in pretty jars. So easy, so luxurious.

Some people like to use olive oil, but you'll want to use plenty of fragrance to cover that olivey smell.

[rincaro]

Some of our neighbors are gonna get sweets platters - buckeyes, chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles, haystacks.

[Kreeli]

this year i'm going with making vegan candies and chocolates: candied pecans, chocolate cranberry bonbons, chocolate pb cups, peppermint bark, and peanut brittle.

i'm also decorating some glass ornaments and vases, personalizing them, like.

[Kreeli]

ps - krista, i did up huge amounts of homemade granola for my friends and family a couple of years ago and it was a big hit.

[kristadb]

Oooo thanks Kreeli! I had to banish my bf from my kitchen, as he started eating the granola :no: Bad man Bad man :whip:

[808veggie]

one of my cherry pies....I'm making yet another one right now :drool: I'll be making a blueberry pie for xmas

[spehlbaund]

dammit I wish I could cook :'(
I don't celebrate holidays really.. I read someone gives out sock puppets, I love that idea they make me laugh :)

[Bobsy]

I've just made the inner bag for a rice heat pad for my bf's nan -- she gets a bad achy back and I thought this would be nice for her. I put some lavender flowers and rose petals in with the rice to counteract the ricey smell. I'm still designing the cover. :) http://www.quilt.com/MiscQuilting/RiceBags.html

I'm also making some dream pillows like someone (rabid_child?) suggested in another thread. I'm going to put together 'sleep kits' for a couple of family members - dream pillows, fleecy lap blankets (fleece fabric edged with a blanket stitch), slipper socks, cute PJs, and maybe some worry dolls or something or relaxing lavender smellies. :) I got some cheap wicker baskets on ebay, and some tissue paper, so they should look nice all wrapped up.

I'd love to make some quillows, but I don't know if I have the time (I don't have a sewing machine so everything's hand-sewn!). http://www.straw.com/quilting/articles/quillows.html

[kristadb]

^^ is crafty!

[rabid_child]

Bobsy -- don't think it was me, but I post half asleep sometimes, so I'm not saying it wasn't. LOL

Anywho...
I'm making assorted sock monkeys for people. They're the perfect gift. :D I bet they'd be good for a microwave heat wrap too if I filled them with rice. They'd just be really heavy though!!
I also make lots and lots of cookies!! I was thinking of starting that this weekend, but I'm feeling kind of crappy (emotionally) and am not so much in the holiday cookie baking spirit. :\
I've made an assortment of magnets out of those glass floral beads and I'm giving a set of chicken magnets to my friend who is obsessed with chickens. (She has a cat named Chicken. haha! She's veg too tho, so she doesn't eat them.)

[ceryna]

I need to get started on the dream pillows that I'm going to make...especially because I don't have a sewing machine, so I'll have to do everything by hand.

I'm also going to cleanse and charge the dream pillows with positive energy, so I want to finish them in time to do that.

[rabid_child]

I need to get started on the dream pillows that I'm going to make...especially because I don't have a sewing machine, so I'll have to do everything by hand.


I don't have a sewing machine either. If I had a place to put one, it'd definitely be on my wish list. Maybe when I buy myself a house, then I'll get one. (And I'm going to build myself a dollhouse too!!) It would make my work SO MUCH faster, and I'd do a lot more sewing too cause I enjoy it but it gets so tedious by hand.

[MezzoEmi]

I need to get started on the dream pillows that I'm going to make...especially because I don't have a sewing machine, so I'll have to do everything by hand.

I'm also going to cleanse and charge the dream pillows with positive energy, so I want to finish them in time to do that.

*_* Woah, that's freaking awesome. I want one.

[bethanie]

It is ridiculously easy to make earrings if you have a bead store in your area and even the least little bit of creativity. And fabulously cheap.

I made earrings for ALL the women on my list last year, and often have the honor of seeing my homemade gifts worn.

B

[MezzoEmi]

How long did that take, bethanie? I'd love to do homemade gifts, but I'm a really busy (*COUGHCOUGH* LAZY *COUGHCOUGH*) person.

[Jags]

um... whats a dream pillow? and how do you make one? it sounds really cool!