Our Blog : 60 Days of Gift Ideas

1 Day Until Christmas - Share Some Family Recipes


Gift idea: Favorite family recipes 

Makes a good gift for: Good last minute gift for someone who likes to cook or bake

I think most people have a secret stash of recipes – whether they be in their head or on paper – that are worth sharing. I am not necessarily talking about the secret family recipe for chocolate chip cookies or meatloaf, but more day-to-day recipes that can work for a weeknight dinner, and maybe a couple more special occasion recipes. Why not type up some recipes, print them out on index cards or card stock and put together a little bundle of recipes or a little family cookbook? If you want to do a little more, you could head to the grocery store and pick up any of the more rare ingredients (like special spices or herbs), a couple cute dish-towels, an apron or cooking utensils and make a little gift-basket.

2 Days Until Christmas - A Cozy Christmas Light Tour!


 

Gift idea: a cozy tour of Christmas lights in your neighborhood

Makes a good gift for: Anyone!

 

If you are like me, then you LOVE Christmas lights. I love every evening when the lights switch on (ours are on a timer) and seeing them shimmer and flash through the windows. I love bundling up and taking the dog out for a walk and oohing and aahing at the great lights in our neighborhood.

A fun last-minute and very low-cost gift would be to take a Christmas-light lover like me on a cozy tour of the best lights in the area. You should scope out a couple neighborhoods a few nights before and take notes as to where the best places are. Then arrange (or surprise) your guest of honor with a tour - complete with a travel mug of hot cocoa or hot cider, and of course some Christmas music! You could wrap up the evening by stopping somewhere to get a slice of pie, or maybe a milkshake. Sounds like a fun night to me!


3 Days Until Christmas - Homemade Craft Projects


Gift idea: DIY Crafts 

Makes a good gift for: Good last minute gift for family members

Every Christmas when I was a kid, my mom would get me some kind of craft to do during Christmas break. There were a few years where it was decorating ornaments that were then given away to family members as Christmas gifts. As I got older, I enjoyed helping my grandmother decorate her Christmas tree and seeing the ornaments I had made as a kid go up on her tree, year after year.

Below are a couple of fun crafts that you should have all the necessary ingredients for either on-hand already, or be able to easily acquire at the grocery store. I think all of these would make a great last-minute gift, and some of them would also be a great holiday-time craft to do with any little ones that might be hanging around!

Make your own salt dough ornaments – another fun activity to do with kids and makes a great gift for all the family members! 


Ingredients needed: 
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1.5 cups warm water
Paint and decorations for the ornaments 

For instructions, see thehappyhousewife.com
Make your own gardener’s hand scrub – great gift for a gardener or mechanic, or just someone who needs a little pampering. 

Ingredients needed: 
Sugar 
Dawn dish soap with Olay Beauty Hand Renewal (this is what the blogger used, but I bet this would work with any kind of dish soap) 
Jars to put the hand scrub in 

For instructions, see onegoodthingbyjilee.com









Make your own play dough – a fun gift to make for kids, and a fun activity to do with kids. 

Ingredients needed: 
Flour 
Salt 
Water 
Vegetable oil 
Cream of tarter 
Food coloring 
Containers to store/give the play dough in 

For instructions, see anartnest.squarespace.com


















Homemade finger paints – another fun gift to make for little ones – and totally non-toxic! 

Ingredients needed: 
Sugar 
Salt 
Corn starch 
Water 
Food coloring 
Jars for storing/giving the paint in 

For instructions, see theberry.com




4 More Days Until Christmas - Gift Cards and Then Some


Some last minute Christmas Gift/DIY Gift Ideas will be coming your way from now until Christmas.

Gift idea: Gift cards, and then some

Makes a good gift for: Anyone – good last minute gift

Christmas is fast approaching, and as time runs out sometimes we remember that we totally forgot to get someone something. That feeling has to be one of the worst. And as Christmas gets closer, it can get harder to find certain items, and also just more hectic to go out in to the masses of last minute shoppers.

These ideas don’t have to be just for last-minute gifts, though. A well-planned gift card or other type of gift certificate can go over very well. All of these ideas will also fit in a Twelve Days of Christmas Box, and can be a great way to pack a punch into a little box!


Gift Cards: as I said above, these don’t have to be a last minute thing you pick up at the checkout counter at the grocery store. It seems like pretty much every store has gift cards these days, and so do movie theaters, restaurants and amazon.com.









Magazine subscriptions: Every year I get Jonathon a gift subscription to Harpers Magazine. Its only $10, and it lasts all year! Lots of magazines have deals these days where if you buy one subscription you can get a second free, or very cheap – so you could always do magazine subscriptions for multiple people, or treat yourself!





Lottery tickets/scratchers: Just swing by a 7-11 or other corner-store to pick up some fun chances at winning. And just imagine how excited the recipient will be if they win!








Event tickets: Do you know someone who loves a certain sports team, comedian, artist or play? Search the web to see if they are playing nearby and buy a couple tickets. Giving the gift of an experience like this can be a lot of fun.








Homemade I.O.U.: Maybe someone on your list really likes your homemade lasagna or loves the way you grill a steak – why not write up an I.O.U. for that special homemade dinner or treat for the recipient to redeem whenever they want? You could also do a more elaborate gift and have a whole weekend itinerary planned, or maybe have a certificate redeemable for a full house cleaning?


5 Days Until Christmas - A Nice Clean Christmas


Gift idea: Soap 

Makes a good gift for: Anyone – stocking stuffers, Twelve Days of Christmas gifts

Soap might sound like a crappy Christmas present – akin to getting socks from your grandma (although, for the record, I love getting socks and my mom usually gets me some every year). But soap is one of those things that comes in all shapes and scents, and if you look hard enough (I don’t think I need to plug Etsy again, but if I do, then there you go) you can find soap that is somehow personal for almost anyone. And I doubt I am speaking for myself alone when I say that I don’t buy nice soap for myself – just my standard Dove bar soap for the shower.

Below are some nice soaps I found online, but you by no means have to stick to the internet for soap – check out your local drugstore, Target or even the mall for stores like L’Occitaine, The Body Shop, etc.

Small cherry-blossom scented soap:

Fun Christmas coal-shaped soap:
Coal-shaped soap on Etsy - two for $7.50



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