As part of my strategy to focus on small gifts to make Christmas shopping easier and cheaper, I’m compiling the ultimate lists of gifts for under $20. So far, I’ve suggested ideas for bags for him and her and gifts for bookworms. Now let’s take a look at gifts that take a little more work but are perhaps the best bargain in terms of their value.

Homemade gifts are great because they can be highly personalized and the effort you make shows.

Make sure to plan ahead though; homemade goodies can take a lot more time than shopping and can often be just as expensive if you’re not careful.

Here’s how to exercise your creativity, give some personalized gifts, and save yourself a bit of money as well!

Let your hobbies guide you

While I’m all for trying new things, it’s generally not a good idea to try out a brand new hobby when making gifts unless you have a lot of time and the money to make mistakes. If in doubt, keep it simple and stick to proven talents. In fact, looking to your hobbies can be a great source of inspiration.

If you’re a gardener, consider repotting some nice plants in decorative pots like these three pots with rose decoration ($13.95).

Are you talented musically? Check out my post on how to give the gift of your musical talent on my other blog, Sax Appeal.

Yummy treats

If you like to bake, homemade cookies are great for those of us who don’t plan on dieting this holiday season. Of course, if someone has any dietary restrictions, it’s best to respect them. If you can work with those restrictions (e.g. making sugar-free cookies for those with diabetes), then they will be even more appreciative of the gift.

Don’t forget the importance of presentation. Simple round cookies are easy to buy at the store, but how about cookies in favorite shapes like mittens ($6.95) or snowflakes ($12.74)! Also, a Ziploc bag full of cookies just doesn’t have the same effect as one in a lovely glass jar ($9.99) with a ribbon tied around it. Sure, it costs more, but what a difference! Plus, they’re likely to reuse the jar for other things. It’s two gifts in one!

Tasty info

As the saying goes, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” If you have kids that will be leaving the nest soon, or maybe just a great collection of recipes, why not fill in a recipe binder ($12.89)! Remember, you don’t have to make everything from scratch for it to be special. Even if you’re not much of a cook, you can fill up a take-out menu organizer ($14.95). It’s a great gift for people who are new to the area.

Try your hand at jewelry

Love pretty jewelry? Make your own; it doesn’t take a lot to get started. This 5-piece jewelry making tool set is just $6.99. You can get 10 sterling silver French earring hooks for $2.75 and 50 sterling silver head pins for just $6.99. Then you just have to choose which dazzling Swarovski crystals or gorgeous gemstones you want to use to make a pair of lovely earrings. Some of my favorite gemstones include: amethyst, malachite, rose quartz, goldstone and jasper.

Scrapbooks: The best gifts of all?

If you need to give a significant gift and have more time than money, it’s hard to beat a carefully-prepared scrapbook. A scrapbook can celebrate a special occasion, a person’s life, a relationship, or any other memories likely to be treasured by the receiver. Scrapbooking can become an addictive and expensive hobby, but one doesn’t need to get too fussy (remember: it’s about the memories, not how many doo-dads you can put on a page).

The major expense will probably be the album itself. This scrapbook album ($16.99) is 12×12, available in four colors, and includes 20 top loading page protectors and heavy page inserts. If that’s not enough, you can add more pages to a total of 300. It also has a memo pocket page.

Then for just $1.39 a piece, you can get Word Fetti sticker pages on a variety of topics like travel, childhood, and “girl talk”. These stickers with words and phrases will add color, save you a lot of time messing with fonts on the computer, and may even provide some inspiration.

There are far too many great homemade gift ideas, but I’d love to hear what your favorite homemade gifts are — especially ones that you’ve made or received.

Not much of a do-it-yourself-er? There

You might also like...

Cheap gift ideas: Wallets for him & her
As part of my strategy to focus on small gifts to make...

Cheap gift ideas: For the traveler
As part of my strategy to focus on small gifts to make...

Cheap gift ideas: For the tea drinkers
As part of my strategy to focus on small gifts to make...

Cheap gift ideas: For music lovers
As part of my strategy to focus on small gifts to make...

Cheap gift ideas: For pet lovers
As part of my strategy to focus on small gifts to make...