Budget homemade gift people go WOW over?

[maggiew]

Look at page 2 as well- I really think they are pretty. I told my DH we need to go the store and find some wine or something in a pretty bottle or two, and go home and get tipsy and make these. You know, he thought it was a great idea too when I put it that way

I saw in the CVS ad this week that Belvedere Vodka is on sale for $29.99. It made me think of this thread because the bottle is so pretty!

http://www.belvederevodka.com/

Maggie

 

[Sinderelly]

I feel that way about eating at or anything from people that have cats--I have seen cats on the counter that they prepare food on in peoples homes and that so totally grosses me out!!!!

I agree with you. I can't imagine eating food that was prepared where cats walk. (after using the littler box)

 

[maggiew]

For those who asked, here is the orange-chocolate truffle recipe:

Filling:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 T heavy cream
4 1 oz. squares semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 T orange juice concentrate
1 tsp. grated orange zest

Coating:
4 1 oz. squares semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 T vegetable oil

In a medium saucepan, bring butter and cream to a boil over medium high heat. Remove from heat. Add chocolate, orange juice concentrate and orange peel; stir until melted and smooth. Pour truffle mixture into a shallow bowl. Chill until firm, about 2 hours.

Line 2 baking sheets with waxed paper. Shape chilled truffle mixture by rounded teaspoons into small balls. Place on prepared baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

In the top of a double boiler set of simmering (not boiling) water, heat chocolate and oil, stilling until melted and smooth. Transfer chocolate mixture to a bowl. Cool completely.

Drop truffles into melted chocolate mixture. Using 2 forks, lift out truffles tapping gently on side of bowl to allow excess coating to drip off. Return truffles to baking sheets lined with waxed paper, and chill until set.

Some of those oreo truffles would be nice to go along with these! You could make a box of assorted truffles!

Maggie

 

[MinnieLove]

Yum..thanks!

Sounds like a great recipe. How many truffles does one batch make. Something different for a cookie exchange!

 

[maggiew]

Here is what I give to my coworkers and neighbors. They have all been to my house, so they know it is clean with no pets. I hope they don't throw these in the trash because it takes a lot of time and also money for the ingredients.

Maggie

 

[beansmom]

There's a slight difference between a work of art in stained glass made for a particular person because you know she likes parrots, and jamming a string of lights in a used wine bottle. And I doubt the stained glass was all that inexpensive to make.

all i know is...i sure hope some of you aren't people i know personally. Some of these remarks are quite snarky and my mama told me to always say something nice...even if the baby is really ugly.

I guess we all have our own tastes and styles...I like my used wine bottle with lights 'jammed' in it but wouldn't have a Tiffany lamp in my home. one man's trash in my treasure.

 

[brendaziz]

My boss gave a clear glass ornament that she had put potpurri into. She took the little metal thingy off the top (that has the loop for the ornament hook), filled the clear glass ornament with a Christmasy potpurri...she tried to find one with a lot of colored stuff in it...and then replaced the metal thingy.

I thought it wass a lovely gift, I still have it and I hang it on the tree every year, invariably next to some lights and it has not exploded or caught fire yet.

this reminds me of an ornament that I have that hangs year round on my china cabinet. I bought a clear plastic ornament after my wedding and filled it with the flowers from my bouquet It was a really nice way to save them

 

[Cruise]

this reminds me of an ornament that I have that hangs year round on my china cabinet. I bought a clear plastic ornament after my wedding and filled it with the flowers from my bouquet It was a really nice way to save them

Wow, what a really great idea. I'm going to start giving fillable ornaments to brides I know. What a lovely keepsake. I wish I'd done that!

 

[Shleedogg]

I'm glad you'd rather I not buy you anything because if I ever found out you had that attitude about my gifts, I wouldn't be buying you anything.

Good thing we don't know each other . Honestly, I would rather just not exchange presents with a lot of people. I have felt terrible for years that my aunt (who is not in a good place financially) spends money on me on useless things that I have no place for. I've suggested many times that we not exchange presents, but she insists.

I'll say it again. I'm not ungrateful at the thought, but some of the suggestions, "dust-catchers", seem unthoughtful as some of the PPs have stated. Almost every other gift suggestion made in this thread I have thought was a great idea.

To the PP that suggested homemade soap. Do you have a link to a recipe? I found one that said to let the soap cure for 3-4 weeks. That's barely enough time before Christmas. I'd love to try this, but not sure if I have enough time now.

 

[Robinrs]

ok...seriously...what happened to the act of giving at Christmas? I feel like I have read so many threads on here about people who just cannot handle tacky gifts, or able to downsize their Christmas because their family deserves a great Christmas. Yes, you will get gifts you just will not want to display, but did it ever occur that someone out there is thinking of you at Christmas? And what about those people who have no money and still scraped together some money for supplies to make Christmas gifts this year?

Sorry - its just becoming infuriating. If someone is actually thinking of you at Christmas to get you a gift, no matter how tacky, just be thankful! There are so many people out there who get nothing! Again, sorry! It is just so hard when you work in an environment where you see neglect, and poverty, and the lack of anything that people have that you see people complaining about GETTTING gifts!

To the OP, I think anything that you give, is wonderful! As for a homemade gift, I give cookies in a jar. Look up allrecipes.com and search for cowboy cookies. They taste wonderful and look great. It costs about $4/jar (depending on the cost of the jar).

Sorry again for the rant....

Thanks ... good Lord I have visions of SNL's church lady reading some of these posts . What a bunch of anal ungrateful people on these boards. Karma is a nasty thing but I'm glad it exists.

 

[lukenick1]

I make hand made Christmas gifts for friends. Here's one for a neighbor who has parrots. Never occurred to me she may view it as a "dust catcher" .

Those are gorgeous!

 

[KelliLee702]

Subscribing.

 

[chellewashere]

First I just to need to say. I would NEVER turn down home made goodies from folks...I may not like all varieties of cookies, but my husband or DD would love to eat them. Not to worried about cat hair or dog hair or anything like that just would love to get some cookies, brownies and fudge!!
Next my favorite gift came from my SIL. She made me a fleece blanket that is very simple just two piees of fleece with the ends cut and tied together. Let me tell you that thing goes everywhere with me. I use it all the time and I love that thing more than most items I have gotten from my DH and all the items I may have ever received from the inlaws.

 

[Cruise]

To the PP that suggested homemade soap. Do you have a link to a recipe? I found one that said to let the soap cure for 3-4 weeks. That's barely enough time before Christmas. I'd love to try this, but not sure if I have enough time now.

That would be cold process soap and, in addition to the curing time, can take a bit of practice to get right. You can end up making a batch, having it cure and then realizing it's not so great.

If you'd like to do something a little more simple for Christmas and to get a feel for soapmaking, I highly suggest starting with melt and pour soap base. There are all kinds of things you can add to it. You can add just fragrance or color for something really simple. Or you can research what certain essential oils benefit different skin conditions and go from there. To this day, the only soap that keeps my skin clear is one I make from a simple melt and pour base and add different essentials oils and kaolin clay to... it ain't pretty, but it works!

I also highly suggest http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/ I'm not affiliated with them in any way, just a satisfied customer. There's also great sections with recipes that include the melt and pour bases. Michael's also sells some bases and a few essential oils if you wanted to pick up some supplies locally.

Good luck!

 

[dixonismydog]

That would be cold process soap and, in addition to the curing time, can take a bit of practice to get right. You can end up making a batch, having it cure and then realizing it's not so great.

If you'd like to do something a little more simple for Christmas and to get a feel for soapmaking, I highly suggest starting with melt and pour soap base. There are all kinds of things you can add to it. You can add just fragrance or color for something really simple. Or you can research what certain essential oils benefit different skin conditions and go from there. To this day, the only soap that keeps my skin clear is one I make from a simple melt and pour base and add different essentials oils and kaolin clay to... it ain't pretty, but it works!

I also highly suggest http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/ I'm not affiliated with them in any way, just a satisfied customer. There's also great sections with recipes that include the melt and pour bases. Michael's also sells some bases and a few essential oils if you wanted to pick up some supplies locally.

Good luck!

Sounds like you are a soap expert! Which is just what I need, if I may hijack for just a moment....sorry OP! DD11 has been wanting to make soap for ages. I bought her a kit last year but it was too kiddish. So, we want to make some of the "goldfish bags" and the rubber ducky, in the muffin tin type soaps. And really any clear soap, that she can stick little "items" into. What type of soap do I need and what is usually the curing time?

 

[Cruise]

Sounds like you are a soap expert! Which is just what I need, if I may hijack for just a moment....sorry OP! DD11 has been wanting to make soap for ages. I bought her a kit last year but it was too kiddish. So, we want to make some of the "goldfish bags" and the rubber ducky, in the muffin tin type soaps. And really any clear soap, that she can stick little "items" into. What type of soap do I need and what is usually the curing time?

The melt and pour soap base is perfect for this. The best thing to use for soaps that you're putting things in is the Crystal Clear soap base. It's really good about staying clear through the process though you will want to pour slowly to avoid air bubbles and such. It's really simple to work with. You can melt it using a double boiler method, but honestly, I just cut it up into cubes and stick it into my huge Pampered Chef glass mixing bowl and zap it in the microwave. You need to do it in intervals and stir in between... kind of like melting chocolate.

That website also has a video on embedding things into soap like this at: http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/VideoPlayer.aspx?VideoName=Melt_Pour_Soap_Embedding Included is a cute demonstration for the rubber ducky that shows you how to do easy "bubbles" for the bath he's taking.

Again, not associated with the site in any way, I just found them to be a great resource for information when I was getting started. There are also forums there where you can post questions, etc.

As far as curing time goes, the melt and pour only needs to stay in the mold long enough to set up solid - a few hours - and then I unmold it and leave it on a paper towel on the counter overnight. With the goldfish in a bag soaps, just leave the bag top overnight before closing up with ribbon or whatever you're using.

Good luck! I find making cute melt and pour soaps like this loads of fun

 

[aprilgail2]

Next my favorite gift came from my SIL. She made me a fleece blanket that is very simple just two piees of fleece with the ends cut and tied together. Let me tell you that thing goes everywhere with me. I use it all the time and I love that thing more than most items I have gotten from my DH and all the items I may have ever received from the inlaws.

We had our girl scouts do those one year when they were little- they had a blast making those-very easy for little kids to make.

 

[Shleedogg]

That would be cold process soap and, in addition to the curing time, can take a bit of practice to get right. You can end up making a batch, having it cure and then realizing it's not so great.

If you'd like to do something a little more simple for Christmas and to get a feel for soapmaking, I highly suggest starting with melt and pour soap base. There are all kinds of things you can add to it. You can add just fragrance or color for something really simple. Or you can research what certain essential oils benefit different skin conditions and go from there. To this day, the only soap that keeps my skin clear is one I make from a simple melt and pour base and add different essentials oils and kaolin clay to... it ain't pretty, but it works!

I also highly suggest http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/ I'm not affiliated with them in any way, just a satisfied customer. There's also great sections with recipes that include the melt and pour bases. Michael's also sells some bases and a few essential oils if you wanted to pick up some supplies locally.

Good luck!

Thank you, thank you!!!

 

[chellewashere]

We had our girl scouts do those one year when they were little- they had a blast making those-very easy for little kids to make.

I love these things. It goes everywhere with me. Washes up easy. And boy is it warm. I have had it for 5 years now and its great.

 

[Petals & Pixie Dust]

Here is what I give to my coworkers and neighbors. They have all been to my house, so they know it is clean with no pets. I hope they don't throw these in the trash because it takes a lot of time and also money for the ingredients.

Maggie

I'll take some of the sugar cookies...the peanut butter kiss cookies and the bar things...YUMMY!!! Now this is a gift I appreciate b/c I am either too busy or too lazy to bake all of these!!!