3  | 

I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon!

For a toddler, a box is a great gift.

A recent study said that the most popular gift this year will be gift cards. Really? Are we now so lacking in creativity that we are unable to think up a gift that a family member might like? Or is it that we are too afraid to risk offering up a gift that the receiver might not like?

Let's just ditch that fear, shall we? I'm a big fan of homemade gifts. If it's a gift that the giver actually put work into, I tend to cherish it more than anything else. The value doesn't matter - knowing that labor went into it makes it all the more special. And I like giving homemade gifts, too. They're usually cheaper than buying some pre-packaged gift basket, and show a lot more thought than a gift card.

So what kinds of gifts can you make at home? It depends on the personality of your recipients, and on your own talents. Now, don't start saying you have no talents - we're all good at something. Here are some of the gifts I've made for Christmas and Hanukkah in past years.

Scarves
If you have any ability to knit or crochet, a scarf makes a great gift for anyone in the northern half of the US and all of Canada. Even if you can't knit, scarves are probably the easiest project out there, so buying a kit or a how-to book might be all you need to get started. Here's my best advice to you: don't buy your yarn at a discount store. Check the yellow pages and find a good yarn store, and ask their opinion for what yarn to buy and have them point you to a quick and easy pattern. Buy something soft, or maybe some fun fur yarn for the more adventurous recipient on your list. Washable is always a plus, too. And if you get bored making scarves, you can always move on to hats.

Blankets
This no-sew project is so simple you can get the kids involved:

1. Buy two large pieces of fleece, cut to the length you want for the blanket or throw.
   
2. Lay one piece on top of the other so that all four sides line up.
   
3. For each side, cut fringe that is two inches wide and four inches deep.
   
4. Once the fringe is cut on all four sides, tie each strip on the top piece of fabric to the matching strip on the bottom with two knots each. This joins the two fabric pieces together, and creates a pretty blanket or throw.

Chocolate
For fans of homemade food, here is the recipe for chocolate peppermint bark that was a huge hit last year:

1. Buy some good dark chocolate, either in bars or chips. Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate, and add in roughly 1 tsp of peppermint extract per bar of chocolate.
   
2. Stir well, and then pour it out onto a cookie sheet lined in parchment paper. You want it to be about 1/4" thick.
   
3. At this point, you can do one of two things - either add crushed peppermint candies sprinkled on top, or melt a small amount of white chocolate (the microwave works fine) and drizzle over the top.
   
4. Let the chocolate cool and harden overnight, and then break into chunks. Put it in pretty tins, add a ribbon, and you have a tasty gift!

Photo Books
These are great grandparent gifts. Get a pretty photo album and fill it with pictures of your kids from the last year. Every so often in the album, in place of a picture, insert a drawing from the kids, a poem about being a grandparent, or if your children are older, have them write a letter to their grandparents. Younger kids can add stickers to pictures, too. Your recipients will love looking at the pictures and showing them off to friends. (And if you're like me, you won't have to deal with the nagging about how you never give them pictures of the kids.)

These are just a few of the quick and easy homemade gifts I've made in the past. Each gift was very well received, and I enjoyed putting the work into each of them. If I can make gifts like these, anyone can.

What homemade gifts have you made?