by Jamie Maggio

Created on: December 05, 2008

CHRISTMAS GIFTS UNDER TEN DOLLARS

This idea started at work for me a few years ago. Each of us would draw a name and could only spend ten dollars on a gift. What does ten dollars buy these days? Perhaps, you might buy a generic gift card at some well known store? To me, that seemed like taking the easy and non-personal way out. So, I went to different stores, craft shops, and even supermarkets to see what I could come up with. These are a few of my ideas.

(1) Pillowcase or pillow embroidered with a special quote or saying. A friend of mine actually gave me this idea. I went to her home and noticed that each of her pillows had a quote. I asked her why she did this and she said it made her more peaceful to read these quotes at night before bed. The quotes can be made specific for the person you are gifting or random if you don't know them very well. I choose a few Shakespearean quotes for the Shakespeare lover that I knew. He loved the gifts and his wife enjoyed going to bed with "Romeo and Juliet" on her mind.

(2) Photo Collage: I came home for Christmas break from college one year and knew I didn't have the funds to buy fancy Christmas gifts. So, I improvised. While my mother was off at work I took out every old photo album. I managed to scan old photos into the computer, print them out, and cut them to size. I found a very cheap frame at a dollar store that was lovely. It was huge and in the shape of a tree. I put my mother and father's pictures at the top and on the branches were all her children in different phases of growing up. She had tears in her eyes as she opened this gift and it has a cherished place on her mantle.

(3) Jar Gifts: These are becoming ever popular and they are sold at stores. You've seen them. They are filled with cocoa, tea, soups, and other sundries. But, I decided to make my own for friends. I got a box of mason jars, some cocoa, powdered sugar, marshmallows, and cookie baking supplies. Each jar was layered according to the ingredients and aesthetic feel. Once the jars were layered I printed off cute little recipe cards as the gift tag and put it on a ribbon. The ribbon was tied around each jar into a big red bow. These gifts were instant hits because they were easy to personalize. The tea lover got a jasmine tea kit. The cookie lover got chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe and the ingredients in a jar. These gifts might come to five dollars a person if you go all out and wrap them in beautiful colored cellophane. They are inexpensive,

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