Oily Rag: Make or bake festive gifts

Baking Christmas treats can give a gift something extra

Another year is about to come to an end, which means oily rag households will be busy planning for the special day. Fortunately, the community has sent through lots of ideas about low-cost gift giving to make Christmas frugal without taking out the fun.

Here is a selection:

LM from Paraparaumu writes; "A lot of my Xmas gifts came from dollar stores. No one needs to know the price. I bought men's and women's perfume for only $6. It is well worth the time and money when you are on very tight budget."

MD from Auckland says, "We have decided this is the best way to go: I have made beach bags for my granddaughters. Cost nothing as I have material scraps at home. As they are teenagers, I have included an inexpensive hair brush, lipstick, hair grips and mascara. One granddaughter has made an apron for mum, painted a picture for dad and hand-made pressies for her friends at school. I do all the Christmas baking including the cake, mince pies, truffles, and stuffed dates.

The girls bake biscuits for the neighbours."

A Wellington reader writes; "I have recently been trawling galas, garage sales and op shops for Christmas pressies for the kids. You can buy fantastic gifts at very reasonable prices. I have bought all my nieces and nephews puzzles and games of their favourite cartoon characters for 20c each and they are still in almost new condition. My nieces are also getting jewellery boxes that were less than 50c each and my son is getting a huge box of Lego we found for $5. I can't believe how little we have spent so far and the fantastic toys and gifts the kids are getting this year. Have also saved some presents for birthdays, too!"

A reader from Whangarei writes; "I save up the rewards on my credit card and only redeem them at Xmas time. So far I have saved about $300 worth. I use them to buy vouchers so the recipient can use them in the Boxing Day sales. It's a win-win."

M G from Hastings says; "Our wider family decided to limit Christmas gifts to a few dollars per person. That way nobody is disappointed when they don't get anything flash.

So what can you give for a few dollars?

Photos with a message printed across them, from digital machines.

Photo frame, bought or home-made.

Plants grown from seed or cuttings.

Home-made biscuits, cakes, drinks, etc

Personalised pens made by printing names (or something more imaginative) on stickers in a small font. Also make a pen holder to go with them.

Glue giveaway fridge magnets to the back of a small notepad, maybe attach a photo or calendar to the top to personalise it. You now have a handy shopping list to keep on the fridge.

A family favourite is chocolate. Look for a mould that has about a dozen deep individual shapes. Slowly melt chocolate in the microwave to coat the sides of the shapes. When they have set fill with a cold ganache, made by heating 100ml of cream and dissolving and stirring 100g of chocolate into it. This mixture can then be flavoured with peanut butter, liqueurs or honey.

Kids love to get a plastic glass full of lollies or lolly kebabs. Make healthy variations on this.

Lots of families have a "make or bake Christmas" -- only exchanging gifts made or baked by the giver. Start making now -- pottery, a painting, a calendar featuring family photos, or print a photo annual (the best photos for 2014 for example), make a family recipe book featuring each person's favourite recipes, or record your favourite children's book digitally and send to others to enjoy the story and your narration.

Another favourite is a kids-only Christmas -- a good way to take the pressure off buying for picky adults and keep things simple and frugal.

Check out the online sale site offering all sorts of cut-price things -- just google "great deals" or something to that effect and see what appears. Grabone is a popular daily deal site with a minimum of 50 per cent off.

Please send in your favourite tips for frugal gifts so we can share them with others.

If you have a favourite recipe or oily rag tip that works well for your family, send it to us at www.oilyrag.co.nz, or by writing to Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag, PO Box 984, Whangarei, and we will relay it to the readers of this column.