’tis the season! If you are struggling to find frugal gifts for everyone on your list then keep on reading.
Theme
Pick a theme and use that to create gift baskets for everyone – whether it’s for families, couples, or single friends – gift baskets always work.
Our theme for this year is QUALITY TIME WITH FAMILY.
Budget
Determine your total budget for ALL the gifts for EVERYONE! Yes, I said ALL and EVERYONE.
Budgeting for the entire gift-giving amount will keep you frugal. It also allows you to be creative with what you are giving, to stretch out your budget.
We try to save about 5-10% of our budget for the “missed” people – trust me, there’s always that one straggler that didn’t make it on your extensive “complete” list. LOL
Be Creative
Flex that creativity muscle to figure out what you can include in your gift baskets.
For our baskets, we put in mug cake and hot chocolate mixes for the couples to enjoy. We included mugs of course! For the mugs, I tried to find ones that are not too Christmassy, so that it can be used year-round.
We also added a box of chocolates in the gift basket for the entire family to enjoy.
Instead of using commercially available cards, I made a personalized one on Canva. This makes your baskets feel more personal and well thought of.
You can print your designs on cardstock. In my case, I printed it on simple copy paper but held it in a clear frame from the dollar store. (I’ve had these frames for so long, I am actually trying to get rid of them. LOL)
For families with kids, we included DIY STEAM Activity Kits for Kids. I made these myself.
Each child will receive:
- Christmas Slime Making Kit,
- DIY Hand Sanitizer Kit,
- Chromatography Kit,
- Crystal Christmas Ornament Making Kit, and
- “Do you wanna build a snowman?” kit.
- (I may also add a Light Up Wand kit and a “Do you wanna build a reindeer?” kit. We shall see!)
For couples with no kids, we opted to add a couple of packs of microwavable popcorn and some popcorn shakers – great for some Netflix & chill.
Cost Breakdown
Here is the cost breakdown for our gift baskets.
Family Gift Basket Cost Breakdown
- Mugs $6
- Hot Chocolate Box Mix $2.77
- Mug Cakes Box Mix $2.97
- Chocolate Box $4
- Plastic bag $0.6
- Total = $16.34 (excluding GST and the DIY STEAM kits)
Couples Gift Basket Cost Breakdown
- Mugs $6
- Hot Chocolate Box Mix $2.77
- Mug Cakes Box Mix $2.97
- Chocolate Box $4
- Plastic bag $0.6
- Popcorn bin $0.6
- Microwavable Popcorn $1.47
- Popcorn Shaker $2.5
- Total = $20.91 (excluding GST)
Notes on Cost
When making the gift baskets, I kept in mind the materials I had on hand that can be used.
- Basket or Tray and Ribbon – free, I used what we already had, will probably cost you about $2 to $3 per basket when buying new from the dollar store
- Personalized message – designed in Canva, printed at home, on paper we already had.
- Clear frames – free, I already had and was actually trying to get rid of. 😉 Would normally cost $1.25 at Dollartree.
It may seem that the family gift baskets have less value. However, there are a lot of STEAM activity kits included in it that have costs attached to making them as well. (Although DIY-ing them is definitely cheaper than buying from the store!)
All prices are from Walmart – because that’s where we usually shop. (This post is not sponsored.)
I hope you enjoy making a frugal Christmas Gift basket! Let your creativity soar and stay within budget.
I love the100 Frugal Gift ideas in this post..I just discovered loom knitting character hats and scarf to match an easy project for children to learn which keeps them warm during the winter.Michaels Stores in my area accept knitted items they donate to people after box is full.