Monday, October 22, 2012

A Very Cheap-o Christmas

There is a commonly expressed misconception that I hear all the time when people find out how many kids I have. It goes something like this, "How many kids do you have?" I answer, "I have 4." They respond, "Whoa! You're Christmas' must be really really expensive!" I'll briefly address my problem with this notion that our children need to get 81575642 gifts at Christmas and we need to break the bank to get the biggest and the best. What happened to quality instead of quantity? What happened to teaching appreciation instead of entitlement? What happened to the TRUE meaning of the season??? End rant, back to the topic at hand. In answer to the question: "is your Christmas really expensive?" I exclaim, "NAY!" (ok maybe I don't yell "nay" in the middle of the check out line at Jewel but you know what I mean.)

So why is Christmas not that expensive for me when I have so many people to buy for (because lets face it, its not just the kids. Its grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles too)? The answer is simple: DIY. I have found that the best way to save money, and really the most heartfelt gifts are DIY gifts. So for the next several weeks until the week before Christmas I will be posting some of my crafty Christmas creations. 

Just a couple things to consider when you go to make your Christmas DIY list:

1. Consider the recipient- You can find the cutest, easiest, most inexpensive beer mug makeover tutorial, but if the person you are giving it to doesn't drink beer it won't mean diddly. 

2. Consider the budget- The worst mistake you can make is to set a budget and then not stick to it. Trust me, I know this is hard. I am the person who walks into the Dollar Store for 3 items and ends up spending $20! 

3. Remember... QUALITY not QUANTITY- Focus on only making a couple of crafts per person. The more you make, the more you end up rushing, and the less cute/crafty/legit the item will look. 

4. Some things are better left un-crafted- Please, PLEASE, I admonish you. No-one needs a hand crocheted bikini, a coaster set of pictures of your dead pet, or pe**s shaped soap.

I would absolutely love for you to share your DIY Christmas ideas! I'm always on the hunt for inspiration! Also, be on the look out for my first DIY Christmas project this year! I'm working on it now and its PREEEETTTTY fantastical! 
Posted by at

2 comments:

  1. RockinMama8486October 22, 2012 at 6:24 PM

    When I was a broke college student, my parents and grandparents got a glass ornament that I made. I would buy the cheap 50 cent, clear, glass bulb ornaments from Michael's. Then, I'd buy 2 colors of glass paint. I liked to do red and white or blue and white (think candy canes and snow). Then I'd squeeze a little bit of each of the 2 colors into the ornament. I'd swirl it around and place the bulb upside-down in the plastic container it came in to dry. After it was dry, I'd take a gold or silver paint marker and write the year on the outside of it. I'd pop the little metal topper thingy back on, and tie a pretty ribbon through the hole. Va-la!


    Last year I did this, and then took acrylic paint, put Jenna's hand in it, and put a hand print on the outside.

    ReplyDelete
  2. LaurenOctober 24, 2012 at 10:04 PM

    Another super easy and fancy looking ornament idea - we did this last year for teacher gifts - glass ornaments and clearance ribbons...cut a suuuuuuper long strand of ribbon and let the children funnel it into the ornament. Snap the top back on and then they can decorate with rhinestone stickers. Lots of colors and lots of options!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)