As the gift giving season approaches, you may wonder how to stretch your budget to give friends and family meaningful gifts. Many teens and young adults are in the same boat. Most in this age group do not earn a high salary and need to choose gifts carefully and creatively. Here are gift ideas to match a tight budget.
Beautiful Jewelry for the Budget-Conscious
For the special women in your life, consider tasteful, yet inexpensive jewelry. Silver charm bracelets, pendants and necklaces look stunning with many outfits yet cost far less than gold. Cubic Zirconia rings and necklaces look just like diamonds or other precious gemstones to the naked eye, yet cost very little.
If you enjoy crafts, you may wish to create your own necklaces using beads and beading supplies. Whether you buy the jewelry or create it yourself, it makes a thoughtful gift.
Creative Picture Frames
Nearly everyone uses picture frames to hang photos of loved ones. You can make a frame special by customizing it. Craft stores often carry wood frames that are ready to paint. You can choose the colors and use stencils to add designs. Children’s puzzle pieces or colorful buttons glued to the wood turns a boring frame into a cute one for kids’ photos.
Homemade Bath and Beauty Products
With the right ingredients, you can make homemade bath and beauty products simply and inexpensively. You will need to buy glass jars to hold the finished products, ribbons to decorate the jars, sea salt and or Epsom salts, essential oil, sugar, glycerin to create bath additives and sugar scrubs. The internet is full of recipes for these bath and beauty products – you should be able to find one that matches your preference regarding scent and appearance.
Homemade Treats
Chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate covered peanuts and holiday cookies are among the treats you can easily make at home. Choose your recipes and then buy all of your supplies. You will need wax paper, baking sheets and small containers to place the finished treats in when you are done. You can easily take care of most people on your list this way. For diabetics or others on special diets, look for sugar-free recipes.
Creating Cards
A holiday card can double as a gift if you turn it into a piece of art. You can buy plain card stock to paint and decorate at home – alternatively, you can visit a customizing shop online and create cards online, using your own photos or digital artwork.