Celebrations...Stocking the Gift Cupboard from $1 a piece...

 

If you're a smart cookie, you start thinking about Christmas in about...well...January.

 

Having lived through too many Novembers and Decembers of stressful overspending, and equally as many Januarys and Februarys of regret, I've learned the hard way to plan early.

 

And of course, Christmas is not the only time we buy gifts. There's Birthdays, Anniversaries, Christenings, and Thankyous as well.

 

So it just makes sense to get an early start as far as I am concerned.

 

Are you the crafty type?

 

If you are, then it makes sense to hit the sales whenever you can afford to. Post festivity sales, be they Christmas, Easter, St Patricks, National holidays or whatever, are THE time to buy what you need for that holiday next time round. Not the week before that holiday! Not if you're the clever type :)

 

Now this approach still requires careful planning. Don't go at it like a bull at a gate and expect to be able to use it all. Look at your strengths and where your talents lie. There is no point in buying card making supplies if you're not into card making. Nor miles and miles of festive printed wrap if, like me, you're a butchers paper and satin ribbon, or brown paper and twine kinda person. Each has it's charm, that's for sure. But stay true to self. Yes your gifts should be tailored to the recipient, but they should also be a reflection of who you are as the giver.

 

Now if that sounds like twaddle to you, let me put it to you this way. I have spent years cultivating a persona of gifting food and carefully crafted home made gifts. Those gifts include things like chocolate mud cake cubes wrapped in Easter Foil, Coconut Ice which is sort of like a coconut fudge, but in black and white and presented rather more Chanel-esque than the traditional pink and white, home made Limoncello and Onion Confit, home made jams and chutneys, French themed gifts that reflect the hobbies of the recipient, hand stitched velvet or plush cushions and throws, bottles of wine snuggled into lavish fur or frilled bottle bags, pillow cases luxuriously trimmed with lace and embroidery, and Comfort Baskets.

 

This slab of Coconut Ice, presented Chanel style, cost me about $1, and was one of my most enthusiastically received gifts ever.

 

 

This did not happen overnight. It took me about ten years to gravitate graciously away from store bought gifts, and learn how to present my home made gifts in such a way that my friends and family didn't think I was just being a cheapskate. I made some mistakes, but these days I'm pretty savvy. It's a case of practising making one thing, until you've perfected it, and then finding a way to wrap it so that it reflects you as the maker.

 

More on this idea in an upcoming post over the next few days.

 

I will provide the recipe for the Chanel-esque Coconut Ice at that time, because for today, I want to chat with you about how to source inexpensive gifts online.

 

So you're NOT crafty

 

I often hear people say that they're not very crafty, nor can they sew, cook, knit or crochet. Well I guess that's a fair comment. Although, we were all in that position at one time, and we all started somewhere, so perhaps in the long term, it's worth finding a new hobby!

 

But here's an alternative if you're really cash and time strapped, that still yields very lovely gifts for under $5.

 

Using eBay to source gifts

 

A search on eBay will yield literally thousands of potential gifts from about $1 a piece. Yeah, yeah, you knew that, right? But don't just buy 20 of the same thing for $1 each, wrap them in a bit of tinsel, and expect people to be impressed. They won't be. Put some love and thought and planning into it.

 

For example, I recently had to purchase Thank You gifts for some Mums who had helped with costume making for my daughters school. Now this can become an expensive exercise when you have 10 people involved. Even at $10 each, which doesn't get you much of a thankyou, you're spending $100. So I was looking for a way to say thanks, without relieving my wallet of $100+.

 

I'd done some research (always another good strategy) by looking in the haberdashery store for suitable stitching gifts, and had seen the cute Eiffel Tower Embroidery scissors for anything from $7-$15, depending upon who was selling them. I decided that a pair of scissors, a little pouch in which to house them, and perhaps a coin purse with a coffee gift card would be appropriate. By retail standards, that's a gift that would be priced at between $18 (a very conservative estimate) and $35.

 

I wanted to base my gifts on the antique luxury sewing kits I'd admired on Pinterest. Like this one.

 

 

And that's where eBay came to my rescue.

 

I found these very stylish zippered pouches (note the coloured holographic zippers!) for $1 each. Free postage. Seriously. And they're large enough to accommodate a smart phone too!

 

You can find them here.

 

I searched for the Eiffel Tower embroidery scissors and yep, they were there too. And they weren't $15, nor were they $7. They were just $3.39, and you could choose a colour! I chose Rose Gold. I think these are particularly lovely.

 

You can find them here.

 

 

Finally I wanted a sequinned coin purse. Well these are Dance Mums remember. We Dance Mums never say no to a sequin!

 

I sourced these at a fabulous price of just $1.29 each.

 

You can see them here.

 

 

I've since ordered some silver toned thimbles to add which I found here. No pic of those yet as they are still in transit!

 

To finish, I'm making some bead based needle threaders like this one. I was amazed at the fact that almost none of the ladies had seen a needle threader before, so I know these will be appreciated! I'm still sourcing the materials for these but in reality, I can't see them costing more than a few cents to make.

 

 

These will all be swathed in lush velvet squares (a remnant sourced for $2 will yield more than enough), and nestled inside the zippered pouches, to echo the antique sewing kit I pictured above.

 

3 steps to clever gift sourcing

 

I suggest that you use these three steps to start your clever (and frugal!) gift buying strategy.

 

1. Consider the recipient and their tastes, hobbies and passions. Note throughout the year, if someone specifically mentions an item, or lack thereof (like the needle threaders!), and see if you can find a way to source that item inexpensively and/or ingeniously.

 

2. Note the packaging of the item you want to replicate. Packaging and presentation makes a huge difference to how your gifts are received. Try to echo that idea somehow, as I have with the velvet squares to house my needle threaders.

 

3. Use online sources, discount stores and post seasonal sales, to find what you need to replicate your gift idea, always keeping a total spend per gift in mind.

 

 

 

For just over $6 each, I've managed to create these gorgeous little sewing kits, each one in a colour to that suits the taste of the person to whom I am gifting it.

 

Thimbles and hand crafted Needle Threaders are to be added in toning colours, but I'm happy with both the amount of time and money I've spent, and know that these will be an appreciated and well loved gift.   I'll be packaging these in the French Script paper you see in the background of these photographs, which is one of my signature wraps. That's important too. Find a way to present your gifts so that the presentation is uniquely you.   You can find a downloadable French Script paper here, or do as I do, and create your own. I use butchers paper and a fat marker pen, and just write all over it in big loopy writing.   Start NOW for your online sourced gift buying. Don't leave it till October or November, because often these items take 5-6 weeks to reach you. That's why the 'postage' is free!   Have fun, and let me know how you go.   ...Mimi...