Lighthouse Beams

Christmas is coming and if you are like us the stress of what to do for everyone is upon me. I was asked what we have done in the past to help keep the the expense down, but enjoy it all.

Several years ago we quit getting presents for everyone on my side of the family. Instead we decided to get gifts for the grandkids of the family and just enjoy watching them open their gifts. This helped out a lot!

What are some of the things that we have done? First off, my kids learned from the very start that Santa Claus was for fun and the true meaning was all about the birth of Jesus. This really helped because gifts don’t depend on whether or not they were good or bad and they also know it us giving the gifts.

Quilt I made my Mother for Christmas a couple of years ago.

Here are some of the items that we have done over the years.

• Have a sewing machine? Use it! I have made pot holders, quilts, clothes for both boys and girls, pillows, slippers, etc.
• Rug making (this can be done by hand). Buy 3 towels (I love mixing colors); cut them into 3″ wide and sew the ends together until you have 3 long pieces of material. Sew the three pieces together at the top and then fold the edges into the middle of each strand and then into half. Now you are ready to start braiding them. Braid them all the way to the end and sew the ends together. You can make the rug into any shape you want. Make sure to use heavy thread to sew the rug into shape. I sewed them tightly so that they would hold up to washing them later.
• Make wreaths. Dollar Tree has some neat wire wreaths and they have nice flowers and ribbon. You can make them as complicated as you want. Make them for the kids room, too.
• Like to cook? Make a basket with goodies in it.
  • Cookies
  • Candy
  • Suckers
  • Bread
• Gift in a jar? You can get cute jars from Dollar Tree and then put the makings of your favorite brownies, cookies, cake, etc into it. Layer the ingredients into the jar.
• Movie baskets.  Make a basket with things that would be able to use on a movie night. Most of the items can be bought at your Dollar Tree.
  • Movie/gift certificate to rent 1 or more movie
  • Pop corn
  • Pop corn box
  • chocolates
  • candy mints
  • let your imagination run
• Homemade Beauty items. Make homemade bath bombs, chapstick, bath salts, etc. You can find all sorts of recipes on Pinterest.
• Make personalized coasters. Buy ceramic tiles any color. I purchased ours at the local Habitat Thrift Store. You can either buy Hodge
  

  Shirts I made for my son.

  Podge or make your own out of white glue. We have done some with the initials on them for the family and some with pictures. Which ever you want is fine. Print the initials or pictures off and then wipe the tiles off so they are grime free. Put a coating of glue on and then carefully put the picture on. Make sure that there are no bubbles. Then coat it with the glue again. I usually put 5+ coats on before it is over with. Depending on the humidity, it will take at least 1-2 hours to dry enough to put the next coat on.

• Decoupage picture. You can do basically the same technique for this except use a piece of wood instead of tile. Walmart sells some nice piece that you can get for a decent price.
• Initial pictures. Last year I bought initials at Walmart and then took pictures of the family and decoupaged them. I then put the letters on a wood that looked like a fence and put flowers and decorated them into a pretty wall hanging.
• Put together craft baskets.
• Make personalized shirts. Buy tee shirts or long sleeved shirts, could even do hoodies. Then find graphics that go along with the person and buy iron on paper and print them off. My son loves them!

These are just a few things we have done over the years to help and keep the gift still filled with love but not real expensive.

Don’t let the gift giving stress you out. This is the season for remembering the Babe of Bethleham. We may not have much, but remember we have each other and that is the best gift anyway.

Blessings to you as you prepare for Christmas.

hsmom3

I'm the wife of my best friend that God gave to me over 20+ years ago. We have been blessed with 3 children, James (by adoption); Abigail & Milton (special needs child) and our service dog, Suzy. I have been blessed to be able to homeschool since 1997 and be the co-director with my husband, Michael, of the state wide Christian homeschool organization, MATCH since 1999. God has blessed us abundantly.