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Are you looking for beautiful, frugal gifts for less than $15? You have come to the right place!!
All of these 18 lovely gifts are easy and inexpensive to make, so you can afford to be generous to everyone without overspending on your budget!
The best way to enjoy Christmas to the fullest is to plan out your holiday spending and stick to that plan, so you don’t have to spend a couple of months of the new year trying to catch up on the bills.
So, how do you stick to a Christmas spending plan and where do you start?
I hear you.
Enter homemade gifts. Homemade gifts are the best way to cut down on excessive holiday spending and are fun to make. Giving should be from the heart and not based on how much the price tag said.
Photo credit: contributions by Purdue Avenue, Around My Family Table, See Vanessa Craft, As Cute as a Bug's Ear, and A Proverbs 31 Wife. Used with permission.
I collaborated with several amazing bloggers and these gifts ideas are amazing!!
You will find
- Spa kits and creams.
- Hot chocolate on a stick, holiday baked goods mix in a jar, and homemade vanilla.
- Simple and tasteful decorating ideas, cinnamon ornaments, gift card holders, a wreath and place settings.
- Kid-made gifts, notepads and teraniums.
- Adorable snowman illuminaries.
- Constellation flashlight (with printables)
- Personalized silhouettes.
- Lovely frosted glass mugs.
- Bird seed suet mugs.
- Sweet hair bows.
All the gifts are broken down into categories of how much they cost to make, $15, $10, and $5! Who says Christmas presents need to be expensive??
Make all of these fabulous gifts, or just a few, and you will look like you spent quite a bit more money than you actually did, which will be a huge relief on your budget!!
Let's get started!! Up first, the gifts less than $15!! Just click the Read More button.
I loved making Christmas gifts, and often did because I didn't have much money. However as I started buying more gifts due to not much time to make things, I would overspend my budget every time, be super stressed out, and not have any joy in giving.
So this year, I decided to go back to homemade gifts in an effort to save money.
To give you (and me) some ideas on what to make for Christmas, I have collected some awesome gifts ideas and they are all less than $15 per gift, with most being less than $5 each!
You can mass produce all of these and be generous with all the people you want (or need) to give a gift, without spending much money at all.
Gifts less than $15
Photo credit by 60-thenew40. Used with permission.
Hand Moisturizer
During the winter, it is so easy for hands to get dry and rough! Kathleen has an awesome solution to make homemade moisturizer suitable for both men and women. The recipe makes two jars of moisturizer for about $14 and there are free, printable, ingredient gift cards to attach to your gift. Supplies
- Coconut Oil (where to buy)
- Hazelnut Oil (where to buy)
- Frankincense essential oil
- Beeswax (where to buy)
- Vitamin E
- Two attractive jars
These are perfect for anyone whose skin needs a little TLC or likes to be pampered!
Hazelnut Oil Organic Expeller Pressed 4 Oz
100% Organic Yellow Beeswax Pellets 1lb (16 oz) Premium Quality, Cosmetic Grade, Triple Filtered Bees Wax Pastilles Great for DIY Lip Balm Recipes Body Creams Lotions Deodorants By Mary Tylor NaturalsViva Labs The Finest Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, 16 OunceAura Cacia Frankincense Essential Oil 0.5 oz
Photo credit by Rubbish Redeemed. Used with permission.
Boxwood Wreath
Do you know someone who likes to decorate? This simple boxwood wreath by RubbishRedeemed is a great gift and can easily bring a touch of the holiday spirit to a room.
You can easily add lights or small ornaments to it as well for more of a festive look and for $12, you can have a gorgeous, reusable wreath without spending a lot of money, especially if you use coupons at your local craft store.
Supplies
- Grapevine (where to buy)
- Leaves
- Floral wire or glue gun (where to buy)
12 IN. GRAPEVINE WREATHSVastar Hot Glue Gun with 30 Pieces Melt Glue Sticks Melting Adhesive Glue Gun Kit for DIY Small Craft and Quick Repairs in Home & Office, 20 WattRURALITY 16 Ft -2 Artificial Ivy Silk Fake Vines Hanging Wedding Garland ,Grape Leaves,Pack of 2
Up next, check out these amazing gifts for less than $10!
4 Beautiful Handmade Gifts for less than $10!!
Oh my gosh! These snowmen illuminaries are so cute! Talk about a great gift and one you can use multiple times. A Proverbs 31 Wife has a great tutorial with step by step instructions to make three illuminaries for less than $10. I am thinking small illuminaries for either a Christmas party favor or a sweet gift for all your friends! Supplies
- Blue spray paint (where to buy)
- Paint
- Dinner glasses or a small vase
- Sponge pouncer (where to buy)
- Glitter Glue (where to buy)
Rust-Oleum 249120 Painter's Touch Multi Purpose Spray Paint, 12-Ounce, Brilliant Blue6 Color Glitter Glue Set (6.7oz - 200 ml Bottles) Classic Colors - Green, Gold, Red, Silver, Blue, and PurpleTulip Sponge Pouncers 9pk
Photo credit by See Vanessa Craft. Used with permission.
DIY Hot Chocolate on a Stick
Yum! Who wouldn't go for a fancy cup of hot chocolate? Especially when you have a festive hot chocolate on a stick ready to be stirred into warm milk?
See Vanessa Craft has a step by step tutorial with some awesome pictures. The supplies for the hot chocolate on a stick are less than $10, but makes quite a few gifts.
Note: I made hot chocolate on a stick one year, but used regular ice cube trays. It was a disaster! Buy the silicon trays and your life will be much easier!
Supplies
- Silicon ice cube trays (where to buy)
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Cocoa powder
- Peppermint candies
- Connfectioner's sugar
- Sticks (where to buy)
Perfect Stix Wooden Craft/Ice Cream Sticks, 4-1/2DecoBros 3 Pack Silicone Cube Ice Tray (2 Orange / 1 Blue)Ghirardelli Chocolate Unsweetened Cocoa Pouch, 8 Ounce
Photo credit by A Proverbs 31 Wife. Used with permission.
Bird Suet Feeder Mug
For the bird lover in your life, the perfect gift is a bird suet feeder mug!
How cozy it would be to set up this mug outside and watch the birds throughout the winter! What a thoughtful gift this would be for someone who is home bound. A Proverbs 31 Wife made several of these mugs for less than $10 and has a full tutorial on her site.
Supplies
Check out thrift or dollar stores for beautiful inexpensive mugs.
Photo credit by Purdue Avenue. Used with permission.
Frosted Monogram Mugs
Frosted monogram mugs are a beautiful, personalized gift for someone who has everything! Purdue Avenue has some great tips on making these mugs dishwasher safe! The price per mug ranges from $6-$8 depending on which way you make it. Supplies
- Etching cream (where to buy)
- or
- Frosted Glass spray (where to buy)
- Mugs (where to buy)
- Contact paper
- Exacto knife
Aren't they lovely? I think I should make some for my own kitchen!
Rust-Oleum 1903830 Frosted Glass 11-Ounce Spray, Frosted GlassArmour Etch Cream, 10-OunceX-ACTO #2 Knife With Safety CapLibbey Drinking Jar with Handle, 16 -Ounce, Set of 12
All of the $5 (and under) gifts are on the next page!!
Hi! I’m Charissa. I’m on a mission to help hardworking women overcome money struggles and gain financial peace with a Biblical perspective so they can have the freedom to impact their families and communities. Ready to make some changes that will impact your finances in 2020? Click here to get a free worksheet to help you make it happen!
Thanks so much for the featuring my projects!! It was such a great post – so many inspiring ideas!!
Erin, Thank you so much for contributing to this project! I loved the constellation flashlight idea!
Fun! I love the hot chocolate sticks!
Talk about gourmet hot chocolate and they are fun to use! Thanks for stopping by Alexandra.
What great ideas! Thanks so much for including our projects. I really love the constellation flash light idea. I think I’m going to do that for my little one and my nieces and nephews this year to go along with their matching pajamas. Have fun!
Angi, I’m glad you liked the ideas! I had so much fun seeing all the different ideas which were contributed. I’m thinking about making the constellation flashlight for my niece as well. Love the matching pajamas ideas! Thank you for submitting a couple as well especially the amazing spa gift basket!
Thank you so much for featuring my moisturizer. This is a very helpful and interesting post, great ideas collection. I am thinking I will make the terrariums for some young ones I want gifts for.
Excellent Charissa,
Kathleen
Thank you Kathleen for submitting your moisturizer! I love homemade lotions, they make my skin feel great! I will have to try your recipe. There are a lot of fun ideas to choose from for gifts.
I’m making notes of several gift ideas that will work great for me to make this year. I know these ideas will save me money this year! Thanks for the inspiration!
Awesome! I am thrilled these ideas will be useful to you as you save money over Christmas!
I really like the terrarium idea! My father-in-law loves plants and has a great green thumb. I think he would love to receive a little succulent with bright colored sand or gravel. They have cacti and plants all over their home, so I bet they would love that as a gift from our son!
Hi Jenn, isn’t the terrarium a great idea? And how much fun for your son to make it and give the gift! Thanks for stopping by!
This is a great list! Those frosted monogramed mugs are beautiful! Thanks for sharing on the Small Victories Sunday Linkup!
Thank you Heather! I love the frosted mugs too and want to make them for myself.
Wow…these are all such cute gifts! I love the snowman luminary and the hot chocolate on a stick! Thanks so much for joining us at Share The Wealth Sunday and I hope you’ll come back again for an all new party!
xoxo
Lisa
There are so many creative ideas for cute gifts and you don’t always have to spend a lot of money. Thanks for stopping by Lisa!
Now is the time to start the vanilla project. 10 months is the perfect length of time to let the beans soak. Also Easter is coming up so be on the lookout for cute baskets on sale that can be used for gift baskets at Christmas. A couple of jars of jam in a basket lined with a vintage doily or napkin, and a glass bowl and jam spoon is fun. I only make freezer jam but it is so easy anybody can do it. I look for the jam bowl and doilies at garage sales. If you make a list now you can be on the lookout for things on sale like cute jars at harvest time. Put it on your calendar so you don’t miss the sales.
I love your ideas Winnie! It is always such a treat to get homemade jam as a gift. Thank you for sharing the ideas about when to stock on on cute baskets and jars.