Has this past season’s holiday shopping left you with only pennies and dimes? If so, we are very much in the same boat. Hopefully, unlike me, you are lucky and will be done with shopping for at least some time. But, if you aren’t, here are a few tips on giving your loved ones great gifts that fit in the budget even after the holiday season has drained your pockets.
Not only are alternatives to what you might typically buy at the mall nicer on your wallet, but they can also be a great way to be more thoughtful in your gift-giving! Especially for those friends who have birthdays after Christmas and would benefit from a little extra sentimentality after receiving most of their birthday gifts in conjunction with Christmas’s bounty. If you’re looking for thoughtful, creative, and budget-friendly gift ideas for all different types of gift-givers and receivers, look no further!
The Thrifter
For the thrifting girlies, the possibilities are limitless, but here are some ideas for things to look out for at your local Goodwill or Savers:
- The Trinket: Anything from a little box to a strange something that only a thrift store could hold (for example, a porcelain wall hook in the shape of a cow head), this is perfect for your friends who love adding personality into a space, and whose vibes are full of eclectic warmth.
- The Sweater: This is a great option for your favorite cozy people, and can end up being a part of their closets for years. Thrift stores have endless amounts of high-quality cashmere, wool, and natural fiber sweaters for a reasonable price, and this, coupled with their timelessness, makes them an amazing gift option. If you don’t know the exact size of the person you are gifting them to, no worries! An oversized sweater never goes out of style.
- The Book: There is an insane amount of beautiful, hardcover books floating around in second-hand stores across the world, so why not make use of them for your favorite bookworm? Spend a few minutes reading the first few pages, the back cover, or reviews online, or get lucky and stumble across a title on their TBR… either way, as a book lover myself, these are some of my favorite gifts to receive. If you need a more specific title, I always like looking on Thriftbooks, just make sure to account for the shipping time. If you want to be even more sentimental, give the book a read and annotate where it reminds you of the person you’re giving it to!Â
The Crafter
For those of you who can knit, crochet, hot glue, whittle, and sculpt, first of all, you are fabulous! And secondly, here are a few ideas:
- The Scarf: For the knitters and crocheters, unless you live in Florida, this is something that anyone in your life will enjoy. Stalk their Pinterest, pick a color and a style, and go for it! Use it as an excuse to not only make something for someone you love but also try a new stitch or style,b because who said gifting can’t be fun?Â
- The Pottery: Along the lines of the trinket, this is perfect for anyone who always seems to need a new place to store something, a catch-all tray, a ring dish, or a box to store some fun collection of sea glass or shells. The gift of pottery can come in many different forms; a new mug, a ramen bowl, wall art, or some kind of silly inside joke of a statue, but it can always cover something someone needs!Â
- The Photo: One of my favorite gifts to give is a framed photo. This can take many forms, a simple picture in a frame, a cool scrapbook-style art piece with scraps of meaningful memories from your life together, or a photobook even, something anyone you love would be happy to receive.Â
The Artist
For the artistically talented, here are a few ways to channel that creativity into a thoughtful something that your loved ones will cherish for years to come:
- The Card Deck: A personalized card deck is exactly what your favorite BS lover or poker fan needs this holiday. Whether you customize each face of the card, or just paint or draw something on the back of them, this is something that they can bring around with them everywhere and appreciate every time they are bored in a cafe with their friends. Side note: I find that this gift works wonderfully for the guys in your life who are hard to shop for!
- Wall Art: Anyone in life save the violent minimalist can always benefit from a pretty piece of art that they can hang on their walls. I know that the different styles of art can be scary when picking one to replicate, so when I paint something for someone I always heavily stalk their Pinterest boards for a color scheme or style that they prefer. I love spending time figuring out how best to incorporate their personality into what I make for them, and their faces when they open the gift are priceless!Â
I hope you now have a few ideas about what you want to gift those special people in your life without breaking the bank, and hopefully, it might even be fun! Giving gifts does not have to be a chore, and making something for someone is always so much more fun than buying something, at least for me. So be merry, and happy gift-giving!