Homemade Gifts that Your Friends Will Like - Really!

I'm still wringing my hands over our holiday gift list and having limited resources this year, throwing money at the problem isn't an option. I'm having to rely on creativity, not cash.

Fortunately, yesterday I had a "Eureka!" moment and came up with a gift idea for friends: Wine Crate Fireplace Kits. (Many thanks to my friend Chris, whose invaluable suggestion made the idea work!) The genesis of the idea was an email I received from Park Wine Merchants, our neighborhood indie wine shop (see my Nov. 23 post about patronizing local merchants). In addition to special deals on several wines, the owner mentioned that he was selling wooden wine crates for $5. I thought, "Hhmmm. Wine crates are pretty cool and look pretty classy. What could I do with them? They're definitely the right price." Ten minutes later I was talking about them with Chris, who suggested filling them with firelogs made of newspaper and then the eureka thing happened and my problem was solved. Throw in some fireplace matches and I'll have attractive and unique Christmas gifts for about $8 each.

The Wine Crate Fireplace Kits will work as a family gift (when we give an entire family one gift), but I must admit that they're geared to adults and no kid is going to be interested in or feel grateful for newspaper fire logs. Other times I've made gifts that the entire family enjoyed. For example, several years ago I gave friends a homemade S'mores Family Pack. They consisted of four long-handled roasting forks, graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate bars. Each pack also included a little booklet with s'mores history, fun facts and eight or ten different "Gourmet S'mores" recipes (I made the booklets and used paper supplies from Sam Flax to make them look professional-ish). The pyromaniac in me thought these would be good family fun, not to mention being a yummy and nostalgic treat. I don't recall what they cost but the price was very reasonable (the only challenge was finding enough roasting forks). These went over well with adults AND kids.

Over the years I've made other gifts for individuals and families: knitted scarves, created Southern "Good Luck for the New Year" kits (with hot sauce and bags of black-eyed peas, rice and corn meal, plus instructions on how to prepare them) and even framed quotes from famous people (different quotes, each geared specifically to the person who received it). Maybe one day I'll have money to throw at Christmas presents - and when I do, I'm going to have everything gift-wrapped by someone else! Until then, I'll be scanning emails for good deals on wine crates and the like.

Tell us about some of the gifts (successful or not) that you've made for friends and family. After all, I still have names on my list...