Christmas Gifts Preview: Day Eight

This gift is for a teen-aged niece. I thought of her when I saw the "Forever Sunshine" B&BW products, especially since yellow is her favorite color.

I made a Gaptastic Cowl using some Lion Brand Homespun yarn. This is what it looks like at full length:

And this is what it looks like doubled-up:

To match those, I made some Peppermint Patties fingerless mittens:

My total cost for this gift was around $7 to fill a large gift box.

Christmas Gifts Preview: Day Seven

This gift was a little hard to photograph because of the shrink wrap, but I really like how it turned out. I had this box leftover from a few years ago and decided to use it as the base for this gift.

Also included are several color-coordinated Bath & Body Works items, a spatula, recipe cards, heart-shaped measuring spoons, hand sanitizer, magnetic paper pad, and two handmade dishcloths.

To keep everything together and to keep them from falling out, I bought shrink wrap plastic from the dollar store. (It didn't work as well this time as the last time, but oh well.)

My total cost for this gift: around $8.

Christmas Gifts Preview: Day Six

I know Christmas is officially over for this year, but I'm going to continue sharing this year's Christmas gifts. I hope it will give you inspiration for birthdays and Christmases to come!

This collection gift was for my sister-in-law who was like a second mother to my husband. (They have a large family.) She's a fantastic lady, so I was thrilled to be able to fill this box with a mixture of storebought pretties and handmade-from-the-heart gifts.

There are several vintage sheet napkins, a homemade scrubbie, a hand-knit butterfly hat, and a vintage sheet apron to go with the storebought goodies.

Total cost for this gift: around $6 to fill a large gift box.

Christmas Gifts Preview: Day Five

As soon as I saw the Paris Amour fragrance at Bath & Body Works, I thought of this niece. So I was thrilled to find out that this apron and ruffle scarf match it perfectly!

I thought I had posted this apron on my blog before, but I can't seem to find it. Sorry, because the gift has already been given!

Cost for this gift: around $8 to fill a large gift box

Christmas Gifts Preview: Day Four

I had a lot of fun pairing up items from my gift stash this year! Since neither my husband nor I could remember if this niece's favorite color is blue or green, I decided to do both and make sure I got it right. :)

The apron (made from vintage sheets) is mostly blue, as is the hand sanitizer and holder. The Bath & Body Works Cucumber Melon body wash is green. The ruffle scarf pulled both of the colors together nicely. My cost for this gift was around $7, and it fills a large gift box.

Christmas Gifts Preview: Day Three

Whenever Bath & Body Works has their semi-annual sales, I like to use those $10/$40 coupons and stock up on lady and teen girl gifts for the year. Who doesn't like Bath & Body Works products? (Probably a few people, but none of them are on my gift list.)

As I was going through my gift stash, I noticed that this purple ruffle scarf perfectly matched the packaging on the "Be Enchanted" lotion. It was a perfect pairing, and I paid around $6 for the whole gift, not including my time. I consider that a fantastic price for a gift this nice.

Christmas Gift Preview: Day Two

My husband's family does a random gift exchange every year, and we're supposed to keep the cost between $3-5. Unless you've been living under a rock for the last ten years, you'll understand how challenging it can be to get something that isn't tacky or useless in that price range. Somehow we all manage to find nice things, though, because there are always nice gifts in the exchange. Last year was the year of fleece throws. :)

At any rate, this gift illustrates the principle that "presentation is everything." I picked up the spatulas, candles, soap dispenser and recipe box (the container) for around $0.10-0.25 each when dollar items went on clearance, mostly at Michaels. I crocheted the two dishcloths with brand-new yarn I picked up at Goodwill for a fantastic price. (Remember this box?)