The Vicky Challenge. Saving on gifts.

Welcome to the Vicky Challenge this week! Our subject is saving on gifts.  Gift giving can be a costly area.  Apart from the usual Birthdays and Christmas some years there will also be babies born and weddings and all kinds of unexpected occasions.   If you have children they might be invited to a number of parties and this can really add to the cost of presents.  Many families also give gifts to school teachers and others who help in some way during the year... it can be a lot of gifts!!

Do you notice expectations have become pretty high?  I am hearing of parents giving teachers extravagant gifts, hugely expensive gifts for childrens parties... and even those throwing the party giving expensive gifts to everyone who attends!!  Then over the top wedding gifts!   Some include the expectation of getting a passport, time off work and a trip half way around the world thrown in!
What about the "can you chip in to buy so and so a new Mercedes" type gifts?  Ok, I exaggerate but employees chipping in to buy the boss a large gift...  what on earth!?  I am all for thanking people are showing appreciation but I don't think a large gift is necessary.  I am more the type to bake a cake or give them a carton of eggs hahah!

When I read Laine's Letters she spoke about this. It has always stayed with me... she said it is more important to stay in our budget than to buy a gift.  She wrote how she had a couple of dollars that she could use for a present and what she did with it to come up with something lovely.   This is still true.
A teacher is going to appreciate a letter of thanks for all they did for your child than another mug anyway.  What about having the kids make a gift and a card and give it themselves?  This will also mean more to most teachers I think.

As far as the world goes we are already a bunch of weirdos for loving our homes and homemaking!  So we might as well include the way we give gifts!  I have had surprising success with giving some farm honey,  a bunch of fresh Bay leaves, some parleys from my garden and some eggs.

Here are some of my tips to keep the cost of gifts very reasonable:

Establish a present cupboard, shelf, box... somewhere to keep what you make on find.  It can help to keep a list of what you have stashed away and who it is for etc.
Always watch out for gift wrap on sales.  I have found lovely gift wrap in Aldi and also their cards are nice!  In the after Christmas sales buy next seasons wrap. If possible buy plain colours like red, green, silver... as these can be used for any occasion not just Christmas.
Make your own cards and tags.
But a huge roll of brown paper and string. This looks so stylish, is so cheap and can also be decorated so many different ways.  And it covers all occasions.
Keep tape on hand.
Torn up pretty fabrics and tulle or lace look lovely.  I never buy bows etc.  I have used flowers, herbs from the garden, gum leaves and gum nuts...

Watch the sales for sweet gifts. After the occasion sales are great. i.e. one year after Valentines Day I found heart shaped cake tins for 50c.  they had been $12 as they were pretty pink.  I made many gifts with those by pairing them up with sprinkles, a kitchen towel and other items.

Consider buying bulk packs of items and dividing them up for gifts.  Once I bought towel sets on a huge bargain. Each bundle had 2 towels, 2 hand towels and 2 face washers.   I split it all up, added crochet edges and homemade soaps and got 8 gifts this way.  So many things come in sets and are a good deal.

Start making things using what skills you have and supplies you have.  Sometimes right under our noses we have possibilities!  The last two weeks I made sachets from pretty scraps I have.    If you would like to join a make your own gifts challenge come join  The Tuesday Afternoon Club.
Very often my gifts are partly something I made with a small purchased item added.   An example is I might give a packet of homemade greeting cards and tie it up with a pretty pen.  Or I might give homemade jams and herbs from the garden and add a basket as part of the present or some wooden spoons or some other kitchen item.

I am going to share some inspiration from Kelley.  She is one of the thriftiest and most generous people I know.   Kelley is very frugal with her sewing and makes her Grand daughters the most beautiful little dresses... usually from a pretty sheet or other fabric she salvaged from something else. Kelley's work has been featured many times especially in The Christmas Challenge.

This is from a recent email Kelley sent me, which her permission:

I’ve been making cardboard horses from Ann Wood’s free pattern. 

These were all made from tissue box cardboard, buttons and crochet thread. The next ones I’ll make with wire on their leg joints so they can move. What a cheap toy for a young child!

Mama and baby.


I finished both yo-yo quilt throws for our guest bedrooms.

The vintage sheet baby quilt audition (below) is now sewn together and is in the quilting stage.  Even the quilt back is a beautiful, heavy, cotton Martha Stewart bed sheet, white with yellow pinstripes on it. Mama is putting yellow in Baby’s nursery, too.

I’ll send you a picture when it’s done. ☺️

My older daughter gave me some chambray, enough to make two of these little dresses just the one shown.  All cut out, and one is 90% done.

This is a Sleepyhead Doll I made using a free pattern. I give these for first birthdays and my grandbeauties love them.

I gave her a miramar (Micronesian band of flowers for her head) instead of a hairbow.

Young Eloise, 2, got a kitchen set for Christmas, so Granny made her some felt cookies to “bake up.”

Chocolate Chip

Sugar with Nonpareils

Caramel Stars with Pink Frosting

Blueberry Linzer 

Peanut Butter 

And some over easy eggs!

Thank you Kelley for allowing me to share!!  
All these gifts are just beautiful and melt my heart but they would all be inexpensive to make.    I hope you feel inspired and encouraged to keep the cost of gifts under control and not feel pressured to overspend.

My Vicky Challenge was very good.  I am recording my savings in my savings book.  Already me new week is started so well!  But I will have to report on that next week!  Some weeks are just bigger than others.  But it all adds up!  And each new way we learn to save is a help.    I have mentioned before how prices are rising incredibly here.  Tonights news was more bad news on this.  I laid my hands on a marked down loaf of bread yesterday....marked down was $4.54.  That was from the original $7.58.  Now this was not fancy bread it was basic!  I left it behind!  The Australian economy is taking hit after hit at the moment and it shows on the grocery shelves.

How do you save in the area of gift giving?  Is this a part of the budget you could revise?  If you have any wonderful ideas for frugal gifts please share them!  Also if you would like ideas please ask!
Being early in the year we have time to put into making gifts and watching out for opportunities.  My present cupboard is already building back up.   I am always on the look out and trying to find things I can make using what I have.  Now this is also fun and a challenge! xxx