Christmas is upon us again. We all know what that means. Lots of gifts. And lots of money. Or does it?
When the pressure of Christmas hits, it is easy to forget what Christmas is really all about. It is easy to reduce it to gifts, giving and getting.
With that in mind, here are a few tips to get on with the giving without breaking your budget.
Set a budget for each individual, especially if you have a lot of people to buy for. Your friends and family understand that you are a student. They do not expect extravagant gifts from you.
While it can be fun to see the look of shock on your mother's face as she opens up a $300 figurine, that kind of extravagance will set you back in January when you find you have more books to buy for classes. It may sound cheap, but $20-30 is usually plenty for family, and $10 for friends is often more than enough.
Remember to make thoughtful choices because it is the thought that counts. That's not just a cliché. Buy a large stack of cards and send them to all your family and friends. Write a personal note inside each, letting them know how your year has been, and asking them in return how their year was. A hand written note may mean more to some people than an elaborate gift that you really cannot afford. A letter takes time and effort, and time and effort translates to a simple, effective "I care."
Invest your hands and time into handmade gifts. Handmade gifts are a fun and inexpensive way of saying "Merry Christmas". Here are some ideas, which require little or no artistic talent:
- A plate of cookies on a decorated plate.
You can buy Christmas cookies in bulk or bake them from cookie mix. To decorate the plate, take 1 metre each of red, green, white, and gold ribbon. Twist or braid the red, green, and white ribbons together. Leaving an 8 inch tail on your beginning edge, staple the braid around the edge of the round cookie sheet. Unbraid the remaining loose ends on either side. Tie the loose ends into a bow. Trim the free edges of the ribbon to varying lengths between 4 to 6 inches each. Arrange the cookies on the plate and secure with plastic wrap. Use the gold ribbon as a decorative bow on the top of the plate.
- Small felt stockings filled with Christmas candy.
Take two pieces of Christmas-colored felt and trace a small stocking onto the felt. Using Christmas coloured yarn, stitch the two pieces of felt together, leaving the top open. Stuff with Candy.
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No-sew fleece Christmas scarf
The wonderful thing about Fleece is that it doesn't fray and needs no sewing. This is an ideal pattern for younger siblings or cousins. Take a quarter of a metre of Christmas colored or patterned fleece. Trim the selvage off both ends of the fleece. Trim the cut edges so that they are straight, and are a quarter meter wide from end to end. Using your index finger as a width guide, cut a half inch fringe, three inches into the fabric all the way along both short ends of the fabric.
Don't feel guilty or pressured to buy every gift. Just because someone spent more on you than you spent on them does not mean that you have to buy more to keep up. You brought your gift and you felt at the time that it was appropriate. Let it be appropriate still.
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