I’m a little late with this post, but I just think these ideas are too fun and special not to share. With Josie’s surgeries and many doctors appointments, 2019 was a pretty tough year for us financially. Come Christmas time we didn’t have much money to spare for extravagant gifts for our loved ones. Instead, I decided to make a few extra special handmade gifts that weren’t necessarily expensive, but had a ton of sentimental value. Check out these sentimental gift ideas and maybe they will inspire you for next year!
Custom photo album
Photographs are an important thing in my family. My mom works as a photographer. We have more scrapbooks and framed portraits around the house than I can count. When Josie was born, I made it a point to take at least one photo of her every day. That way, my family and friends would be constantly updated while she was in the NICU. This “everyday photo” has continued to this day. (Okay, maybe I miss a day here and there, but that’s mom life!)
It is a very emotional experience to look back through these photos. I couldn’t think of a better gift for my close loved ones than an album filled with Josie’s journey throughout her first year of life. I used Shutterfly to make these albums and the process was pretty simple. Shutterfly provides the templates and you provide and arrange the photos. They also have tons of beautiful themes and styles to choose from, and pretty much always have a coupon available. I actually purchased my albums for 50% off on Black Friday! I’m planning on making one of these “Josie books” at the end of every year so that, one day, we will have a shelf full of photo albums chronicling Josie’s life.
Christmas handprint art
This is a really cute and inexpensive craft idea that will get your little ones involved in the gift giving. There are so many ideas for handprint and footprint art on Pinterest but I just loved this “mistletoes” idea.
Josie HATED having the paint on her feet so we had to make this a quick process. Luckily it’s not difficult and the materials are cheap if you screw up and have to start over! You need: a canvas or paper (I used an 8×8 canvas), green paint, sponges or brushes, glue, red pom-poms, and a black paint pen or sharpie (I used a black paint sharpie).
Use the sponge to apply paint to your baby or toddlers feet, then press the foot onto the canvas firmly. Make sure to press the whole foot onto the canvas, toes and all! Also make sure to have some baby wipes on hand to clean off those feet ASAP so green paint doesn’t end up everywhere! Then simply glue red pom-poms at the top, add your caption, and you’re done!
Easy-peasy, adorable, sentimental Christmas decor that you can hang up every December – all for under $10.
Bonus idea: fun snack box
I wanted to mention this gift as a little bonus idea.
I honestly had no clue what to get my husband for Christmas this year. Since he recently started following the keto diet, I thought a big box of low carb snacks would be a fun way to keep him motivated after the holidays.
I purchased tons of small, single serve low carb food items from the grocery section of World Market. Extra dark chocolate, Jack Daniels coffee, coconut chips, pork rinds, jerky, hot sauces, mustard, seasonings, cheeses, asparagus, oils, and even flavored crickets! Name a weird low carb snack and it was probably in this box. (You could also throw in some gadgets like a meat thermometer or an avocado cutter!)
Then, to make it a little extra fun and special, I wrapped all of these items individually and put them in a big (Pampers) box, which I also wrapped. Edgar thought he was getting one big gift, but he actually got dozens of small ones! He really loved this gift. For one thing, he loves snacks! (Who doesn’t, am I right?!) But more importantly, I wanted to use this gift to show my support for my husband’s diet choices and his health journey overall.
I hope this post gave you some easy sentimental gift ideas and inspiration for the next holiday season! I had so much fun making these gifts. Watching my loved ones’ faces light up when they opened their presents made it all worth it.
What was the best gift you received or gave this year for Christmas? Was it handmade? What’s your go-to gift when you’re out of ideas? Let me know in the comments!
