Does this sound like a good enough Christmas present?

[Christmasiscomingitis]

Selection of home made jams and chutneys (made now)
Biscuits (home made nearer the time)
A house plant (grown by us from seed) and a watering can (bought in bulk so quite cheap)
Hand made Christmas decoration for the tree, one for everyone but personalised
Also a second hand book or a treat such as chocolate that would be different for everyone depending on what they like. But over all cost per person/ couple would be less than £5 as the home made bits are basically free or cost a few hours pence to make.

This is the only thing I can think of that I can make myself, so basically everything will be free. Is this good enough or am I going to be embarrassing myself?

I'm not really worried about my family as we aren't very materialistic but I don't want to embarrass my self with Dhs family.

We usually get different gifts for everyone, ask what they want and have a £10-15 spend per person (bought throughout the year to spread costs, also what they asked for so nothing like this.) Sometimes someone will ask for something and I can find it for a fiver or something, find one second hand (fine for our family) so it comes out cheap enough.

I have asked that we exchange no gifts or just for the children but everyone has said we don't have to buy for them but they will still buy for us. I don't want to be only receiving on Christmas and this is the best I can think of.

If anyone else has any easy(ish) handmade gift ideas I'm all ears. I can bake, sew and knit so anything along those lines would be great.
(all gifts are for adults but if you have any ideas for kids let me have it)

Thank you for reading if you got this far. We struggle at Christmas as it is but this year with everything going up I just need to get it sorted now. Sorry for the essay.

PIL give very thoughtful generous gifts, but the bit I love the most at Christmas are MILs hampers filled with her homemade chutneys, Jams, fudge, fruit from the garden (eg pears) soaked in some kind of alcohol and her cherry brandy from the tree in the garden. They started giving us a hamper in early December when we were fairly low paid Punic sector practitioners, working second jobs and saving every penny for a deposit on our first. She said she wanted us to have treats for Christmas. We have had our house for years now, both in much better paid roles and don't struggle, but she still makes our hamper and I love it more than anything I could buy in Waitrose/M&S.
See also the big sticky bottle of homemade sloe gin from DHs uncle

Well I labelled everything with when it was made incase its left in the back of the cupboard for 10 years but in my house they never last the year

I like the idea of saying where things are from
'raspberries from the garden'
'blackberries from the park'
that kind of thing?
can't get anymore local really can you?

If you know they like it then it’s great. For me, I hate chutney (have a cupboard full of homemade ones people have made), I probably wouldn’t have homemade jam as I only buy the ones sweetened with juice not sugar, (and then I eat it about 4 times a year!), and after the excess of Christmas I don’t want biscuits and chocolate hanging around for temptation! I’d like a plant, but I know some people don’t like plants and flowers as it’s one more thing to look after. I’d prefer not to get anything, especially if you’ve stated you weren’t doing adult presents. I hate to think about about all peoples time that’s been wasted on things I won’t use. I honestly wouldn’t bother and rode it out for a few years until they get the message. If you liked them and they were with the effort (doesn’t sound like they are though), then a small item that’s personal would be nice, instead of a group hamper thing. But in your situation I wouldn’t waste my time!

I'd be very happy with that (especially if it was caramelised red onion chutney). There are many second hand books I'd be happy to have.

Aww this is so lovely. I have fond memories of a family friend making jam and us kids were charged with picking the blackberries from down the road.

I also love preserving the summer flavours!

I love that it was turned into a Christmas tradition for you. that's so lovely

@Christmasiscomingitis I am tempted to hide your thread for mentioning the C word (not allowed in my house until December) - but I absolutely love your ideas, and would be very happy to receive your gifts. Even if I didn't eat jam/chutney, receiving a home-made pot would tempt me to try it. I can't believe that people are being sniffy about second hand books, either.

oh dear it seems about half and half.
I suppose if it's wasted then that's a shame but I know at least on my side, I'll get it out and eat it for them! ha!

I probably should have put this in Aibu for the vote function

I know, I only get my books from Oxfam or charity shops

I browse in Waterstones when I'm in the city center but I always cone out empty handed because I know I can get whatever I want for a quid or 2 in a month's time. especially really popular books.

I'd love those presents, it's way too much plastic tat in my family!

Sounds absolutely fine to me. Second hand books are fine too.

Also if you have a slow cooker you can make fudge in it, you can add different flavoured chocolate to make it different flavours. My go to flavours are orange with milk chocolate and mint with dark, I've also made 'mermaid' fudge with white chocolate with streaks of blue and green food colouring and sprinkles.

I think home made gifts can be very thoughtful and far better than usual off the shelf budget options
Good fudge recipe:
www.chelsea.co.nz/browse-recipes/russian-fudge/ Can be dipped in chocolate for people you really like
Biscuits that last for ages and sort of go soft before they go stale:
edmondscooking.co.nz/recipes/biscuits/anzac-biscuits/
Someone suggested spiced nuts - roasted almonds dusted with smoked paprika or harissa are lovely. You can buy big bags of nuts cheaply from Asian/ethnic food stores or the World food aisle in many supermarkets

Crafty/knitting ideas:
Knitted or crocheted headbands/earwarmers
Painted tea light holders (buy random cheap small glasses from charity shops & glass paint for DIY/craft shops)
Pretty eye masks (from silk if you can find old tops or sari's in charity shops)
If they have pets, people love presents for the animal e.g a knitted cat toy with catnip inside

My SIL makes a little hamper for all family members every Christmas, it is everybody’s favourite gift as it is so personal, she makes delicious lemon curd, chocolate truffles, fudge and honeycomb and pretty little lemon biscuits.

All those gifts sound lovely. I'd be chuffed to receive any of them

I would be over the moon to receive a homemade gift like you have suggested. I would also prefer a secondhand book or board game to chocolate. My uncle and I always exchange secondhand books every year. I would love a book especially if there was a note inside explaining why it was chosen for me.

One year when we were particularly strapped for cash and I had a lot of people to buy for I did boxes of home made millionaire shortbread and homemade marmalade.

We have a large family - five adult children, all of whom are married or engaged so ten adults - and we decided last year that we would do a Secret Santa so each person buys one present for a set amount so each couple only has to spend £ 40.00 for the whole family. This year we won't be together - it has worked out that each one will be with their inlaws - and we will all open the presents together on Zoom.

I think your presents sound absolutely lovely OP, and I would be delighted to receive them. I can't believe so many people say they hate chutney - I have a sandwich for lunch every day and my collection of chutneys (eg tomato, caramelised onion, fig, etc) turn a plain ham or cheese filling into a variety of different tastes. I think all those people with chutneys languishing in their cupboards should send them all to me! 😁

As to secondhand books, if it's an old book then yes as a pp said, the smell alone can be wonderful. And surely the point is you have chosen the book specially for the recipient - presumably not just gone into a charity shop and just bought a random armful or a 'yard of books'!

If you can knit/crochet you could make little stuffed items of peoples favourite things.
I have some fruit that a friend made me which I love and use as a key ring. But you could do favourite food/movie characters/even the person them self?
Animal hats for kids are always a winner.

I think they sound much lovelier than something bought off a list - how thoughtful as well as thrifty, I would appreciate the time, thought and effort that had gone into it and remember who it was from much better than something bought off a list. Second hand books are the price of a greetings card, and last a lot longer for the recipient.
For ideas I started knitting arm warmers as presents for adults or children - you just knit a long rectangle wide enough to go round your arm and sew the edges together to make a tube, leaving a bit unsewn as a thumb hole. Can do a pair in front of the TV in an evening and Bob’s your uncle!

I love homemade gifts so much more than shop bought - so much of the persons thought and time have gone into it and it means so much more. I also personally love second hand gifts as I am passionate about reusing and recycling and again it shows that the person has put time and thought into what to give 😍 I think all of your ideas are lovely OP x

I think it sounds lovely and they should appreciate the effort and thought you’ve put in. I’m not sure the ages of the children you need presents for but my mom made my boys a pillow each that had a small pocket in the front, one had a book and one a soft toy. She put their first initial on the front. They loved them.

@Christmasiscomingitis I think all your ideas sound great.
In past years I’ve made these craft.ideas2live4.com/2018/12/10/diy-scissors-holder/
And also fabric table mats and napkins from charity shop or boot sale tablecloths.
Ive embellished plain linen tea towels bought in France, too.

Some kids gifts ideas. I’m making the mini football table for myself.
www.thriftyfrugalmom.com/20-inexpensive-homemade-gifts-kids/