Save Money This Holiday Season by Making Classy Gifts

Posted 22 weeks ago (December 13, 2011 at 10:00 AM) in Dealing with Debt

Hand-crafted gifts have a stigma in some circles of being folksy instead of elegant, but even those family and friends with finer tastes will love these classy gift ideas that save you money while still retaining the value of a great gift!

Elegant Simplicity is the Heart of Class

If you walk into any upscale store to find a more distinguished range of gifts, what you’ll discover is that half of the store, if not more, is comprised of simple, elegant designs on simple, elegant items. This is not a coincidence – they know what sells and what people will buy to complement an existing décor.

Consider that your bench mark. Aim to give a gift that matches your recipient’s tastes. If you are not sure what that is, make something elegant that is generic enough to fit in any home and refine it – a common definition of which is, “To improve or perfect by pruning or polishing.”

The Art of Saving is in Repetition

By choosing one type of gift and creating multiple versions of it, you can invest in one aspect of the gift while saving overall. For example, the first example requires purchasing a glass engraver, which can cost up to $30, but you then use that one tool to create many gifts, which lowers the overall price of each gift while still allowing you to personalize each item.

Engraved Wine Glasses

Nothing says ‘refined’ like a bottle of wine. If you can’t afford fancy vino, don’t worry – you can create elegant, personalized glasses for everyone you know very inexpensively. Here’s what you’ll need:

• A diamond tipped glass engraving tool ($15-30 at most craft/hobby stores)
• Paper surgical mask (very inexpensive)
• Simple, unmarked wine glasses from a thrift store (very inexpensive)
• Thin-edged Sharpie
• Tape

Here’s what you do:

1. Draw or print out a small, simple black and white design that will fit inside the glass. This can be a name, a word, initials, a monogram, a bird, a compass rose, any simple black and white image.
2. Tape the image to the inside of the glass
3. Trace over the image on the outside of the glass with the Sharpie (don’t worry if you mess up, you can wipe it off with a wet paper towel and try again!)
4. Remove the paper image from inside and you’ll see your image drawn on the glass in ink!
5. Put on your paper mask so you will not inhale glass dust while engraving.
6. Slowly, gently, and carefully “draw” over the black ink with one of your diamond-tipped bits until all the ink is gone.
7. Wash the glass thoroughly and wipe it dry to reveal your classy engraved gift!

Hint: Buy a ‘test glass’ so that you can take a few strokes with the engraver to get a feeling for it before you start on the real gifts!

Elegant Candles

Pouring candles is incredibly easy once you have the tools, and all you need to make them classy is a small, elegant container to pour the wax into. A great example would be to visit a thrift store to find old teacups with matching saucers and make them into candles! Here’s what you’ll need:

• An elegant container that can withstand the heat of melted wax, such as glass, ceramic, or metal – not plastic. We’ll use a teacup for the example.
• Wax (any craft store)
• Small metal pot, preferably with a pour spout
• Candle wicking
• Super Glue
• A long pencil
• Scissors

Here’s what you do:

1. On low heat, slowly melt the wax in the pot.
2. While the wax is melting, put a dot of Super Glue in the bottom of the teacup.
3. Quickly use the tip of your pencil to push the end of the wick into the glue and let it dry until the wick holds tightly to the bottom of the teacup.
4. Tie the other end of the wick to your pencil and then place the pencil across the top of the cup. Turn the pencil until the wick is taught and stands in a straight line from the bottom of the cup to the pencil.
5. Slowly and carefully pour the hot melted wax into the teacup until it is 1 inch from the top.
6. Wait for the candle to cool. If it looks great, skip to step #8!
7. Some waxes condense as they cool. If you have a “moat” around the wick when the candle has completely cooled, simply top off the candle with more melted wax to fill the moat, then pour a bit more to create an entire new top layer of melted wax over the candle. Again, let it cool completely.
8. Uncurl and untie the wick from the pencil, then use your scissors to trim it to ¾ of an inch above the wax.

Hand-crafted gifts that follow the basic rules of simple elegance can be easy to make and turn out beautifully. The most important thing is to know your recipient and be thoughtful about what they’d really like.

By putting your time and effort into creating gifts, you can save money and still offer your loved ones something worthy of their connection to you this holiday season - so get crafty and stay classy!