Frugal Gift Idea: Ornament Craft Kits

There are a number of extended family members, friends, and teachers in our lives who I would like to remember at Christmastime, but simply don't have the money to gift with individual presents.  Luckily, I now have children old enough to start making gifts for people, which automatically adds meaning to something simple.

My oldest, GiGi (age 4), has really gotten into arts and crafts in the past year, and LuLu (2) wants to do everything her big sister does.  That, and a Christmas catalogue from Oriental Trading Company made me hit on the perfect idea for little gifts - Christmas ornament kits!  Oriental Trading has dozens of simple craft kits for very inexpensive prices.  Since the kits seem to be designed especially for churches and schools, most make at least 12 crafts, often for under $5 for the entire kit!  I also figured that ornaments were the perfect gift for young children to create, because even if they're not perfect, most people don't mind a homemade Christmas ornament.  Having popsicle stick ornaments on the tree is traditional!

We did the first kit a couple of days ago, foam gingerbread man ornaments (similar to this; I couldn't find the exact kit).  The kit had peel and stick foam embellishments for the foam ornaments, which even my two year old could do herself.  They had such a blast creating the ornaments, and my four year old even added initials designating them for particular recipients. 

The other two kits I ordered were these Christmas trees and some fuzzy woodland animals to color.  I'm so pleased so far with my idea - it's been both a fun seasonal activity for the girls and a way for them to learn about giving, as well as a very inexpensive, yet meaningful gift for special people in our lives.

Check out more money saving ideas at Frugal Fridays.