Thank you so much for watching! We compiled all of the links from this video right here: www.theminimalmom.com/christmas-resources You'll find: - Inventor's Box Label - Chili & Taco Seasoning Labels and Recipes - Directions for the Graham Cracker Gingerbread Homes - Instructions for the DIY Photo Canvases I hope you find this helpful! Have a great weekend!!! - Dawn
Was that the Town Centre Dollar Tree or the Cliff Lake one? And the mold testing people are coming on Monday to test at my parents' house - *_FINALLY!!!!_* Looking forward to finding out just how bad the mold in their basement is. I'll be there when the people come, so I can put my foot down if I need to. Please thank Eric for me for the recommendation!
The Gingerbread home directions are such a great complement to Rachel Cruze's recent video where she says she can't spend money on those kits during the holidays. You've got a better way to do it for those that want it!
@@TheMinimalMom 6 air samples and 6 tape samples later (both upstairs and downstairs), we'll see just how horrible the basement - laundry room in particular - is. So was the Dollar Tree pictured the Town Centre one or the Cliff Lake one?
❤It's always so nice that you say, "I love you" at the end of your videos. You will never know how many people didn't hear that from ANYONE else today. ❤
This gift took some planning but was a hit. After each holiday (Val Day, St Pat, Easter, T-giving, etc.) I bought one pack of themed snack plates & napkins on clearance. Did it all year for about 6 people and gifted each the entire set.
I make my own taco seasoning. I quadruple the recipe, store in a jar in the pantry. I have the recipe on the jar, a reminder to use 2 tablespoons so 3 out of four times it’s just as fast as using the packets and when I need more the recipe is right there.
A great dollar store gift idea for couples is two identical puzzles (such as the 500-piece landscapes). A race to see to who can finish their puzzle first is a fun date!
My parents bought 3 small gifts for me, and also for my sister, to open on Christmas Eve...they 'represented' the 3 Wise Men. We opened them while my dad read the Infancy Narratives to us. On Christmas morning, "Jesus' friend, Santa" left 1 larger gift for us. Together, as a family, we offered special prayers for our military, our civil servants, and finally for our family & neighborhood. I truly have THE BEST Christmas memories! I'm now old... and have the joy of watching our sons continue these traditions. ❤🌲❤
A friend was going through a rough divorce and her kids were still little and one in particular needed A LOT of attention, so for Mother's Day I gifted each child and "keep yourself busy" box complete with a kitchen timer and a book of things to do that I had made for my kiddos a long time ago, with all the things needed to make the things in the book. So mama could say "do your busy box for 15 minutes" and get a needed break. I pretty much just refilled those boxes for Mother's Day for a few years for her.
@@juliegrossman3733 Both kids were over 7 at the time, so I included things like playdoh, with challenge cards (literally just index cards with instructions, like "make an orange dog with yellow ears"), canvases with acrylic paints, yarn, and all with some kind of instruction because my niece wasn't good at self directed play. There are teacher websites with wonderful resources.
Our son and daughter-in law have six children ages 1 to 11. The older four delight in choosing gifts for Poppa and Grandma to open on Christmas. To help my daughter-in-law's gift budget, we go to Dollar Tree to choose and take pictures of a handful of $1.25 gifts, no more than four per grandparent, that we would enjoy. I text the list and pics to her, then she can help our grands choose what they would like to give us from our choices. We emphasize to her that we do not expect to receive all of the items on the list! This method allows the grands to experience the excitement of choosing gifts for us, as well as the joy of seeing us unwrap these special gifts at Christmas. It is so important to teach children to think of others during the holidays. This method achieves that goal in a very affordable way!
What a lovely and considerate way of teaching children to give. And, for you and your husband to get gifts you like. I love the Dollar Tree for several of their items
I often give cards to elderly friends so they can send them out as they like. A book of stamps makes the gift even nicer, if that’s in your budget. Ross and TJMaxx are great sources for boxes of cards!
I am 60 and I was happy to see Matchbox cars at the dollar store and still have to look at them. I still love running with the shopping cart in the parking lot and jumping on for a ride like a kid. I will stop when I get so old I break a hip, lol. Great ideas, love them. Have a nice day.
I bought that mixing bowl 2 yrs ago for a craft. I use it so much that I never did the craft. For my daughter, after every holiday I bought towels, hot pads, ect on clearance.. For Christmas she had seasonal towels for every season/holiday. Those dish mats work wonderfully under pet dishes !
We discovered at Halloween that Pop Tarts make good gingerbread houses as well as graham crackers. Also my daughter and I have been trying to curb the sweets and junk food during holidays. Those cute plates and trays can be filled with individually wrapped cheeses, jerky, small bags of nuts, think a small charcuterie board/plate.💜🐞
My family and I are focusing on the real meaning of Christmas… Going to Christmas Mass, enjoying wonderful food together, baking, watching Christmas movies, playing cards, and driving around to see Christmas lights. We are only spending $10 on a fun stocking exchange. We also like to volunteer at the food pantry. ❤🥰😇🎄
An addition to my super-long comment from a minute ago: I also give gift sets to Toys for Tots from DT. They don't always get as many gifts for kids who are a little older, so I like to make sets of beauty items appropriate for pre-teens, including nail polish and remover, hair accessories, lip balm, nice-scented lotion, etc. Extras available some years have included a small kit for making friendship bracelets and a button that said Girl Power. I try to avoid things they might not be able to use depending on their housing situation, such as bath bombs or bubble bath since they might not have access to a bathtub, etc.
Great ideas as always! I gift my apartment neighbors this year I’m gifting them the popcorn empty tub with some packaged microwave popcorn, hot chocolate mix, and a bar or good chocolate or candy canes
I think the gift wrapping "kit" would be a great Secret Santa gift. Everyone can use it. Or a wonderful teacher gift. Once they get home for the break, they will be thrilled to have it. :)
I just made a sewing box for my granddaughter for Christmas. We've been reading Addy an American Girl and doing recipes and crafts to go along with the books. She became so interested in sewing, I wanted to give her a kit of her own ❤
On the other side of receiving these kind of gifts. I would say, use them! I used to just hold on to gifts like this for some "special occasion". Then when I finally worked myself up to use them, they were broken, expired, or lost. Now, I open and use them as soon as I can.
I have done the photo on canvas quite a bit and use modge podge. When modge podge is wet on top of photo, I take a blank dry canvas(same size), and carefully lay the front part of that canvas on top of canvas with wet photo. Push carefully without moving around, then lift. When dry this will get that light textures effect its actual canvas.
I wish I could have given this video a double thumbs up 👍🏻👍🏻 One for the great gift ideas and one for the sentiment of giving gifts that express your love for a person without the stress of a huge price tag. Gift giving seems to have got way of hand for some people which can result in giving up entirely which is sad. Great video, Dawn. 🎉
I wish everyone could watch this video. It’s so hard when you have family members to that don’t understand and are only focused on the price of the gift 😢
I remember my father giving me a box of stationary supplies when I was a kid, which I loved. Some of them were unusual things that he used in his work and I thought they were so cool.
Love this video! Two things...I gifted Taco seasoning last Christmas. My daughter lives out of town, and I still replenish her supply whenever I see her. Also, let kids pick gifts for giving at the dollar tree. When you tell them they can pick anything from the store to give...they get so excited.
We did that with our kids too - but a family secret Santa and they loved it!!! Same with the kids used clothing store we have - they get to pick as many books as they want for themselves and others ❤
I really enjoyed this video. Another idea that we do in my family we have four kids is every single year we go to the dollar tree and each child is given a budget of 3 gIFts per person in the home. And they get to go shopping and they wrap their own presents and gift their gift to their sibling or their mom or dad or my grandma it usually ends up costing me less than $100. I know that sounds like a lot but I have six people in my family. The crazy thing is the children love this part of Christmas more than anything else that we get. I think it’s because they are choosing and giving and they’re also taking responsibility for wrapping it and hiding it from the other sibling or their parent and I think that adds to the excitement.
We have a small community theater. For our 3 and 6 year old grandchildren we bought the. Tickets to see a comedy trained dog show, and hid their ticket in a book. The tickets are only a copy, but they will not be aware. They will enjoy having their own ticket, but we have the originals so they want be misplaced. The play is in February….I know they will love an outing with us. Plus what fun we will have with them!
I started a tradition of giving a goodwill gift. It all started with finding toys that my adult children played with as a child. I started purchasing these through the year and putting them back. BIG HIT! They look forward to these every year. They get so excited. I do it for the grandchildren too. Nine adult children and 25 grandchildren is a lot of thrifting! But so worth it.
One score I found at my local Dollar Tree were Harry & David coffees! (Makers of those lovely but expensive gift baskets you can find online.) Several men on my list are getting these as gifts this year, along with clear glass mugs. Also glad to see another person jumping on the bandwagon for homemade spice blends, LOL! 🥰
Great ideas! Long post alert here.... I've bought all sorts of gifts from Dollar Tree for years, as stand-alone gifts, stocking stuffers, gift baskets and gift boxes, depending on the items. Some of the bigger hits for adults of all ages include a set of Word Find and/or puzzle books and a pretty pen, a calendar (especially the wall calendar set that includes a mini calendar), mini day planner booklets, sets of pretty fashion pens or gel pens with small journals, manicure sets (nail polish, remover and emery boards), sets of small toiletries for travel or use in the car (especially Gold Bond healing hand cream and small Germ-x hand sanitizer), eyeglass repair kits and the nicer eyeglass cords, strikers (esp the short ones to keep in the car). For months before Christmas, I watch for name-brand or especially nice snack foods and health and beauty items and collect them to give in various ways. My mother-in-law loves getting a big box of snack foods every year, and my mother enjoys beauty boxes. Last year I bought rose lotion and fragrance mist at 75% off at Bath & Body Works after-Christmas sale and rose-scented liquid hand soap at Walmart and then filled a big, beautiful gift box I had on hand with about 15 beauty items in matching pink colors from Dollar Tree (nail polish, Dove face cream, Ponds face treatment, pink mesh scrubby, gel eye pads, pink ELF lipstick, etc.) Mom loved it. This year, DT has some fantastic-smelling liquid hand soap in beautiful aromatherapy-style containers in cinnamon and clove scent (red label) and cider apple scent (green label). I'm pairing them in a DT black oval wire mesh basket with the DT Christmas dish towel that says The Most Wonderful Time of the Year and giving them to a few people right after Thanksgiving so they can enjoy them during the holiday season. The baskets look professional and cost $5 each. I'd like someone to give me a set of the pure castile bar soaps DT has right now in peppermint, lavender, almond and activated charcoal, along with the all-natural lip balms they've got in mint and strawberry. I also like the 3-piece fashion pen sets they carry each Christmas in floral patterns and the 10-piece pink Click pen sets they sometimes have (I always know which pen is mine). DT Plus has some nice things sometimes too. I bought a sturdy straw welcome mat printed with Hello in a nice script last year that I'd love to have gotten as a gift. The key to inexpensive gift giving is knowing what the recipient really likes and matching their tastes. Happy Holidays!
This year I'm gifting a set of 4 dollar tree mason jar cups with handles. They look so modern and cool. I plan to package them in a free Starbucks 4 drink holder with sides, in a dollar tree clear shrink wrap bag with a fake Christmas tree sprig as a flourish at the bow. I'm really excited for it!
With 5 kids, I made LOTS of gifts for teachers. I had a staff of 25 who got a gift from me. I now have an adult child in a group home with a staff of 20. My goal always was gifts under $3 each--before Dollar Tree. Thrift stores and big sales always helped. Oreo Truffles: crush a package of Oreos and mix well with 8 oz of cream cheese. Refrigerate. Roll into 3/4" balls and dip into melted chocolate. They are so rich, a few are enough. I often add peanuts to melted chocolate and spoon into tiny candy cups. One year, I bought bud vases for 25c each. I made a deal with the florist and bought 2 dozen carnations for 33c each every Monday. All the school's teachers got a fresh flower for their desks every week (and a red rose for Christmas). Another parent shared the cost. Everyone has so much, consumables are best. I love your idea of gifts for family activities!
To save money, my husband, sister, and brother in law all buy gifts for each other from the dollar store for Christmas every year. It is so fun to see how creative everyone can be and makes it more about the thoughtfulness than the dollar amount. We would rather spend money on the kids than the adults :)
That was great... that just jarred lol my memory on some homemade spice tea that I make and people love I needed one little item for my neighbors and that is perfect.
Thank you Dawn for another inspiring & uplifting video. Just another thought for the festive season. Each day for advent my (older) boys receive a gift for an animal shelter. It can be a tin of food/toy/blanket etc. We then have a nice donation to gift after Christmas when the shelters are brimming with unwanted animals. If any of my family members are struggling to think of a gift for me, I always suggest buying me animal food! The donor has a gift idea, the recipient can donate and the shelter has help. There is no downside to this, everyone is a winner. I find Christmas is far more enjoyable when kept simple & straightforward.
I have never had a great deal of money. One gift I gave my aunt was to a cute gift box in the shape of a house and decorated for Christmas. It was from Dollar Tree. I then filled it with a bag of Werthers candies, crackers, cheeses, hand cream, bath soap, and jellies in small containers, along with tea from DT and made it a fun little gift. Another time I filled a small gift bag with large size bath gel, bath bombs, handcream, special booties and gloces as well as a facial scrub, notecards, manicure set, hair wrap . It wasnt expensive but she was pleased . I made homemade shower gel , handcream, and scrubs and put them in containers from DT. For my friend's boys, preteens, I took Popcorn containers from Dollar Tree added an action movie and a western movie, popcorn, variety of snacks and they loved it
I was gifted face masks (all reputable brands with good reviews) and a candle from the dollar tree. It was a great “spa” themed gift. Also the dollar tree jars are great for cookie or brownie mix in a jar where you just print the recipe and the recipient adds the butter/eggs. Those are my favorite to receive because it doubles as an activity I can do with my kids and a delicious treat.
my aunt used to work for halmark and we gift me a huge stack of random cards. loved having them on hand especially sympathy, get well and birthday cards. it’s a huge savings as time saver to have them. and if your budget allows give stamps too bc they are super expensive. loved the drying towel gift idea. i’m all about useful gifts.
I knit and crochet. I love to give gifts! I concentrate at meetings better if my hands are busy, so I knit dishcloths or crochet scrubbies all year and have at least 50 small items ready to give for Christmas. (Each only costs 50c to make.) Thanks for the idea of adding a dish drying mat.
Yes, thank you very much for bringing light to having a simpler less expensive Christmas. Giftgiving has definitely got out of hand. I love all these ideas.
I love getting stocking stuffers and gift wrap/bags from the dollar store! The ribbon section is my personal favorite, because I almost always do plain paper and dress up the package with real fabric ribbon. The crafts section and putting together baking kits are both fabulous ideas that I will definitely try to implement this year!
Dawn, I love your ideas. Thank you for being real, knowing that even though you help us move clutter out of our houses, you acknowledge that Christmas presents happen. In the past, I have prepared homemade chocolate chip cookie dough, peanut butter cookie dough, sugar cookie dough, snickerdoodle cookie dough, etc., and rolled them into slice-and-bake logs, wrapped them in both wax paper and aluminum foil, affixed ribbons, and presented them as gifts. The slice-and-bake cookie logs save the recipient the time of preparing cookies from scratch because now they just slice and bake, and they have fresh, hot cookies to serve their own guests. I’ve given these to family members, teachers, friends. And to amp this (or any other home-created project) up, I pray for the recipients as I measure, mix, form, package. Again, thank you so much, Dawn, for being Our Dawn.
The idea of taking kids to the dollar tree to shop for someone else is so good. One year our dil took our grand to shop for presents. Well she did very well but she bought a tube of toothpaste for my hubby, her grandfather. We had such good laughs about that! We said maybe she meant that GG had bad breath! My other mention was about the picture. I once made my granddaughter a photo album all her own! I put pictures of all of her relatives & even pics of herself in many of the photos. she loved looking at them on her own & with others, telling who each one was. I didn’t know just how much she would love it!
I make coated nuts, buckeyes, these pretzel rolo candy pecan candies, and mini loaf’s of pumpkin or cranberry breads. You would not believe how much people love receiving back and handmade items.
Pet themes are great too, either for a new pet owner or just one that would like some fresh toys/treats. Love these ideas, especially the 1-1 kid canvas! Brilliant, and what kid doesn't like to feel special in a snap with just his/her Mom and Dad?
My sons always look forward to the snack gift baskets I make them from DT! I don't usually buy these snacks throughout the year. One way to make any baskets look professional is by limiting the colors of the items, so it's all coordinated.
In a former quilting guild we had "secret sisters" - we'd fill out a form that asked about our likes and dislikes. One of my dislikes is cooking. Now I'm sure this wasn't from the dollar store but you might be able to adapt it. My secret sister gave me a basket that had a loaf of French bread, a jar of spaghetti sauce, a container of parmesan cheese and a package of spaghetti noodles. All that was missing (for my family) was a pound of hamburger. Meal was easy and delicious and I still use the basket to this day.
I have given dollar tree gifts several times to my teen nieces and nephews - giving them 14 wrapped gifts for their 14th birthday as an example. Then a gift of cash for them to spend. They seem to love both the gifts and the cash.
So many nice ideas! We gave a brownie mix as a 7th birthday gift to my daughter's new friend who is here in Canada from the Ukraine. We typed out the directions from the back of the box then used Google translate to also print them in Ukrainian. The family really appreciated the gift!!
Love this video!!! I usually get a large and pocket calendar to add to gifts. Also the cookie containers or other food containers if you make backed goods for people are nice. Throughout the year Walgreens and CVS trade off FREE print codes for your canvas print idea from Dollar Tree supplies. I guess since I think about getting gifts throughout the entire year; budgeting over a longer period of time like 8-6 months has really helped. So true that it's the thought that counts!!!
Some of my staple DT gifts: Baby/mom gift: those bath books, little square canvass for a hand and foot print, disposable diaper trash bags.... Kids: glow sticks (for the bath!), busy bag items, LRC (left, right, center game) stickers, books, puzzles, those magetic tins with see thru lid are great for all the little treasures they pickup and want to keep/display, matching games, dress up... Grief: a candle and card of remembrance....
Dawn, this was amazing! Reminded me of Charlie Brown when everyone ridiculed Charlie for his tree and then Linus comes out and reminds everyone what Christmas is all about. I tear up every time and got the same feels from this. They have nice car care stuff you can group as a themed gift, epsom salts with essential oil if you have it in a nice jar with pretty ribbon and some fuzzy socks or gloves, lots of themes to work with - the possibilities even with a few bucks are endless.
This is so great Dawn! Especially your comments on not worrying so much about the ingredients since it’s not an every day thing 😆 You have really awesome consumable ideas 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
The gift wrap and card ideas were great! For birthdays when my daughter was a tween, I’ve given her friends, a couple cake mixes, cupcake liners, icing and sprinkles. They loved it. I’ve given snack boxes, too. People like trying new pop and snack flavors
Love these ideas! We actually went to the Dollar Tree and got the paint/craft box for an exchange that my 7yr old is in. She loves putting it together and said she would love to get a gift like that. The money amount is $10 and it felt like we really got something meaningful. Thanks for the idea.
Great ideas, Dawn! Thank you. 😊 The best gift I received was from a friend who made homemade Vanilla and presented it in an adorable bottle with the vanilla beans still in it. There’s no comparison to what’s in the stores here. I like to gift peppers in olive oil in a tall, pretty jar with a cork lid. Beautiful for decoration or use by the recipient. I’m going to try your inventors boxes on my young grands this year! Thanks for the resources. 😘
If they aren’t particularly creative another great version is to put in doctor supplies like a mask, gloves, white apron, boo-boo ice pack and some band aids. Soooo much more play time than regular kids doctor toy sets. If your budget is a little bigger you can get “real” stethoscopes at a lot of pharmacies for less than $15
I always make my own seasonings for chili, tacos, dips, pumpkin pie spice, "Italian seasoning" - all the things. I don't premix them. I just eyeball it most of the time. Once you know the proportions it's easy peasy! However, I LOVE the idea of making them up in jars as gifts for others. What a great idea! I also LOVE the photo canvas idea!!!!!
Our Dollarama carries a huge selection of socks. From Christmas to tropical designs, and thin all the way to slipper socks, they have a lot of options.
Just one heads up, I’m sure it was just a bad very cheaply made batch, but I got socks from dollarama before that gave me what felt like metal slivers, that I pulled out of the top of my foot for days after wearing them. While I love the dollar store for consumable things (notebooks and things!) be careful with some items as we aren’t sure about the factory conditions of where the items are made. Happy Christmas shopping!❤
@NovasTH-camName Awe shucks! That's too bad. We have bought socks at Dollarama for years with no issues. I totally understand not wanting to buy socks there after that kind of experience, though.
I am an educator, The Dollar Tree is my go-to place! I purchase snacks, treats and small games there as well as great jars and create gifts in a jar. THERE ARE SO MANY you can make! From baking, cookies, brownies to hot cocoa bar in jars ! Make them look like snowman stacked up...super cute and a great gift. 😊
I love your economical gift ideas, especially for kids. While you discussed some cooking gifts, I watched someone (you?) slicing a potato. Please teach your family to tuck their knuckles in when slicing anything -- so much safer. Even if a knuckle is scraped one day, it's much better than cutting off a fingertip! Keep up all the good advice you send us!
Thank you so much for watching! We compiled all of the links from this video right here: www.theminimalmom.com/christmas-resources
You'll find:
- Inventor's Box Label
- Chili & Taco Seasoning Labels and Recipes
- Directions for the Graham Cracker Gingerbread Homes
- Instructions for the DIY Photo Canvases
I hope you find this helpful! Have a great weekend!!! - Dawn
Was that the Town Centre Dollar Tree or the Cliff Lake one?
And the mold testing people are coming on Monday to test at my parents' house - *_FINALLY!!!!_* Looking forward to finding out just how bad the mold in their basement is. I'll be there when the people come, so I can put my foot down if I need to. Please thank Eric for me for the recommendation!
@@SnowySpiritRuby oh good! I’m so glad to hear this!!!! ❤️
For my teens, I'm going to do a hygiene gift bag. Their favorite face wash, a new shower sponge, toothbrush, etc...and then a snacks bag as well.
The Gingerbread home directions are such a great complement to Rachel Cruze's recent video where she says she can't spend money on those kits during the holidays. You've got a better way to do it for those that want it!
@@TheMinimalMom 6 air samples and 6 tape samples later (both upstairs and downstairs), we'll see just how horrible the basement - laundry room in particular - is.
So was the Dollar Tree pictured the Town Centre one or the Cliff Lake one?
I run older Christmas wrap through my shredder to make my own filler for gift bags!
That's genius, I love it!
Great idea!
Again, GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!
Haha I had not even read the previous comments when I wrote “genius” …LOL, we just all agree! 🤗❤️ 😊
❤It's always so nice that you say, "I love you" at the end of your videos. You will never know how many people didn't hear that from ANYONE else today. ❤
I would add a disposable table cloth to the craft box!
I like that you are bringing people back to a simpler holiday season…and cheaper!
Absolutely❣️
This gift took some planning but was a hit. After each holiday (Val Day, St Pat, Easter, T-giving, etc.) I bought one pack of themed snack plates & napkins on clearance. Did it all year for about 6 people and gifted each the entire set.
GENIUS. Definitely starting this next year! Would make a great teacher gift too! Could buy them stickers or pencils when they hit clearance.
@@RequisiteDismayOne of the things I like about this gift is that the person knows you thought of them all year.
I love this. I did this but bought holiday themed kitchen towels all year long and gifted them all for Christmas at the end of the year.
I make my own taco seasoning. I quadruple the recipe, store in a jar in the pantry. I have the recipe on the jar, a reminder to use 2 tablespoons so 3 out of four times it’s just as fast as using the packets and when I need more the recipe is right there.
Every year I give each of my children a jar filled with Hershey kisses with a tag that says everyone needs kisses.
A great dollar store gift idea for couples is two identical puzzles (such as the 500-piece landscapes). A race to see to who can finish their puzzle first is a fun date!
Such a fun idea love it!!!
My parents bought 3 small gifts for me, and also for my sister, to open on Christmas Eve...they 'represented' the 3 Wise Men. We opened them while my dad read the Infancy Narratives to us. On Christmas morning, "Jesus' friend, Santa" left 1 larger gift for us. Together, as a family, we offered special prayers for our military, our civil servants, and finally for our family & neighborhood. I truly have THE BEST Christmas memories! I'm now old... and have the joy of watching our sons continue these traditions.
❤🌲❤
A friend was going through a rough divorce and her kids were still little and one in particular needed A LOT of attention, so for Mother's Day I gifted each child and "keep yourself busy" box complete with a kitchen timer and a book of things to do that I had made for my kiddos a long time ago, with all the things needed to make the things in the book. So mama could say "do your busy box for 15 minutes" and get a needed break. I pretty much just refilled those boxes for Mother's Day for a few years for her.
I'd love to know the details on the keep yourself busy box--sounds great!
@@juliegrossman3733 Both kids were over 7 at the time, so I included things like playdoh, with challenge cards (literally just index cards with instructions, like "make an orange dog with yellow ears"), canvases with acrylic paints, yarn, and all with some kind of instruction because my niece wasn't good at self directed play. There are teacher websites with wonderful resources.
THIS👏
Good idea, you're such a thoughtful friend!
Our son and daughter-in law have six children ages 1 to 11. The older four delight in choosing gifts for Poppa and Grandma to open on Christmas. To help my daughter-in-law's gift budget, we go to Dollar Tree to choose and take pictures of a handful of $1.25 gifts, no more than four per grandparent, that we would enjoy. I text the list and pics to her, then she can help our grands choose what they would like to give us from our choices. We emphasize to her that we do not expect to receive all of the items on the list! This method allows the grands to experience the excitement of choosing gifts for us, as well as the joy of seeing us unwrap these special gifts at Christmas. It is so important to teach children to think of others during the holidays. This method achieves that goal in a very affordable way!
What a lovely and considerate way of teaching children to give. And, for you and your husband to get gifts you like. I love the Dollar Tree for several of their items
Thanks, Jill, for your kind words! Hope you and your family have a joyful celebration of the Greatest Gift! @@jillgott6567
Great idea, Thanks. 😊
Glad you liked our idea! Hope you and your family have a joyful celebration of the Greatest Gift! @@carmenlaboy8760
I often give cards to elderly friends so they can send them out as they like. A book of stamps makes the gift even nicer, if that’s in your budget. Ross and TJMaxx are great sources for boxes of cards!
Stamps!! Brilliant idea 💡
This is a great idea!
I'd be thrilled with a book of stamps! Great idea 💡
I also came to suggest including a book of stamps.
Heck I’m in my 30s and I would be elated to get a book of stamps!! ❤
I am 60 and I was happy to see Matchbox cars at the dollar store and still have to look at them. I still love running with the shopping cart in the parking lot and jumping on for a ride like a kid. I will stop when I get so old I break a hip, lol. Great ideas, love them. Have a nice day.
I bought that mixing bowl 2 yrs ago for a craft. I use it so much that I never did the craft.
For my daughter, after every holiday I bought towels, hot pads, ect on clearance.. For Christmas she had seasonal towels for every season/holiday.
Those dish mats work wonderfully under pet dishes !
For my birthday last year, a friend gifted me 10 reading glasses in a bouquet and made it look like flowers. All from the Dollar Store
Making spice blends at home is like sand art for adults! 😄
It's fun to swrill some peanutbutter into brownies!
We discovered at Halloween that Pop Tarts make good gingerbread houses as well as graham crackers. Also my daughter and I have been trying to curb the sweets and junk food during holidays. Those cute plates and trays can be filled with individually wrapped cheeses, jerky, small bags of nuts, think a small charcuterie board/plate.💜🐞
My family and I are focusing on the real meaning of Christmas… Going to Christmas Mass, enjoying wonderful food together, baking, watching Christmas movies, playing cards, and driving around to see Christmas lights. We are only spending $10 on a fun stocking exchange. We also like to volunteer at the food pantry. ❤🥰😇🎄
That sounds like the perfect Christmas! 🥰
How lovely ! 💚❤️
That sounds lovely :)
An addition to my super-long comment from a minute ago: I also give gift sets to Toys for Tots from DT. They don't always get as many gifts for kids who are a little older, so I like to make sets of beauty items appropriate for pre-teens, including nail polish and remover, hair accessories, lip balm, nice-scented lotion, etc. Extras available some years have included a small kit for making friendship bracelets and a button that said Girl Power. I try to avoid things they might not be able to use depending on their housing situation, such as bath bombs or bubble bath since they might not have access to a bathtub, etc.
Great ideas as always! I gift my apartment neighbors this year I’m gifting them the popcorn empty tub with some packaged microwave popcorn, hot chocolate mix, and a bar or good chocolate or candy canes
I do this for my Amazon Drivers
❤
Don't forget to add a dollar tree dvd ♡
I think the gift wrapping "kit" would be a great Secret Santa gift. Everyone can use it. Or a wonderful teacher gift. Once they get home for the break, they will be thrilled to have it. :)
I just made a sewing box for my granddaughter for Christmas. We've been reading Addy an American Girl and doing recipes and crafts to go along with the books. She became so interested in sewing, I wanted to give her a kit of her own ❤
On the other side of receiving these kind of gifts. I would say, use them! I used to just hold on to gifts like this for some "special occasion". Then when I finally worked myself up to use them, they were broken, expired, or lost. Now, I open and use them as soon as I can.
I have done the photo on canvas quite a bit and use modge podge. When modge podge is wet on top of photo, I take a blank dry canvas(same size), and carefully lay the front part of that canvas on top of canvas with wet photo. Push carefully without moving around, then lift. When dry this will get that light textures effect its actual canvas.
I wish I could have given this video a double thumbs up 👍🏻👍🏻 One for the great gift ideas and one for the sentiment of giving gifts that express your love for a person without the stress of a huge price tag. Gift giving seems to have got way of hand for some people which can result in giving up entirely which is sad. Great video, Dawn. 🎉
I wish everyone could watch this video. It’s so hard when you have family members to that don’t understand and are only focused on the price of the gift 😢
My mom would wrap every pen, pencil, marker, we didn’t care we loved the unwrapping! I love your ideas!!!!❤
I remember my father giving me a box of stationary supplies when I was a kid, which I loved. Some of them were unusual things that he used in his work and I thought they were so cool.
Love this video! Two things...I gifted Taco seasoning last Christmas. My daughter lives out of town, and I still replenish her supply whenever I see her. Also, let kids pick gifts for giving at the dollar tree. When you tell them they can pick anything from the store to give...they get so excited.
We did that with our kids too - but a family secret Santa and they loved it!!! Same with the kids used clothing store we have - they get to pick as many books as they want for themselves and others ❤
I really enjoyed this video. Another idea that we do in my family we have four kids is every single year we go to the dollar tree and each child is given a budget of 3 gIFts per person in the home. And they get to go shopping and they wrap their own presents and gift their gift to their sibling or their mom or dad or my grandma it usually ends up costing me less than $100. I know that sounds like a lot but I have six people in my family. The crazy thing is the children love this part of Christmas more than anything else that we get. I think it’s because they are choosing and giving and they’re also taking responsibility for wrapping it and hiding it from the other sibling or their parent and I think that adds to the excitement.
One year my mom gave the granddaughters a simple apron which she had monogramed along with a cookie mix and spatula. They loved it!
We have a small community theater. For our 3 and 6 year old grandchildren we bought the. Tickets to see a comedy trained dog show, and hid their ticket in a book. The tickets are only a copy, but they will not be aware. They will enjoy having their own ticket, but we have the originals so they want be misplaced. The play is in February….I know they will love an outing with us. Plus what fun we will have with them!
Dawn dish soap... I chuckled at DAWN
Dawn you are so creative, and it is the little things that mean alot. Love the picture canvas idea.
Picture idea❤❤❤❤
I started a tradition of giving a goodwill gift. It all started with finding toys that my adult children played with as a child. I started purchasing these through the year and putting them back. BIG HIT! They look forward to these every year. They get so excited. I do it for the grandchildren too. Nine
adult children and 25
grandchildren is a lot of thrifting! But so worth it.
One score I found at my local Dollar Tree were Harry & David coffees! (Makers of those lovely but expensive gift baskets you can find online.) Several men on my list are getting these as gifts this year, along with clear glass mugs. Also glad to see another person jumping on the bandwagon for homemade spice blends, LOL! 🥰
And maybe include one of the small tins of butter cookies
Thank you so much for such great ideas and reminding us how gift giving doesn't need to be so over thought - Sally R.
I would LOVE to receive all the greeting cards! So convenient to not have to drive to a store and buy them.
Great ideas! Long post alert here....
I've bought all sorts of gifts from Dollar Tree for years, as stand-alone gifts, stocking stuffers, gift baskets and gift boxes, depending on the items. Some of the bigger hits for adults of all ages include a set of Word Find and/or puzzle books and a pretty pen, a calendar (especially the wall calendar set that includes a mini calendar), mini day planner booklets, sets of pretty fashion pens or gel pens with small journals, manicure sets (nail polish, remover and emery boards), sets of small toiletries for travel or use in the car (especially Gold Bond healing hand cream and small Germ-x hand sanitizer), eyeglass repair kits and the nicer eyeglass cords, strikers (esp the short ones to keep in the car).
For months before Christmas, I watch for name-brand or especially nice snack foods and health and beauty items and collect them to give in various ways. My mother-in-law loves getting a big box of snack foods every year, and my mother enjoys beauty boxes. Last year I bought rose lotion and fragrance mist at 75% off at Bath & Body Works after-Christmas sale and rose-scented liquid hand soap at Walmart and then filled a big, beautiful gift box I had on hand with about 15 beauty items in matching pink colors from Dollar Tree (nail polish, Dove face cream, Ponds face treatment, pink mesh scrubby, gel eye pads, pink ELF lipstick, etc.) Mom loved it. This year, DT has some fantastic-smelling liquid hand soap in beautiful aromatherapy-style containers in cinnamon and clove scent (red label) and cider apple scent (green label). I'm pairing them in a DT black oval wire mesh basket with the DT Christmas dish towel that says The Most Wonderful Time of the Year and giving them to a few people right after Thanksgiving so they can enjoy them during the holiday season. The baskets look professional and cost $5 each.
I'd like someone to give me a set of the pure castile bar soaps DT has right now in peppermint, lavender, almond and activated charcoal, along with the all-natural lip balms they've got in mint and strawberry. I also like the 3-piece fashion pen sets they carry each Christmas in floral patterns and the 10-piece pink Click pen sets they sometimes have (I always know which pen is mine).
DT Plus has some nice things sometimes too. I bought a sturdy straw welcome mat printed with Hello in a nice script last year that I'd love to have gotten as a gift. The key to inexpensive gift giving is knowing what the recipient really likes and matching their tastes. Happy Holidays!
This year I'm gifting a set of 4 dollar tree mason jar cups with handles. They look so modern and cool. I plan to package them in a free Starbucks 4 drink holder with sides, in a dollar tree clear shrink wrap bag with a fake Christmas tree sprig as a flourish at the bow. I'm really excited for it!
With 5 kids, I made LOTS of gifts for teachers. I had a staff of 25 who got a gift from me. I now have an adult child in a group home with a staff of 20. My goal always was gifts under $3 each--before Dollar Tree. Thrift stores and big sales always helped.
Oreo Truffles: crush a package of Oreos and mix well with 8 oz of cream cheese. Refrigerate. Roll into 3/4" balls and dip into melted chocolate. They are so rich, a few are enough.
I often add peanuts to melted chocolate and spoon into tiny candy cups.
One year, I bought bud vases for 25c each. I made a deal with the florist and bought 2 dozen carnations for 33c each every Monday. All the school's teachers got a fresh flower for their desks every week (and a red rose for Christmas). Another parent shared the cost.
Everyone has so much, consumables are best. I love your idea of gifts for family activities!
To save money, my husband, sister, and brother in law all buy gifts for each other from the dollar store for Christmas every year. It is so fun to see how creative everyone can be and makes it more about the thoughtfulness than the dollar amount. We would rather spend money on the kids than the adults :)
That was great... that just jarred lol my memory on some homemade spice tea that I make and people love I needed one little item for my neighbors and that is perfect.
First gift video I've watched this season that I felt like I'd actually do!!
Thank you Dawn for another inspiring & uplifting video. Just another thought for the festive season. Each day for advent my (older) boys receive a gift for an animal shelter. It can be a tin of food/toy/blanket etc. We then have a nice donation to gift after Christmas when the shelters are brimming with unwanted animals. If any of my family members are struggling to think of a gift for me, I always suggest buying me animal food! The donor has a gift idea, the recipient can donate and the shelter has help. There is no downside to this, everyone is a winner. I find Christmas is far more enjoyable when kept simple & straightforward.
I have never had a great deal of money. One gift I gave my aunt was to a cute gift box in the shape of a house and decorated for Christmas. It was from Dollar Tree. I then filled it with a bag of Werthers candies, crackers, cheeses, hand cream, bath soap, and jellies in small containers, along with tea from DT and made it a fun little gift.
Another time I filled a small gift bag with large size bath gel, bath bombs, handcream, special booties and gloces as well as a facial scrub, notecards, manicure set, hair wrap .
It wasnt expensive but she was pleased .
I made homemade shower gel , handcream, and scrubs and put them in containers from DT.
For my friend's boys, preteens, I took Popcorn containers from Dollar Tree added an action movie and a western movie, popcorn, variety of snacks and they loved it
I was gifted face masks (all reputable brands with good reviews) and a candle from the dollar tree. It was a great “spa” themed gift.
Also the dollar tree jars are great for cookie or brownie mix in a jar where you just print the recipe and the recipient adds the butter/eggs. Those are my favorite to receive because it doubles as an activity I can do with my kids and a delicious treat.
Ive been giving wrapping paper, bows and tape as a Christmas gift for teachers for years-something I can afford but is useful as well.
my aunt used to work for halmark and we gift me a huge stack of random cards. loved having them on hand especially sympathy, get well and birthday cards. it’s a huge savings as time saver to have them. and if your budget allows give stamps too bc they are super expensive. loved the drying towel gift idea. i’m all about useful gifts.
This was a great video. Maybe if we get back to simpler, non-expensive gifts, people will feel better receiving. It really is the thought.
I knit and crochet. I love to give gifts! I concentrate at meetings better if my hands are busy, so I knit dishcloths or crochet scrubbies all year and have at least 50 small items ready to give for Christmas. (Each only costs 50c to make.) Thanks for the idea of adding a dish drying mat.
Yes, thank you very much for bringing light to having a simpler less expensive Christmas. Giftgiving has definitely got out of hand. I love all these ideas.
I love getting stocking stuffers and gift wrap/bags from the dollar store! The ribbon section is my personal favorite, because I almost always do plain paper and dress up the package with real fabric ribbon. The crafts section and putting together baking kits are both fabulous ideas that I will definitely try to implement this year!
A mani/pedi kit for teen girls is awesome. Nail polish, nail file, cotton rounds, nail polish remover, hand lotion, etc.
These are great ideas. I also love hair ties and clips there.
As always, Dawn, you are such a great encourager! And BTW, I love the new wall art in your dining room area … super super cute! ❤
Dawn, I love your ideas. Thank you for being real, knowing that even though you help us move clutter out of our houses, you acknowledge that Christmas presents happen. In the past, I have prepared homemade chocolate chip cookie dough, peanut butter cookie dough, sugar cookie dough, snickerdoodle cookie dough, etc., and rolled them into slice-and-bake logs, wrapped them in both wax paper and aluminum foil, affixed ribbons, and presented them as gifts. The slice-and-bake cookie logs save the recipient the time of preparing cookies from scratch because now they just slice and bake, and they have fresh, hot cookies to serve their own guests. I’ve given these to family members, teachers, friends. And to amp this (or any other home-created project) up, I pray for the recipients as I measure, mix, form, package. Again, thank you so much, Dawn, for being Our Dawn.
That's a great idea, but don't they have to be refrigerated?
Yes, they do. I present them refrigerated and tell the recipient to refrigerate them immediately upon their arrival home. 🎄🍪🎄🍪🎄
The idea of taking kids to the dollar tree to shop for someone else is so good. One year our dil took our grand to shop for presents. Well she did very well but she bought a tube of toothpaste for my hubby, her grandfather. We had such good laughs about that! We said maybe she meant that GG had bad breath!
My other mention was about the picture. I once made my granddaughter a photo album all her own! I put pictures of all of her relatives & even pics of herself in many of the photos. she loved looking at them on her own & with others, telling who each one was. I didn’t know just how much she would love it!
I make coated nuts, buckeyes, these pretzel rolo candy pecan candies, and mini loaf’s of pumpkin or cranberry breads. You would not believe how much people love receiving back and handmade items.
Pet themes are great too, either for a new pet owner or just one that would like some fresh toys/treats. Love these ideas, especially the 1-1 kid canvas! Brilliant, and what kid doesn't like to feel special in a snap with just his/her Mom and Dad?
So many great ideas here, Dawn! You put a lot of thought into this. Love this video! ❤
Thank you dawn love watching your videos
This is one of my favorite videos.
Dollar tree is ine my favorite place to shop.
The white gingerbread house with the eyelashes is my favorite Dawn....it's so CUTE!!!! 🤩
gifting cards would be a great idea for someone who loves journaling!!
My sons always look forward to the snack gift baskets I make them from DT! I don't usually buy these snacks throughout the year. One way to make any baskets look professional is by limiting the colors of the items, so it's all coordinated.
In a former quilting guild we had "secret sisters" - we'd fill out a form that asked about our likes and dislikes. One of my dislikes is cooking. Now I'm sure this wasn't from the dollar store but you might be able to adapt it. My secret sister gave me a basket that had a loaf of French bread, a jar of spaghetti sauce, a container of parmesan cheese and a package of spaghetti noodles. All that was missing (for my family) was a pound of hamburger. Meal was easy and delicious and I still use the basket to this day.
I have given dollar tree gifts several times to my teen nieces and nephews - giving them 14 wrapped gifts for their 14th birthday as an example. Then a gift of cash for them to spend.
They seem to love both the gifts and the cash.
My niece loves painting and last year I bought a boat load of painting supplies for her. She loved it. Dollar Tree for the win!
So many nice ideas! We gave a brownie mix as a 7th birthday gift to my daughter's new friend who is here in Canada from the Ukraine. We typed out the directions from the back of the box then used Google translate to also print them in Ukrainian. The family really appreciated the gift!!
My son lives in Saint Paul, thanks for pointing me to a good Dollar Tree!
Love this video!!! I usually get a large and pocket calendar to add to gifts. Also the cookie containers or other food containers if you make backed goods for people are nice. Throughout the year Walgreens and CVS trade off FREE print codes for your canvas print idea from Dollar Tree supplies. I guess since I think about getting gifts throughout the entire year; budgeting over a longer period of time like 8-6 months has really helped. So true that it's the thought that counts!!!
Some of my staple DT gifts:
Baby/mom gift: those bath books, little square canvass for a hand and foot print, disposable diaper trash bags....
Kids: glow sticks (for the bath!), busy bag items, LRC (left, right, center game) stickers, books, puzzles, those magetic tins with see thru lid are great for all the little treasures they pickup and want to keep/display, matching games, dress up...
Grief: a candle and card of remembrance....
Dawn, this was amazing! Reminded me of Charlie Brown when everyone ridiculed Charlie for his tree and then Linus comes out and reminds everyone what Christmas is all about. I tear up every time and got the same feels from this. They have nice car care stuff you can group as a themed gift, epsom salts with essential oil if you have it in a nice jar with pretty ribbon and some fuzzy socks or gloves, lots of themes to work with - the possibilities even with a few bucks are endless.
Gift of time spent in Nature!!! 🎄🎄🎄
My kids would love a box of dollar tree crafts. Great idea!
Absolutely! Love it ♡
This is so great Dawn! Especially your comments on not worrying so much about the ingredients since it’s not an every day thing 😆 You have really awesome consumable ideas 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
Thx, Dawn ! You're the BEST !
First comment!
Sending love from Croatia, Europe ❤
I love this! My additional suggestion is that Dollar Tree’s little wood chalk tags are fun to use as gift labels, too.
The gift wrap and card ideas were great! For birthdays when my daughter was a tween, I’ve given her friends, a couple cake mixes, cupcake liners, icing and sprinkles. They loved it. I’ve given snack boxes, too. People like trying new pop and snack flavors
Jones Soda! I met the inventor back in university in the late 90s. Awesome product.
I definitely like getting inexpensive gifts, just something I can use up.
It' really about the thought.
Wow!!! Thank you for making gift giving FUN again! These gift idea TH-cams are so encouraging!!!!!
Love these ideas! We actually went to the Dollar Tree and got the paint/craft box for an exchange that my 7yr old is in. She loves putting it together and said she would love to get a gift like that. The money amount is $10 and it felt like we really got something meaningful. Thanks for the idea.
Great ideas, Dawn! Thank you. 😊
The best gift I received was from a friend who made homemade Vanilla and presented it in an adorable bottle with the vanilla beans still in it. There’s no comparison to what’s in the stores here. I like to gift peppers in olive oil in a tall, pretty jar with a cork lid. Beautiful for decoration or use by the recipient. I’m going to try your inventors boxes on my young grands this year! Thanks for the resources. 😘
Yes! Someone gave me a glass jar with vanilla beans infusing in alcohol and then the next year, I did the same.
I got a bottle of homemade vanilla from a friend last Christmas. 🥰
If they aren’t particularly creative another great version is to put in doctor supplies like a mask, gloves, white apron, boo-boo ice pack and some band aids. Soooo much more play time than regular kids doctor toy sets. If your budget is a little bigger you can get “real” stethoscopes at a lot of pharmacies for less than $15
My kids love “creative pack” kits - got them from grandma before
Now this is my kind of gift guide!!! Loved the message here ❤
I always make my own seasonings for chili, tacos, dips, pumpkin pie spice, "Italian seasoning" - all the things. I don't premix them. I just eyeball it most of the time. Once you know the proportions it's easy peasy! However, I LOVE the idea of making them up in jars as gifts for others. What a great idea! I also LOVE the photo canvas idea!!!!!
I don't know if you mentioned CHOCOLATE!! I know I'd love to get some in my stocking. 😁
Our Dollarama carries a huge selection of socks. From Christmas to tropical designs, and thin all the way to slipper socks, they have a lot of options.
We live in a cold climate and our family always loves new pair of “softy socks”!
Just one heads up, I’m sure it was just a bad very cheaply made batch, but I got socks from dollarama before that gave me what felt like metal slivers, that I pulled out of the top of my foot for days after wearing them. While I love the dollar store for consumable things (notebooks and things!) be careful with some items as we aren’t sure about the factory conditions of where the items are made. Happy Christmas shopping!❤
@NovasTH-camName Awe shucks! That's too bad. We have bought socks at Dollarama for years with no issues. I totally understand not wanting to buy socks there after that kind of experience, though.
@@mikedundee65 so glad you haven’t had any problems!
Dollarama is a lot bigger (and better) than Dollar Tree, so you're lucky.
i love this so much. it is supposed to be about the thought
My best friend just brought me a beautiful poinsettia plant and a candle advent. Perfect for me. It made my day.😊❤
I just bought that mixing bowl. I love it! I'm so surprised that something so inexpensive has been so useful.
Thank you for the reminder of meaning of gifts! Such thoughtful things! Thanks Dawn
Gift giving is supposed to be about the thought and expressing care or love for the person. Wonderful reminder! ❤
Matchbox and Hot Wheels make such a great gift. My grandson loved them so much.
I am an educator, The Dollar Tree is my go-to place! I purchase snacks, treats and small games there as well as great jars and create gifts in a jar. THERE ARE SO MANY you can make! From baking, cookies, brownies to hot cocoa bar in jars ! Make them look like snowman stacked up...super cute and a great gift. 😊
Wow, your son looks like you Dawn! ❤🎉 What a cutie! And as always your ideas are great!
I love your economical gift ideas, especially for kids. While you discussed some cooking gifts, I watched someone (you?) slicing a potato. Please teach your family to tuck their knuckles in when slicing anything -- so much safer. Even if a knuckle is scraped one day, it's much better than cutting off a fingertip!
Keep up all the good advice you send us!
I love the card idea. I send many cards and keep a supply organized by event in a wicker container. Stamps, or a pen would be great too.