DIY is your friend!
I usually do a mix of DIY and thoughtful gifts, my family is weird so I've given everything from art to toilet seats to dog training classes when I'm feeling passive aggressive.
Booze, usually goes over well. I like to infuse vodka with fresh ingredients. It's pretty simple. I get some midrange vodka (if the 750mL bottles come in glass, it's probably good enough) like Svedka. Don't bother with something fancy like Grey Goose, that's a waste. Put good tasting stuff in vodka, let sit for a while, shake a few times a day. I like to zest several limes and let the zest infuse for a few weeks. I juice the limes and freeze the juice for later. After a few weeks, the vodka will be a pale lime color from the zest, strain the peel out and sweeten with simple syrup if you'd like- I like to make mine with lime juice. This makes a dangerously good alcoholic limeade when you mix it with club soda- I can barely taste the vodka.
Some things infuse longer than others. Some spices may need only 12-36 hours, but something like apples would take at least a week or two. Some of the ones I've made include lime, pepper and coffee, but other good ones might be something like pumpkin spice, cinnamon, lemon, chai tea, sweet tea or berries.
Here's a good guide to get you started. The sooner you start this, the better. These get better with age.
To package them, I usually use mason jars or reused swing top bottles (hey, it gives me a reason to buy fancy beer at the liquor store!) because I no longer shop at Hobby Lobby where I used to buy my bottles.
In a similar concept, vanilla extract is also the same, but you intentionally make it very strong as compared to an infused vodka. This needs a good 60 days to age, so again, best to start these early.
Here's a basic guide.
Handmade fancy bath and body stuff is also pretty easy and inexpensive when done in bulk. Everyone can use a good lip balm. There are companies that make a premade base so all you have to do is melt it, add some flavor/color and then pour into tubes. Cute labels are easy to make or find online. There are also premade bases for body butters, lotions, shampoos, body wash and scrubs. All you have to do is add scent, color and additives if you want, then package up.
Disclaimer for the following: I suck at math.
For instance,
a gallon of body butter base is about $36, $36 for 48 containers and lids, and $7-$10 for 4 ounces of fragrance oil to scent the gallon at safe usage rates. That works out to $82 on the high end of my estimates, which seems expensive, but you can make 32 4oz containers of body butter, which works out to be just over $2.50 a container. All you have to do is warm the base slightly to mix the fragrance in fully and then package and label. No animal testing, fancy and cheap.
Lip balm is also cheap- $15 for 48 tubes and lids, $10 for 16 ounces of lip balm base (that should fill about 100 tubes), $8 for a tray to make the filling much easier and $5-$8 for the flavor oil. That works out to $.85 a tube, and you'll have enough base and flavor oil left over to do another batch of 48. The tray is reusable too.
Then there's things like
solid sugar scrubs,
Soap Queen has a lot of good
tutorials- that link is to the post she just made for some inspiration for this year.
Here's another roundup,
and some more. There's stuff in there that works well for men, women and children.
Jewelry is also surprisingly easy. Nice gemstone necklaces can be made by either epoxying a flat cabochon into a setting, or setting a gemstone into a prong setting. That might sound scary, but
look how easy it can be.
Setting- 6x4 oval
Gems that fit that setting
Sterling silver chains
Using my bad math, if you make 6 pendants, it's about $75 for supplies, so $12.50 per necklace. The way that website works is that if you buy more stuff, it discounts the entire order, so if you buy over 15 units it drops the price. I added 3 of some bead strand that was really cheap which actually dropped the total to under $58, meaning you can make each necklace for under $10.
Small gifts I always throw in swaps are things like nail polish magnets. Super easy- paint on the flat side of those flat marbles used for floral arrangements. You do it in reverse order, so the clear glitter coat would go on first, then the opaque color on top of that. Once it's all dry, I use E-6000 to glue a magnet on the back.
Here's a guide, all my pictures suck. If you want to use crackle polish, you'll also need to put a layer of top coat on the back first so that it will crackle. It may not be the most trendy thing in nail art now, but it looks pretty cool on the magnets. It's also a good way to use pretty polish that has a crappy formula- butterLONDON I'm looking at you. :angry:
I'm starting on cute little felt animals right now, I may end up turning them into magnets or cat toys, but they're not too complicated to make and keep me occupied during downtime at work. I checked a few felt crafting books out from the library recently to get a start on learning patterns and such.