Easy Inexpensive Last Minute Gift Ideas

by Texas Homesteader ~

Do you need a fast, simple but inexpensive gift idea? No worries, I’m sharing a fun list here. Everything from a cute Santa sleigh made completely with candy, to a fun way to present cash – and everything in between. Fast & inexpensive for gifts for children, neighbors, co-workers, groups and more.

(Note: Some links in this post will take you to other related articles for further information. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click and buy something I could receive a tiny commission.)

Save Money, Save Time – Homemade Gifts

Below is a list of quick inexpensive gifts we’ve been able to make give over the years. And they’re easy to multiply for a group such as co-workers, neighbors, clubs, etc.

If you click on the titles you’ll be taken to a detailed post about that craft item.

I’ve even included links preceded with * so you can check out individual components of the gifts if you need. That keeps you from having to brave the stores – you can buy those makings of your homemade crafts to be delivered right to your house! #WorkSmarterNotHarder

NOTE: If you don’t already have it, you can totally *Try Amazon Prime For FREE for 30 days. Then you can place your order & get your free shipping, etc. Keep prime for 30 days FOR FREE & try it out – streaming movies, music, free shipping – the whole 9 yards! If you don’t want to continue you can cancel within 30 days and pay nothing for your Amazon Prime trial run.

You can see all our gift posts here –>

Also, there’s a whole list at the bottom of this post for all things holiday. Gift ideas, wrapping ideas, low-waste tips, etc.

Santa Sleigh Made With Candy

This Santa Sleigh is made entirely of candy! It can be put together very quickly. Go ahead & make several!

A few snack-sized candy bars, a couple of candy canes and a chocolate Santa is all you need!

Snowman Made With Candy and Gloves

This cute snowman is a nice gift all by itself using *inexpensive gloves & a bulky candy bar or boxed treat. We purchased ours at a dollar store.

But it can also be a cute and inexpensive way to gift cash or gift cards too.

Snowman Treat Jar

When we gifted Christmas Trail Mix to our grandchildren we presented it in a super-cute way. Using a repurposed jar with a snowman theme.

Just fill the snowman jar with whatever you like. I like sweetened popcorn because it’s so fast & easy. Just pop *Bulk Popcorn and bake it for a few minutes coated a simple syrup made of water/sugar/butter.

Make the popcorn into more colorful Christmas trail mix if you like – tips below.

Christmas Trail Mix

This is a cute and delicious treat. Christmas trail mix!

You can buy *Christmas Trail Mix already prepared. But we wanted to make our own.

The bulk of our sweet trailmix was just Sweetened Popcorn. (Oh so easy, and oh-so-cheap!)

Then we added various other things to add sweet/salty blend and color. For our Christmas trail mix we used:

*salted peanuts,

*cheese crackers,

*mini pretzels

colorful *sweetened cereal

It all combined perfectly to make the color pop & taste combination we wanted for our Christmas trail mix.

Cinnamon Sugar Candied Pecans

Sweet, salty, crunchy. These sweet candied pecans have it all and are delicious!

I never knew how easy it was to make candied pecans. But really – coat pecans in:

- - Whipped egg white,
  - Sugar,
  - Cinnamon,

Slowly roast in an oven for 60 minutes.

DONE!

Gardener’s Hand Scrub

For those gardeners in your life – Gardener’s Hand Scrub.

I mixed it up & put it all in a repurposed flip-top jar and added a cute label.

This hand scrub is simply made with

*Epsom salt,

*Body wash

*Coconut oil.

I scented my gardener’s hand scrub gift with *Lavender Essential Oil.

Pink Himalayan Mineral Bath Soak Gifts

I made these cute gifts for a ladies group I belonged to.

I used small 1/2-pint mason jars but you can use any repurposed glass jar. Then fill them from a larger bag of inexpensive *Mineral Salt Bath Soak.

You can make a jar for everyone in your office fast & for very little money and almost no time at all.

Repurposed Denim Hand Warmers

We made these for our grandchildren and also a slightly larger set for my dad one year. (Oh, and pairs for ourselves too – we love these!)

Just cut out squares of denim from old worn jeans, fill with cheap *Bulk Rice mixed with a few drops of *Essential oil fragrance.

You can embellish the front by drawing a design using a permanent marker. So fun, so quick & so easy.

Wax-Dipped Pinecone Fire Starters

For someone with a wood-burning fireplace or a camping enthusiast, these waxed pinecone fire starters were a hit.

Simply pick up a few pinecones and gather a few old half-burned scented candles. Melt the wax and roll the pinecone in the wax to coat the tips.

I like to gift them in a large thrift-store basket. It makes a beautiful gift that’s functional too, and it costs almost nothing.

Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Pint Size Jar

I wanted a gift to go with some homemade vanilla I made one year. So I grabbed a clean pint jar and mixed up a chocolate chip cookie recipe in a jar.

I like that I could use a 16-ounce pint jar instead of the larger quart-sized jars.

So you can make lots of these cookie mix jars in minutes with standard pantry ingredients & clean repurposed mason jars.

Cocoa Mix in Big Mugs

Homemade hot cocoa dry Ingredients can be placed in bags and tucked into large coffee mugs.

Add a candy cane stirring stick and you have a gift that comes together in minutes.

You can make this gift even faster using chunky thrift store mugs with packets of *Hot Cocoa Mix inside!

Experience Gifts

This has always been one of our favorites – experience gifts!

We often get to enjoy the gift right along with the gift recipients. We’ve gifted a ‘dinner with us at a favorite restaurant’ to our parents, and for our grandchildren we’ve gifted several different experience gifts that we enjoyed with them:

- - Rock Climbing
  - Trampoline Park
  - Escape Rooms, live plays and MORE!

If you live far away you can still gift experiences such as zoo membership, concert tickets, museum passes, etc

Quick Homemade Food Gifts

Sometimes you want to present a food gift, but still don’t want it to take too much time or money. I’ve gifted Homemade Granola and No-Knead Bread on numerous occasions.

The Pumpkin Granola can be dressed up in a pretty jar. Add a festive ribbon & you’re done.

The No-Knead Skillet Bread can be made & gifted in a brand new *10″ Cast Iron Skillet as part of the gift. Or simply wrap the bread with plastic wrap and embellish with a pretty bow.

These gifts of homemade food have always been very appreciated.

What are your favorite fast last-minute gift ideas?

~TxH~

This post categorized in

Tagged in

Gifts Of Food

Easy Homemade Gift Ideas

Other Gift Ideas

Low-Waste Gift Wrapping & Presentation

Holiday Cooking Tips

Holiday Cooking Shortcuts, Tips & Recipes
Quick Ingredient Substitutions (Eliminate a run to the grocery store)
Easy Trick To Fill Resealable Bags

Christmas Season

All Posts Tagged ‘Christmas’

C’mon by & sit a spell! Come hang out at our Facebook Page. It’s like sitting in a front porch rocker with a glass of cold iced tea. Lots of good folks sharing! You can also follow along on Pinterest, on Twitter or on Instagram.

If you’d like to receive an email each time a new blog post goes live it’s EASY to
subscribe to our blog

~Texas Homesteader~

Working To Provide For Ourselves On Our Texas Homestead

13 Quick Inexpensive Last-Minute Homemade Gift Ideas