Heels To Boot

This one’s a little late for christmas but it might be useful for birthdays and other events.

Baking/Preserves/Drinks/Dressings

Baking is a cost effective way to make a gift. It doesn’t take as long as you’d think, and it’s a good skill to work on, and people love baking. Here are some easy ideas.

Healthy banana muffins

• 1 egg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 bananas (brown or black)
• 2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup whole meal flour
• 1/2 cup bran or oats

Preheat oven to 180 C. Either grease or line muffin tray with baking paper, or set out muffin cups (often used for cupcakes). Mix dry ingredients together.

Mash bananas, then add to mix along with egg. Mix together (don’t beat), and then fill muffin cups or tray about 3/4 of the way full for each muffin.

This makes about 9 small muffins, and 6 large ones.

put in a basket or bag lined with baking paper and give. These freeze well and they taste even better a day or two after baking.

Healthy oatmeal cookies

• 1 cup whole wheat or wholegrain flour (a pinch more depending on the moisture of the mix)
• 1 1/2 cups of oats
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup oil (corn, grapeseed or olive)
• 1 egg (beat with 1 Tbsp Water)
• 1/2 cup raisins or chocolate chips

In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.  In a medium bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together.

Mix the wet with the dry.  Add the raisins or chocolate chips and mix. If the mixture seems too wet, add a bit of flour. If it its too dry, add another egg.

Preheat the oven to 150 C

Line the oven tray with baking paper. Place spoonfuls of the mixture in rows on the tray, and press down with a fork if you like.

Bake for approx 20 minutes or until cookies are golden brown all over.

These also freeze well, and make ideal presents for families with school aged children (lunch treats).

Jams and pickles

These are really only applicable if you can get your hands on a large quantity of fruits or vegetables cheaply. It’s also time consuming. But worth a shot if you’re willing to learn how.

Lemonade

• 20 lemons
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 ltr of water

Mix the sugar and the water and simmer until the sugar dissolves. Juice the lemons, you can also blend up the skins if you want the juice to be extra tart.

Add the juice to the syrup, mix and allow to cool. Add water to dillute to your tastes. Bottle and keep in the fridge.

Vinegarette dressings

• White wine or balsamic vinegar
• Olive oil or similar
• Herbs (optional)

Blend the vinegar and the oil according to taste, add the herbs if you want, bottle and give. You can also add a little bit of sugar dissolved in water to sweeten the mixture and make it more like a glaze.

Bread

This is easiest if you have a bread maker, garlic bread expesically is delicious. If you have a bread maker, just put in the ingredients and set it to basic dough then skip to shaping the loaves. If not, follow the recipe the whole way through.

• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 tablespoon water
• Crushed garlic
• Butter
• Herbs (optional)

In a large bowl, combine most of the flour, and all the yeast and salt. Stir in 2 cups warm water to form a stiff dough. knead in the rest of the flour.

Knead for about 10 minutes total. Shape into a ball, put in a greased bowl and cover. Leave to rise in a warm place for about half an hour.

Knead dough some more, divide in half and then cover and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half into a rough loaf shape.

Line an oven tray with baking paper.

Bake for about 40 minutes at 190 C until crust is crisp and golden brown. Try stabbing the loaves with a sharp knife, if the knives come out clean, the bread is done.

Cool bread on a wire rack, then slice almost all the way through. Smear a mixture of garlic and butter (herbs also if desired) in between the slices.

Wrap in foil, and give – when the recipient wants to eat it, they just need to unwrap the bread and bake it for ten minutes at a low heat.

Plants

These make great gifts, particularly fruits and vegetables as they provide ongoing produce. Different plants will be more suitable at different times of the year. Generally you can get a seedling ready to plant either in the garden or in a pot for $3-$10. The most suitable plants will depend upon the location of your intended recipient, the level of care they would be happy to give it, and the kind of things they like. Some firm favourites are;

• Tomatoes
• Strawberry plants
• Parsley
• Oregano
• Garlic
• Dwarf fruit trees (more expensive)
• Dwarf shrubs (more expensive)

If you have the time, you can try cultivating seeds yourself, but it does take time and more gear, so unless you’re planning on doing a lot it’s often cheaper and simpler to just buy seedlings and put them in a nice pot.

Posters, cards, etc

You don’t have to be very artistic to make up something like this. Just look up a funny image or quote, or cartoon, or something inspirational and print it out, maybe frame it, or modify it a bit.

• You could make a poster with quotes from famous authors for an aspiring writer.
• Print out a series of pictures of cute kittens for people who like cats and bind it with ribbon.
• For my bunny I researched as many of his favourite individual comics as I could and had them printed and bound in a little book for him.
• Try little wallet sized cards with jokes or quotes on them.
• Make a little calendar with funny photos.

Sewing

This one is a bit intimidating for a lot of people, and it is very time consuming, but if you’re of a crafty disposition, or want to learn how, then it’s definitely worth a try. You can often reuse fabrics from old clothes or linen or curtains, so get creative and save yourself some money.

• Browse opshops and second hand stores for clothes that could be jazzed up. Get an old jacket and add some pretty buttons, a different coloured collar, or a new belt. Add inserts to a skirt, or dye a t shirt, or sew a message onto it.
• You could try making small toys for people. Patterns aren’t very difficult to find and you don’t need much fabric. This is particularly time consuming, but worth it if you have the inclination. Examples are items for key rings, toys for children, little toys that grip onto pencils or pens.
• Cellphone holders, belts, general small item holders and bags are always useful and quite simple to make. I would recommend experimenting first before using a sturdy fabric for the real thing. Other examples include book covers, book bags, etc.
• Quilts, table clothes, pillow cases, cushions. Some are more time consuming than others, but they can be fun, and you can employ beading, or embroidery or fabric painting to jazz them up, or you could just use a funky fabric.
• You could make whole new garments, and if you look in the right places you can find fabric and patterns cheaply, but this is more time consuming than it appears and it’s something I’d recommend practicing before you try to make a gift with a deadline.

Recycling

Browse secondhand stores, and even rubbish dumps, recycling centers, and so on. You’ll be amazed what you can find. Some stuff you can rework or restore, other stuff you could turn into something completely new. It’s a good idea to take on simple projects to begin with, especially if you don’t normally do crafty things. You make also find retro or vintage stuff that’s cool just on it’s own.

• Sand down an old dresser or side table and polyurethane or paint it.
• Cut old tin cans into shapes, ideal for garden markers or ornaments
• Glue together old cardboard boxes to make a dolls house, or a castle for kids to play in – let them decorate it themselves if you want.
• Try reworking an old lamp, change the shade or decorate the base.

Jewellery

You’d be amazed what you can make when it comes to jewellery. Once upon a time it was very cheap, nowadays you have to be a bit more cunning. Craft stores will sell everything you need to make jewellery but you’ll find it’s more expensive than just buying it. So you’re better off fossicing through second hand stores and markets. Take apart old jewellery, see how it’s made and make it into something new. A good investment if you plan on making more than a few pieces would be a pair of small pliers, some thin jewellery wire, and some clasps. Some simple designs are;

• Find a nice pendant and put it on a necklace.
• Run a simple string of beads on some thin elastic.
• Sew a band of wide elastic and embroider a design or sew on different coloured fabrics, or sew on beads.
• Run chunky beads on a piece of light fabric, add knots and other scraps of fabric, this also makes a nice hair tye, headband or bracelet.
• Get old coat hanger, old spoons or forks and twist them into shapes for necklaces and bangles, add beads or paint them if you like.

Glue and scissors

You’d be surprised what you can make with everyday bits and pieces. It takes a bit of creativity, and some patience, but it’s worth it.

• Make a photo album by taking two pieces of thick card and covering them in fabric or nice paper, put nice thick paper in between and bind with ribbon or similar.
• Turn old cups or glasses or or containers into candle holders. You can engrave designs on them using a file, or you could paint them, add a ring of beads, anything you like.
• Decorations are easy to make, get some coloured paper, some glitter, and make baubles, stars, angels.
• Get clear plastic sheets, the old plastic they used in photocopiers is ideal for this, and draw designs on them, cut out butterfly shapes and colour them in, they look great on windows.
• Get a plain wooden box and paint it up, carve in a name or a design, and gift it as a jewellery or trinket box.

Pampering

This one is especially good for women. Spa products are pricey but they make great gifts, so try making your own.

Lavendar shower scrub

• 1/4 cup raw sugar
• 1/4 cup bran, oatmeal or similar
• 4 drops of lavendar oil or 1/4 cup crushed lavender heads (you can subtitute for rose oil, or another scent)
• 1/4 cup milk powder

Mix everything together in a bowl, adding the oil last. Wrap up in a muslin cloth and tie with string. These are great for scrubbing the skin, they act as a mild exfoliator and moisturise the skin at the same time. They last a week or so in the shower, so making a few is a nice gift.

Bath bombs

• 1 cup citric acid
• 2 cups baking soda
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 2 tsp water
• Coloring of your choice
• Fragrance oil of your choice
• The mold of your choice (dome shaped is common but chocolate molds work too)

Mix the citric acid and baking soda – this step is important – if you don’t blend well, you end up with a grainy bomb. Use a blender or a beater if you can.

Add your color and then fragrance

With whisk in hand, add a few drops of the liquid into the center of the dry ingredients. It will start to fizz. Start mixing right away to stop the fizzing by mixing the liquid into the rest of the dry ingredients.

Keep adding the liquid slowly, stirring continually, until it’s all been added to the bowl. You’ll notice the mix has thickened a bit, gotten heavier. Grab a bit of the mix and squeeze it. If it holds the shape you can start molding the bath bombs. If the mix is still very dry add a few a few more drops, but go carefully.

There are many different options for molding your bath bombs. The key is to get the mixture packed really really tightly. For the dome shaped mold overfill each half, and press them together really hard.

Let it sit for a minute or so. Then tap the side of the ball with a tablespoon. The side of the mold should gently lift off. Repeat on the other side.

You’ll get the odd ball or tablet that will crumble or break. Just crush it up, put it back into the bowl and remold it. If your bombs are coming out consistently too crumbly – add a tiny tiny bit more water. That will help the mix to stay together better.

It helps to wrap them individually so they don’t grate together. You’re done.

Gift baskets or hampers

Typically, these get really expensive really fast, but if you’re careful they’re a great option for somebody you don’t know what to get. The trick is to put small amounts of nice things in there and usually doing a couple of baskets works out cheaper than just one. For example buying some chocolates and spreading them out between the baskets, then spreading a punnet of strawberries between them, then add a couple of cookies or similar, or a little bottle of homemade lemonade, or add a nice cheese. Buying in bulk for hampers works best, and variety makes them a lot nicer. Aim to spend no more than$10 on average per basket.

Baskets themselves can be pricey, so you could try cutting out a circle of cardboard, and then placing it on top of a sheet of cellophane or wrapping paper, then tie the wrapping paper up the same way you would around a bottle of wine, and you have a little gift wrapped bag.

It’s all about getting a bit inventive, you’ll be amazed what you can do if you give it a shot. You could make yourself a rule to spend more than $10 per person on presents for a year (or whatever amount suits you). You might find it helps your budget immensely.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 12:36 am and is filed under Advice, Arts and Crafts, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.