Christmas Gifts for the Family

Since the holiday season is just around the corner, I thought I would create a post featuring Christmas gifts I’ve given or received in the past and am giving this year to help you choose gifts for your family.

We celebrate Christmas early with my husbands family because his grandma is a snowbird and goes South for the winter (lucky her). So I already have SOME of my Christmas shopping done (thanks to Amazon).

Let’s break this into sections!

**This post may contain affiliate links.**

Christmas Gifts for GRANDMA or (GREAT)-GMA (also known as GG)

Great Grandma Charm Bracelet

$13.99. I purchased two of these for my grandma and my husband’s grandma for Christmas last year when they were “soon to be” great grandmas. They absolutely adored them. My grandma especially loves items that she can show off to her friends at bowling.

Great Grandma Wooden Picture Frame

$22.99. I’m giving this frame to my husband’s grandma (she is the one who goes to Texas every year). She will enjoy having a keepsake to take with her since she is gone for about 5 months of the year.

Professional Photo Prints w/ frame

Up to $30. This could be more of an anyone gift because everyone likes a good picture of the only 1st and only grandson of the family! I had these professional photos taken of my little guy when he was 7mo old for a cutie contest! It costs $35 ($39 originally) for 2 – 5×7’s. That’s $17.50 a piece.

Purchase a pack of neutral 5×7 frames like these (only $20.95 for 3!)and wallah, with tax, you are still under your budget of $30 per person.

Christmas Gifts for the Aunt

I think personalized gifts speak to the heart especially for women so let’s continue on with those!

Personalized 9×9 Cake Pan and Laser Engraved Lid –

Comes in just over $30 @ $31.99. We gave one of these to my husband’s Aunt Kim last year who’s significant other does quite a bit of cooking so they put it to good use!

Slippers

$19.99. Who doesn’t love a good pair of slippers! The aunt in our lives opened these up last year and is still comfortably wearing them today.

Gold Canyon or Bath and Body Works Candles

Up to $30. I prefer the Gold Canyon Candles over Bath and Body Works because they burn longer and the wax burns cool so it is safer for children. This could be a great gift for a grandma, sister, or mom too. I love this Lavender Chamomile scent by Gold Canyon.

Bath and Body Works candles smell great and can be easily exchanged for different scents. They even allow you to exchange scents after you’ve burned it, because some scents bother different people.

Christmas Gifts for Dad/Husband

Take pictures of your child holding onto letters and then frame it.

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Instead of using the letters for DAD, you could use GPA or GMA too.

The frame we used is from Wayfair. They unfortunately don’t have the same frame that I used, however, they offer several frame options under $30, like this one.

You can have your photos printed from Walgreens.com that usually offers several discounts for prints or you can download an app like FreePrints and get 85 prints for free every month. You do have to pay for shipping which is about $7. Making the prints about $.12/piece.

Branded hats or shirts

Up to $30. Carhartt brand clothes are a favorite in our family. Carhartt clothes can be expensive, however, you can still get a nice stocking hat or long sleeved shirt for under $30!

My husband, brother, and dad also likes brands of “goodies” that they are into. For example, my brother and dad both have Sea Ark boats that we go on the Mississippi River with so I googled Sea Ark T-shirt and found a great gift!

My husband likes a certain brand of gun, motorcycle, etc and if he is in need of clothes he often loves a hat or shirt with this brand on it.

20 oz Personalized Travel Mugs with Splash Proof Lid

$29.95. These come in various colors and you can choose different fonts!

Christmas Gifts for Cousins/Teenagers

Scrunchies

Range from $6- $20. I hear that scrunchies are the “in thing” right now because hair ties can be so bad for breaking off your hair. I’m a hair tie fan, but I just might have to get some of these for myself for this PRICE. I like this neutral, classy set the best.

Bath & Body Works Lotions

I gave my cousins and nieces the Forever Red scent by Taylor Swift last year and it was a hit! These were ONLY $4/piece on Black Friday.

CC Beanie and Infinity Scarf Set

$26.99. My nieces opened up these sets of hats, mittens, & scarves last year and LOVED THEM. If I were going to give them hats and scarves again, I would go with this CC Beanie and scarf set, I absolutely love the CC slouchie beanies I have, especially my black one with the fur ball on top.

Financially Minded Christmas Gifts for Kids

Since my home is becoming much more financially minded these days, I’m constantly trying to think of ways to instill financial values into my now 11 month old son in the coming years.

My husband and I are quite scared of the mountain of toys he is going to receive this December for Christmas and his birthday. I don’t want him to grow up with the consumerist mentality that myself and my husband did.

Therefore, these are a few gifts that I thought of and researched to include on his future and current Christmas Lists!

Monopoly

$24.99. This is an old fashion board game that has been teaching kids concepts about finance and life for ages!

Play along with your child so you can talk more about the underlying concepts of banking, investing, and saving.

A Share of Stock

What better way to teach kids about investing than to give them a single stock of their own? You can purchase single shares of Disney and get a framed registration at giveashare.com.

The collegeinvestor.com has even more to say about this if you are interested in learning more about saving or investing for your child’s future.

Stockpile.com allows you to give incremental shares of stock for as little as $10 to start.

Re-purpose a toy they already have.

Up to $30. I saw this Birth Stat animal on Facebook and almost purchased one. Then I thought, my son already has enough stuffed toys, why don’t I just use on of those to put the birth stats on? Instead of having another stuffed animal in the pile, we can make one he already has even more special. AND, it will cost less because I am supplying the stuffed animal.

There are several people out there who personalize items, you might know a friend or family member who could easily do this for you.

Bonus – A Christmas Gift the Whole Family can enjoy

A bordered map of the United States.

About $40 (less if you make it smaller or if you purchase your frame in a pack). Complete with a set of pins that way each member of the family can have their own color of pin and you can easily see who has been where. We were gifted this from my husband’s aunt and enjoy placing the pins on it so much that we purchased one for my dad for father’s day!

You need 3 items: 1 – dry erase map decal, 1 – 24 x 36 poster frame, 1 set of multi-colored pins.

Purchase your dry erase map decal here.

Purchase your individual ($20 on rollback at Walmart) frame here or 2 pack frame (for $24.99 total) here. There are multiple variations of frames on Amazon or Walmart.com. I like the thicker frame better myself, however, they seem to be more expensive so if you’re on a budget, the thinner frame may be the better way to go.

Purchase your multi-colored pins here.

Step 1. Now, when you get your map decal in the mail, pull it out of the box and put it under something very heavy. Do this for a few days or up to a week depending on how much time you have. That way it has time to flatten. It will make step 4 much easier.

Step 2. Get your frame ready. Pull it out of the box, take off the plastic piece that is supposed to cover the poster (you won’t need this because your gift receivers will be pinning their pins on the map), and get the cardboard piece that comes with the frame out.

Step 3. Grab your partner or a friend because you’re going to need some help for this next part.

Step 4. Very carefully peel your flattened map decal off of the paper and place onto the cardboard piece. You can use a credit card or some straight edge item to smooth out the bubbles.

Step 5. Insert cardboard piece with map on it back into the frame and wallah, awesome Christmas gift!

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