Keeping family gift-giving fun and affordable

• We have our child choose one gift that he would really like to donate to the toy drive for less fortunate children. This keeps us grounded. Also, we go through our son's toys and bag up little toys (in good condition, often from fast-food outlets) and we donate to the local women's shelter for the children who have left homes with nothing. Basically, we attempt to balance what we buy for ourselves with what we give away. I believe it is important to make children aware of those less fortunate. We choose one special gift for Santa to bring and one for Mom and Dad to give. Wherever possible we shop early and keep under $10.
-Susan Adam

• My husband has a large family. I usually pick a theme for presents for the girls. Last year it was angels. I was able to get a gift bag with angels on it. I filled the bags with the following items:

A pen, stationery, keepsake box, ring, magnet, socks with angels on them, and a crystal glass angel from Avon.

Each bag of treasures cost me a total of $20. I set a limit for each child. I start with the bag, with usually costs $1, from the dollar store. Then I look for items that fit my theme, and fill it up. I find that by giving the girls basically the same thing, there is no fighting over who got the better gift, and they know I paid the same amount of money for each one.
-Judy Murray, New Brunswick

• All my family lives in Australia, and it's been 11 years since I spent Christmas with them. So I try to send very special gifts to make up for the distance.

Last year I sent my dad a memories scrapbook with pictures, clippings and notes that chronicled my year in Canada - including the day we went ice fishing, a map showing where we live (we've moved since he last visited), pictures of our yard, clippings of my softball team's victories and snapshots of each special event. It was so much fun to make and it made him feel a bit closer to my wife and I.

A few years ago I bought a journal and wrote on the left-hand pages only. I kept it by my bed and each night wrote down a memory I had of an event, special time, or even just my favourite foods. I sent this off to my mum and asked her to fill in her memory of the same event on the other page.

The next year I got a new journal from her with each of my pages photocopied and pasted in, then her memories handwritten on the other page. She couldn't bear to part with the journal I sent her so she re-created the book, and now we each have one. It is very special to us both.

I'm now making a book of inspirations for my sister. Every time I find a nice saying, or one of "life's little instructions," I cut it out and paste it in. I can't wait to finish and send it off.
-Mark Davis, via Internet

• My husband has eight siblings, and I have two. We have 16 nieces and nephews to acknowledge at Christmas. What we do is make ornaments for the adults (this year we made wooden angels) and make up a bag of goodies for all the young ones. Older children love magazines, whether it be scientific or just entertainment.
-Laurie Edwards, Acton, Ont.

• I shop for Christmas gifts throughout the entire year and do almost all of my shopping through catalogues. They have a lot of unique gifts that I never see in the stores, and I can take my time looking over a wide variety of choices. As well, whenever it is possible, I have my catalogue orders delivered to my office, which also saves me a trip to the post office.
-Patricia Englund Saskatoon, Sask.

• I find the huge expense that Christmas represents to be extremely overwhelming and stressful. When my thoughts of Christmas began to represent an unhappy event, something I looked toward with dread, I knew I had to make some changes.

Now I set my budget for the next Christmas right after completing the current Christmas celebration. I keep my ears open all year long for gift wishes for my family and pick up gifts all year long when they are on sale. I enjoy Christmas so much more knowing it's actually paid for when its over; no charge cards to pay off!

The same goes for food preparations. I actually started baking, cooking meatballs, chicken wings, etc., in early September. Now it's mid-November, and I don't have much left to do but decorate. We host a huge Christmas Eve open house, so I don't need the stress of cooking my brains out the week before! I found out years ago that when I had finally completed my cooking and could sit down to watch all the Christmas shows on TV, I had missed them all! This doesn't happen any more. I can enjoy them knowing there isn't something else I should be doing.

One year a friend of mine, a single mom who was working three jobs to support her two teenage daughters, was so far behind in preparations that three of us got together and showed up at her home one evening with a bottle of wine, a nibble tray, wrapping paper, ribbon, etc., and spent the evening helping her wrap all her gifts. We had a great evening, it didn't really cost anything; she was so happy, and we were so rewarded.
-Cheryl McMillan, via Internet

Page 2 of 4 -- On page 3, learn what simple homemade gift is sure to make the recipient swoon.