Ahh....the relief of gathering things in early. I didn't say getting DONE early, but gathering early.
The cute boxes were clearance from last Christmas. 50 to 75 percent off (sweet!), so came out to less than $1.50 a piece. The ceramic tags with each box were also 50 percent off, so those were 2.50 a piece (and it does add something festive to the boxes). The baggies were from the Dollar Store (today, I made a run to the Dollar Store. WOW. But in a pinch, I can totally heart the Dollar Store!). Plus all the goodies I made up last night.
The black basket is for my sister-in-law. Her basket came from the Dollar Store. The quilted items were finished this morning (I worked on them while watching the news--multi-tasking). Three kinds of jam from this summer, vanilla extract, plus the cute ceramic tag from last winter.
All in all....I think it turned out very well.
A reminder to me that all the dithering that I did last December in the store thinking "should I be spending this money? Is this really worth it?"....well, it really was worth it. I used every item that I bought on clearance with these gifts. Each item elevated those homemade gifts into something that looks a bit fancier and special, without going outside my budget. And because I bought them on clearance, I stayed true to my own financial goals. Stocking up for later (and remembering where you put it!) is a good thing.
