NOT the same as cash

Some visa gift card ad or some gift card ad I heard said, "Card Name is as good as giving cash." Sounds like a great gift right? WRONG!

Last year for my birthday I got a Visa gift card as a gift from a friend. I love that she was thinking of me. I had the hardest time trying to spend it. The gas station would not take it. I could not buy anything online, and so on. I finally spent it at a store that I didn't really need the item.

Today another friend called that she had a Visa gift card and was not able to get gas with it (which she needed.) Tell her that that card was the same as cash.

If you want your recipient to buy their own gift, just give cold hard cash.

Or make them a lovely homemade gift. Here are some ideas (I can't sew or quilt or knit or crochet, if you can I am sure you can make some other really cool gifts):

-framed photo (get used frames at yard sales or thrift shops)
-make note cards
-make muffins
-make homemade bread
-make jam (to go with the bread)
-any baked goods (with typed up ingredients in case of allergies)
-write a letter expressing what the person means to you
-make a green clean kit (a bucket, a spray bottle, baking soda, white vinegar, peroxide, anything else you see fit, old clothes cut up to use as rags, small photo album filled with natural clean recipes (print some from online))
-make a meal they can eat now or freeze for later (lasagna or ziti freezes well, you can add veggies or meat, add a loaf of bread as well)
-make a fire starter kit (get wax [old candle stubs work well], melt and add cinnamon, coat pine cones with wax, once dry put in bucket with twigs and long matches-include instructions-light pine cone and put in fireplace under wood)
-make leaf poundings (use hammer to pound colorful leaves on muslin) these look great in a frame (Jason made me one)
-food in a jar (i.e. dry ingredients to make brownies, plus instructions on what else to add)
-make sock puppets for kids
-make bean bags for kids
-make homemade puzzles for kids (paint a picture or take a nice print from magazine and glue to cardboard, take a picture of it with your camera, cut up cardboard and put in a bag or box. print picture you took on camera and add to box or bag.)
-make homemade science kits for kids (i.e. instructions to make volcano with supplies, vinegar, and baking soda; instructions to make playdough with ingredients; instructions to make slime or goo with ingredients; etc.)


All the above ideas have lots of recipes online, like the slime out of starch and glue. Just google an idea.

Although cash has its place and can be nice, I prefer homemade gifts.

What are some other homemade gift ideas you have?
With Christmas in 3 months maybe we can encourage each other to make some nice gifts.
-Becky