[rickatheslicka]

I have so many cousins, I have lost count. So I buy things that can be broken into several pieces, like a $10 bath/spa kit gets broken into shower gel and a poof for one girl, lotion and a candle for another girl, bath salt and the pretty bag for another girl - $3 each! (I know your nieces and nephews are a little young for this still...)

For little ones, dollar stores and the "party favor" aisle at Target, Wal-mart, etc can provide great finds (package of 6 noise makers for $1 - would make a perfect gift for their demanding parents, don't you think?! LOL).

The sample aisle is also great, our stores are carrying the most adorable little packets of nail files, lip gloss, nail polish - all for $1 or less.

We once found jigsaw puzzles for various ages, boys/girls for $1 each! We bought 30, wrapped them, put a small G or B on them, and had plenty to go around for all the cousins (no worries about forgetting poor Suzy). The kids were touched that we had gotten them all something, who cares what the parents thought? I think Christmas is for the kids in many ways, and kids are generally easy to please.

I think there are plenty of good deals to be had out there, so do your best to include the kids. When they're older, shoot for them to say not so much, "Wow, I loved such and such that I got from Uncle Bob" - but instead for them to say, "I always enjoyed Christmas with my extended family, Uncle Bob always managed to get all the cousins something, even if it was homemade or not very expensive, we appreciated it."