Interesting and Unusual Gifts Under $20

[jeffrey]

I'm looking to put together a list of interesting and unusual gifts (anything that stands out from what is normally given during the holidays) that cost under $20 and would love to hear if you have come across some.

[tinapbeana]

i know there's a place online that will allow you to buy an acre on venus for 20 quid. a little over the $20 budget, but definitely unusual!

[jodi]

I have bought a lot of recordable DVDs and plan to transfer all of my parents Christmas home videos onto them for a gift this year. Of course, you have to have the technology to do this (which we already have), but the DVDs themselves only cost $10 for more than we will need. The primary gift here is time since it will be very time-consuming, which is the main reason that they have not done it themselves yet.
My gift to my mother for her birthday was a photo album and my time to get her pictures organized. We do it several nights a week for a half hour or so (30 years worth of pictures).
I'm trying to be creative this year since money is tight - but I do have time to spare!

[tinapbeana]

something my aunt does:

buy a box of clear glass Christmas tree ball ornaments (usually $2 new) and a couple of bottles of wet'n'wild nail polish (available $1 each). pour a little of the nailpolish inside the ball and swirl it around to coat the inside, pour out the excess, and then nest the ornaments in their container to dry out. you can get personalized 'decorator' ornaments for about $3 per box this way paying full retail, and the choice of colors is immense.

[Pupart]

Originally Posted by jeffrey

I'm looking to put together a list of interesting and unusual gifts (anything that stands out from what is normally given during the holidays) that cost under $20 and would love to hear if you have come across some.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You could go to makestickers.com
and create someone their very own custom made bumper stickers.
It's a fun site and they are not expensive. They have very fast delivery too.
Plus the quality is very good.
Bonnie

[pearlieq]

snapfish.com and other photo sites offer custom digital photo books for around $11.

You put together the pictures you want, pick borders and decorations, and even write captions for pictures. They print it up and mail it to you. They're really nice!

[lrjohnson]

A magazine form the birth month; easiest to get is National Geographic-it is everywhere, for cheap.

Making personalized magnets with art or photographs. The sheets of magnet are now at dollar store, etc. Before I knew that, I used the merchant-distributed magnets I had from pizza places, etc. You use glue stick to stick the photos or clip art or cut up magazines or calendars on the magnet. Very little effort for a craft item.

Search (perhaps online) for the person’s name: first, last, both. You might find a book by an author with the same name. You might find a line of items that has the person’s first or last name as part of the brand name, or something in another language: Kim is a name for caraway seeds in Croatian. People with both my name and my boyfriend’s name have written books. I looked up some co-workers and was able to find something interesting in most cases.

Personalized bath item. I made my dad bath oil once, ingredients were honestly way under $20, actually I'd bet under ten for a big bottle. Light oil-canola will work-glycerin, a tiny bit of borax to blend. I stuck in some aloe gel and some vitamin e oil. Scent-essential oils, left over perfume. The important part, though, was the personalized label. I made a batch especially for my dad-“Dave’s skin softening bath oil” and he displayed the label on the bulletin board at work. Admittedly this one takes more effort, but it was big impact-I used his favorite scent melon.

Book fan: you need to be able to look at the bookshelf, and they need to collect a somewhat prolific author-over ten books. Find a bibliography of that author online. Make a Word document, listing titles and years. Mark all the ones the person has somehow-bold, highlighted text, whatever. Get one or more of the books; used good condition you can get 4 or more for $20. The gift is mostly the document that lets the person know exactly what books they need to fill the collection.

[kealina]

Originally Posted by pearlieq

snapfish.com and other photo sites offer custom digital photo books for around $11.

You put together the pictures you want, pick borders and decorations, and even write captions for pictures. They print it up and mail it to you. They're really nice!

yeah... i'm actually waiting for mypublisher.com to do one of their buy one, get one free deals so i can order some of their pocketbooks for people... they have them several times a year so it's usually worth waiting for...

[PRICEPLUS]

I usually put items under 20 dollars into a stocking. One of the fun things I buy is lottery tickets, the scratch off type. I tis kind of fun!

[jodi]

Originally Posted by PRICEPLUS

I usually put items under 20 dollars into a stocking. One of the fun things I buy is lottery tickets, the scratch off type. I tis kind of fun!

Sure, if you win $1000
Actually, we go to my aunt's house on Christmas Eve every year and she buys each one of us a lottery ticket. It's a fun tradition, although between 14 people, we are lucky if we win $5.

[jodi]

One of my favorite gifts was the year my MIL made me an entire batch of raspberry jam. Yummy! The cost of the supplies was minimal - but the result was wonderful. I had enough homemade jam for half a year.

[PauletteGoddard]

I was delighted with an offering of feldspar.

Search (perhaps online) for the person’s name: first, last, both. You might find a book by an author with the same name.

Heh. I did this and got a Christian history fictionalized biography of my husband's ancestor who landed in America in 1634. That was a gift to his father, as he is the namesake of the ancestor.

Personalized bath item. I made my dad bath oil once, ingredients were honestly way under $20, actually I'd bet under ten for a big bottle.

I do this too. I buy bottles with little corks, mix up some sweet almond or jojoba oil with jasmine and lavender, or geranium and bergamot, and create labels with 1920s commercial art images via the computer.

[titi]

My two cents:

* a voucher - especially good for people who will never subscribe tp a mobile service but who don't mind being able to make a call now and then.

* CD/DVD holders - there are nice CD/DVD holders for under $20 and for tech jerks a new holder is usually welcome (unless they already have tens of them in stock, which I doubt). I often give my frineds CD/DVD holders as a present and usually they like it a lot.

* scented candles - they are romantic, though I personally don't like the smell but there are people who love them.

[abowers]

If you know how to knit or crochet, you can buy some nice yarn for under $20 and make a scarf or hat, or both. Hand made gifts are nice! If doing just a scarf, you can get some pretty nice yarn (not just scratchy acrylic) like a cashmere blend for less than $20.

[abowers]

another idea -- a magazine subscription. Surprise someone with a magazine subscription for a year!

[Staceyy]

Bento boxes are decorative lunch boxes from Japan, great for carrying sushi or other edibles . www.cookingcute.com and www.jbox.com are good websites for reading about and obtaining bento boxes. I recently purchased a beautiful one for under $20 on Ebay. There are designs for men, women, and children.

[jodi]

Originally Posted by abowers

another idea -- a magazine subscription. Surprise someone with a magazine subscription for a year!

I did this last year for two folks and they were well-received. Thanks for the reminder!

[nanamom]

I make alot of gifts. $20.00 is way over what I spend unless it is one of our kids or grandkids. This year several of our nieces and nephews have gotton potholders (made from scraps) and a fancy flavored coffee or tea. I embroidered dish towels for a couple others. One year someone got 12 crocheted dish cloths each a different color or pattern. For our pastor's wife's birthday this year I made a small box and bought a nice pen and cards to go inside it. Cost was under $10.00. I crocheted a dog sweater once and have done the usual afghans for others. My DS2 wants a sweater and the yarn cost less than $10.00. If you are careful a dollar store can give lots of ideas. The bath stuff is nice and doesn't cost alot. I often make up stockings there for people with bath stuff and candles. You can do it inexpensively and people love them. Shopping for kids that way is fun too.

[neatdesign]

Ditto on the magazine subscriptions. I have always thought these were great gifts which are hugely underrated. Most people enjoy seeing a new, unread issue of their favorite magazine right in their mailbox -- especially kids. There are tons of magazines which offer yearly subscriptions for $20 or less, all easily located online. It's a bargain and a gift that will almost always be appreciated. The trick is to pick a magazine you know the recipient will like, of course!

One of my favorite gift surprises was something I came up with to give my in-laws a few years ago, and it was very inexpensive. Mark mentioned to me that although his parents have always lived right outside of London, they never go into the city just to do any "touristy" stuff. Having grown up outside Washington, DC, I could relate to this. Locals just don't DO touristy stuff -- tourists do touristy stuff, so it just never crosses the locals' minds to try the touristy stuff out. But that doesn't mean the touristy stuff isn't worth seeing or doing.

Earlier that year when we were in London, Mark and I went on the London Eye. It was really fun, and didn't cost a whole lot at all. So I went online to the London Eye's website and ordered two admission vouchers. I think they cost about $18 and they were valid for 12 months -- more than enough time to give my in-laws the opportunity to use them. Best of all, the London Eye enclosed the vouchers in a really attractive envelope that said, "Do Not Open Until Christmas" on it. There was no indication on the envelope that it was from the London Eye, so the surprise remained intact.

They were absolutely delighted to get this gift! It wasn't because they couldn't afford the vouchers themselves, but because despite their countless trips into London, it had never occurred to them to go on the London Eye. But now that they had the vouchers, they had a reason to go when they made one of their frequent trips into the city. They actually made a whole date out of it and had a great time.

~ Jenney

[pretty cheap jewelry]

This is my specialty!! I am the thrift store queen extraordinaire!

1. Individually wrapped specialty soap wrapped with a dish towel or washcloth and a bow.

2. Cookie Decorating Basket. Take a thrift store tin or basket and fill with homemade cookies, sprinkles (bought on sale from previous months), one can of white icing (from $1 store), a few small bags of candy decorations, such as jelly beans, gum drops, raisins, or choc chips. You can think of the rest. This is especially good for large families to share as one gift.

3. Family Game Night Basket. Ditto above but put in playing cards, jigsaw puzzle, sudoko book (they are $1 now), even a vintage DVD (they also can be had at the $1 store).

more later