My research over the past month led me to a really wide variety of things and I often fell down the internet rabbit hole which led me to two pretty distinctive areas – DIY/thrifty holiday ideas in general (not necessarily fitting into the themes I was writing about at the time) and just really cool ideas that are not remotely thrifty
So instead of a writing about them, this post is a round up of what I’m referring to as Down the Holiday Rabbit Hole (and occasionally you might see some similarities to my other posts).
GREAT MINDS
Wisebread – 25 Great Gifts for $5 or Less because I would not ever turn down a Chocolate Chess Pie.
The 36th Avenue – great DIYs. My personal favorite is #24 because my first thought was “WTF, why would you ever put bath salts in it???” Wrong. It’s past bedtime.
Glamour – a cool list of amusing trinkets that are supposedly under $5, but not always (liars!!). Still worth checking out. My favorite was the Matchstick Garden.
Better Budgeting – this website actually has a really simple, but well thought out list of inexpensive gift giving items under $10.
The Life of Lulu Belle – 100+ Great Stocking Stuffers for Men
GREAT IDEAS
Reigning in Spending Over the Holidays – Little House in the Valley’s great tips to keep your budget from exploding.
Our Freaking Budget – because sometimes you just need to LOL about the holidays. Also, I want a glow axe.
12 Tips for a Great Christmas on a Small Budget – because they are.
PINTEREST (and-ish)
Dollar Store Crafts – Yes, this lady is amazing.
Five Dollar Gift Ideas – Just what it says.
Christmas DIYs – a massive compilation of Christmas DIY projects.
Hanukkah Crafts – Lots of cool crafts for the Jewish contingent. Also, how awesome is that dinosaur menorah? Is that like sacrilegious or a good way to get little boys into the candle lighting spirit? Discuss.
JacOlyn Murphy – my favorite of all the body scrub recipes because it had the best pictures (this is the and-ish).
Gift Tag Ideas – I have no idea why, but cool gift tags are turning into a weird obsession of mine… or at least stalking them on Pinterest and DIY sites and know that I will probably never take that much time to make gift tags. But they look ah-maaaazing.
51 Seriously Adorable Gift Tage Ideas – seriously. Don’t get me started on freaking BuzzFeed.
THRIFTY SHOPS
Party City – apparently they have a $5 and under section and it has quite a wide and odd (ie the sticky ties) variety of items. Worth a look.
Fiverr – for the person who has everything. They probably don’t have a cube moose.
Five Dollar Finds – someone scours the net and provides us with this collection of $5 gifts. You mat recognize some things from here.
Tiny Toy Arcarde – a bunch of traditional toys in the $5-6 range.
Etsy – had a huge range of $5 and under gifts (as evidenced by their repeat performances in assorted posts over the last month).
NOT THRIFTY ALERT!!
ModCloth Sales – I’ve talked about my almost unhealthy love of this website before and in this case I kept checking back in the sale section to see if anything would hit my under $5 requirement for the ladies of any age. Never did. Nonetheless, there are tons of cool things on this site – both clothing and house wares (seriously, I have this picture frame sitting crammed in a corner of my train car waiting for me to grow up and get a real apartment so I can hang it up). If your budget is a little higher, they do have a Gifts under $25 link too (and if you’re a first time buyer and want to get $15 off a $50+ purchase, use this referral – full disclosure, I’d get $15 added to my account there too, so you win and I win. The only one who doesn’t win is your wallet. And that is genuine full disclosure). And now that I’m done with my ModCloth diatribe, onward!
Rustic Vision – awesome gifts the lovable alcoholic moderate beer drinker in your life.
Snorgtees – for your favorite geek. Usually around $20. This one always makes me giggle.
Gorjana – for your favorite female raccoon. Shiny, understated, pretty jewelry. A step beyond costume, but far from astronomical.
Funny Gifts for Christmas – just in case someone out there actually knows a person who will eat 26 pounds of gummy bear.
Still looking for more ideas on how to do the holidays in a super thrifty fashion? There’s a few days left to enter to win a copy of Zero Budget Christmas by Jason Anderson and a bottle of ModPodge to get your DIY on. Contest ends November 30th.
brokeGIRLrich readers, what awesome sites have you already found full of holiday tips and tricks?
Seriously though, a 26 pound gummy bear? That sounds like something you’d find in SkyMall 😉
Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life recently posted…How To Vacation When “Broke”.
You never know what you’ll find down the rabbit hole. I feel like the kid looks a little off too.
Um, if anyone wants to know what I want for Christmas, it’s that 26 pound gummy bear. I don’t even care.
I get sucked down this hole, too! I sometimes stink at DIY stuff, too, so I’ll try all these projects and then only like 3 of them will work. And I’m always amazed at how sometimes, DIYing doesn’t pan out to be less expensive…glad you pointed that out!
femmefrugality recently posted…On Being a Dependent Woman: A Letter of Graditude