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Hey all, I'd like to pick your brains for a creative idea.

Every year, all the women in my family and extended family get together for a big 3 or 4 day pre-holiday shopping trip.  We call it "The Shop-O-Rama" and its so much fun.  One of the traditions we've started is that everyone brings a small (inexpensive or handmade) gift for everyone in the group. Usually something that can be personalized with each person's name and "Shop-O-Rama 2009."  In the past, there have been gifts like reusable personalized shopping bags, little shopping bag ornaments, "Santa Pants" full of candy,  little shopping lists/pens, DVDs of photos from all the past Shop-O-Ramas,  snowman magnets...you get the idea.

I'm trying to think of something for this year and I'd love some ideas.  I'm an artist so handmade is not a problem for me, but I am working on a tight budget.  I need to have these finished by next week, there's about 8 people, so nothing TOO complicated.  The more creative, the better :-)

3 Replies (last)

I'm a dork and I love browsing the Martha Stewart website.  There are some really cool crafts ideas on there. This year, I'm making some felt slippers for some of the women/girls in my family and found the pattern and directions on that site.

Maybe you could even do homemade granola/energy bars since I know that shopping like that can be tiring. Package them all cute and stuff.

If you want to do handmade stuff, here's a great idea for tired feet.  The instructions mention you can use an old sock, but for a gift, you can get real creative with fabric and shapes.  Another homemade thing I've received is called a "rice buddy" - a minute in the microwave, and it's a wonderful heat pack to drape across sore shoulders.

Combine those with some good inexpensive tea or  hot cocoa, put on a good movie, and you can have a "relax-o-rama" too.  Wink

That sounds like a really great tradition. I like the suggestions given but I also wanted to suggest no sew fleece blankets. My sister made one for me years ago as a present, and it's one of my favorite things. It's very warm and comfortable and can easily be personalized for each person, from the patterns/colors of fleece used to embroidering or otherwise decorating each blanket with buttons or felt cut-outs, etc. Also, etsy.com is a great website to look at to inspire creativity. Tons of fun and sweet handmade crafts for sale. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

3 Replies (last)
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