I love handmade presents. I don’t care if it is a stick figure on a napkin. If it was made with love, I cherish it.

To this end, I present you with eight of my favorite frugal handmade gifts:

1. Penny keychain. Great for a present for a husband or wife. Find pennies with the important dates of your life together – year you met, year you got married, year you had your children, etc. Make a hole in the pennies. String the pennies onto a nice key ring or a bracelet.
2. Wedding invitation ornament.Get a clear Christmas tree ornament. Take a copy of the wedding invitation and cut it into strips of paper (like you would get from a single strip shredder). Make sure the strips are large enough that you can tell what the original document said. Fill the ornament with the paper.
3. Personalized mug. Get a white mug from the 99 cent store. Write something clever with sharpie permanent marker. Bake the mug in the oven for 30 minutes @ 350 degrees. Note: I have done this project and it DOES work, however, these mugs should be washed by hand or the colors will start to come off. I am still experimenting to see if there are markers that are more colorfast. Also, unglazed porcelain may work better than glazed.
4. Friendship bracelets. You simply can not go wrong with a friendship bracelet. It’s a great gift that says, “I like you. You are my friend.” Check out this new variation of friendship bracelet with beads.
5. Balloons with memories. This is romantic. Get a helium balloon for every week/month/year you have been together. Tie a piece of paper with a special memory to the end of the string of each balloon.
6. Decoupaged coat hangers. Cover strong wooden hangers with meaningful pictures. Use watered down white glue to make the hanger collage. Could be for a lover or a friend or a child.
7. T-shirt quilt.  Turn favorite t-shirts into a quilt. A gift to be treasured for a lifetime. You can also frame a beloved T-shirt using a low-cost acrylic frame from Target or a craft store.
8. Anything with the special date on it. For our wedding, my husband and I were given a handmade vase with the date of our wedding and two cross stitched items with our names. I love them. They are special because I know how much time it took to make these. Plus, I remember my wedding anniversary!

What is your favorite handmade gift?

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