Homemade holiday gifts from the heart, affordable

Santa Claus can still come to town on a budget.

The pressure of gift giving during the holidays can financially stress many families; however, there is no need to overspend on presents when they come straight from the heart.

Vickie Messer, market manager at the Mt. Pleasant Farmers Market and business owner of Country Chalk Creations, makes it a habit every year to give homemade, personalized gifts 'from the heart” each holiday season.

'People have lost sight of what's important,” Messer said. 'It's not about how much you spend. It's about giving from the heart.”

She continued, '(Making gifts) means something to me. It makes me feel good. I put thought and time and love into it.”

Messer isn't alone in her homemade gift-giving. According to a Bankrate.com survey, 34 percent said they would be creative with their gifts this year. Women are also twice as likely as men to gift homemade items, along with Millennials.

With over half of Americans exceeding their holiday budget each year, homemade gifts could help some people stay on budget. In a holiday survey by Coinstar last year, it was reported that 77 percent of the 2,000 people surveyed exceeded their 2017 gift-giving budget and only 37 percent had a post-holiday budget plan in place.

Messer said that one year her family spent $1,500 on Christmas gifts, but she could have easily gifted homemade items for under $20 a person.

From Christmas ornaments to wall décor to crocheting, Messer may have a little more experience than the average crafter, but she said she firmly believes everyone is capable of gifting a homemade, financially responsible gift.

While Messer gets her supplies as an independent designer with Chalk Couture, craft goods can be found on Amazon or craft supply stores. Items can also be purchased at antique and thrift shops to be repurposed into a personalized gift item, Messer said.

'It's just fun to see the spin people put on crafts,” Messer said.

One of Messer's go-to gifts is Christmas ornaments. Using plastic bulbs, she fills them with tinsel and small bows and decorates them with a personalized phrase. One bulb she has adorned with big, red lips and the phrase 'kiss me.” Another has 'meet me under the mistletoe” written on it with mistletoe stuffed inside.

Another way Messer creates Christmas ornaments is by using chalk chips, round, flat chips that she adheres overlay to by using chalking paste. She also turns these into magnets.

'To me, these create heirlooms. I'm hoping when I'm gone my family will look back and say ‘Nana Vickie gave this to me,' or ‘Remember when mom made this for me?'” Messer said.

Several years ago around the time Messer's daughter was born, her husband's grandmother died. Other family members gathered material they found in the grandmother's house and made a beautiful quilt for Messer's daughter.

Homemade gifts like that are priceless to Messer, which is why she continues to craft and give for the holidays.

'You can't replace those. It's a neat gift that came from the heart,” she said.

Over the years, Messer has also crocheted blankets and outfits for Barbie dolls, made Barbie doll furniture and given the gift of food and baked goods.

Homemade gifts can re-center people's attention on family during the holiday season rather than the stress of finding the perfect, overly-extravagant item from the nearest department store.

'Your imagination is your only limitation,” Messer said.