Summertime = Christmas Gifts

Summertime = Christmas Gifts 

As July slowly creeps by with hot lazy days, many of us find ourselves retreating into our homes with air conditioning or perhaps escaping to our favorite shopping spots and Christmas is the furthest thing from our minds—but it shouldn’t be!  Summer time can offer some great opportunities for Christmas gifts—crafts/food gifts and great prices on items at stores. 

If you have any hand-made Christmas gifts on your list for this year, why not start now?  Do you have children at home?  Have them help you with preparations or even the complete item to help them with “I don’t have anything to do” times.  This can be a great time save some money if you plan to make items that use fresh fruits and veggies such as jams, jellies, salsa, etc. as these items are readily available at your local farmers market for a great price.  This not only saves you money, people will LOVE having homemade items at Christmas!Shopping in the summertime for Christmas gifts will require you to think outside of the box. 

As summertime items go on clearance, think about the items and see what type of gift you can transform it into for Christmas.  For instance, I found these great small beach bags with holes all in it that are a plastic material for $1.25 at a local craft store.  Now by itself it is not really a gift BUT at home I have items to fill it to make a children’s bath time fun bag.  It is the perfect thing because I can fill it and then it keeps the bath items contained in the bathroom while still letting the water drain out.  I also picked up some buckets to fill with coloring and art supplies for an art bucket gift which will be filled when back to school supplies go on sale.  The ideas could be endless as long as you think outside the box.