:: In.a.Mirror.Dimly ::

Julie and I have made it our goal to make many of our Christmas presents for the past several years. Whether baking some unusual cookies or breads, making special mattes of my photographs, or making some other kind of craft, we’ve found that with a little planning you can give some relatively low-cost Christmas gifts.

While I won’t divulge our plans for this year, I’ll pass along some ideas we’ve used in the past.

Jam and Jelly

It isn’t all that hard to make jam or jelly once you pick up the canning kits. We made a cran-apple jelly last year that was off the charts, but even marmalade isn’t that difficult to make. I’ve screwed it up and it still turns out great. Just goes to show you can’t go wrong when you add that much sugar to anything.

Gift Baskets

If you go the jam and jelly route, why not pick up some goat cheese and some other spreadables so you can put them all in a gift basket. Toss in some crackers and you’re in business. And by the way, you can make your own crackers too! I don’t recommend making the basket yourself.

Applesauce

Applesauce is relatively easy to make. Just quarter the apples, boil, and then process them. Once you have the right kind of food mill, it’s a snap. If you freeze it, then you don’t have to bother with the sterilization for canning.

Pictures

You’ve had that digital camera around for so long, but perhaps you haven’t tapped it’s gift-giving potential. Try developing some small prints and pick up a bunch of inexpensive frames on sale. You can even print the photos yourself if you’re pressed for time. Think of places people may want some small, unique photos such as hall tables or even the bathroom.

Unusual Baked Goods

Anyone can crank out chocolate chip cookies. Even I did it this year, so anyone really can. However, not everyone is going to comb through this year’s cookie issues of the cooking magazines, so why not experiment with some unusual cookies and breads?

That’s about it for now. After Christmas passes we’ll have some other ideas to share. For now, this is about as close as I’ll come to Martha Stewart. I’m just kind of sick of the commercialism of Christmas and this has been our way to give people simple, but unique gifts.

Making these presents also gives Julie and I a chance to hang out together. It’s way better than fighting our way through a mall, trying to figure out wht to buy. Who wants to deal with that?