More Bang for Your Buck: Holiday Shopping

(WSVN) This holiday season, many people are saying "see ya" to the mall and getting back to the basics.

Joanie Graham, Christmas Shopper, says "I make wreaths and trivets and things like that and I've got the glue gun all set upstairs."

You guessed it - making your own gift is scoring points with holiday shoppers.

Jack Balaya, Color Me Mine, says "they can personalize their own ornaments, your own christmas platters, vases, santa mugs."

At Color Me Mine in Coconut Grove, you pick a piece of pottery, paint it, and pay a small hourly fee.

"Its a lifetime memory, it's always going to be there."

But if your not Picasso, you can still leave a personal touch at Stamping Wild in Plantation.

Lynn Lloyd, Stamping Wild, says "you dont have to be creative, you take a rubber stamp, ink it with ink and transfer it to the paper."

From picture frames to picturing the perfect ornament, you can put your "stamp" on just about anything.

"We do ornaments..we have picture frames, we do book making, you can do a journal for somebody."

But if your like me and you don't have the time or talent to make your own gift, there are gifts you can put together for less than fifteen dollars.

Phyliss, a profesional events planner is here with us to give us a few ideas. Phyliss, what do we have here?

Phyliss Cabria, Party Planner and Author, says "One thing to keep in mind is you want to theme everything."

"This is a little bath set it has bath oils, bath lotions it even has an aromatherapy candle, some soaps, some bath gel and I was able to but that together for about twelve dollars."

"This is for a friends granddaughter she loves to read and to color so I got her a few coloring books and she can wear her little elf hat we have a jar full of crayons and a little peppermint stick and the basket is great because her grandma can use it for next Christmas."

"This is ingredients for making homemade bean soup its just a layer of dried beans and pasta, I added a little holiday fabric to it and attached is the recipe and this was about six dollars..I found all this in the supermarket."

And you'll find this can be the season for savings.

"We're going to keep it real nice and simple we've decided to do things together rather than buying a lot of gifts."

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