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Today I’m sharing 14 easy and inexpensive gift ideas for neighbors.
I just love Christmas time and I absolutely love any chance to find the perfect gift for everyone on my list. You can find my 2024 gift guides in this blog post.
I also love to use the holiday season as a time to reach out to our neighbors, give small gifts, and just connect with them and let them know we are thinking of them. It has often turned into a special time of chatting and getting to know our neighbors better and there really is something special about walking door to door visiting with neighbors and delivering gifts on a winter night. It almost brings back feelings of the old days.
Why give gifts to your neighbors
If you’re like me, the Christmas season can easily become overwhelming with the lists of things to do and people to buy for and sometimes, finding a gift for the neighbor next door just feels like too much. Let me encourage you to plan ahead and make it a priority for a couple of reasons.
First, you never know what connections, opportunities, or conversations you might get to have a with a neighbor when delivering a treat. Whether you know you know your neighbors well or not, people are indoors more in the winter and just generally don’t connect as much.
Stopping by with a thoughtful gift, even if its simple, can be incredibly impactful. We have had some of the best and sweetest conversations with our neighbors just taking the time to knock on their door and deliver handmade gifts.
Secondly, I love giving neighbor gifts is that it is an opportunity to teach our daughter to reach out and love on strangers. Of course, we would try to cultivate a heart of generosity all year, but Christmas can easily become me-oriented if we are not careful.
By preparing a thoughtful gift for someone else, we are teaching the beauty of thinking about and blessing others.
Thirdly, is the power of community. In a social media- connected world, we have lost the connection with people in our own backyard. Many people have no idea who lives across the street from them, much less three doors down.
While there are lots of reasons for this, I also think there is great power in cultivating community and relationships with those who live in close proximity to us. Delivering a Christmas gift is just a small gesture that could break the ice and open the doors to a relationship.
Planning ahead
The holiday season becomes so busy, I get it. Let me encourage you to plan ahead and prioritize the things you want to happen.
One way I have found to be helpful and fun is to make preparing gifts for neighbors and friends into a family activity. Spend a morning baking cookies or assembling pancake mix with your children while piping out the Christmas music and then deliver your gifts to the neighbor’s house as a family.
Prepare your gifts in bulk as much as possible. Of course, this is mostly possible withe things that are more shelf stable, but make a great big batch of hot chocolate mix or granola that you can divvy out. This will save you time down the road.
How to wrap and present neighbor gifts
I am all about making gifts meaningful, but also look pretty. Here’s a few ideas to elevate your Christmas gift giving.
Simple ribbon is one of my favorite tips to making gifts look elegant. Wrap a ribbon around a mason jar, plastic plate, plastic-wrapped loaf of bread, really almost anything and you have a super simple, elegant looking gift. Attach a cute tag and your gift is ready.
Inexpensive dishes from Dollar General or Walmart make excellent trays for delivering cookies. Once stores start to role out their seasonal decor, you will often find pretty, inexpensive plastic dishes that are great for delivering homemade treats. I like to pick up a few to have on hand for gift giving.
Another option is to pick up small decorative boxes from Hobby Lobby or Walmart and fill it with colored shredded paper. This is a great option for things like your hand soaps and candles.
Inexpensive Christmas gift ideas
My guess is that there are many people who would love to be able to give generously to those around them and yet feel unable to do so financially. While all gifts will cost you something, if you are willing to put in a little time, effort, and creativity, there are some really thoughtful gifts you can give fairly inexpensively.
Although it will take a few extra minutes of time, many of these gift ideas can be made in bulk which will end up costing you pennies compared to buying a physical gift for every neighbor.
Here’s a few tips:
Buying ingredients will almost always be less expensive than buying a pre-made item which is why I am often encouraging people to stock up on the staples. You can read more about how I stock my pantry, plus get a free printable pantry staples list in this blog post.
Plan ahead for gift giving. By creating room on your planner and in your budget for gift giving, you will feel more freedom to give generously.
Make a list of the gifts you would like to give and purchase ingredients and supplies in bulk if you can.
Edible homemade Christmas gifts
Homemade Baked Goods
Homemade baked goods are my favorite neighbor Christmas gifts just because they often use ingredients and supplies that you already have on hand, making them relatively inexpensive gifts. I love baking, but even if you are not a crafter or baker, I promise you can put together a thoughtful gift that your neighbors will be sure to enjoy.
Homemade bread
This is always the first idea that comes to mind and one of my favorite things to give as gifts. There’s just nothing like a fresh loaf of bread in the cold winter months and not everyone wants to bake their own bread. You good easily pair it with a jar of homemade jam or jelly for a little extra flair. Sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls are my go-to recipes for this.
Cookies and fudge
One of the simplest and easy neighbor gift ideas is a plate of homemade cookies and fudge. I love to spend time baking during the holiday season, it just feels so festive, but of course we don’t need all the sugar so it’s fun to share with others.
Some of our favorite homemade Christmas cookies and fudge recipes:
Peppermint white chocolate chip cookies
Other homemade food items
If baking isn’t really your thing, there are so many other great food items that make for perfect gifts this time of year. The thing I love about some of these is that they will last for awhile and don’t have to be eaten right away. Sometimes I think that is a nice option when people can easily become inundated with baked goods and treats.
Hot cocoa mix
A jar of homemade hot chocolate mix is a great gift on it’s own or you could give it with a plate of homemade treats. These are my favorite hot chocolate mix recipes that are easy to throw together. You can easily customize them by adding in mini marshmallows, mini chocolate chips, or even small candy canes.
Cookie mix
Another simple mason jar gift idea is this simple cookie mix in a jar. I love how pretty it looks with all of the ingredients layered in the jar, so festive! I also love that this idea allows the receiver to make cookies later on, rather than homemade cookies that need to be eaten right away.
Sugared nuts
Have you ever been to the fair and gotten those warm, sugar and spice pecans? They are actually incredibly easy to make at home and far more cost effective. I love to bu a big bag from Sam’s Club and then store in the freezer. You can easily adapt them to be free of refined sugar too if that is something important to you. Sugared nuts would be absolutely darling in a small mason jar with a red or white ribbon tied around it.
Granola
This one is a little less common and I think it makes it a more unique gift idea. Make up a big batch of homemade granola and fill a mason jar or pretty cellophane bag and you have an easy gift. Find my favorite homemade granola recipe here that you can easily customize to your own tastes and preferences.
Dehydrated sourdough starter
This gift is super simple if you have a sourdough starter and it would make a perfect gift for someone who is interested in starting sourdough. Dehydrate your starter using this easy to follow tutorial and then fill small mason jar with the dehydrated starter for a simple and cute gift. You could even pair this with a loaf of homemade sourdough bread.
This is a good tutorial on rehydrating the starter and includes a free printable gift tag too!
Popcorn and card game
Popcorn is one of my favorite, budged friendly gifts. You could even include a flavored salt, like this cheddar cheese salt. Give alongside a favorite board game and you have a perfect gift for a family or those with young kids. Here are some of our favorite board games that the entire family will love.
Homemade household and personal gifts
Practical gifts for the home or personal use make for a unique and useful gift idea. These ideas are simple to throw together and do not require much preparation making them ideal for last minute gifts too. You could even make some of these ahead of time to stash away when you need a quick gift for a birthday or hostess gift.
Homemade salt and sugar scrubs
If you’ve never made your own salt and sugar scrubs, they are so easy. You’ll just need a few simple ingredients like epsom salt and sugar. You can easily customize them with essential oils and dried flowers for different occasions and gifts.
Foaming hand soap
Foaming hand soap is another simple gift idea, but feels so luxurious. I love to make my own foaming hand soap using this recipe and these hand soap bottles. Wrap a pretty ribbon around the bottle with a gift tag and you have a cute and super practical gift for a neighbor or friend.
Beeswax candles
If you have a little extra time and want to do more of a DIY project, these beeswax candles would be so fun to make. Give a set of two or three by themselves or pair with a cute candle holder.
Cozy blanket
When all else fails, cozy blankets are a great gift to fall back on. My husband would disagree, but I tend to think that you cannot have enough soft, cozy blankets this time of year. This gift would also pair well with a bag of popcorn or a board game.
Simmer pot jar
Simmer pot jars are so festive. They look absolutely beautiful and make your house smell incredible. Here’s a simple how-to along with a printable Christmas gift tag to go along with our gift.
I hope this list of simple ideas has inspired you and given you some fresh ideas of how you can give meaningful gifts this season, even if you are on a tight budget. The Christmas season is such a wonderful time of year to reach out to others around us and spread the love of Jesus with a little bit of Christmas cheer.
