With Christmas soon upon us, I have been trying to come up with some ideas to make the season more affordable while simultaneously developing strategies to avoid the mall. In order to save time, money and add a personal touch to gifting this year, here are some options for cost-effective gift and decoration ideas.

Christmas Cheese Ball

If you’re going to any holiday parties or family gatherings this season, it’s always a good idea to have something to contribute. While a nice bottle of wine is always an option, why not bring an appetizer as well? I promise this will be easy. My mom makes her Christmas cheese ball every year and it’s usually gone halfway through Christmas Eve.

What You’ll Need:

1. 1 ounce package of cream cheese
2. 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3. 2 green onions finely chopped
4. 2 ounces diced red peppers
5. 2 tbsp melted butter or margarine
6. 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
7. Assorted crackers

Directions:

1. After letting the cream cheese soften, or placing it in the microwave for about 30 seconds, drop it into a mixing bowl and beat until it’s fluffy.
2. Once fluffy, add the butter or margarine and Worcestershire sauce. Beat some more.
3. Add the peppers, cheese and onions. Beat again.
4. Once it’s all mixed together, either roll the cheese by hand into a sphere or press it into a sealable container. If you choose to roll the ball, you’ll want to cover it in plastic wrap once finished. If you choose to use a container, it won’t really be a cheese ball — but this is an easier, cleaner method and you can just seal the container with a lid.
5. Chill the Christmas cheese ball in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.
6. Let soften for about 5-10 minutes and present with crackers.

The Christmas cheese ball is easy enough that you can double it or add other ingredients to suit your taste without worrying about messing up the recipe. Try some cilantro, bacon bits or about half an ounce of diced pickles.

You can find other cheese ball recipes and holiday cooking ideas at shf.me/xmascheeseball.

Wooden Picture Blocks

This is an ideal gift for sentimental types: parents, grandparents and close friends or family members. The finished result will transfer the black ink from a picture of your choice onto a wooden block. It’s best to choose an image with high contrast. Once the image is transferred onto the wooden shape it will take on a rustic, old-fashioned quality and will make a unique decoration.

What You’ll Need:

1. A block of wood
2. A photo from a laser printer on regular paper
3. Gel Medium and Mod Podge (You’ll have extra left over if you choose to repeat the process)
4. A wet cloth

You can pick these supplies up from most craft stores but the wooden blocks might be cheaper if you try a hardware store like Home Hardware or Rona.

Directions

1. Print out the photo you’d like to use in black and white on regular paper from a laser printer. Prep your block by covering it in an even layer of gel medium.
2. While the gel medium is still wet, place the picture on the block and smooth out any bubbles.
3. Let the image sit over night.
4. Is it dry? Good. Grab a wet cloth and use it to soak the paper surface of the block. Rub the wet paper from the surface. Make sure you remove all of the residue before proceeding to step five. The image should have transferred onto the wooden surface.
5. Cover the surface of the image with Mod Podge in order to seal it.
6. Let the Mod Podge dry. Wrap once finished.

You can find a step-by-step video tutorial of the process by going to shf.me/woodenblocks.

Paper Mache Snowman

This is a good decoration idea if you plan on hosting company over the holidays. It can also be turned into a piñata and filled with Christmas treats if you’re feeling a bit more adventurous and have the time to spare.

What You’ll Need:

1. Newspaper ripped into strips about a ruler’s length and width. (Copies of the Sheaf would work.)
2. A mixture of two parts water and one part flour. You’ll want to add a tablespoon of salt if you plan on storing the snowman in a moist area. This will keep it from molding. The mixture should have a similar consistency to glue.
3. Balloons
4. A sewing needle
5. Hot glue gun and glue sticks
6. Paint, sticks, rocks, decorative materials
7. Candy, exacto-knife and tape if you want to make your snowman into a piñata

Most supplies should be readily available — i.e. flour, water, salt, newspaper — and the rest you should be able to find at Wal-Mart, outside or at your local craft supply store. If you don’t have the flour, salt or water, you should probably go grocery shopping.

Directions

1. Take three balloons. Blow them up into three different sizes. Super glue the balloons together. You can also mache the three balloons separately and glue them together after they have dried.
2. Run the newspaper through the paste solution and secure it to the balloon. Do this until you have covered the entire balloon with approximately three layers of newspaper strips. Let dry overnight.
3. Repeat step two.
4. Once dry, use the sewing needle to pop the balloon inside. If the mache isn’t completely dry popping the balloon may make the snowman implode.
5. Decorate your snowman and get creative. Glue on twigs for arms, rocks for the eyes and smile, maybe even use some glitter.

Turning your snowman into a Piñata:

1. To make a piñata you’ll want to repeat step 2 a second time before proceeding to step 4.
2. Once the third layer is dry, use an exacto-knife to cut a square-shaped opening in the bottom of the snowman.
3. Stuff the opening with candy like Hershey kisses, candy canes or any other small treats or prizes that come pre-wrapped.
4. Tape or glue the opening shut and decorate as desired. Maybe avoid the twig-arms for this version.

You can find more recipes for mache at shf.me/papermache.

—
Photos: Freakgirl/flickr
Pinprick/flickr