Laura’s Top Ten: Christmas Gifts to Make & Take

If you have children, your Christmas list becomes long as you start noting all the folks who invest in them. Music instructors, Sunday school teachers, AWANA leaders, soccer coaches, and many others give their time sacrificially all year. It seems appropriate to honor them at Christmas.

We have four children, and when they were young, many of their extracurricular and church activities had co-teachers, so we could easily count on ten gifts for each child. You can do the math; there were around 40 gifts to give!

If you find yourself in a similar situation, you may be wondering the same thing I asked myself 20 years ago: How can I honor and thank all these wonderful teachers, leaders, and coaches without breaking the bank?

I answered that question with 9-Bean Soup Mix!

I bought ten pounds each of the following (all dried):

pearl barley (look in cereal section)
black beans
red beans
pinto beans
navy beans
Great Northern beans
lentils
green split peas
black-eyed peas

All the kids would gather around the table and grab a bag. I would say, “Close your eyes and thank Jesus for your Sunday School teachers and ask God to bless them abundantly this Christmas.” Then everyone would pause to pray and then tear open their bag and dump in their beans.

We continued through the list of piano teachers, AWANA leaders, etc. When all of the bags were emptied, we took turns using our (freshly washed!) hands to reach in and mix up the beans. It was fun!

In addition to being inexpensive, this Nine Bean Soup mix is a healthier (and non-perishable) alternative to the traditional plate of Christmas cookies. Click To Tweet

We then measured one cup of bean mix into a plastic Ziploc bag and sealed carefully. To keep costs down, I bought a 100-count package of brown lunch bags. Other years I found decorated lunch bags at Hobby Lobby or Walgreens at a great price (or purchased packages at 80% off after Christmas and saved them for the next year). We placed the plastic bag of beans inside with the printed recipe rolled up like a scroll and tied with a ribbon. After folding and punching two holes in the top of the bag, we added a ribbon, and voila! A unique Christmas gift!

In addition to being inexpensive, it was a healthier (and non-perishable) alternative to the traditional plate of Christmas cookies.

Here are links to nine other ideas for inexpensive, homemade gifts you can make and take this Christmas:

Acts 20:35 reminds us, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Making and giving gifts at Christmas will bless your children, and teach them to be generous, grateful, and Christ-like. Now that’s a great way to keep Christ in Christmas!

Happy Making and Giving!

Click here to download Laura’s Christmas-themed printable Nine-Bean Soup recipe .

Laura M