Giving creatively

Times are tough, no doubt, and that's bad news for me this holiday season.

Months ago a significant someone made me sit down and work out a personal budget -- Excel sheet and all. The normal money suckers are on there: rent, insurance, groceries. But my Local made me add a category: gifts.

See, I love to give people stuff. I buy cards at random times. I send trinkets to friends who've moved away. My friends and I cover coffee for each other.

I like giving people things I think they'll like, and I often forget or don't look closely at the price tag.

I'm getting creative this holiday season, and I think you can, too. Unleash your inner artist.

Take a class. The Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center will host a class Dec. 5 to teach people how to take twigs, leaves and flowers from their yards and put them together for holiday decor.

The Cape Girardeau Library will have a crafting class and area artists offer classes and one-on-one workshops.

Local craft stores hold dozens of treasures you can combine for a present. Steal a picture from the intended recipient, blow it up, matte and frame it.

If you're more confident, learn to knit or crochet. I've crocheted plenty of scarves for family members. I've only ever done scarves because they are a simple back-and-forth pattern, and when I've tried to make a blanket, I end up running out of time and unraveling it until it's about the width of a scarf.

Does someone love their dog? Give them a dog biscuit recipe and a decorated canister full of the biscuits.

Everyone loves personalized stuff. Buy a simple wine glass (Target has them for $3), some colorful dot stickers and sticky letters. Place the first letter of their name in the center of the bowl and then dots sporadically around it. Put red and white dots with a black letter for that Redhawks fan or blue and silver dots with a black letter for a winter theme.

Like the idea of making something, but you don't like my ideas? Don't forget your tools: the amazing Internet. Websites like crafideas.info, allfreecrafts.com or books and workers at local stores can help with ideas, too.

Take a personal approach to gift-giving by giving your gift, be it crafts, art or other.