i also have a 1 year old and would like to have him be involved or have it be more about him.
Replier #1: that’s so funny because i watched that same episode and got that idea and thought about making apple butter for everyone… but i suck at cooking. 
Tags: Christmas, cookiemix, family, Gifts, homemadeish, inexpensive, Jars, pictures, Please
i saw a great thing on oprah with thrifty families. a lady had a plum tree in her yard and made homemade plum jams/jellies (she had never done it before and it turned out great and pretty cheap). if you know anybody with apple trees you might be able to get some free apples for picking them.
I always enjoyed making christmas ornaments with my mom. We would take old christmas cards and use canning lids and yarn. They make nice gifts and are cheap and fun to make with the family. Or buy cheap ornaments and write people’s names on them using a sparkle paint or painters markers are really simple. Take old coffee cans and paint them white and then paint snowman faces on them and put divinity, or white chocolate/yogurt pretzels in the can.
Tye Blankets
Theme Baskets
such as: movie night (a movie candy microwave popcorn etc.)
day at the beach (a towel sunscreen shovels pails
umbrella etc.)
lets get down with exersize (a pilates dvd yoga mat free
weights etc.)
lets go sledding (a plastic sled hot cocoa matching hat
mittons and scarf etc.)
scrapbooking starter kit (disposable camera paper
stickers three ring binder etc.)
There are many possibilities for quality gifts, just pick a theme and get creative!