Baskets are frugal, personal Christmas gifts.

There’s 16 days left until Christmas. Are you finished with your Christmas shopping? Or are you still contemplating what to get your 17 year old nephew, who seems to have everything?

Fortunately, I’ve finished my shopping, but I’ve definitely been in the “lost for a gift idea” camp before. Hopefully these ideas will work for you, or at the very least, spark some ideas for your own frugal and personal Christmas gifts.

Always a Hit With The Grandparents

Every year I make a calendar for my parents. Some years, when I have extra time and I’m feeling creative, I make it myself. Other years, like this year, I order through Shutterfly or another photo service.

I always include pictures of the kids and little captions, telling our parents what was happening in the pictures. Then I fill in important dates, such as birthdays. Our parents always appreciate having the birthdays written in!

Through today, Shutterfly is offering buy one, get 30% off calendars and 8% cash back through Ebates, making multiple calendars a reasonable deal. Vista Print is offering (again through Ebates) 50% off photo calendars and 10% cash back through December 31.

For those Men Wondering What to Get Their Wives

A spa basket. My husband did this for me one year for Valentine’s day, and I can’t tell you how much I loved it! Get a little basket (you can find them inexpensively at any thrift store), and fill it with yummy soaps, bath beads, and candles. Add one of those aromatherapy pillows to top off the basket.

The key to making this gift a success is to make sure your wife has uninterrupted time to actually use the bath products…without toddlers knocking at the bathroom door every 5 minutes!

Wives, for Your Sports-Loving Husbands

A tailgating gift basket. Buy a small cooler and fill it with your husband’s favorite beer, some barbeque sauce, grilling utensils, and some chips. Then make sure you free him from his honey-do list on a Saturday to attend the game with his buddies.

For the Teen Boy

If the teen boy in your life has a car of his own, fill a bucket up with some good car washing supplies. I haven’t met a teenage boy yet who didn’t like to take great care of his car.

The possibilities are endless. If you keep the personality and interests of your loved ones in mind, you can come up with a gift basket, jar-mix, or photo gift for almost anyone.

For more thoughts on gift baskets and jar-mixes, see:

What are your favorite frugal gifts?

Photo by TimWilson.