<p>Hi!
I'm a college freshman and I have a lot of people I want/should to get presents for but I'm not sure how to keep things cheap without being cheap...any suggestions on general things a poor college student can wrap up and present to her friends??</p>
<p>(I know its early but I want to get christmas shopping done while I'm home)</p>
<p>For your BFF: If you're a girl, get something sappy, like a book (the kind you make yourself by folding and stapling paper, then decorating it) of all your inside jokes, a homemade huge picture frame with lots of candid pictures of you having fun together, etc. If you're a guy, something a little bit less touchy feely, but still something that has special significance to you as best friends.</p>
<p>For the BF/GF if you have one, a coupon for some sort of date. Maybe something outdoorsy, like a hike or picnic, or a romantic sex night, or a movie to whatever he/she wants to see with any snacks he/she wants. </p>
<p>For other friends, homemade mix CD's with all their favorite songs are good. Just get a pack of blank CDs and have some songs on your computer.</p>
<p>Added: Candy is always good, too. You can get a huge bag of candy, then divide it into little bags to give it to lots of people. If you have a friend who you aren't that close to, and just get that person a card, it will seem more personal to have a little goody bag of candy with it.</p>
<p>Romantic sex night sounds good.</p>
<p>haha..uhh thanks guys....</p>
<p>i might actualy do the candy thing...</p>
<p>any others?</p>
<p>when i was low on cash one year i gave all my girlfriends homemade bath salt--i bought cute little jars at a craft store, a huge bag of epsom salt, and some lavender essential oil. just a few drops in a huge bowl of epsom salt + a few drops of red & blue food coloring to make it a pale purple was enough. i poured it in the jars and tied a sheer purple ribbon around the neck with a little wooden scoop & some printed directions. </p>
<p>they went over really well!</p>
<p>that's a cool idea!!</p>
<p>How about framed pictures of you and your friends? You can buy frames at the craft stores (or even the Dollar Stores). Have digital pictures developed- 4 x 6's can be printed for less than 25 cents each and 5 x 7's will probably cost under $2 each.</p>
<p>yeah my friend once gave me a wooden frame that she bought at a craft store and painted with my name and some inside jokes on it & put a picture of us inside--such a cute present!</p>
<p>i'm making my boyfriend a french memo board for part of his christmas present & putting some pictures on it :)
you only need a painter's canvas, some batting, fabric, ribbon and a staple gun..also upholstery brads if you wanna get fancy haha</p>
<p>If you are at college some distance from your home, you could choose candy that is particular to your home area so it's something a bit special that people couldn't otherwise get, not just like a bag of M&Ms. </p>
<p>This was the big craze last Christmas in my college. People put the candy in little cellophane bags tied with fancy ribbon, and when you were given one you were supposed to hang it on the wall of your suite like a decoration until you left for vacation. We were a big suite so the walls of our common room were covered in candy like some kind of surreal fairytale by the time we packed up.</p>
<p>how about baking something if you like that kind of stuff, and then buying little cute boxes and putting brownies and cookies in them? </p>
<p>or just go to your local arts and crafts store (preferably michael's, if there's one around), and you might think of something. they have some cute wooden boxes for pretty cheap, and you can just decorate and paint it and put some things in there. the candy idea is good too. i get happy if anyone gives me candy. except strangers.</p>
<p>Duper that's a terrific idea!</p>
<p>=D jk</p>
<p>I speak from experience: Girls LOVE it when guys give them home baked cookies. You can get cheap plates, boxes or bags at the dollar store.</p>
<p>For men, cigars are almost always a good choice. Depending on where you live (and this is key, because some areas don't have reasonable prices), there may be a nearby shop that sells halfway decent sticks for $5-7 each. Most people are unfamiliar enough that they'd be unable to appreciate the quality differences between those and much more expensive sticks, so no need to buy the $30 ones. But at the same time, they're quite a bit better (even to a newbie smoker) than the $0.50 crap sold at the nearby gas station.</p>
<p>Most tobacconists will throw in free matches (which you should also give, because the disposable lighters taint a cigar in taste terms) and will sell $1 cutters that will get the job done so long as you choose the appropriate cigar size (a clerk can help you out with that).</p>
<p>Obviously if they can't or seriously object to smoking, this doesn't work. But it has always been a hit in my experience.</p>
<p>i got my boy some cigars (i knew the name of one he liked and asked the tobacconist for suggestions of others he'd probably like), a nice cutter, and a really awesome torch lighter for his birthday last year..then i bought a wooden box & painted it our school colors and put his initials on top so he could put in his little humidifier or whatever and make it a humidor :) i thought it was a nice present, and the tobacco guy gave me a discount haha</p>
<p>A 'Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man'.</p>
<p>I has been mentioned but a picture frame with a pictures shouldn't set you back too much. Mixed tapes have also been mentioned but they are also a good idea.</p>