Homemade Gifts for Employees
Individuals and businesses must often follow a budget, and allowances for employee gifts are often eliminated when cuts are needed. However, cuts in personal and business budgets do not need to mean the end of gifts for employees. Instead, consider homemade gifts which offer a personal touch at a minimal expense.
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Desk Accessories
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Employees who work in a cubicle or have their own office might enjoy a handmade accessory to brighten up their desk and work area. Consider handmade magnets for hanging up pictures and papers. Use flat glass marbles and apply a dot of hot glue from a glue gun to attach a round magnet. Or, print photos of past staff events and laminate, then attach a rectangular magnetic back with hot glue. Other options for handmade desk accessories include a decorated pen and pencil holder using a coffee can or vase, a bulletin board or mirror with a homemade wooden frame or a set of knit coasters for resting cups of hot coffee or drippy water bottles.
Personal Accessories
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Employees who enjoy close interpersonal relationships might consider making personal accessories for each other as gifts. A knit or crocheted scarf works up quickly and only requires a skein or two of yarn. For chilly offices, consider making a handmade lap-sized blanket using two pieces of fleece fabric 1.5 yards in length and layered atop each other, cutting a 5" square from each corner, cutting 4" long by 1" wide fringe around all four sides through both pieces of fabric and tying knots through the fringe to attach the pieces of fleece together.
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Jar Gifts
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Jar gifts are usually inexpensive, store well for later use and are easy to assemble, especially in batch quantities for a large number of staff. Recipes for jar gifts are widely available in print books and on various websites and include options for personal use such as bath salts, treats such as brownies or cookies, beverages such as hot cocoa or herb-infused teas or savory foods such as soups.
Foods
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Foods are a classic way to show appreciation to others. Employees who are ill or recovering at home from a life event such as having a baby might enjoy a homemade food gift of a casserole or pasta dish that they can pop into the oven and warm for dinner when they are too busy to prepare an entire meal. Adding a homemade salad and loaf of garlic bread makes this a complete meal. Employees might welcome baked goods, such as homemade cookies, cupcakes and muffins accompanied by coffee, tea and juice for a staff breakfast or packaged in individual portions to take home and enjoy. Homemade treats such as English toffee, sugared almonds, spiced nuts or biscotti are easy to make, store well when packaged and the employee can enjoy them at home or during a coffee break.
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