Not necessarily frugal advice, but if somebody is a bit of an expert or even hobbyist in something and you are not, don’t buy them something in that area unless it’s something specific they have told you they like or that they want.

Eg, if they like chocolate, don’t just go buy Cadbury. No offence to Cadbury and Cadbury lovers, it’s just an example that some people might love Cadbury and eat nothing else, and others might hate it. You might go out and spend $X on a fancy brand, when that’s one that they hate, and actually prefer a cheaper one.

Sure it’s the thought that counts. But there’s levels of thought, and shallow thought can be borderline offensive.

Eg, I’d way prefer some of the fantastic, unique and personal ideas here than get an expensive gift of a bottle of X, that I’ve probably already tried, and have settled on what I like.

I’ve made apricot jams and plum sauce and gave them out one year. Got the fruit from my then boyfriend’s parents house (they were mostly being left to rot) so all I’d had to buy was the sugar. I made little custom labels for them as well.

I’ve picked fruit before and put it in a nice basket for my mum.

At thrift shops (same as Op shops?) look for attractive containers to put those baked good into. Maybe biscotti in a nice coffee cup or cookies in an attractive old canning jar. That sort of thing.

Peppermint Oreo Bark.

The Reject Shop has some good packaging options. I use these bags to wrap individual home made Christmas puddings. Cut up a paper plate disc at the bottom for stability, pudding on top and tie with some christmas ribbon. reject shop bags

Where do your other skills lie, what do you feel most comfortable doing?

Mason/glass jars are pretty cheap at Kmart or at the op shop if you have a dishwasher to run them through to sterilise them.

You could do those hot chocolate mixes, the ones made as gifts where the different ingredients are layered attractively inside the glass. And tie a reusable ribbon on. You know the ones. https://youtu.be/jf23otl9ztE This is also a thing with biscuit mixes.

Tiny terrariums would be simple but I hear you need a dedicated pan or baking tray to bake the soil or potting mix in (to sterilise it against unwanted nasties growing in the sealed container) and it can make your oven or house stink.

There is the method where you pour boiling water into the soil and cover with tinfoil to retain heat, but while I haven’t done terrariums to test this I don’t think it would be thorough enough for a sealed container.

You could make hot chocolate spoons with disposable wooden spoons and wrap them in cellophane and a ribbon like a lollipop. (Basically you dip spoons in melted chocolate and then a decoration like sprinkles or add mini marshmallows. For bigger serves others fill ice cube trays or muffin pans with chocolate and stand the spoon in it and add marshmallows on top. The idea is you stir hot milk with the chocolate coated spoon and the chocolate melts to flavour it, and releases the marshmallows.)

I haven’t made fudge or coconut ice but that could be a go. You could even make two different flavour batches of fudge and marble them together decoratively, like a peppermint chocolate marble fudge.

I made these things for our wedding, decorative jars/vase with the copper wire battery powered lights in them with a little remote, and a few glass beads to hide the power back. ended up being fairly cheap and got a lot of compliments. We still use them for like ambient lighting and stuff.