For most people like my husband and I, living on Soc. Sec. disability means that money is very tight. We barely have the money to pay our housing, utilities, food and medical bills let alone have money for extras like Christmas gifts for our children and grandchildren. So I tend to make most of the gifts we give. Making the gifts myself allows me to know what is in what I am giving them and I can make something to add to their preps without them realizing what I am doing. My kids are not preppers by any means so the only way I can make sure they have some of the things they will need during a SHTF event it to make them myself.
My daughter is a single mom now and working two part time jobs to make ends meet. She is on the road a lot going from job to job in a old car that is not that dependable. If her car was to break down during the winter she would darn near freeze to death before help arrived so I wanted to give her some added protection against the cold if a breakdown happens. It would have been great if I could have bought her a sub zero sleeping bag to keep in her car but on our income that was just not possible. So I went through all my stock of material and found enough to make her and her whole family lap quilts to carry in their cars to help keep them warmer. Most of the material I used to make the quilts came from yard sales. I watch out for nice size pieces of materials that people no longer want so they sell them cheap. Most pieces I manage to pick up are about a yard and a half to two yards long and if I am really lucky there is coordinating piece the same size. Most often I can get these pieces for a $1 or $2. I have even been able to pick up unused bags of quilt batting for as low as $2 to $3 which in most cases is half of what I would pay for the same bag at Walmart or Jo Anns.
I had enough material to make my daughter and her family two piece quilts which I hand tied instead of machine quilting. I prefer the old fashion hand tied method that my grandmother taught me. She never had a sewing machine and did all her dress making and quilting by hand. I try to do as much as I can using the same skills she did to keep her skills alive to honor her and all she did for her family while she was alive. Since I am getting older and my hands don't work as well as they use to this year I put the quilts together with my sewing machine and then I hand tied them.
A frugal prepping Christmas that will help them through hard times. :)
Prepping Granny