So many people I know are struggling financially and saying they can't afford to buy gifts. With 5 sons and a single income we scraped by most years so I learned to be creative. Here are some ideas I jotted down to share:
 
Printable sites:

For kids: chore charts, coupons, school calendars, paper dolls and clothing, coloring pages, bookmarks, cards, stickers and more.

For adults: recipe cards (there are some really nice ones of those out there), calendars (there are some where you can add your own photos), notecards, shopping lists, stationary and envelopes, bookmarks, and more

Search for Printables or printies in google and tons of sites come up. Use cardstock to print out things like recipe cards. Buy a cheapo recipe card box and have the kids decorate it for a gift for a grandma or teacher letting them cut out the recipe cards, too.

Crafts:

Bookmarks: you can use ones you print out on the computer but a cheaper way is to use just any paper and decorate using markers, crayons, school photo, pics cut out from a mag or whatever. Cover them with clear contact paper (2 or 3 bucks for a huge roll at Walmart) and cut leaving a border around the edges. For a more decorative look, use a hole punch and then make a tassle from yarn. For teachers, it is fun to use the latest school photo and put a caption on it.

Notecards: I used to have my kids do this and everyone always liked them. Just take a regular sheet of paper and fold it into 4ths. Have them decorate the front any old way they want. Buy a cheap pack of envelopes (you can find inexpensive white ones that fit those perfectly) and make up sets of ten or so. Wrap a pretty ribbon around them to make a nice set.

Mugs: you can buy plain white mugs at dollar stores. I can’t think of what kind of paint you use now… if anyone is interested I can look it up, but you can use this paint to do whatever. We did one and wrote “UGLY MUG” on it. LOL Add a packet or two of flavored hot chocolate. If you are going to do several, buy a box as it is cheaper.

Shirts: you can get plain t-shirts dirt cheap at various sources (i.e. Michaels) and a pack of fabric paint. Let the kids decorate them or do so yourself FOR the kids. Also, iron ons for the computer are cheap enough. Sometimes my kids have wanted certain shirts and I just print out the design and make them myself. They are just as happy with them as it is the saying they want.

Make up some CDs if you have a burner or ask someone who has one to help you out. one year my son made one for everyone with Christmas songs on it he had downloaded. He designed the cover and personalized them. They were so nice and we still have ours and use it every Christmas.

Write a story. I did this one year. Wrote a Christmas story about a tree. I used some pics I found online and printed out copies for everyone.

There are so many things you can make from fabric: tote bags, little scent bags of potpourri, doll clothes and accessories, stuffed toys, etc. Look online as there are SOOOO many places that offer ideas and many are cheap and easy. Join a Christmas site - I belong to one on Yahoo called Christmas All Year Round (or something like that) and they post ideas all year. Even if you aren’t a crafty sort, there are so many things that are easy enough to make.

Some other things I have done: I found a neat saying about friends, bought cheap frames at the dollar store and printed out the saying with a fancy border. Put them in the frames and there was a gift. For my sister who quilts I found a collage frame at Goodwill and printed out a number of quilting saying with a background on each of a quilt. I put those in each slot and she just loved it. I look for neat sayings in catalogs and use them. I found the one that says “My prince has come - his name is Daddy” but it was about $20. So I just found a cute frame, printed it out with pink lettering, found a pic of a castle and a prince to put on it. Instant present for my great-niece. I have also taken pics that turned out nicely (mostly the nature type) and put them on card stock as notecards along with envelopes. For my sisters this year I found frames that had Sisters written on them, found an old pic of the two of them and printed it out and put it in the frames and gave those to them for their birthdays.

I look for inexpensive items all year like clearance things and sometimes put them together in gift bags or baskets. I end up with a lot of items but the total cost is not much although it LOOKS like I spent a lot more than I did!

Hit up thrift stores and places like Goodwill often. You will sometimes find new items there like photo albums or household items or toys. If you feel like being crafty, look for clear glass items and get glass etching supplies at Michaels using their weekly coupons. It is SOOOO easy and makes gorgeous items. I made a whole set for my friend with snowflakes on each Irish coffee mug and then a clear plate, added a box of cocoa mix and some Xmas cookies and it was a big gift for her. I have made the guys big mugs with their names on them, too.

Bake cookies and candies, buy some cheap decorative plates at the dollar store and make up a big plate for neighbors, teachers, friends, etc. Most people don’t have time to bake and love homemade treats at this time of the year. If you want to get fancy, you can get candy boxes from stores that sell cake decorating supplies. I got some one year and made fudge and put them in those and then made labels that said FUDGE. They even had gold stickers to close up the boxes.

Anyway... there are some ideas and there are so many more. Necessity is the mother of invention as the saying goes....