This post brought to you by Dollar General. All opinions are 100% mine.
The reasons for needing an emergency gift stash are endless. Someone stops by with a surprise gift for you and you feel a little bad that you didn’t get something for them. Perhaps your child suddenly tells you about the student teacher in his classroom and wants to get a gift for her as well…the day before school lets out for the holiday! Maybe you forgot something for your favorite delivery person. Your neighbor. Your personal assistant’s daughter.
Throughout the holidays, we’re often faced with those “oh no, I need a gift fast!” moments. Yes, it’s the joy of the holidays that matters and all that good stuff, but you have to admit, there are times that not having a little something on hand spells a major social faux pas. Fortunately, Dollar General has everything you need to create an emergency gift stash! Check out how I did it.
How to create an easy and inexpensive emergency gift stash
Start with a trip to your local Dollar General! As I’ve said before, I like to browse before deciding exactly what I want to get. You just never know what fun surprises you’ll find there!
As you can see, I found quite a few diverse items, all for around $1-3 each. The gift bags were my favorite find, with 8 different sizes for just $5. They’re GOOD gift bags too, sturdy and adorable! I choose a selection of gifts for all ages. The coloring book, cute holiday pencil, Play Pack and Santa notebook go together nicely for a treat for children.
The mug combined with the Minion Peeps and the hot cocoa is perfect for a teenager. Take out the Peeps and you have a great treat for a grown-up! The Cinnamon candle smells spectacular, perfect for a hostess gift. Plus it’s so pretty, don’t you think?
Dollar General has plenty of other great emergency gift stash ideas to choose from. Find adorable makeup sets for teen girls, bath sets for kids, more sweet treats for teachers and others on your list. You can even step outside the holiday aisles and grab other necessities, such as hats and gloves. Get creative and make your own mini gift baskets with coffee, tea and so on. The main consideration is your budget. Create one before you go in and stick to it. While Dollar General makes it easy with their affordable prices, they have such a wide selection that it’s still tempting to go overboard. I kind of did in the holiday decorating section while I was shopping for this post!
Organizing Your Emergency Gift Stash
Now that you have a few great emergency gift stash items, it’s time to arrange them in a “grab and go” manner. I suggest bagging everything up in the gift bags. Use a little tissue paper, but not so much that you can’t see what’s in the bag. Choose a spot in our house away from where you receive guests (that sounds so Jane Austen, doesn’t it?). When someone pops by, you want to be able to dash to your secret stash and glance through your bags for an appropriate gift. Make sure you keep a nice pen handy in your emergency gift stash closet! Then, just add their name on the tag and deliver your gift! They’ll never know the difference and you’ve avoided a social faux pas!
What types of gift ideas do you suggest for keeping in an emergency gift stash? Tell us in the comments!
We don’t have a Dollar General here but we do have a Dollar Store which also carries lots of great items to use as gifts.
An emergency gift stash is a must! We always keep tumblers and water bottles on hand.
Somehow, I always end up with an emergency gift stash. And I love having it!
What great ideas! I love the cup with the little spoon!
This year we let our kids decorate their rooms for Christmas with dollar store items. They loved it!
What a great idea! I always forget someone or some gift!
That’s genius! You never know when you’re going to need a last minute something or other!
Love the Minion Peeps – those are awesome! My boys would get a kick out of it! I have a small stockpile of gifts for emergencies too.
I love having a few things on hand to put together a gift, even if it’s just a hostess gift.
This is something nifty to have on hand for sure. I hear of people doing this with cards and I think that’s smart too. Then you will have something on hand just in case you find yourself in a bind and you can’t get something when you want to get a gift. :)
This is such a good idea. I try to keep a few extra gifts on hand, too, just in case.
This is so super-smart. I always have extra gift bags on hand for the drop in gifts or the ‘girl friend’ who comes with a family member. LOL.
this is a wonderful idea for the holidays. I need to remember this for next year.
Very fun idea to have a gift stash – I need one! So often I need a small gift FAST! I will definitely be doing this.
awesome ideas. I usually stock up on stuff the day after Christmas.
ME TOO! I keep a year round gift stash for birthdays and special events! Saves me TONS of money and time!
This is a great idea. I love it and they just built a new Dollar General near me. I will definitely be working on something like this.
This is such a awesome Idea! Currently I have a hige stash of little mini lalaloopsys and such as prizes for when my daughter does something right and without throwing a tantrum!
That truly is one inexpensive gift set and I love what you put in there. I know those peeps would disappear immediately if I got them.
That is such a cool idea. I love the idea of the mug and peeps for hot chocolate. I think I just might have to steal this one.
Yes! I always keep an emergency gift stash. I love your gits – especially the minion peeps. Yummy. Now you have me making a short list so I can get on top of my game.
So many great items to add to your gift stash. Love those Minions!
I have to admit, I’ve done this for years. It is so convenient to have a few extra boxes of chocolates and other little gifts lying around for “just-in-case” ;)
What a great idea! I have never held an emergency stash, but I think it’s a great idea.
I always keep an emergency gift stash. Through out the year, I add things to it and usually after Christmas I’ll pick up 70% off items to add back into it.
I always keep a gift stash! I usually keep different colored stainless steel water bottles or glass straws on hand.
These are cute little gifts! I love the idea of an emergency gift stash!
I ove Dollar General! They have such great deals!
That is a smart idea. Could be real handy.
Great ideas! We seem to always need a last minute gift. It would be much less stressful to plan ahead and have some stuff like this on hand.
This is such a good idea! I always try to keep something in my gift closet.
It never hurts to have a good selection of gifts laying around. You never know when you will be invited somewhere or a friend will bring you a gift unexpectedly
Always good to have back ups. Love the minion Peeps, those are cute!
Yes! I started doing this last year and is really such a lifesaver especially when you forget at the last minute that ALL of your kids’ teachers need gifts.
Dollar General is one of those places that I go into, and it takes me hours to get out. Love all the cheap but awesome goodies. I didn’t realize they had such attractive gift bags – I definitely need a stash of those at home!
I did something similar with birthday gifts and it was such a time saver!
I really need to get something pulled together for Christmas.
Great idea!