Inexpensive gifts for kiddos?

there are some really cool art sets you can get for pretty cheap. or even go to the dollar store - pick out a container with a lid and build an art kit.

no idea about the boy (I've got girls) - but get a container and fill it with boy stuff from dollar store - marbles, cards, figurines...

Go to the Dollar store and buy a basket for each of them, For the 7yo, Make an art kit... fill it with a pad of paper, pencils, pens, color pencils, markers and paints too. (BTW you can get all this stuff there at the dollar store) For the 2yo girl, do the same, but in hers put crayons, finger-paints, silly putty or play doh type stuff. (cause she may wanna be like the 7yo, ya know? And then you can decorate the basket with bows and ribbons... just be creative and make em all pretty.
For the boy, hmmmm, lets see, you could go to target or wal mart and find him a spidey figure and then on the outside of his basket you could draw and paste little spidey faces and make him an art set too, but with spiderman pencils and colors and such. KWIM? You could even get one can of red and one can of blue play doh to go in it. Gift baskets are fun and it's fun to get a basket full of lots of little stuff rather than only one big thing.

my "nephews" are 3, 6, and 11. a couple years ago I made a big plate of m&m cookies and they were gone QUICK. their grandma didnt even get to have one lol. Last year I baked the cookies and bought some seasonal $1 tins at the dollar tree and the boys each had their own cookies for a gift. my "niece" was an infant last year and I hand sewed her a flower rattle.

forgot to add, I'll probably make this a tradition; the boys getting a tin of cookies. I dont know about my niece yet. I'll figure out something to make for her! she's really into girly stuff so I might buy her some dress up outfits ( princess costume, halloween clearance? lol) or some costume jewelry. you can usually find that kinda stuff everywhere for cheap!

For your 7 year old girl...I've seen this "make your own quilt" deal advertised in expensive magazines (sold as a kit). It is essentially a bunch of squares of fabric with fringe around each side. Your child literally ties the fringe together from one square to another to make their own quilt. They can be small for dolls or a big one for them to use. However, a lot of quilt stores have the die cut and will cut your fabric for free if you purchase it in their store. Find a store near you that has one and check out their clearance rack fabric. The quilts come out really cute. You could even get some iron on transfers from a craft store that go through your printer and make a few squares with family photos on them.

O these are all great ideas but i need some things that are a little bigger?

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Walgreen's gifts in the 3/$13.95 section! there are my little ponies and barking puppies and CUTE drawing stuff. Anyway lots of name brand stuff and character stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/NSI-International-Inc-1959-Pretty/dp/B0024WJBC0/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1257114719&sr=1-15

http://www.amazon.com/Toysmith-3676-Mermaid-Window-Mosaic/dp/B001J7A1VQ/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1257114719&sr=1-20

http://www.amazon.com/Spider-Man-inch-Bop-Bag/dp/B002BYGY8K/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1257114830&sr=1-8

http://www.amazon.com/The-Toddlers-Busy-Book/dp/B000BUQNKU/ref=sr_1_76?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1257114926&sr=1-76

 

Check out Collectionsect.com. They have toys that are very reasonable priced. Also Bizrate.com will give you prices on specific items or general ideas