Is your Christmas list starting to look like a telephone book? It's time to consider making your own gifts. Here are several easy ideas for wonderful homemade Christmas gifts.

* Winter Warm-Up Baskets with Homemade Marshmallows and Hot Chocolate

You can purchase hand-crafted marshmallows in a gourmet store like Williams Sonoma, for $15-$18 or simply make your own. The recipe can be found at Homemade Christmas Ideas for Everyone on Your List

Place 4-6 marshmallows into a clear plastic bag and tie with a decorative ribbon. Put the marshmallows in decorative fortune cookie boxes (found at your local craft store) or put them in a decorative basket with gourmet hot chocolate and holiday mugs.

Voila! You have gorgeous homemade Christmas gifts that look like they came from an expensive gourmet shop.

* Homemade Picture Frame

Buy an inexpensive plastic picture frame from your local craft store. Gather or buy plastic Barbie doll accessories, beads, jigsaw puzzle pieces, scrapbooking embellishments and other doo-dads that represent the interests of the recipient.

For example, for the gourmet cook, you could use plastic doll cookie sheets and rolling pins. And get some cookbook and baking-themed scrapbooking or card-making accessories from the craft store.

Using hot glue or glue dots, glue the items around the border of the frame.

Then put a special poem or message in the frame. Now you've got a show-stopping homemade Christmas gift without the extravagant price tag.

* Soup in a Jar

Get several clear mason jars and fill them with this layered soup recipe:

Minestrone Soup in a Jar

1/4 cup red lentils 1/4 cup green split peas 1/4 cup barley 1/3 cup boullion powder 2 TBSP parsley flakes 1/4 tsp. pepper 1/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. thyme 1 tsp. basil 1/4 cup small pasta (macaroni, alphabet pasta or orzo)

Layer the ingredients in the order given (lentils on the bottom). Put a decorative ribbon around the jar.

Attach this card with directions for making the soup:

Combine soup mix and 8-10 cups of water plus 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes in a large pot. Add 1 cup diced carrots and 1/2 cup celery. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for an hour or until vegetables are tender.

For more easy homemade Christmas gift ideas, see The Shopping Mom's Guide to Baby Gifts.