Chocolate covered pretzels are really cheap to make and you can use multi-colored candy melts and sprinkles to make them festive

Cookies, of all varieties, can come from budget ingredients, some of which are often an sale this time of year.

Peanut brittle is relatively cheap - just the nuts, sugar and a pinch of salt. I typically buy a big ol' bulk can of dry-roasted peanuts at Gordon Food Service, but you can also find them online at places like Amazon.

Gifts in a jar is typically pretty cheap cost-wise, but with a bit of ribbon and some imagination - they can look expensive. And they all travel pretty well.

Two good links from this site on the topic:
The kitchn's Quick Bread in a bottle and Best recipes in a jar.

I've been trying to figure out how to make and ship my mother some homemade freezer/instant meals. In the looking I found a recipe on this site for baked cake in a jar. I'm figuring these will travel well; and all cake is fancy. :D

For labels, look at these decals or this list of canning jar labels as a way to personalize the gift without wrapping it.

Homemade chocolate or marzipan truffles are another great option.

My favorite, if you're artisically inclined, is just make a big batch of cut out cookies and cut them with relatively large cutters. Take the time to decorate them beautifully and give each person one elaborately decorated cookie in a little baggie. People really seem to appreciate the effort even of one sweet cookie. Then no need for tins and packaging and making enough.

Spiced/candied nuts are pretty easy and cheapish.

The caramel recipe I use makes a full jelly roll pan of caramels and once they're cut and wrapped there's a lot! I'd probably do something like that and look for inexpensive, cute containers to present them in.

I would do a tri-candy collection:
start with chocolate dipped pretzels or mini-ritz peanut butter sandwiches or small squares of rice krispie treat

and peppermint bark

and puppy chow/muddy buddies (whatever you call it).

a bonafide winner for everyone!

I've done a couple things that have been well received:
1. Homemade marshmallows and hot cocoa mix (Alton Browns recipes on both accounts)
2. Waffle mix, I made a variation of the multi grain recipe on 101 cookbooks, and gave a card with instructions on the wet ingredients.
3. Home made granola
4. Rosemary walnuts from the gourmet cookbook.

My gift boxes this year will include homemade cookies, caramels, marshmallows (with some chocolate dipped), and mini bread loafs. I bought a bunch of holiday boxes at the dollar store and Big Lots and will package the treats in those. Last year, I made chai and hot cocoa mixes and a bunch of chocolate and fruit biscotti.

Dulce de leche from this recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/dulce-de-leche-recipe/index.html):

1.5 gallons organic milk: ~$8
72 ounces sugar: ~$5
vanilla beans/extract: ~$3
12 half pint canning jars: ~$12

For a total of $28 for 12 awesome gifts that everyone will love (I find that I get 2 cups per quart of milk rather than the 1 cup that the recipe suggests.)!

I've made buckeyes and chocolate covered marshmallows before for gifts, along with carmel wrapped chocolate covered pretzels. Those are great too! Most often, people are most appreciative of a home made gift because you are being thoughful. At least I know I always am!

I love the cayenne orange truffles idea on that King Arthur blog! Definitely making those. I also found a good fudge sauce recipe on here, but now that I'm going with the truffles, I think maybe dulce de leche would be a better choice. Otherwise - chocolate overload...

Thank you all for your responses!
Ksenia

For free wrapping, I suggest origami boxes made from junk mail/pages of an old magazine. The boxes are easy to make and elegant. People love them.

Bowl with stand - http://www.origama.ru/eng/origami_diagrams/origami_sanbo/

Star bowl - http://www.instructables.com/id/origami-star-box-one-piece-of-paper/

Box with lid - http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-box.html

Last year I made hermit bars and they were really cheap--they are just spiced cakey squares with no special ingredients. I wrapped them in some pretty cellophane and they were really well received.

I'm a little late to the party, but I was the master of cheap homemade gifts when I was a student so I wanted to post! Here are some things I did:

-chocolate dipped pretzel rods, but take the time to temper the chocolate so it looks pretty, you can also add holiday sprinkles, crushed candy canes, chopped peanuts or something to make it look fancier

-chocolate dipped stirring spoons, this makes a nice "big" gift for an important person if you add a tiny bag of coffee beans or even a mug from the dollar store (again temper the chocolate)

-homemade marshmallows with homemade cocoa mix, this is a showstopper! I used as gifts for DH's family the year before we got married when I was really trying to impress and people went crazy for the marshmallows! :) it makes a lot so it's great when you need lots of gifts at once but if you need only a few, you might consider making the marshmallows but just buying some packets of fancy cocoa (my grocery store sells them for about a dollar, so getting 6 of those is cheaper than buying all the ingredients for homemade mix)

-cookies, I find the key here is how you package them, take time to get a pretty box, tin, or bag (look at dollar stores or even online if you can get free fast shipping), it's also nice to pick one sort of complicated cookie since people will appreciate the major effort (personalized gingerbread person, nicely decorated sugar cookies, fried cookies like rosettes, etc)

-And technically this is edible, though I wouldn't eat it!
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/scented-applesauce-cinnamon-ornaments/Detail.aspx

I made these cinnamon ornaments for gifts one year and people LOVED them. I bought the ingredients at the dollar store (they have cheap spices!), cut them into gingerbread men shapes, and got some red/green fabric paint and a $1 spool of ribbon to decorate at the craft store. I think I spent maybe $8 and got at least 12 ornaments, and 10 years later I still have the one I kept for myself. Smells great! :)

Martha Stewart has nice homemade gift and packaging ideas. I find I don't always implement her ideas exactly but they can be good inspiration. Might want to check out the site: http://www.marthastewart.com/

Actually, I realized this recipe for cinnamon ornaments is closer to what I used. The glue really helps them last:

http://www.handmadecountry.com/ezine/cinnamon.html