Old-fashioned holiday ideas; The Gift of Christmas Past, A Return to Victorian Traditions, by Sunny O'Neil. Nashville, Tenn.: American Association for State and Local History (703 Berry Rd., 37201). 148 pp. $12.95.

Attesting to the value of homemade Christmas decorations, presents, and feasts as well as the current revival of interest in Victoriana, this book combines material culled from the magazines of that era with ideas for gifts and decorations. These sound practical and fun, but many will require considerable time to make, even if the wherewithal consists of household odds and ends.

Games abound, as do devices for adding entertainment to the receipt of gifts.

The menus are fascinating - how many people are prepared nowadays to make sweetbread croquettes, never mind eat them? Ham and turkey do their usual yeoman duty, accompanied by oysters, occasional pickles, and many sweets.

It is all a bit Dickensian, if American.