Inexpensive Gift Ideas

A guest post from Adrian at http://www.adrianscrazylife.com/

I know this year we are all looking for inexpensive gift ideas, which I think is a wonderful idea.  Every year, we all spend so many hundreds of dollars on presents.  I love Christmas as much as anyone, but it gets to be too much.  Some years it just feels like a big long to-do list for me.  I'd love to simplify things a bit and I think this year is a good time to do it.  That's why I always go on a diet in January - everyone's in the mood to diet and that makes it easier.

So, in the spirit of watching our pennies, here are a few great gift ideas that are practical, inexpensive, and unique.  Look at this cute candy jar - .88 cents at Roberts Craft Store!  Throw in a couple of rub-ons, some ribbon, and a couple of bucks worth of chocolate and you have a nice gift for a teacher, neighbor, or co-worker.  Easy peasy!

This is a great idea! They showed me how to do this at a neighborhood Supercraft Saturday and I just thought it was the coolest thing.  I didn't have a sandblaster, so I figured out how to do it with etching cream.  I've invited all my customers to come over and make these for free as my Christmas gift to them.  All they have to do is supply the dish. You just need any glass dish or plate, some cheap contact paper, and some glass etching cream. 

I used my Cricut to cut the letters, but you could use a stencil and a kraft knife.  The most expensive part is the etching creme, which is why I'm offering to do it for all my customers.  It goes bad after a while and I could never use it all up by myself.  Might as well share the love.  One of my customers came over with a whole assortment of Pyrex baking dishes and made about eight of them as gifts for her friends and family.  I think that's awesome and makes for a very practical and often used gift.  

Look at this gorgeous plate I got at the last Diva dinner.  They are awesome and easier to make than you would think, and because the etching is all done on the bottom, they are still food-safe.  

I just love these notebooks.  They are simply those Composition books that you used to use in school, covered with some pretty paper and ribbon.  They make a wonderful gift.

Here's another cute and easy gift idea.  So simple and probably took 15 minutes and a little bit of ribbon and some rub-ons on a little clay pot.  Throw in a pretty flower or a plant and that would make such a lovely gift for someone.  

Here's another pretty notebook (sorry about the blurry picture).  This is an actual composition book that I found in this striped pattern, so all I had to do was add a bit of ribbon, some cardstock to cover the label, and a pretty flower with a rhinestone.  I think just about anyone can do this!  

For you non-crafty types - Mary Hunt over at Debt Free Living has a fabulous idea for making a unique keepsake journal.  She has a whole list of questions to help you create fabulous journal entries.  What you do is print them out and put them in a pretty jar - like a mason jar and give them with the journal.  Then every day, the person pulls out a slip of paper and writes a journal entry based on the idea.  Wouldn't this be a great idea for a grandparent or a parent? You just print and cut them into strips, roll them up and put them in the jar.  What could be easier?

Adrian's Crazy Life is just that, bits and piece of my crazy life - my job, my 3 fabulous boys, my papercrafting business, my 4 grandkids, the whole enchilada.  I'm always going 90 miles an hour with my hair on fire, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

I love to give advice of all kinds, so I have lots and lots of posts on my site about decluttering, managing your finances, parenting, and whatever else I feel like an expert on that day.  C'mon over and visit me at AdriansCrazyLife.com



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