Thursday, December 3, 2015

Inexpensive Gift Ideas For Christmas





Trying to stretch your Christmas budget to include everyone can be quite stressful. In fact, it’s the kind of thing that can distract you from focusing on the more positive aspects of the holiday season, and you deserve better than that.

With that thought in mind, why not take advantage of some inexpensive gift ideas for Christmas? First of all, you can start by looking for coupons to such shops as Kohls, which should be easily found on Discountrue or other helpful websites. It will allow you to save a great deal on the items you already know you're going to want, and leave you with more options. When you find the appropriate coupons the savings can be astronomical. And after that step, there a few other cheap X-Mas gift ideas you can consider.

Moving, deeply personal Christmas presents don't need be expensive. There is a plethora of ideas that keep go well with the fact that most of us have to work with a very tight budget, and as they're DIY your loved ones will surely appreciate the effort and thought you put into their gift. If you’re stuck without knowing what to give to some special person this holiday season, consider the following:

Personalized playlists/mixtapes: If you want to go old-school, why not make up a mix CD of music you know your friend or family member is going to love? There is also the option to create an entirely digital playlist for that special person, which makes it more modern.

Personalized coupon book: This is also a great idea for a cute Valentine’s Day gift. Make up a list of cheap-yet-sincere things you know someone you love is going to love in turn. Put all these ideas into a fun, distinctive “coupon book.” The receiver of this book can then redeem the coupons for anything from free backrubs to free dinners, or anything else you might have in mind!

Write a poem: Have a creative side that loves any opportunity to come out? Think about writing a personal poem to someone you care about. Really, you can apply this idea to any artistic endeavor you can possibly imagine. It's highly personal and all the love you put into it cannot be underappreciated!

Make cookies: This doesn’t sound very exciting, but trust us, it can be a wonderful holiday gift for someone who deserves the very best.  After all, who doesn't like to indulge in sweets from time to time? There are tons of creative, inexpensive recipes that you can turn into reality for someone. Think about what she or he likes best and surprise the person in question with a treat they’re sure to love. You can try making these yummy sugar molasses cookies.


Handmade crafts:  Gifts such as a custom ornament or these easy paper dolls make great gifts for kids.

A real photo keepsake: This also is an old idea, but it’s still a goody. In a digital world, a physical photo keepsake can be absolutely delightful, reminding you of all the wonderful memories you share.



Tuesday, October 6, 2015

DIY Shopkins Scratch and Sniff Stickers


Do you remember scratch and sniff stickers growing up?  I was shopping at Michael's and saw scented embossing powder.  I started googling for reviews and found a forum that mentioned you could make your own scented embossing powder using KoolAid.  This made me think of making my daughter Shopkins Scratch and Sniff stickers.  I really am impressed at how they turned out.  The smell is strong and its been about three weeks and the scent is still strong!

See my youtube tutorial here on how to make your own Shopkins (or any image) scratch and sniff stickers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC3jjgUvC58




Sunday, October 4, 2015

How to Fold Glass-like Stars

This is a continuation of my up-cycled cellophane packaging tutorials.  I am going to show you how to fold little stars with cellophane packaging.  Here is a tutorial on how to fold a paper star or a video version here.  With all these cellophane tutorials, it is always best to practice on paper first and get the hang of it before you venture off to cellophane.  Cellophane is much harder to work with because it is more slippery and stiff.

Note video tutorial is updated.


These are my pictures, but watching a video on how to do this is much easier.
1.  Use a ruled paper underneath as guidelines to cut cellophane into strips. The strips I cut were about .25 in.
2. For larger stars use wider ruled paper. Note that length of paper should be at least 30 times of width.
3. Take cellophane and "tie into a knot" and flatten.
4. Fold over the short end and then the long end along the edges
5.  Tuck end into flap.
6. Pinch into star shape.





Stay tuned to see what I do with all these cranes and stars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi_3UWG0zHEWheels on bus youtube video
Watch thse Disney Princess Toy Video Elsa Anna Frozen Playdoh
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