Counting the Cost

Creatively Frugal Ways to
Embellish Gifts
What are some of your most creative ways to embellish wrapped gifts? How do you make ‘ordinary’ gifts look extraordinary?

"My five year old daughter will be giving several awesome free to almost free gifts.

#1 We printed off homemade coupons to mail to her friends. They say, 'This coupon entitles you to a playdate with (my daughter's name). To redeem have your mommy call (my name) @ (my cell #).' She then signed her name.

#2 She made an Easy Bake playdate coupon book for her best friend and includes sugar cookie mix found on sale (you don't have to buy easy bake brand. Betty Crocker or store brand works GREAT). We also found a child's apron and chef's hat for $1 at the dollar store. We personalized them with fabric paint and put it in with the gift. Too cute!

#3 Mattel has a $5 off coupon for any Polly Pocket item on their web page good through 12/31/07. You can print off as many as you like. If you buy the items at Target they are automatically deducting $5 at the register and will allow you to use the coupon with. I picked out the Polly pocket sets that are $9.99 which means I paid $0.57 per set. GREAT DEAL! You can find proof of the Target in-store discount on the web page. Just click on on of the Polly pocket gift sets and read the fine print included with the toy description. I printed this out, highlighted & took it with me!

#4 We bought small wooden cut outs at Michaels on clearance. She painted them and we bought clip-on earring backs and broach backs for a couple of bucks. She made homemade jewelry for the girls and Grandmas in her life.

#5 We bought white wrapping paper for $1 and my little one decorated it with crayons, markers, stampers, and finger paints. This was her favorite craft project ALL YEAR!

I hope all of this is helpful." ~ Laurie

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"This year I printed sets of 24 Christmas Advent coloring pages from the Internet for each of my three sons (8,5,3). The pages have a picture from the Christmas story and a Bible verse. The boys colored all of these pictures over the course of a few days while I read aloud to them. Then we sorted them into three new groups using 8 pages colored by each boy. They folded them, stuck a sticker on them, and then wrote the dates on the front in order (December 1-24). We found some very inexpensive tins at a craft store - business-envelope size - and put a set of drawings into each one along with a family photo and a little letter. We delivered these to three friends who live alone so that they will be reminded every day until Christmas not only of Jesus who came and who is coming again but also of our love for them. You could also put these in a stocking to hang up or just tie the stack together with a lovely ribbon." ~ Jessica

"I don't know if you can use this idea in your newsletter, but something I've done over the years when I give a calendar to a family member - usually young adult heading to college - is to write all the family birthdays and anniversaries - aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, immediate family. This idea started when I was a young adult, and my younger brother requested the information near Christmas time." ~ Carolyn

Editor's Note: Thanks to these readers for taking time to share their ideas!