Welcome back everyone. Katie and her Krew were a welcome addition to all our usual suspects. I might also add that Amber is a quasi new members - jumping in with good ideas left and right. You realize though, that once we come to like you and get used to all your great input, we don't let you get away easily. Just ask football lovin', ornament winnin' Montana Kelly.Lots of good ideas were generated yesterday about ways to adapt our Christmas tree idea to fit the hobbies and interests of family and friends. I've thought more about the tree, for Kristen's friend who is relocating to Texas. Maybe you could wire miniature containers of hot sauce (sold at World Market), a "Don't Mess With Texas" bumper sticker, a horseshoe, a Texas ornament, a Texas shaped cookie cutter, silk yellow roses. And, how about cutting a bandanna into strips and turning them into bows?
Or... do a moving-themed tree (cardboard and string) and attach a gift certificate to a local Texas restaurant the couple can visit once they arrive (but before their kitchen is unpacked).
As for my cookie cutter tree? It's on it's way to Katie K. - party host extraordinaire. She is an expert cookie baker and "flooder," so I know she'll get great use from it. Do you want a cool host or hostess gift? Find out later this week how you can host your very own Highlowaha Friendship Party.
Today's price point... $15.00.
I love bookstores. You would be hard pressed to walk in Barnes and Noble and not be able to find something for even the toughest person on you list. The person on your list isn't into the classics - Jane Eyre, Hemmingway, Orwell, Hawthorne, Faulkner...? How about a book on hunting, cooking, fishing, crocheting. No books? O.k. How about a magazine, a CD, or a DVD? Still no? Stationary, journals, paperweights, games? It's decided. Bookstores are to me what FAO Schwartz is to my boys!
Today's gift comes in three parts. I'll share each part individually and in the end you'll see how they fit together... and... for under $15.00!
Part I. Barnes and Noble Gift Card. The other nice thing about this gift is it's scalable. I'm putting a $10.00 gift card in mine, but if you can't spend $10.00 then how about $5.00 (lots of good magazines for less than $5.00)? Or, if you're feeling more generous, increase the amount to fit your budget.
Part II. Page Markers. These are FREE! You know all those envelopes delivered to your home every afternoon? Don't throw them away. With a little bit of effort and a touch of creativity, you can turn them into fun gifts to be packaged with a book or gift card. It's simple. (1) Cut the edges of the envelope on a diagonal, (2) decorate, and (3) slip over the page in your book where you stopped reading. This idea is an especially nice way to involve kids in gift giving, as they will have a great time decorating the page markers. I packaged mine in cellophane envelopes, but you could use a small box, punch a whole in the top and slip them through a metal ring, or display them on page corners throughout the book you are giving.
Part III. Final step to today's gift. This is the piece where you can employ as much creativity as you have time for. Mine is not elaborate, because I was making it in time to photograph for this morning's post. This book shaped box is made of card board. You can buy them at any craft store for approximately $3.50 ($3.39 at Hobby Lobby). Then use some tissue paper and a little Modge Podge to cover the front. If you have lots of time, you can cut out pictures, letters, and words from magazines. What is especially fun about this is that you can custom design the "book cover" to fit the interests/personality of your recipient. Some examples. If I was giving it to my retired mother in-law I might title it, "101 Activities for the Newly Retired" Purchased with Susan, the avid reader from Georgia, in mind might earn it the title, "A Readers Guide to Georgia". Ricky, my Olympic aspiring son? How about, "Dangerous When Wet"
The title chosen for today's sample... "PPDC: The Building of a Brand" Author, A.B. To you know who... your treat is in the mail!
Gift Card = $10.00; Page markers = FREE; Personalized Book Box = $3.50. Grand total...$13.50.
Either comment on the use of my $15.00 or share another idea you might have for how to spend $15.00. Would it be in poor taste to do a shameless plug for the last box of Highlowaha Christmas Conversation Cards? Order now!
Signing off until tomorrow...
P.S. Mustard is the winning secret ingredient for this week's challenge, 10 votes to 7!
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30 comments:
I am back to being up early...and I have a long day. So I wont get to be back til later this evening!
The book idea is too cute, dr. b! I love it, and might have to try it out. I too LOVE bookstores because I love to read. Always have. As long as its not a text book for school! hehe
Under $15 gifts...How bout those Mod Podge frames, Katie? How much would you say those cost each? Those are the coolest gifts ever. But we have already talked about them on this blog.
Its too early and I am used to sleeping in now. I will think on this and post again later!
Good morning!
I love these cardboard books from Hobby Lobby. I remember seeing you use them for a gift for someone a few years ago, CKB. I have loved them, and used them frequently ever since!
I also love these book markers! I'm going to have to make some of those tonight!
Cassie, I would say a mod podge frame would be under $5 assuming you already have the mod podge and supplies.
Off to my practicum for the morning- I'll check back later when I get back!
Thanks for the ideas for thr Texas themed tree. . .if anybody knows any good reastaurants in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area for me to get a gift card from, I'd appreciate it.
I really like the book idea. . .
As a new mother myself, how about creating a book entitled "Baracauda bites, Happy Hysterics, and other fun stories from Rookie Mom's." I would then pass the book around to a few mom's to help me fill up the pages (regarding hazmat grade diapers, giggles that will make you melt, and other stories) then pass the book on to a new epecting mother for Christmas, a shower, whatever. . .hmmm. . .I bet we could write a whole book for publishing off that!
Living in the great white nort, it's time to go snowblow the driveway!
Kristen! Great idea! Let's play.
If you were naming a book for someone, who would it be and what would be the title?
We'll judge the best book title tonight over dinner and award a small prize to the winner... in Kristen's honor.
Howdy-
Well, I can't help but go back to what I know best, greeting cards...
In the dollar bins at Target and Michael's... you can get a 10 pack of SIMPLE cards...(but you can always check out my blog for some creative greetings!! {a tad more than $1} http://prdesigns.blogspot.com)
Find a unique box, tin, basket to fit the stash in, under $3. Then purchase a cute frilly pen or nice rolling writer $1+, stop at USPS and buy a book of first class stamps, $4.20 for the 10.In some cases we all have return address labels lying around our computer desks, right?, create 10 awesome ones with the giftees return address. Some of those $1 bins have tiny address books too!! Add a little chocolate treat, tea bag or pack of gum.... ta da...a nice write your friends gift pack about $12.
"Before kids, I used to have a Brain."
Who stole my Peawee, I think I lost my Marbles?
Brain Fart, having kids!
Speaking of Target...
I just came from there and noticed they have wreaths in the $1.00 bin (though they are $2.50).
A wreath makes a nice alternative to a Christmas tree (and it might hold fewer items). Big red bow in the middle and themed treats wired all the way around. At $2.50 each, you still have $18.50 to spend on gift items. Or, in keeping with today's $15.00 price point, you still have $12.50.
I bought one. Maybe I'll report back later in the season to let you know how I used it.
Kristen,
Where in DFW is your Sister in law moving? How old is she? Is her husband to be already in the area? Why are they moving here...where will they work? Do they have family or friends in the area?
I ask all this because I think you could give her a great Texas themed tree with a gift card to a restaurant (I'll weigh in on which one once I know if they have an area of town they'll be living). But...I also was going to volunteer, as a newcomer to DFW myself, to share my experience with her (maybe take her on an afternoon tour once she arrives). If they are looking for a nice place to live I'm sure several of us can weight in on that as well.
You could add that to her gift saying you are giving her an afternoon with a DFW resident to help show her around etc... plus it is always nice to know someone in the area.
Claudia, Cheryl, Toni, Cassie, Erica, Nan and I are all residents of the Dallas Fort-Worth area.
True, true, Heather. In fact, how about attaching a business card (or the likes) with each of our names and contact information.
My vote on a restaurant is Ozonas. It's Tex Mex and not too expensive. I love it and would gladly purchase you a gift card, should you be interested.
Of course, you could invite her to start reading our blog and then, by the time she moves here, we'll be old friends (kind of like Julie and AZLori).
Good morning.
My book title for a mom with more than one kid is "Why does he...?"
I am definitely going to make some of those page markers for my mom! I am getting her a "Book Lover's Journal" to keep track of what books she has read and which ones she wants to read, since she is always forgetting. The book is about $10 on amazon, including shipping it should be under $15.
I absolutely love bookstores and usually can find something for several people on my shopping list at barnes and noble. I've got a head cold so my brain is a little slow today... I'll come back later if I think of some ideas. =)
Heather (and all you other DFW folk)
I am not sure where exactly they will be moving. . .in fact. . .they don't even know yet. Her fiancee just took an engineering job (Lee and Elliott) that transferred him there. I believe he will be moving down there in August, and their wedding date is 09/19/09. They will be making two (i think?) trips down for house hunting purposes.
She (Chandra) and he (Brian) are both very, very nice people. . .love 'em to death. Chandra is the very, very smart cheerleader type who often lacks common sense. She is always good for a laugh, but God love her because she got me through Physics class and introduced me to her brother (now my husband. . .but that is a whole other story). Brian is a very laid back, go with the flow kind of guy.
I am sure they woud absolutely love, love, love a personal tour of DFW!! I am really getting excited about doing a Texas themed Christmas tree now, but I think I will wait until after Christmas to invite her to join this blog so I can use those business cards and tell her that she has a few friends to make in the coming months!!
Oh how fun networking is!!!
And also. . .
No kids yet, no faimily or friends in the area whatsoever.
Kristen,
Definitely tell her she has some friends to make...Bal and I moved here with no family so it was rough.
Tell her we can give them good advice about where to live and where not to live...etc...
I second the Ozona's vote since we won't know where they'll be living...it is yummy!
I just finished watching an episode of Oprah that I DVRed last week. It was about holiday gifts for less.
Katie & Kompany...one of the ideas on the show was a "Gratitude Box". Let's say Katie was giving a gift to Cassie.
Katie would have all of Cassie's friends write notes on fun notecards (purchased cheap or you can embelish regular note cards). The notes would talk about Cassie and what her friendship means to them (the writer). Katie would then put all of these notecards in a fun box and give them to her as a gift.
I think I'm going to do this for my parent's 40th wedding anniversary...it's coming up in the next year or two (or three...I forget)!
That last comment was from me...oops!
Thanks for the idea, Tera. I actually received a similar type box filled with letters and notes when I left Bellarmine. I LOVE it.
We could probably bring an idea like this up again when we talk about $10.00 and $5.00 gifts. It seems to me the real value of this gift resides in the leg work required to pull it together.
Good Afternoon!
I love the book idea. The book store is already on my list of places to go for Christmas presents. I know many people on my list who love reading and this is a creative way to add to the gift card. I might even gear one to look more like a magazine because some of my friends love to read the gossip magazines every week.
If I were to have a book title for my friends it would be "Things That Make You Go Hmm" I can't take full credit for this idea. When I was in college my roommates and I used this phrase to comment on random things such as "How did that car get all those funny looking dents in it?" or "If I push on the windshield with my feet, will it pop off?"
I love those ideas about the page markers...perfect for all the readers I have on my gift giving list! They'd also make great stocking stuffers if you didnt/couldnt put them in a regular gift!
Kristen - I would LOVE a book like that, seeing I'm a first time expecting mom. That's a super idea!
My book would be for my parents, seeing that their 'nest' will be completely empty soon...the title would be "Empty Nest = Quiet and Sanity"
If I wrote a book for my mom it would be titled, "The difference between a boy and girl" since it seems like we're always comparing how things go for me as a girl and how they go for my brothers as boys.
My book for my residents would be called, "Who is that crazy lady giving out food, anyway?" Since the number of times I've been called a crazy lady is far too many.
And a book for myself would be titled, "Lions and Tigers and Bears: Oh 18 Year Olds!"
My best friend's name is Joy... and because I enjoy photography, I might do a photojournalism type book and name it, "The Joys of My Life"
Or, I've pondered the challenge of writing about my stint working in residence halls... I'd call it, "IT'S NOT A DORM... The adventures of a hall director in a campus residence hall"
Book for my mom... "Raising three boys: How NOT to lose your mind!" or something even more clever!
OH, this could work for you as well, dr. b!!! LOL
Cassie P ... I miss my early morning posts with you!
So, I'm sitting in Starbucks in Lake Havasu City, AZ ... my plan was to check in every two days or so ... but Kristen had sent me a text message that I got when I got out of work that read "You need to read HLA asap ... I am so very excited!"
So here I am ... and let me tell you - I'm reading through the comments, and I'm laughing - out loud - and I feel a little silly seeing as how I'm sitting all by myself!
Kristen - If I were to write a book on our childhood, I'd probably call it "Always Walloying Around"
Or, for parents, taking my Dad's phrase "Once I had money, now I have kids"
Since I have no idea how much this will cost ... I'm going to suggest it today ...
A friend of mine gave me this gift as an early Christmas gift: She took round ornaments for the Christmas tree in red or green, and then took a silver or a gold Sharpie and with alternating colors, spelled out my name for me to hang up. I thought it was creative, relatively easy to do, and is something that will remind me of her each year.
Enjoying my 70 degree AZ weather!
Michelle - Congrats. . .when are you due?
Schnepp Sisters...I got your very thoughtful package in the mail today!
You guys are the best!
I'll be sure to share one of the Cokes with Julie when I'm home for a visit over the holidays.
Thank you so much!
So I don't have any clever ideas today. I will add that I am a bookstore addict...We have a library that is spread into two rooms.
Anyway, I would love to write an anecdotal book about motherhood - fashioned somewhat like a David Sedaris book. I would call it "Poop in a Blender." It is a long story that I'm happy to share at another time. :)
"Poop in a Blender" peaked my curiosity
Amber... YEs, my curiosity is peaked too. Maybe one day you will share the story behind poop in a blender.
Great contributions today, everyone. Are there any night owls out there still waiting to comment?
I've not read other comments, so forgive me if I'm repeating anything, but a journal is a good, inexpensive gift idea (also found at a bookstore--my favorite place to shop!). If you get a less expensive one, you might even be able to include a cute pen to go with it. And there's always a circle journal... you could give a journal, write your first entry/letter to the friend, and include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for its first journey back to you.
Here's an idea for an inexpensive gift I gave to my hub for our first anniversary (the year of paper): I found one of those page-a-day desk calendars--spiral-bound--and wrote one reason I love him for every day of the year. Some of the reasons were silly, and some were serious, but he LOVED it. I also used a photo editing program to superimpose the text of our wedding vows on a favorite wedding photo of ours and had it printed up, then put it in an inexpensive, store-bought frame. It's beautiful and gets a ton of compliments from people who visit. Both of these ideas could be adapted for friends or other family members pretty easily... instead of vows, add a favorite quote, the lyrics of a favorite song, or a poem that reminds you of that person.
You can also design a 5x7 photo book on Snapfish.com for about $12 + shipping, so that's always an option... you can include not only photos, but captions or even a story, so it's a very personalized gift for not very much money.
My book for my friend Johnanna-
"I don't know but it was funny."
I love the book marks!!! That is the best idea... and everyone has at least ONE reader on their list!
some other things that I have thought of are doing hand painted glass ornaments. If you are super creative or not you can make personalized ornaments for cheap. I did that for a friend once and made a personalized "baby's first christmas" one. It probably cost me about 10$ total. And that was only because I had to buy more than one ornament!
Also, I bet you could make those tied fleece blankets that everyone enjoys for around $15 to $20 dollars.Even my grandparents have two of those!
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