Creative Ways to Give Money

This is an article about how to give money as a gift, in creative ways. http://www.pioneerthinking.com/rwmoney.html

Thankful Thanksgiving Wreath

Make a Thankful Thanksgiving wreath. Use construction paper, and have guests trace their hand and cut it out. Then have each guest write something that they´re thankful for on their "hand". Once you have everyone´s, make a wreath out of it.

Gift Bags for All of Your Special Events

Go to http://tinyurl.com/1d0d to purchase, in bulk, gift bags for all of your special events.

Gilded Christmas Centerpiece

Spray pinecones & whole walnuts with gold/silver spray paint - arrange them in a bowl to make a festive centerpiece. Get creative and add other items inside the bowl, as well as outside of the bowl.

Candy and Crafts

Go to http://tinyurl.com/1d09 to purchase Easter crafts and candies in bulk to help save you money.

Ocean Spray Cranberry Plan-It

Check out great ideas at Plan-it Thanksgiving, a new feature of www.oceanspray.com dedicated to Thanksgiving. This special section features out-of-this-world holiday solutions to help you plan and enjoy your celebration. From favorite holiday recipes to cranberry crafts to tips for planning the perfect feast, Plan-it Thanksgiving has everything you need this holiday, available 24 hours a day.

A Gift Idea for Anyone

Buy some microwave popcorn and/or dollar store candy and arrange it in a big bowl. Buy a video that the person would like, put the video in the middle of the bowl and cover everything with cellophane. If you're uncertain what sort of movie to get, you can always give a gift certificate from a local movie rental store instead. Be careful of this one though - my mother did this as a gift for my husband and I, and we had to become members of the video store first - which is FREE, but then we got addicted to renting movies - that´s not thrifty!

Christmas Centerpiece

Group a collection of nutcrackers, teddy bears, or favorite ornaments together for a simple centerpiece.

Party Supplies for All of Your Special Events

Go to http://tinyurl.com/1d07 to buy your party supplies for all of your special events, in bulk, and save money and time.

Printable Letter to Santa Form

Print out this page to help your kids make their own letter to Santa. http://members.tripod.com/~grambk11/LetterToSanta.html

Jazz Up Paper Chains and Cardboard Stars

To make an ordinary decoration stand out, jazz it up a little. Paper chains and cardboard stars can be dressed up with glitter and fancy (leftover) paints.

Birthday Party Supplies

Go to http://tinyurl.com/1d07 to purchase party supplies in bulk, and save money too.

The Gift of Song

Go to www.tinymixtapes.com for a FREE list of songs that go with a theme that you specify. Whether it´s a specific decade, songs with the name Mike in it, and so on and so forth. Once you get the list of songs, all you need to do is find them, put them on a tape or CD, and then you have a personalized gift for the recipient.

Wrapping with Fabric Scraps

Fabric scraps can be used for wrapping presents. Use it like paper, or make into gift bags. You can make a more formal, structured gift bag, or simply make a drawstring bag. Or, cut out shapes from the design of the fabric, and use to decorate gifts wrapped in plain brown paper. You can also tear the fabric into strips, and use it as ribbon.

Birthday Gift for Grandma

A great thrifty gift for grandma´s closet: make your own pomander! Start with an apple, orange or lime and make random holes in it with a skewer. Insert a whole clove in each hole. Roll the clove-studded fruit in a mixture of equal parts arrowroot or orrisroot and ground cinnamon. Wrap in tissue paper or cheesecloth and hang it in a warm, dry place to age. After about three weeks, the fruit will dry and shrink. Finish it off with a pretty ribbon for hanging in the closet.

Printable Form to Make a Letter to the Easter Bunny

Here is a form to help your kid write a letter to the Easter Bunny. http://members.tripod.com/~grambk11/LetterToEasterBunny.html

Have a Potluck Party

Make a list of everything that you need for your party, and have guests bring at least one of the items. This way you aren´t paying for everything.

Christmas Tree Garland

Go beyond the traditional Christmas tree garlands of popcorn and cranberries and try stringing pasta or cinnamon sticks instead. With the pasta, use different types (shells, elbows, etc.) and try painting them different colors as well. You can also dry orange and apple slices and string them for a country holiday garland.

"Wrapping" Odd-Shaped Gifts

Look for and save the large holiday tins that popcorn comes in. When they´re empty, rinse them out and use the tin as a package for a large or odd-shaped gift that may otherwise be too difficult to wrap.

More Broken Garland Ideas

Use broken or worn out garlands to make wreaths or stars. Make the shape you want from a wire hanger, then twist garland around it. Decorate or leave as-is.

B.Y.O.B.

Have a B.Y.O.B. party, so that everyone brings their own booze. This way the host/hostess doesn´t have to turn their home into a liquor store to please everyone, and everyone knows that they will get their favorite! In the end, everyone is happy!

Take Turns

If you have a lot of friends, neighbors and/or family that you like to celebrate the holiday with, why not take turns? You can have it one year, then someone else. This year it´s always at a different location, and people won´t feel put out that they always have to drive far. This way, everyone wins in the long run.

The Stuff that Cookies are Made of

Take a Canning jar (new or old) and layer cookie dough ingredients (1/2 the white ingredients [flour, baking soda, salt, sugar], 1/2 the brown sugar, all the chocolate chips or M&Ms, the other half brown sugar, the other half white ingredients). Then, between the lid and jar ring, put a piece of muslin or a doily and stamp pretty Christmas stars or use stickers to decorate. Tie raffia around the jar with a tag telling what to add (1 egg, 1 cup butter, 1 tsp. vanilla usually), and how to cook them.

Garland Pieces

If your Christmas tree garland breaks, use the broken pieces to drape over doorways or windows. You could also use it for Christmas crafts/ornaments.

Natural Christmas Centerpiece

Put some bare twigs in a vase and insert gumdrops or cranberries on the ends of the branches for an unusual tree centerpiece.

Printable Christmas Card List

Here you can print a one-page Christmas Card List for free. Don´t forget to keep this list for next year to help you start another list. http://members.tripod.com/~grambk11/ChristmasCardList.html

Make Your Own Gifts

A fun way to save money is to make each other a Valentine´s Day gift. The best part could be in the actual making of the gift, then of course would be the look on the recipient´s face when they see your masterpiece. If you´re not very crafty, try making a collage of all of the things that remind you of your mate, cut out from magazines, catalogs, etc.

Christmas Card Tags

Use old Christmas cards as Christmas tags by simply cutting out the design on the card. Get creative and use scissors that cut in different shapes too.

When to Wrap

Wrap gifts as soon as you purchase them to avoid last minute gift wrapping rush and stress. This is more of a time saver than it is a money saver, but as they say, "Time is Money!"

Prepare Your Guests

When you invite your guests to your Thanksgiving meal, ask them to think about something that they are thankful for. This will give them the time to think about it, and not be put on the spot when you go around the table and have everyone say what they´re thankful for. Believe me, your guests will appreciate this gesture!

Christmas Things To Do List

Here is a printable one-page form to use to create a Christmas things to do list. This type of list is very handy during the hectic holiday season. http://members.tripod.com/~grambk11/XmasThingsToDoList.html

Thankful Thanksgiving Tablecloth

Get a nice cloth tablecloth (light-colored) and have everyone write what they´re thankful for on the tablecloth. Keep this going every year. Use different colored markers for each guest. Or, if you don´t have enough colored markers for that, have everyone use the same colored marker for that year, a different one for next year, etc. You´ll want to put a clear plastic "tablecloth" on top of this one so that you don´t ruin it.

Cheap Centerpiece

Buy several cobs of Indian corn, roughly the same size. Place a very large candle (preferably in colors to complement the Indian corn) in the center of a plate, and arrange the Indian corn around the candle, alternating the ears tip up, tip down. This makes a perfect thrifty centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table!

Get a Babysitter

You don´t need to spend money on expensive gifts or dinners out to enjoy your anniversary. If you have children, you could drop them off at a sitter´s house and just spend a romantic evening alone, together. There are many sexy foods that you could have, have a candle-lit dinner, have dessert in bed, watch a romantic movie, etc. No kids, go crazy!

Giving Baked Goods

Collect tins for holiday baked goods during the summer at garage sales and thrift shops. People tend to get rid of off-season stuff in the summer so it´s a great time of year to get ornaments, tins, and decorations for holiday gift giving.

Thanksgiving Day Game

Have everyone write down what they`re thankful for on one side of a piece of paper, and put their name on the other side. Have everyone put their piece of paper into something (hat, jar, container, etc.). Then have someone pull out each piece of paper and read it out loud for everyone to guess who wrote it.

Storing Christmas Lights

Empty wrapping paper tubes are perfect for storing strands of lights. Simply coil the strands around the tubes for an easier decorating job next year.

Craft Kits for Kids

A cheap gift for kids: put together a "craft kit" with everything needed to make the craft. Include the printed directions on a sheet of paper, and have it all in a big Ziploc bag. You could also promise to make the craft with the child, as a special treat.

Christmas Gift Idea List

Here is a two-page form to make a Christmas gift idea list. Page one: http://members.tripod.com/~grambk11/PrintableChristmasShopList-3.html

Page two: http://members.tripod.com/~grambk11/PrintableChristmasShopList4.html

Christmas Present Centerpiece

If you are handy with wrapping paper, wrap up some empty boxes with holiday wrapping and pile them in the center of your table.

Let´s Have a Luau Party!

Have you ever wanted to have a luau party, but didn´t know where to start? Well look no further. Go to http://tinyurl.com/1d0b to see all of the different things that you can purchase, in bulk, for a great luau party.

Christmas Wreaths

Go to http://tinyurl.com/pdzz to check out TONS of great wreath ideas for Christmas. Now, being a thrifty person, you could take these ideas, and expand on them, by using items that you already have laying around the house. So, give it a try, and see what you can come up with! Have fun!!!

Fourth of July Wreaths

Go to http://tinyurl.com/pdw9 to check out 2 great wreath ideas for the Fourth of July. Now, being a thrifty person, you could take these ideas, and expand on them, by using items that you already have laying around the house. So, give it a try, and see what you can come up with! Have fun!!!

Valentine´s Wreath

Go to http://tinyurl.com/pdw9 to check out a great wreath idea for Valentine´s Day.

New Year´s Wreath

Go to http://tinyurl.com/pdw9 to check out a great wreath idea for New Year´s. Now, being a thrifty person, you could take these ideas, and expand on them, by using items that you already have laying around the house. So, give it a try, and see what you can come up with! Have fun!!!

Thanksgiving Wreath

Go to http://tinyurl.com/pdw9 to check out a great wreath idea for Thanksgiving. This is a very thrifty wreath already, but being a thrifty person, you could take these ideas, and expand on them, by using items that you already have laying around the house. So, give it a try, and see what you can come up with! Have fun!!!

Halloween Wreaths

Go to http://tinyurl.com/pdw9 to check out 4 great wreath ideas for Halloween. Now, being a thrifty person, you could take these ideas, and expand on them, by using items that you already have laying around the house. So, give it a try, and see what you can come up with! Have fun!!!

Pumpkin-Carving Websites

www.pumpkin-carving.com
www.pumpkinmasters.com
www.pumpkinnook.com/hween/carve.htm
www.thepumpkinfarm.com/carvemenu.html

Halloween Crafts

Go to http://tinyurl.com/ng2o where you can shop for over 700 Halloween items at BOO-tiful prices!!! They have the following Halloween items: Candy & Pinatas, Costumes & Accessories, Crafts, Decorations, Novelties & Assortments, Novelty Jewelry, Party Supplies, Small Toys & Games, and Stationery!

Halloween Candy

Go to http://tinyurl.com/ng2o where you can shop for over 700 Halloween items at BOO-tiful prices!!! They have the following Halloween items: Candy & Pinatas, Costumes & Accessories, Crafts, Decorations, Novelties & Assortments, Novelty Jewelry, Party Supplies, Small Toys & Games, and Stationery!

Halloween Decorations & Party Supplies

Go to http://tinyurl.com/ng2o where you can shop for over 700 Halloween items at BOO-tiful prices!!! They have the following Halloween items: Candy & Pinatas, Costumes & Accessories, Crafts, Decorations, Novelties & Assortments, Novelty Jewelry, Party Supplies, Small Toys & Games, and Stationery!