Posts Tagged ‘gifts’

Today is the last day in my week-long Creative & Clutter-Free Gifts series… and it’s my favorite clutter-free gift of all {acts of service}.

I’ve always been a big fan of service gifts — much more so now that I’m married, have a house to maintain, and a child! I’d take the “gift” of a cleaned kitchen or a few hours of babysitting over almost anything from the store… any day!

Today is day 5 in my week-long Creative & Clutter-Free Gifts series… and we’re talking about a bunch of ways you can give back to different charities!

If you have people on your list who literally have everything, a simple donation to special charities in their name might be the best gift you can give them.

Today is day 4 in my Creative and Clutter-Free Gift series and I’m super excited — because we’re talking about giving cash!

I never liked giving cash until I realized that there are tons of creative {and personalized} ways to give this fabulous clutter-free gift. I’m sharing 10 ideas today!

Today is day 3 in my creative and clutter-free gift series and I’m talking about “experience gifts”.

Experience gifts can be a little more time-consuming to plan… and they aren’t necessarily inexpensive, but they ARE a fantastic clutter-free gift that your recipient will probably remember for a very long time.

Today is day 2 in my week-long creative and clutter-free gift series… and we’re talking all about gift cards.

I’m a huge fan of giving (and receiving) gift cards and today, I’m sharing 9 ideas to add a little creativity for this fabulous clutter-free gift.

Today is the first day in my week-long Creative & Clutter-Free Gifts series… and I’m just SOOOOO excited! All week long I’ll be sharing lots and lots of creative ways to give practical and clutter-free holiday gifts that should please everyone on your Christmas list!

I’m starting the series off with my favorite clutter-free gift {FOOD}… I have 13 creative ideas for giving the gift of food.

I’m a huge fan of wedding registries because they allow guests to give gifts the bride and groom actually want. I’m also a fan of simple, practical gifts that anyone starting a new home will need.

This past weekend, we attended a shower for my sister. She got lots of great gifts off her registry… but my other sister and I went in on a gift together and we deviated from the registry just a bit

There’s only 8 days until Christmas… and if you are still frantically searching for the perfect gift, it might just be time to “resort” to a gift card.

However, even though a gift card might not seem like the most personal or thoughtful gift, I can almost guarantee the recipient will love it… and with just a few minutes and a little creativity, you can package your gift cards in a thoughtful way.

Here are a few creative ways to give a gift card:

Christmas is just over 5 weeks away and I’m assuming most of you have already been asked “what do you want for Christmas?”

Even as adults, we occasionally get a few gifts each year, and I don’t know about you, but I always have a difficult time coming up with things to put on my OWN Christmas wish list. But now I have a really simple method of keeping track of the things I want for Christmas…

Every year, as I’m making my Christmas list and searching for great bargins on creative Christmas gifts, I always start thinking about all the DIFFERENT ways people handle the issue of “gift giving”.

I know every family and group has different gift-giving traditions, so I thought I would first share a few of the different ways my family and extended family handles Christmas gifts… but then I’d love to know how you do it too!

I love hot chocolate and can be “forced” to drink it in almost any climate — even if I’m not cold! However, I don’t love paying top dollar for it at fancy coffee places and restaurants. I also don’t really like the “cheaper tasting” watered down hot chocolate packets from the store.

So thankfully, my mom always made her own homemade hot chocolate mix… and shared her really easy recipe with me {it only has 4 ingredients}!

The holiday season is here!! And for those of you haven’t even started thinking about holiday gifts, I’ve come to your rescue with my all-time favorite clutter-free food gifts that are sure to please even the pickiest person on your list.

I challenge you to skip the busy stores, skip the clutter, skip the over-prices gadgets, and make {or buy} food gifts for everyone on your list this year!!

I remember the first time I attended a Tastefully Simple party and tasted their beer bread. It was so delicious that I knew I had to buy some. However, I quickly realized that a $5.49 price tag might not be worth it for one loaf of bread — especially at the rate we plowed through it!

So my frugal self decided to look for a beer bread recipe that I could make myself — and I’ve never looked back since!

Where I come from {and I suspect most of you can relate} whenever something significant happens, we run to our kitchens and start making our favorite foods. Whether it’s a birth, a death, a sickness, or just a special occasion, I don’t know anyone who does not appreciate the gift of food!   Personally, I always try to give clutter-free gifts, and food is one of my favorite clutter-free gifts because I can easily incorporate it into my normal routine and it is always [...]

The following is written by Mel from Unique Holiday Gift Ideas: I don’t know why, but Fathers Day always seems to sneak up on me… and then I am scrambling to find unique gifts for my dad, husband, and father-in-law. This year I am being more intentional about planning the holidays so that I can really enjoy them instead of going around in a big cloud of guilt over all the things I wished I had done…and didn’t. If you [...]

It’s officially wedding season – and this past weekend, I attended the first of MANY bridal showers and weddings for the 2011 “wedding season”. Dave and I have had multiple weddings every summer for the past six years — which is pretty normal considering we’re in our mid 20′s and many of our friends and relatives are in the same age range {and I’m told everyone in West Michigan marries young!} This summer is no exception; we both have multiple friends, relatives, and coworkers who [...]

If you are a mom, what might be one of the best gifts you could get on Mother’s day? OK, obviously, there are 101 answers to that question, but I think for MY mom, the answer would be a grandchild. And guess what…this Mother’s Day, she got one! Well, she’ll have to wait until October because I’m only 16 weeks along, but she was still super excited — as was the rest of my family and Dave’s family. Want to [...]

Mother’s Day is this Sunday, and whether you’re looking for a gift idea for your own mom, for your wife, your sister, or even just for a dear friend, I’ve got a few FREE ideas to you might want to consider — after all, it’s the thought that counts, right? 1. Homemade Cards: I just saw a certain brand of cards “on sale” for $7.99 a piece!! Seriously, when did a sheet of card-stock get so ridiculously expensive? Make your own cards using kid’s artwork, a [...]

I love Christmas, I love buying {and receiving} gifts, I love wrapping gifts, and I especially love opening gifts!! Who’s with  me? There have been years where I spend the better part of an evening wrapping all our gifts in brown parchment paper tied with raffia, wired ribbon, fun tags, and festive embellishments. The gifts look stunning under our trees and I thoroughly enjoy the process — I really do! And then there are years like this year…when I have “moving” [...]