I have always been a fan of giving gifts for birthdays and holidays. It brings me joy to watch someone get excited about a gift they’ve been wanting or a surprise present that they didn’t anticipate receiving. As our boys are getting older, they are getting invited to birthday parties for their friends and then there are teacher appreciation days, Mother and Father’s day, graduation open houses, surprise birthday parties for our friends’ milestone birthdays. The list goes on. I never budget enough for all of these gifts, but I really love giving a gift to someone special in our lives. It was time for us to get creative.
The first thing we did was sign up for an Amazon credit card. We earn rewards points for every purchase we make and we save those points for the Christmas season. We make sure to pay off the balance every month too. I have a goal of one day being debt-free! The Amazon credit card is so clear to understand our Amazon rewards: every point earned, is a dollar we can redeem on future Amazon purchases. This means we can use these points to buy gift cards for free! There is a large range of options for gift cards here too. I once purchased a pack of four $10 Starbucks gift cards and four $10 Amazon gift cards to distribute to our teachers at Christmas. Christmas was once a stressful time financially but this has really improved the major impact this was once having on our budget in December.
Next tip – know your audience. What does the recipient enjoy? I have a perfect example here: my grandma had a schnauzer dog for years. This little guy was her baby! When her birthday came around, I decided to get creative with my oldest son. He was 6 at the time and is an incredibly talented artist. I showed him a picture of a schnauzer dog and asked if he could draw this dog for his great grandma’s birthday present. He spent an afternoon drawing this dog and coloring it in for her. The details in the drawing are so carefully plotted and she really appreciated all of the time he put into the project. She had this picture framed in her living room until she passed in 2018.
Similarly, my mom had a Chatty Cathy doll that she loved when she was growing up. She no longer has the doll but had great memories of playing with it when she was young. I researched this doll and found that Hallmark made an ornament of this doll a few years ago. I found someone re-selling this ornament on Amazon and was able to get it at quite a discounted price. The ornament has a string on the back that you could pull. It actually made the ornament say phrases that the doll would say. This was one of those gifts that was completely unexpected and I loved watching her face when she opened the present. Understanding what gives your recipient joy will help you get creative in your gift-giving.
Think about things you are good at making or could learn to create. Get the kids involved too! Some of my favorite projects have been homemade gifts.
For mother’s day one year, I purchased clay flower pots from our local lawn and garden shop and had my son help me plant some flowers in the pots. That afternoon I pulled out our weatherproof paint and helped him dip his feet and hands in the paint to put on the pots. He was only three and his feet and hands looked so adorable and tiny on those pots. Once they dried, we traveled to his grandparents’ houses and delivered their mother’s day gifts. The gifts did not cost much to make but they were worth a lot. Those tiny little prints pulled at my heart, so I also made myself a pot to keep. It is now six years later and the pot still looks just fine and has great memories for me.
And finally, this is probably one of my favorite ideas – support your friends and family businesses! More than likely you have a friend or family member with their own business that could benefit from your purchase. One of my best friends has started her own company, and made beautiful customized gifts! She has made me T-shirts, mugs, cups, mason jars, and the cutest personalized anniversary sign. If I can use her company to provide a gift for someone, I absolutely will. She has the most unique ideas for how to personalize almost any gift and I’m supporting her local business!
These are some of the ways we have started incorporated other ideas to provide gifts. I had a lot of fun getting creative and finding new ways that we can best budget for all of these events. I would love to hear some of the ideas that you have in this area too!
You have such creative ideas, especially the one for your grandma! Love all of these