Southern Living says you can make Christmas cards every bit as clever and stylish as those you’d find in a store, and “be able to add personal touches to each and every card.” Make French knots on a card to illustrate a string of Christmas lights or a red-nosed reindeer, for example, or use decorative holiday ribbons to form the shape of a tree. Use buttons and bows to sew a wreath onto cardstock, or use glue and felt to create a holiday scene. Now get those cards in the mail — your addressees will appreciate the thought and creativity you put in!
Tag: crafts
Print Your Own Holiday Greetings at Home
Fancy greeting cards can cost up to $5 each. If you want to save money during the holiday season, try printing your own. Simply add a greeting to ready-made kraft paper greeting cards using a computer printer, Earnest Home says, and use a hot glue gun to affix a miniature wreath of boxwood to it. Total cost? 35 cents per card. You can try sprigs of rosemary, pine needles or holly instead of boxwood sprigs to suggest the holiday season, too; just use your creativity to get into the holiday spirit.
Craft Your Own Holiday Cards and Save
The Organizing Blog always advises using creativity to save money on things you ordinarily might buy. This year, try making your own holiday cards! Not only will you save money, you’ll create distinctive-looking greetings the recipients will love. Use felt, glitter, string and construction paper to craft your own cards. HGTV has 14 do-it-yourself ideas that will wow your friends and family, including a whimsical Santa-with-cotton-ball-beard idea that will help get the kids involved in making one-of-a-kind cards for everyone on your mailing list.
Let Nature Contribute to Your Thanksgiving Theme
At the Organizing Blog, we’re all about doing more with less. But even the most minimalist homemaker occasionally hosts a get-together, and next week is the ultimate dinner party of the year. If you happen to be hosting the Thanksgiving feast, you may want to bring a few fall flourishes to the table — and you can do so inexpensively.
First, know that you don’t have to buy a lot of extra stuff to establish a Thanksgiving theme. You can harvest the decorations that suggest the season easily, and for not a lot of money. Pumpkins, gourds and apples aren’t expensive to buy at the local grocery store or farmstand, and leaves and pinecones are free to pick up and use.
Once you have some of these nature-made materials, get creative. Living Rich on Less suggests making do-it-yourself candleholders out of apples, pumpkins or a birch bough to make a rustic centerpiece for the Thanksgiving table. Most fall décor is based on harvest themes, and you can also use dried corn cobs, wheat, pears, berries, twigs and nuts to make a centerpiece, Good Housekeeping says. (Bonus: When you’re done with these all-natural accenst, you can put compost them.)
When it comes to making a serving the feast, there’s no better place to look for the stuff you need than the local thrift store. You can get mixing bowls, casseroles, pans, table settings, platters and small appliances for a fraction of what buying them new would cost, and since many thrift stores are supplied by donations to ClothingDonations.org, you’ll help veterans as you shop. Thrifts are also a great source for home accents, paper napkins, candles and other items that can make your fall feast shine.
There’s no reward for spending more than you need to get your house ready for guests. With your own resourcefulness and a few dollars, you can out-Martha Stewart Martha Stewart this Thanksgiving and wow the friends and family. Better still, you can put the money you save into the feast! Next week, the Organizing Blog will share a few money-saving tips for meal itself.
Craft With the Kids for the Fourth
Do-it-yourself crafts are the perfect option to dress up your home for the Independence Day holiday while keeping kids’ idle hands away from the fireworks. With a selection of craft supplies such as crepe paper, glue, popsicle sticks and paint, you can create festive accents such as tin-can luminaries, flag-themed wreaths, windsocks and suncatchers, the Prudent Penny Pincher suggests. Hosting a party with lots of kids? Try making your own Fourth of July piñata to keep them entertained and excited until night falls and the big fireworks display begins.