Frugal Gift Wrap

Once upon a time, I loved to wrap gifts with beautiful wrapping paper and big bows.  Afterall, first impressions are everything, right?  Nowadays, I have a hard time spending money on gift wrap because I know it'll be ripped apart in seconds and thrown away. 

This weekend, we went to Andy's sister's babyshower.  While there, we also met Andy's newest nephew, who was born in December.  So we had two gifts to give.  I wanted to wrap them with materials that I already had on hand, thus making it frugal!  For each gift, I took a paper bag (I used the ones that you get in the freezer section at Wal-Mart).  These bags have writing on one side, so I covered the bag with card stock.  Then, I quickly free-hand drew designs (stars for the boy and flowers for the girl), cut them out, and glued them on the bag.    Then, I put the gifts inside the bags, rolled down the top of the bag, punched two holes in the top of the bag and tied it with a ribbon.

This was a quick and free (had everything on hand) gift wrapping project.

A Picture for Daddy

Yesterday, Arin was in the dining room coloring. She ran in to me and said "a picture for da-da" and showed me what she was coloring. I told her that daddy would love it. When Andy came home, the first thing that Arin did was get the picture and show it to her daddy (quite proud of herself I must add!). This was the first time that she had made a picture for someone specific without being prompted to do so.

Handprint Puzzle

My parents and little sister are leaving tomorrow to go to NY for five weeks to visit relatives.


So tonight, Arin made a puzzle to send to NY to her Great-Grandmother. My grandmother is 93 years old, but she still enjoys puzzles and such. Arin had a good time painting this puzzle. When she was finished covering it in paint, we put her handprint in the middle.

This picture of Arin & her Great Grandma was taken in April 2008