Looking for a great, inexpensive gift for your mother or someone special in your life? The following are eleven sure-fire winners. The catch? You’ve got to channel your sensitive side and put a little time, but the results will be a gift people can’t stop talking about.
1. A Book of Quotes
During my senior year in college, I was virtually penniless but wanted to give my then-boyfriend, now-husband, an amazing, thoughtful gift. He always loved my habit of collecting quotes on note cards. So, I bought a journal and filled each page with quote I loved and water-colored over each. He absolutely loved it.
You could make this gift cheaper by buying a bunch of index cards and hole punching the right corner. Paint each card (nothing fancy, just wipe some paint, or paste colored paper to get rid of the index card look), write a quote on each and then loop a ribbon through the whole thing to tie all the cards together.
2. Personalized Memory (or Clutter) Boxes
This is something I did a lot as a kid. I would go to Michaels and buy a number of cardboard boxes. I would spend time collecting photographs, quotes, and images that reminded me of the person. I would then shellac these over the box. These can be used as display or simply put on a shelf or in the closet as a place to save memories or hide clutter.
3. Make Your Own Recipe Book
Does someone you know have a shoebox filled with cut out recipes from magazines, newspapers and the web? Steal the box and paste all of them into a journal. Voila! You have just made them their very own personal cookbook filled with all of their favorite recipes.
I did this for my mom one year … she loved, loved, loved it. And yes, I got some serious tears.
If you know someone who loves to cook but lacks a shoebox full of recipes (or you lack access to it), you can also browse recipe sites on the web, print out your favorites, and build the recipe book yourself.
