DIY Holiday Decor Papercraft

I'm really into paper crafts this year! These are my favorite easy & beautiful holiday paper crafts. Great paper can be had pretty cheaply- this week at Michael's I got pretty 12"x12" scrapbooking paper for 4 sheets/ $1.00. Click the links for the tutorials!

3D Paper Stars

Mod-style tree ornaments (love these!)

Spiky wrapping paper stars

Easy and great-looking looped-paper wreath

Great selection of paper-wreaths! Love the ones from book pages & sheet music

Frugal gift-wrapping ideas.

Wrapping paper and gift bags can add what I think of as "hidden costs" to gift giving. You're thinking about how much you are spending on the gift, but did you factor in the cost of wrapping it? For a medium size gift bag and coordinating tissue paper and maybe a ribbon, it is easy to spend $3.00 - $7.00. There have been times where I realized I spent more on the wrapping than I did the gift! I'm here to tell you how to wrap gifts for free or very cheap.

• Brown paper from grocery bags- Free! Check out these great ideas to dress them up, from ApartmentTherapy. I am very excited about these and plan to try some soon.

• Paper, gift bags, and ribbon bought on super-clearance after Christmas in past years. I like to buy solid colored paper or bags in gold, bright green, or blue and use it year round for all occasions. As a rule I don't pay more than $1.00 for a roll of paper/ribbon or $0.50 for a gift bag (less if they're small!) I've found Walgreens and Target to be good places to pick up cheap wrap after Christmas, but most any place will have some good deals. 

• Fabric scraps leftover from projects. I use fabric and wrap it up just like I would with paper. Then I put ribbon or string around it to keep it closed. Sometimes with larger packages you may need to use a few safety pins. Or, you can try these gorgeous ideas, again from ApartmentTherapy. I like to do this method for crafty friends, because I know they'll enjoy having a piece of fun fabric to use. 

• Reusable fabric gift bags. Sew up a bunch of these on a cold dreary afternoon and use them the rest of the year! Lots of ideas and how-to guides on GreenGiftGuide.

• Paper lunch sacks brown or other colors (white looks very nice.) Dollar Tree sells packs of 40 brown bags for $1.00  You can also sometimes find other colors for a little more. They used to carry a wide variety of colors of paper bags at Michael's for something like $2.00 a dozen, but the Lawrence location doesn't anymore. Has anyone seen these elsewhere? Punch holes through the top and weave ribbon through to finish it (from FamilyFun.)

• Pages from old calendars, books, or magazines work great for wrapping small gifts. Or, use the pages to make origami boxes. 

• Make origami boxes from inexpensive paper. The photo above shows some tiny boxes I made a few years ago when I was giving earrings and pins as gifts. Easy instructions here from Origami-Instructions.com .  I love their tagline "spreading joy one fold at a time".

Please share your frugal gift-wrapping ideas, I know there are lots more!

Ask and you shall receive. Really.

I have a theory that if you wait long enough and you tell enough people, you can get almost anything you need. I've been wanting two bulletin boards for diy Christmas gifts. I found a large one almost right away for $2 at an estate auction (would have been at least $20 new), but I've been struggling to find a second board.

A few weeks ago I posted a "Wanted" ad for a bulletin board on Lawrence Freecycle (if you don't know about this, check it out!). I hadn't heard anything, and started feeling desperate because I want to start on the project. Last night when I was at Wal-Mart I was thisclose to buying a bulletin board. I actually put it in my cart and took it back out again a few seconds later, because it had a plastic frame and I really wanted one with a wooden frame. Plus I really did not want to fork over $10 to Wal-Mart if I didn't have to.

Then just a few minutes ago, I got a reply to my Freecycle post, and someone is offering me two bulletin boards that they no longer need after moving. Thanks fellow Freecyclers! This, my friends, is a WIN, and not the first time this type of thing has happened to me. Do you have any tales of finding the exact thing you need for free or super cheap?

Image from http://groups.freecycle.org/lawrencefreecycle

The Dollar Tree: goldmine!

I have recently been reminded of the glory of Dollar Tree (27th & Iowa) after a visit last weekend. I found a lot of great stuff there, including dried & fake flower bundles (lookit my centerpiece!), nice crackers, gourmet hot sauce, and great-looking metallic fabric placemats. All priced at $1! So I was able to get a dozen great placemats for Thanksgiving for $12 (cheaper than making them myself), plus 3 bundles of dried and fake flowers that I used for my centerpiece. (The vase is one I inherited from my Grandma Velma.)

Today I visited the Dollar Tree website and found that they have weekly ads! Here are some things I saw that are definitely worth checking out in the week to come, primarily holiday craft/decorating items.

15" and 18" wreaths
Wreath hangers
15' pine garland
6' extension cords
So many ornaments
Ribbon
Gift bags/boxes/wrapping
Indoor light strings

Meaningful (and frugal) gifts: photos!

My number one go-to most favorite best gift is a framed photograph. (How'd you like that sentence?) I find that close friends and family almost always love a framed photograph of you, them, you and them, or what have you. This year everyone in my family is getting framed wedding photos, and they're going to like it. (I hope!)

How do you do this frugally? Well, the main two things you need are photo prints and frames.

Step 1. For a great deal on photo prints, I almost always use snapfish.com.  I have gotten 4x6 prints here for as little as $0.01 each, or about $0.03 each with shipping. THAT IS SO CHEAP! We're talking 100 prints for as little as $3.00. Their regular price per 4x6 is $0.09 but I have found they are almost always offering some kind of special. I have signed up on their site, so they send me deals and coupons all the time. You can also get coupon codes from retailmenot.com . (Also if you do any other shopping online, you should really check there to see if there is a coupon available before you buy.)

Or, if you'd rather get your prints in-person somewhere, Walgreens does 4x6 photos for $0.19 each. (Not nearly so frugal... but still an inexpensive gift.)

Step 2. So now you've got your prints, and you need inexpensive frames. You could go to Michael's or Target or somewhere, and buy cheap $5.00 frames. However, these frames will look like cheap $5.00 frames.  My tactic is to buy used high quality frames for cheap at a local Lawrence thrift store. I don't believe I've ever paid more than $1.00 for a frame, and often much less. Also check for frames at rummage sales and the like- I frequently find brand-new frames at garage sales for $0.50. Sometimes used frames are perfect just the way they are, but sometimes they have chipped finish, or are generally banged-up.  So long as the glass is not damaged, and the frame is still structurally sound, it is easy to fix up an old frame. Just take out the glass and spray-paint it!  (That link goes to a really great tutorial, if you need guidance.)  I usually go with classic black or gold when I paint them, but you can  go wild and do any kind of crazy color you want.

Bonus Step. If you really want to get fancy, you could use a mat. Getting mats cut at a frame-shop or craft store is pretty expensive, so I would not recommend that. The best solutions I've found for mats (besides cutting my own mats... I'm not quite there yet) is to buy pre-cut mats in bulk online, or to do what I call a "modern mat" (best for smaller pictures/frames) and use a solid piece of matting or paper and tape the photo on top of it. The example I've included is a picture of my grandma and her dog, in a frame I bought at a thrift store and painted, and did a "modern mat" on light blue paper that I had in my paper scraps.

The mats have been the most tricky part for me. Anyone have a good source for inexpensive mats in Lawrence? Anyone else the "picture giver" in their family?