I know, I know. The photo showing this fabulous idea is all Christmasy, but it is an idea that would work for just about any occasion! My daughter’s high school graduation is this Saturday and wouldn’t it be cute to wrap her gifts in plain paper and then put different photos of her as she grew up?

From Our Suburban Farm,

I have SO much wrapping paper and so many wrapping supplies, so I didn’t do it for ALL the presents, but I did pretty much one for every person like this. 

This is GREAT!

This is hilarious! Bless her heart… what a funny reaction!

Raising children costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. There’s the clothes, sport registrations, uniforms, equipment, books, Christmas, Easter, vacation, vacation clothes, school clothes, food, shelter… oh my the list is endless.  And then there’s the gifts. Birthday parties, girl scout leaders, boy scout leaders, secret Santa, Sunday school teachers. I am not ashamed to admit that I was elated when my youngest finally reached middle school because I no longer had to buy her teacher a present at Christmas and at the end-of-the-year!  If, however, you are still obligated, here are my suggestions for affordable gifts for teacher:

1.  Gift card at restaurant or local grocery store.

2.  Tray of homemade cookies or candy.

3.  A nice, handwritten note about why the teacher is special to your child.

4.  A gift card to a coffee shop.

5.  A gift card to a book store.

What do teachers NOT want?  A coffee mug, basket of soaps or lotions, or other dust-collecting items. Now get out and do something nice!

While I love this idea, I can think of only one or two potential problems with it:

1.  That your baby is very picky about what type of pacifier he/she uses.

2.  That he/she doesn’t use a pacifier at all!

Otherwise, this is AMAZING!  I wish I’d had a pacifier with a built-in thermometer when my kids were still young!

Photo from Pinterest.

From Pinterest.

Had I seen this when my babies were toddlers, we would have had tutus all over the house. From Free Homemade Gift Ideas,

Start with deciding how long tutu you’d like to make. I’ve typed in a reference table for you. It’s very useful when you can’t take the measurements. Especially, when you want the princess ballerina baby tutu skirts to be a surprise.

Consult the table below, it’s quite foolproof. Know how to make a tutu as professionals do.

Still a bit worried? If you want to be super sure that the tutu fits, then use an elastic waist band with an inch or two of extra length. It’s easy to regulate.

LOVE THIS!

Two years ago I took a year to write a journal for my daughters as a Christmas gift – 365 reasons I love you. The goal was to write every day, but honestly I had to catch up at times.  This idea for Father’s Day is similar, but using rocks.

You can use a permanent marker on stones, paper, note cards, a journal, and more. You are limited just by your imagination!

Original photo from red envelope.

This is the best idea I’ve seen all week – sending a box of balloons as a gift. My niece just had major surgery today and I’ve been thinking about what I could send as a get well gift. An edible bouquet is at the top of my list right now, but this may be a more fun for her.  From She’s crafty,

As my nieces and nephew get older, I have a hard time trying to figure out what to get them for their birthday’s and Christmas.  On top of that, they live on the other side of the country from me so shipping can get expensive.   But I know for sure there is something they will always like…cold hard ca$h!  I’ve given them a twenty in a card plenty of times, but that is boring.

The birthday balloons are a perfect way to say you’re thinking of someone and like or love them enough to make it fun!

It’s that time of year again when high school graduation invitations start pouring into the mail box.  Nieces, nephews, neighbors, friends … all want to announce their 12 year (13 if you count kindergarten) marathon to get out of school is almost over!  AND you can send them presents – money, photo frames, or the popular Dr. Seuss book Oh The Places You’ll Go,

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…

This book is a fantastic gift for graduates, except it is so expensive! I’d love to buy about 20 of them and just hold on to dole out as people in my life reach graduation!