Inexpensive Homemade Gift Ideas . . .

Ok, so I am little behind in posting this because this is something I made back in May (truthfully, it slipped my mind). I needed a last minute gift for my Girl Scout troop parent volunteers. Having been a Girl Scout leader for the past 8 years (1 more to go!), I had run out of ideas for homemade gifts. Normally, the girls make the gifts but we also ran out of meetings so I was left to my own skills (ha, ha!) such as they are.  So I looked in my craft cabinet, found 4 tall glass cylinders and some Modge Podge, and got to work! 

I believe I got these from the Dollare Tree - the dollar store where the items actually cost only $1.

I printed out the GS Promise and Law on regular paper.

I had some old Mod Podge (yeah, look at the top of the jar!). I have used a version of
watering down glue for projects in the past and they have worked just as well as the Modge Podge - I just had it on hand and like saying Modge Podge. I tore strips of the poems and haphazardly started gluing them on. I did the top and then turned the jar over to do the rest.

Once all spots were covered, I put one more layer of Mod Modge all over the outside.

I didn't like the rough edges showing so I added the ribbon to the top and bottom.
Here's a close-up version of the finished project.
We filled them with daisies (sorry, no photo) and the moms loved them!

The next day, and still on a Mod Podge roll (no it wasn't the smell of the glue), I needed a gift for one of the days of Teacher Appreciation Week. Each day of the week, we are assigned items to bring in, this day being candy. I did not have time (or the forethought) to run to the Dollar Store so I had these canning jars. 

I found some poems about teachers and printed them out. 

Back to gluing!

Almost finished project - I decided, after taking the photo - of course, to add a ring of ribbon to the top and it gave it that finished look. We filled the jars with Hershey's Hugs and Kisses for a couple of the teachers who particularly loved them and Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Squares for two who are on Weight Watchers (and added a note for how many Points in each square!). My daughter then wrote a note of thanks and we were good to go.

I think they look great - use your imagination for the ribbon!!

As I was making the gifts, I realized that they could be made for any occasion. You could use sheet music or lyrics for the piano teacher, scores and schedules for an athletic Coach, you get the idea.

Now back to organizing my craft room, but that's for another post!