Well, yesterday I promised to show you what I have been up to!
I am working SMART, not hard, to give as many handmade gifts as possible, before the holiday stress sets in. I want to enjoy the season. I also want the shopping to be done. Most of that I do on BLACK Friday-cause I seriously end up saving hundreds of dollars when I’m done! Can you say Toys R Us-at 4 am? If it wasn’t worth it, I wouldn’t do it every year. I go in the mind set that people will be in awful moods-the lines will be LONG, and to concentrate on the holiday music, and smile 😀 Dont be in a RUSH. Its not the day to be all tense.
I told you I am on a MISSION to finish ALL my Christmas gifts, cards, and shopping BEFORE December.
Normally I say I’ll do it-but this year I AM going to do it! I’m well on my way. So proud too 😀 Finally some follow through. Not to mention I have some LONG over due thank you’s and hello’s to get out. If you are one of those people I am SO SORRY!!!!! I swear it will come-better late than never right? Also my PSF’s who send me nice cards for NO reason-thank you to you too!
I’m also on a crazy to finish streak because I get nervous, if Alexa went back into the hospital, I would stress about the kids getting done and crazy stuff like that. I also want to enjoy our traditions. The thing I HATE most about the holidays is WRAPPING!!!!!!!!!!!! I make Jason do it all! LOL!
I’d love to hear YOUR least favorite thing about the holidays-so don’t forget to tell me!
BACK TO THE POINT!!!
I STRESS about gifts for teachers, and doctors every year. I don’t know why, I just do. Not this year!
Think Boutique. High quality stationary-
A little note…………note card gift set.
Note cards by Martha Stewart
Stamps- Deco Designs by TAC (The Angel Company), Sentiment-a little note by Elzybells.
Ink- Groovy Guava ink, Brilliance graphite black
Other- Martha Stewart Ribbon, Prima flowers (fabric ones) and Bazzil Flowers (both found here)
I need to say that this particular set by TAC, I bought a year or two ago, and I LOVE it! Since I bought it, it is one of my most favorite. The sentiment cost me $6, is tiny, and it hurt to buy! LOL! BUT I got my use out of it, so thats what matters!!! It was perfect for this set. I had to do a bird with the sentiment like that.
I was at Michaels, and my friend Anne showed me these notecards, on clearance for $1 each! They are notecards, with matching envelopes from Martha Stewart-normally $7.99 a set! WHAT?!!!! INSANE! So 16 pieces for that price ($1)-without any cutting! Count me in!
They only had the color I chose-which ends up being the PERFECT match to Groovy Guava!
I bought all 16 they had! So I stamped 128 notecards, PLUS their envelope’s, to get my gifts for 16 people DONE in less than 2 hours (after the ribbon/flower was attached)! Now that is awesome!
All the note cards/envelope’s done.
They are also the PERFECT re-gift! LOL!
I thought about making the sets monogramed note cards. That idea quickly left, when I didn’t have a stamp set that would make the process easy, and figured I wanted to get done quicker, and that may delay the process. PLUS I don’t know everyone’s FIRST initial!
So here is a list of who is getting “covered” by spending $16, plus 2.99 ribbon, and about say $2 worth of flowers (I had a bunch $10 retail for a mix) so $21 total.
I will add a tiny something extra (like chocolate) to a couple of people-but its still cheap. Figure, even if I bought a big bag of Lindt Chocolate Truffles ($10), and gave them to each some -that is still a great gift for a grand total of only $1.94 each!!!
These are people who are important to us, and impact my children’s lives daily! So a small, affordable price to pay.
Alexa- Her Teacher Aid , Class Teacher, Bus Driver (for her and Noah), PT, OT,Speech, 2 Oncologist’s, 3 nurses in the Oncology dept. who care for Alexa regularly.
Noah-His teacher, and 2 teacher’s aides that help in the class.
Amber-her teacher, and the teacher in the next room.
Not bad!!!
Thanks for looking 😀 I hope you enjoyed my breakdown of holiday gifts, and banter!
Till Tomorrow!
42 Responses for "Only a $1! Think boutique style"
Ohhh, I *love* them! Haven’t been to M’s in a while but will definitely be going tomorrow to see if mine has any on sale too!
Lovely! I bought some pink ones and blue ones but I wasn’t sure what to do with them but for a buck I couldn’t pass them up. 🙂 I guess now I know just what to do with them!
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Score, Lauren! Love it!
Oh my gosh! $1???!!!!??? Ok. Can I come to your Michaels? I drove an hour this week to find the new punch you talked about (and of course they didn’t have it!)… and now I ‘need’ some of these! LOL! You did an awesome job! They look like a MILLION bucks!
Lauren, these are GORGEOUS! Oh my goodness! I hope I can find a bargain like that! What a great idea!
What a SCORE, Lauren!! What a wonderful gift for those special people in our everyday lives!! Thanks for sharing!!!
Wow! Great gift for a ton of people. Has your personal touch, and will mean a lot to them. You are the ultimate bargain shopper.
I hate long lines at the Holidays. I try to be done shopping before thanksgiving. Susan
Wow, what a great idea for a gift 🙂
That’s what I love about you, so simple but absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! I always find myself thinking, now why don’t I think of that!! Yet, I am so thankful you do so I can case the idea! LOL
I have just one question, how do I get on the list!! LOL Just Kidding! Great gifts!
So proud of you, Lauren!!!
This is my kind of gift!! LOVE the colors and the way you tied the bow with the flower – it really adds a classy touch. You’re inspiring me to get my gifts done early too. THANKS for the ideas!
Great stationary sets! I went to Michaels this week and didn’t see those, chances are they were under my nose! 🙁
I admire your determination in getting your holiday shopping and homemade gifts done before the last minute…. I am such a “last minute kind of girl”!… *shame* I always want to do things early but somehow always get derailed!… 😉
Please keep sharing more wonderful ideas like that, it might get me back on track!! 🙂
Oh my goodness! Lauren you HIT THE JACKPOT with that Martha stuff! WOW! I’ve only ever bought a couple of things of hers and paid full price…rofl! I need to shop with you!! haha! Those are FANTASTIC gifts for the teachers!
Hmmmm….you know, I don’t do the Christmas shopping….my HUSBAND does! ROFL! Yes HE is the shopper in our house…he LOVES to shop and buy for others.
I however, get stuck doing the crummy wrapping! He’s a better gift wrapper too…you’d think with all my years of practice I could get two ends wrapped neatly, but nope! Haha!
OK I’m off to work on your sketch!
Loved the idea so much I rushed out to Michaels to see if I could get some too. I was disappointed to see them on sale for $3 (cheap, I know!) When I got to the cashier she rang them up for a buck-so I ran back and bought 10 more! Great fin. Thanks for sharing.
What a great bargain and wonderful gifts!!
[…] mytime created an interesting post today on Only a $1! Think boutique style.Here’s a short outline:I am working SMART, not hard, to give as many handmade gifts as possible, before the holiday stress sets in. I want to enjoy the season. I also want the shopping to be done. Most of that I do on BLACK Friday-cause I seriously end up … […]
I can’t believe you got such a bargain on those!!! An angel must have just put those in Michael’s for you!!! You did a great job, they are beautiful, and ***WOW*** what a great gift!!! I’m truly impressed. And HURRAY FOR YOU, getting them done so ahead of time! I’m much, much older than you, and I am STILL trying to get things done early, for ONCE. Congrats to you for actually DOING it! You ARE Superwoman…I don’t know HOW you do what you do! But I love your fabulous attitude, and also LOVE your creativity. You are a very special person! 🙂
You are *so* good! 🙂 These are perfect….. absolutely perfect! (((I see a Michael’s trip for me in the near future)))
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who buys for *everybody*. Although, I have to say, I love giving gifts.
My least favorite thing about the holidays is organizing “the mailing”. For example, many in my family have birthdays right after Christmas so I like to also mail the birthday gifts with the Christmas gifts. Usually, I forget something along the way…the card, birthday wrapping paper, etc. But the hardest thing is trying to find the ‘perfect’ box to mail it all in. I swear it can take me a week just to do one person!
Oh well, it’s all good, right? I can’t believe the holiday season is already here!
Holiday Hugs,
Renee
Lauren, I can tell you how to make wrapping more fun. My best friend and I save the wrapping for a girls night out wrapping party and do all of our gifts in one night. It really is fun that way.
My least favorite thing is taking all of the decorations down and putting everything back in order.
So AWESOME!!! Love it! I’ve done that sort of thing in past years. Sounds like the type of people you will give them to will love them, teachers especially. I always feel like the people I used to make them for didn’t really appreciate the whole handmade thing. I agree on the wrapping, NIGHTMARE!
Since Christmas is my favorite time of the year I usually go a little crazy shopping, baking etc… I love it. I just hope the kids don’t knock down my christmas tree this year (will be 21 months then). Sigh…. 🙂 LOLOL
Ack! My Mike’s was putting stuff in the clearance bins yesterday. I need to go back and look some more. These are so classy Lauren and will be appreciated so much by those lucky enough to get them.
They are lovely and you can’t beat the price! I even love the color!!
Awsome job Lauren! If Martha only had you on her design team!! Glad I could help.
Oh …Lauren
You have been a busy girl!! What a great idea…and a very great savings. That was being in the right place at the right time. I too, like the idea of getting as much done as early as possible. I do not like all the stress of doing it late. My least favorite thing to do is wrapping too!!
Well, your stationary is absolutely beautiful…great job!!
I love the color. You are on a roll…all I have done is my christmas cards.
Take Care…
Dee
Wowzer Lauren!!Those are beautiful!! Nice work and great idea!! TFS!!
These are beautiful….
Wow! That is super…good for you!
They are gorgeous!
Ok, WOW!!!! This is awesome Lauren! I cant believe you found those for $1!!!!
What a find! And super cute too!
Great deal, how awesome. I’m going to do the same type of thing but I’m going to use a bella, Teachabella to make personalized stationery for my children’s teachers. I still can’t believe you got those for $1!
These are BEAUTIFUL! I am sooo going to Michael’s tomorrow to see if there are any there! Thanks for the tip!
Lauren…you must wear your *Super Woman Cape* underneath your ‘tees and bras, as I don’t know how you handle having the stress of kids and family, as well as being involved with Sweetie-Pie Alexa’s daily care. OHHhh and did I forget to mention how many Design Teams you are on/involved with and everything else that is within your daily life? How you do it and still keep an upbeat manner and put smiles on your fans I’ll never know.
All of your cards and creations are timeless and your style is unique unto yourself. No matter where I’m lurking, I’m always able to pick out your creations/submissions, as they are always full of love and EXTREME creativity.
Your hand-stamped note cards and envelopes are adorable, and I’m sure anyone who is fortunate enough to receive them from you, will love them too :0) I especially notice the older I get {eeek} the more impact a gift can have on me, especially if I know it’s been picked out especially to make me happy or surprised, or if something has been hand-crafted.
So you know what I’m going to do tomorrow? C’mon, have a guess? Yup, I’m hoping on my magic broom stick and fly to Michaels to see if I can get any good deals on note cards or note paper and start stamping my brains out before it gets too late in the season, and then I just mainly run around like a chicken with my head cut off 😉
MY LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT THE APPROACHING HOLIDAYS: The Mall-Crawling-Shopping! Aacckkkkk! I really dislike shopping for adults but love to shop for children, as I love looking at toys and Barbies and all that other good stuff. I don’t mind standing in line or having to wait to get a parking spot ….. it’s just getting into the store and trying to find something “suitable” for the individual I’m buying for. The only “adults” I rather enjoy buying//creating for is my BF, my DH, and my Mom & Dad 🙂
I appreciate your cost-cutting ideas for some easy but very classy Christmas gifts. Hope all is well in your home tonight ~ have a great week.
Wow, what a bargain! Hope you had a great weekend. My son was sick this weekend, so there were a lot of things to do around the house, while he was out of commission! hugs, Chris
What a great set of cards! They look so easy, yet great! I have wanted to make something like this as gifts for the holidays. I have that stamp set too (I’m a demo for TAC, awesome stuff!)….one of my very favorites. I’ve used it on a purse, numerous cards, and plan to do my living room curtains using it.
I better get busy on MY Christmas stuff!
Christina
How beautiful!! thank you so much for using the Deco stamp set. I’m the artist who illustrate it for The Angel Company and I’m thrilled to see how beautifully you used iT!
I am so impressed that you were able to make so many beautiful gifts so quickly & cheaply!! Everyone is going to love these!
Well done! All it takes is a bit of luck and a keen eye to make something so special for so little! Would that the rest of us should find such bargains…
What I like least about Christmas is spending loads of time & effort to find the perfect gift only to register that the recipient is less than thrilled/touched by it. It’s a bit of an anti-climax!
Also, I love how pretty my home looks at Christmas and hate taking down the decorations at the very last minute.
Thanks for giving us all such an inspiration to follow!
As co-authors of Save Our Sanity: The Christmas Calm Manual, your suggestions align very much with our own tips.
Our readers have also found it useful to take the earlier step that our book includes. We help frazzled parents (women especially) to look at their perspectives, traditions and expectations, identify what’s not working and take action to make their own Christmas as joyous as it is for their loved ones!
Your readers may be interested in getting our Tips for Christmas Calm at our site http://www.SaveOurChristmasSanity.com
Lauren, you are incredible. I’ve read your blog and you are such an inspiration to others around you – do you realize how much you inspire people? I’m getting sidetracked – I meant to just tell you how incredible this set is – looks like a beautiful elegant store bought set! And at a fraction of the price!! What a fantastic job you did on this. TFS!
Whew! I just went through a super-duper quick search on your site to find these notecards! I just found these on clearance at my Michael’s! They have these in scallop and eyelet! So I had to come back here and remind myself what you did with them! Thanks!
[…] flourish designs by TAC ( The Angel Company ), called Deco Designs. You may recall I used it HERE as […]
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