Are you looking for a cheap, simple, creative gift idea?
That was me about two weeks ago. My husband and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on July 12th. We have been blessed with 3 wonderful years of marriage. I have always heard the first few years are hard. But ours has been completely opposite. Maybe because were best friends or dealt with a 5 years long distance relationship. But I can count on one hand the number of know-down-drag-out fights we’ve had in our 1, 095 days of marriage.
Check out my blog post on how I survived a 5 year long, long distance relationship!
My husband and I are Dave Ramsey fans and with our current situation and the fact were trying to save for a house, buying luxury anniversary gifts was not possible. I’m a simple girl and told my husband just get me some pretty flowers and buy me supper and that’s perfect to me. My husband didn’t ask for anything, he rarely ever does.
I felt bad though for me to be treated like a princess and the prince gets nothing in return.
So I put my creative mind to work. Here lately, my husband has developed a love of reading. If you had told me 5 years ago my husband would love reading, I would have laughed at you. 😉 But now he does, he enjoys financial, motivational, and leadership books. I can see how much his mind has grown over the past few months from reading those books.
This led me to the perfect inexpensive gift for him…. A BOOKMARK!
I contemplated trying to make a bookmark using Microsoft word. Then I thought, nah that’s too complicated. Then I used good ol’ google. I found a layout using a Canva print for a bookmark.
If you have never used the Canva website before its totally free! It has all kinds of layouts you can use for different projects. Pinterest graphic, post card, invitation, business card, the list goes on and on.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO!
So here are the steps I used:
– First, google Canva bookmark – click on the very first link. It says free online bookmark maker, or something similar. 😉
–Next, click the green button, start designing your bookmark. Now you might have to create an account here. I didn’t because I already had one. But remember, IT’S FREE!
-It then takes you to a fancy page where you can design it however you like!
I was very impressed, they already had some layouts you can use, and they are cute! I wanted to make the bookmark more personal. My husband and I both love to travel. We hope by saving our money and following a budget that one day we will be able to travel more.
I picked 3 pictures of some of our favorite spots we’ve traveled since we’ve been married.
-Grand Canyon – so much fun, we drove there! Check out my blog posts for more info on our Grand Canyon adventure. We even vlogged it!
-Noah’s Ark – Williamstown, KY. Highly recommend! We went with our church. It was unbelievable to see what Noah built by hand!
-Windmill Island – Holland Michigan! Beautiful! Gorgeous flowers! Amazing windmill you can tour. Delicious chocolate! Oh, and some wooden Dutch shoes!
I wanted to add a saying to the pictures, so I chose, “I can’t wait to travel the world with you.” I still felt like it needed a little extra, so I added a small heart image and an airplane image.
For those images, you just search for them in the search category. Make sure you pick the free options. Not everything on the website is free… just like life. 😉
I printed the image off on my printer at home. It actually impressed me how well it printed. I cut it out to make it smaller. I then used poor man’s lamination (as my husband says 😉 ) aka duct tape.
Once I neatly covered it in duct tape, I went around the edges to cut off the extra tape.
I had meant to write a sweet message on the back. However, in my excitement, I forgot. I then wrote “happy 3 yrs!” on a small piece of paper and duct taped it on the back.
The more it looks handmade the better, right? 😉
My husband loved it!
He genuinely thought it was so sweet. Best of all, it didn’t really cost me a dime. I had all the ingredients already at home.
I really enjoyed making this bookmark. I enjoyed how creative I could be using the Canva program. I think this would make a perfect gift for anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, bridesmaid gifts, classrooms. Or just to make a cute one for yourself. 😉
If you have any other ideas or designs for bookmarks, please leave a comment below!
Happy Reading!