Are you looking for a cheap, simple, creative gift idea?

That was me about two weeks ago. My husband and I celebrated our 3^rd wedding anniversary on July 12^th. 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!

CLICK HERE FOR THE VLOG!

-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!

I personally love getting beauty products in the mail every month, but my wallet doesn’t allow that to happen. My husband and I have bigger and better things to save up for. I have always known about Birchbox, but my husband last year got me the coolest gift.

Check out my first Birchbox here!

He signed me up for 3 months subscription to Birchbox for I believe $30 dollars. It was a Christmas deal that Birchbox had going on that month. It was so fun still getting gifts even after Christmas was over. If you have the money and know someone who would love this, I highly recommend it!

One down side though was that with each box there was usually only 2-3 items I actually enjoyed. The other things will most likely never get used.

Then I had the idea, what if I created a Birchbox for my friends and family!?! I love being creative and actually picking stuff I know they will use . This makes the box that much more enjoyable.

So here is my idea for creating your own birch box for $35 bucks or less.

-1- First you need some type of container to put everything in.

Options:

-use something you already have

– buy a cute plastic or paper bag to put it all in

– get a box similar to the boxes they package the items in for Birchbox. You can get boxes from Micheal’s. Some boxes are as low as 5 dollars!

-The pricier option is getting a cute travel bag from Target.

-2- Perfume –Almost every box I got had a small sample of perfume.

Options:

-Bath & Body Works! Get a sample size body spray or lotion. Sample sizes range from $3-6 dollars!

-Some of my favorites are Endless Weekend and Japanese Cherry Blossom.

-3 & 4- Skincare- All of my boxes included some form of skin care from moisturizer to skin treatment.

-I would recommend going to Ulta and getting some of their sheet masks, they are only $4!

-Since your doing a mask, you need to follow up with some kind of moisturizer. My sister has made me fall in love with the Facial Spray with Aloe, Cucumber, and Green Tea by Mario Badescu. Your can find this at Ulta in the smaller size for $7 bucks. I love spraying this whenever I need to freshen up my skin or right after I get out of the shower.

-5- Make up tool -In my boxes, I would get a make up sponge or a facial scrubber to use on my face in the shower. I actually really enjoyed the facial scrubber I got in my last box!

– Another option I would recommend getting is an Elf brush! They are great brushes and great on prices. They range from $1-6 dollars. Every girl can always use a new brush, right! 😉

-6- Lips -I actually received a lip product from the brand Arrow that I fell in love with ! Check out the video here!

-Since this product is a little on the pricey side, I recommend just getting an Ulta brand lipstick. They are $2.17!

-I know, I would be skeptical about them too. But they are actually great and last all day! The professional makeup artist that did my makeup on my wedding day actually bought me an Ulta brand lipstick in the shade plum crazy. It lasted all day with over 100-degree heat!

There are so many different options you could do with this box and it is completely up to you! Maybe the person you are making this for doesn’t even like make up or beauty products. You could easily turn this into a spice box, a candy box, or a dollar store box. Completely up to you!

Best of all, these can work for birthdays, bridesmaid’s gifts, graduation gifts, or even Christmas gifts!

I hope my thoughts have given you some ideas and your able to be creative while saving money!

CHECK OUT MY BIRCHBOX FAVS!

Happy Friday!

-Britt

Tag: gift

DIY ANNIVERSARY GIFT – BOOKMARK!