Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Homemade Gifts for Your Wedding Attendants

There is nothing more appreciated than a gift you made yourself. I know that most brides-to-be out there are scratching their heads thinking when the heck are they going to have time to make something, fear not. These ideas are quick, painless and much appreciated.

First thing you have to do is REALLY know your attendants. If your mother has made you add Second Cousin Jane from Nebraska and you don’t know beans about her, then you best be finding out something about her from someone. However, the following “craft” item would appeal to anyone-even that cousin you’ve never met.

Everyone needs stationary. With a little time, patience and some good old-fashioned ingenuity, you can create stationary for your attendants using your computer. For the cost of some good stationary papers (most run about $7.00 to $8.00 for a pack of 30-50 sheets with matching envelopes depending on brand) and with some 8 ½ X 11 X 2 or 3 inch deep gift boxes, you’re good to go. Most everyone has clipart programs on their computers loaded with pictures, cartoons and fonts that make great stationary. If you have a bridesmaid who thinks Pooh hung the moon, make her some Pooh stationary. If you don’t have the software, the internet provides a WEALTH of clipart, most of which can be downloaded for free. Have fun with it. And the really good thing is, you get to sit down for awhile. That ought to be enough to make you at least consider it. An appropriate amount of stationary to a package is 20 sheets with 25 envelopes. You can either do all 20 sheets in the design or do 10 sheets and leave 10 blanks for second pages. Do all of the envelopes if you’re going to do those. When you complete each set, place in the 8 ½ x 11 box, 24 envelopes divided evenly on the bottom. For a pretty touch, tie each bundle with a thin ribbon in coordinating colors or strap with a plain white band of paper (glued) no more than two inches wide. The stationary on top (you can also put a ribbon here if you want), and one envelope laid on top of the stationary, front facing up. If the boxes are already decorated, take a gift tag with a hole punched in it, place a ribbon around the box, attach the card to the ribbon before you finish the bow. If the boxes are plain white and you want to dress them up a bit, wrap in wedding paper. This is quick, easy, and something YOU made. Don’t forget the added benefit…you get to sit for a little while.

If you have attendants that like to bake, gift jars filled with ingredients for cookies, brownies and other delicious edibles is a nice gift also. I made two gift jars, one “gift bag”, bought wooden spoons, oven mitts, kitchen magnets, a magnetic shopping list and little kitchen things, put it all in tissue lined hatboxes for Christmas and my total cost for each one was about $15.00. It was quick, easy and fun to put together. I have never been thanked so profusely for a gift ever. Dollar or deep discount stores are a great source of small useful items on the cheap.

For child attendants, painted sweatshirts or T-shirts are a hit. Make them in a design with their favorite characters and have them show off your wedding date. Cute designs are “ I WAS A FLOWERGIRL AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS SWEATSHIRT” with the date of the wedding on it and similar for your ring bearer. Also cute for flower girls are Bride and Groom bears. For boys, a collection car (like a Porsche 911 scaled car) dressed up with white paint “JUST MARRIED” on the trunk with ribbons attached to miniature cans. The ideas are really endless if you put your mind to it. Men attendants can be a little more difficult in the crafting department. Talk with your fiance and see what they like and what might be appropriate. Masculine letterhead stationary may work. Knock it around. I’ll give that one some thought too.

Shopping for attendant gifts can be overwhelming and expensive. If you have the budget to do it and that’s what you want to do, then you should. Brides-to-be on a budget can save a lot of money by crafting their own gifts.

No comments: