Summer Gifts on the Mega Cheap!

 Ah, the lazy days of Summer.

But lying like a furry beast in the heat will not make it go away:

You have a social life and many occasions to attend,

and those all require that your hands not be empty.

When you live in paradise, you also need little things for your overnight 

house guests.

And you are going to have a few.

So what do you say we make a few simple, inexpensive little

offerings to elicit a grin?

Beverage pairing for this project?

A Virgin Tropical Breeze.

Basically everything tastes better with a paper parasol.

 First timers at the beach will need protection from the sun,

so let's pretty up a floppy straw chapeau gleaned from Deals for a dollar.

You'll need Some grosgrain ribbon, a little glitzy trim (I like the Disney Princess line; the gems are plastic bezel set in plastic and toddler tough), and hot glue.

I also had some different width coordinating ribbon from the bow

on Sam's Father's Day gift.

All discarded ribbon around here goes in a gallon jar to be 

recycled for other presents and projects.

 Measure the ribbon loosely around the crown of the hat.

Glue the ends in the back and then tack the ribbon around the 

circumference so it's firmly attached.

Glue the trim over the ribbon.

No need to brush up on your college physics yet.

Loop about 8 inches of ribbon.

Glue the ends, then glue that in the center to resemble a partial bow. 

 Afix it to the center back to hide the overlapping ends.

Now for a finishing touch.

 I retied the Father's Day bow with some trailing tails

and glued it on top.

That should keep the sun off of your nose and draw attention with a bit of bling!

Can you see all the craft stuff on the table behind me?

 This project ran $1 for the hat and around $1 for the 

decorations. Plenty of style for $2.

What if your guest isn't a hat person?

 Find out ahead of time what the colors in her bathing suit are.

Samwow's girlfriend is here for a few days from Arkansas

(Hiya, Bethany! She and her coworkers read Rehab!),

and her tankini is purple, pink, and orange.

I had a selection of barrettes in my jewelry making tote,

and I napped a bush of blooms from Deals for $1 with just the right hues.

You'll also need thin ribbon, wire cutters and hot glue.

 Snip each of the flowers from the bush leaving about 1 1/2 inches of stem.

Hot glue them to the clip in one direction one at a time, then wrap the ribbon around.

Repeat with the other three in the opposite direction.

 Fluff.

 Use the wire in the stems to arrange them perfectly.

 Take a horrible My Space photo because your lens has hot glue strings on it.

Clean your camera.

Clip the barrette to the strap of a gift or beach bag filled with goodies for your guest.

 Now, as for the men...

Kids love to give coupons to Dad as a gift.

Frankly, Dads love it when someone else washes the car, so it works out.

Presentation is the key.

You'll need 2 sheets of poster board, and 3 rolls of wrapping paper,

all from Deals.

We wrapped the first sheet of poster board in a tone on tone

white striped paper and taped the ends on the back.

Cut a wide collar out of the same and tape it to the top.

Fold some very funky floral paper in half lightly and cut an obnoxiously

fat tie. Unfold the tie, smooth it flat, and tape it in place with loops

of tape on the back.

 Hot glue on a gem for a tie tack.

 Coordinating buttons hot glued on the collar

 are a perfect finishing touch.

 Hopefully, this is the ugliest outfit he'll ever own.

 Have your child make a coupon for a chore of his or her choice.

 Punch a hole in the "shirt" and the coupon and tie it on with streamers of ribbon.

 50 cents for the poster board, bits of paper from two $1 rolls?

That's less than the price of a card.

 The budding artist in your family could present his coupon on the back 

of a masterpiece, as our broke college student has done as "Slave for a Week."

Start with a black sheet of poster board.

Determine the size of the frame you'd like to make.

The coupon used in this is on an 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of paper,

so we'll cut the rectangular opening 7 1/2 by 10 inches.

Cut the whole frame out as a large rectangle, fold it lengthwise

in half, and create some Baroque curlicues, then cut the opening in the center.

 Double check your size.

Always doubt yourself.

Glue three of the sides down thoroughly, leaving the top open to slide in the artwork.

 Add some museum quality flat backed gems to the frame.

 What the heck, glue on a bow to coordinate with the color

scheme of the other gifts as a final flourish.

Slip in the artwork.

50 cents for the poster board, and scraps for embellishment.

This is under $1.50.

 Step away from the Hallmark display.

We used a dowel rod in a bottle to tape this upright for display. 

Later, both pieces were put in poster frames in the Family Gallery

 in our upstairs hallway.

(Note: the final artwork in the frame is a little better thought out.)

  Let's text our test subject to come down.

Jessica and Roger Rabbit Hawaiian shirt courtesy of Disney Studios.

Fine. We have an outlet.

It was $6.

 And there's all the thanks you need for your hard work.