$10 and an Hour - Romantic Gift for your LOVE

 The romantic gift would also be great to use for stocking stuffers. 

First, I created a cd of love songs {we already had blank cds in the house} and designed a cover for the cd case.  We have a printer that allows me to print directly onto the cd to personalize further, but you could also leave it blank.  I just used songs already in our music library, but if you wanted to go over the $10 limit, you could easily purchase all kinds of new music online at iTunes or Amazon.

Next, I purchased the candle {Shhhh... it's a Glade with the label removed} at Target for $2.50.

I also made {some cute & some hot} love coupons to spice up the gift a bit.  It doesn't take any money to give a massage or make out like a teenager, but it does show that you're thinking of your love. 

The last piece of this gift was a love letter.  There is nothing more romantic than telling the person you love all of the amazing reasons why you're enamoured with them. 
 

So, the grand total was $2.50.  I think I may add some chocolates or maybe some baby oil for that massage I've promised.  Both would still be within budget!

And a little gift for you...  You can download and print {share with your friends!} the LOVE COUPONS that I created to use for your own romantic gift.  There are ten different coupons from a date night to a quickie.  Enjoy!

To see more of the $10 Gift series, click here.

$10 and an Hour - Gift for the MUSIC LOVER

For the music lover we found 3 great cds {Barenaked Ladies, Phish, & Josh Kelley} at the Dollar Store.  Grand total was $3.  You read that right!  THREE DOLLARS.  You can even tuck a schedule of all the free concerts in your area into the gift if you'd like.  I used red and black wrapping paper to wrap each individually, then I used a band cut from a coordinating paper to wrap around all three, but you could substituate in scrap paper in a pretty pattern if you'd like for the band.

To read more about the $10 gift series, click here.

$10 and an Hour - Gift for the BOOKWORM

It is great if you can match the packaging to the gift.  For the bookworm, I chose The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society found at the grocery store!  OK, ok, so I went over budget by 50 cents with this one as well, but based on reviews I know this will be a gift well loved.  I had some left over map & photograph scrap paper that I used to make a bookmark, the other side was plain red, so I printed a Christmas message to serve as the tag as well.  I wanted to use something vintagey, so I went with a red, gold, and green poinsettia tissue paper to wrap and finished it off with an off white and gold wired bow.  I tied the bow, then used a marker to roll up the ends of the bow, slid them off and pulled them out a little to create the curly ends.

To read more about the $10 gift series, click here.

$10 and an Hour - Gift for the GIRLY GIRL

This is a fabulous gift for your sister, your niece, or your best friend.  I did go slightly {58 cents} over the $10 budget for this one. 


For the girly gift, we chose the ELF Cosmetics Eye Encyclopedia for $5 and a great cocktail ring on clearance for $5.58.  Wrap with a gorgeous wide ribbon, slipping the cocktail ring over the ribbon before tying a pretty bow.

Other ideas for the girly girl?  A gorgeous scarf, a giftcard for a manicure, or some cute hair products.  Another $10 option?  This cute Merona purse I *may* have picked up for myself while we were shopping.  Absolutely love the pumpkin color and the cute shape.

To read more about the $10 gift series, click here.

$10 and an Hour - Gift for the MOVIE LOVER

This is a great, very easy gift to put together for really anyone on your Christmas giving list.  From men, women, or couples, you can customize the movie and the candy to the recipient.  Fabulous classic movies can be found at Target for less than $5 or you may even luck out at the clearance bin at the grocery if yours carries movies. 

For this gift, I had leftover popcorn containers {on the left} from Dave's outdoor movie screening party, but we found these cute plastic popcorn containers {on the right} at both the Dollar Spot {DS} at Target and the Dollar Store, so  you can inexpensively recreate the same look.

Now the goods.  We picked up When Harry Met Sally {a classic!} at Target for $4.75.  The Target Dollar Spot yielded a 3 pack box of Act II mini popcorn bags and the cute popcorn container for $1 each.  The Dollar Store had a wealth of 'movie candy' so our choices were endless.  We went with a bag of Jolly Ranchers, an 8 pack of mini Butterfingers, & Cookie Dough candy for $1 each.  That brings the Grand Total for the cute movie themed gift to a whopping $9.75!

To put it all together, I opened the bag of Jolly Ranchers and the box of Act II so that I could fit everything snuggly into the popcorn box.  I loaded a little tissue paper into the bottom of the box and gently fit everything into the box so that it could be seen & tucked When Harry Met Sally into the back.  You can wrap in cellophane if you'd like, give it as is with a bow, or pop it into a cute gift bag.

Other options for the movie lover that might be slightly more expensive?

Add in a movie rental giftcard instead of a dvd, a giftcard for a pizza or other takeaway dinner, & a bottle of soda... you can even give them Netflix for the number of months you'd like.

To read more about the $10 Gift series, click here.

Give Me $10 and an Hour.

Last minute gifting that you still have to shop for?  Stockings still to stuff?  At a loss for something to give?  Broke?  Zero time for creativity?   

Hang in there.  I've got some help on the way in the form of some unsuspecting elves that I have conned into participating in this blog series. 

The Challenge:  Create FABULOUS {inexpensive} gifts for all the people in your life.

The Rules:  The total spent on each gift can not exceed $10 and must be purchased at The Dollar Store, The Grocery Store, or Target.  Be creative & put some meaning & love behind your gifts.  Anything NOT purchased at the above stores must be found around your home and/or FREE.  Package everything in a lovely way so your giftees don't know that you didn't spend a mint... unless they read your blog.  Well, then you're screwed.

The Mission:  Gather your friend, two sisters, and hightail it to the Dollar Store, The Grocery Store, & Target armed with a list of everyone you still need to buy for and a good dose of the holiday freaking spirit.  {Drinking wine is highly recommended for those who are not driving.  Starbucks is a close second.}

The Movie Lover

The Hunky Husband or Fabulous Wife

The Bookworm
The Girly Girl

The Music Lover