Being frugal, or "budget conscious", is incredibly important to us at A & B. We pride ourselves on not limiting creativity or style because of a smaller budget.
I want to make a point on Fridays (and probably other weekdays as well!) to share some of the different ideas we have and/ or links to others' great inspirations to show how easy it can be to make beautiful gifts, cards, or other creations on a budget.
Last year I wanted to come up with an updated version of the "cookie in a jar" gift. I wanted to make something that was vintage inspired (of course!) but that also
looked stylish and like care had been taken in making it.
We love this gift idea because it's low cost, can be adapted for any occasion, doesn't take many supplies, can be made pretty quickly and it's something that people can use over and over again.
First, you need mason jars (or any other jars for that matter) you can get them for free on
your local Freecycle pretty frequently and
Goodwill and other thrift stores often have them pretty cheap as well. (Also, remember if they're missing their lid it's okay because you can buy those at the grocery store.) For my tags I used adorable
Cosmo Cricket paper (you can of course pick any kind that you like, vintage newspaper, or book pages would be really cute too!) that I could write the recipe for my cookies on the back of.
Next, I picked a cute vintage inspired fabric from a local fabric store, and cut it into a square to go around the lid. This is another area where you can pick whatever fabric you like that will make it your own and best applicable to the occasion you're making it for.
Lastly, I used a ribbon that I liked and attached the tags that I had whole-punched and voila! All that's left is adding your favorite cookie, soup or
other dry ingredient mix and you're done!
Homemade/ handmade gifts are so personal and mean so much. I think it's always such a treat to get them (and make them!) and it's nice to know that you don't have to buy a ton of supplies, be Martha, or break the bank to make them in bulk and with your own style.
We hope you enjoyed this spin on a classic gift that can be used for all occasions! See more handcrafted items on our flickr account at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aandbcreative/
I found these on my camera, which I guess I forgot about. This year I made a pledge to not buy any wrapping paper and in fact to push it just a little further by reusing
Trader Joe's grocery bags. I hand stamped a forest scene, made gift tags with vintage stamps and usedred and white baker's twine to finish it all off. I think I'll do it again next year, it was relatively easy and felt good to be reusing something. Really though, this is a look that could be modified for any holiday or occasion, just change the stamp and color of baker's twine. The best part of all was that the "wrapping paper" was all recyclable afterward! 
totally done them before, and I think that I did it in a cuteoriginal, non-cheesy way, but I actually found some printable/ customizable ones that look great! These ones are from 
from the 30's/ 40's/ 50's that are so adorable but usually harder to find, and sometimes expensive, in their original forms. I think I may give this one to A....your perfect printable vintage Valentine can be found 
and business cards I've just made. I think they turned out well, if I do so humbly say so myself. I may go a little darker on the orange and possibly use baker's twine (in the lovely blue tone of the ink) instead of the white twine. But, this is the first round and I've got to say that I am loving them!
provide a variety of meals to call on whenever I need! Or should an "unexpected guest" arrive" which seems to be one of the most terrifying things ever for the housewives of that time! In order to kick-off, and keep, my resolutions I've borrowed an immersion blender and made and frozen four soups. I was also given a Chinook Coupon Book and have used several coupons already! Off to a good, and frugal if I do say so myself, start! I'm feeling inspired and ready to make things with my hands!
