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Feb 15, 2010

Unexpected Expenses: Gifts - Part 2 (Merrick)

A piece of mail that frequents my mailbox is baby shower invitations. While there are lots of great gifts out there at the stores for baby showers, this is a great chance to save some money, and get creative.

Today I’ll share one cheap, fun, and creative idea for a baby shower gift that also requires very little skill.



I made these onesies for a recent baby shower. As we all know, baby clothes are a favorite shower gift – everyone always “oohs” and “ahhs” over the cute outfits the mom-to-be receives. Well if it’s a hand made outfit like the one pictured above, it’s sure to impress. The best part about this is that I spent less than five dollars for this baby gift.

The onesies are from Kmart and were roughly $8.00 for a pack of five. That’s $1.60 each, so since I made two, that’s $3.20 for the onesies. Then I bought the fabric from Joann’s at about $1.99/yd, and since I needed so little, I got a quarter of a yard of each fabric. That’s about $0.50 per color, totaling $1.00 for the two fabrics. I had matching thread, but it would also be very cute to have a contrasting color of thread, and that saves you a few pennies if you already have thread lying around at home.

Once all the materials were assembled, I cut out the fabric in my desired shape (elephant and dinosaur), and then zigzag stitched them to the onesie with my sewing machine (you could just as easily hand stitch these)

Such a simple gift, but fun, cheap, and heartfelt.

There are so many other good ideas out there that are just waiting to be copied. Etsy has plenty of great ideas, like this cute one for a boy baby shower. Or you can find inspiration from one of my good blog friends.

Gifts do not have to be a burden or a budget buster. With a little time and creativity, you can create inexpensive, fun, and generic baby shower gifts that will leave everyone impressed – your budget included.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Excellent ideas, Merrick! I have made a few easy baby shower gifts in the past year or so as well. There are a couple of easy tutorials on burp cloths and bibs out there that most any begining sewer can do. Just add funky/fun fabric and they're a hit!

Packrat said...

Such a cute idea. The sewn on design is so much better than the "plastic" (or whatever that stuff is) iron on designs. Thank you!

the Danosaur said...

This is a great idea. I would make a bunch of them one afternoon and then next time I was invited to a shower, stick a couple onsies in a bag and off you go -- no pre-shower shopping stress.

Sherry said...

I appreciate this idea because I am not crafty, but this doesn't require a whole lot of skill, really. I think this is an especially good idea for somebody that you feel obligated to buy a gift for but aren't necessarily that close to.

Camille said...

Hey you gave those to me! And I love them, which just goes to show that they really are a GREAT gift and you are always full of fabulous ideas. Thanks Merrick :)

Bex said...

What a great blog you have. I live in the UK and I write and blog about budgeting with babies (0-5's) and my book How to afford time off with your baby (Vermilion '09) looks at baby gifts on a budget too. Your idea is fab, I love it!

Another shower gift for the poor but generous hearted is to give some promise cards at a baby shower...with promsies such as the offer of 2 babysits, 2 home cooked meals when the baby arrives, a load of ironing anytime during the babies first year. To the mum to be these will be worth their weight in gold yet they only cost time.

I blog at www.babybudgeting.co.uk if you fancy popping over for a look at some more creative budgeting with kids ideas.