Gift Cards

If you have been reading this blog for awhile you know I have a thing about giftcards. I hate the act of just handing them over, no wrapping, no fun and what makes me think no effort. Now before you get mad, I am NOT saying there is no effort involved, or money for that matter, in a giftcard, but I am saying that I believe that deep down, EVERYONE loves the excitement of unwrapping an unexpected present.

Enter my love of cello, and ribbon and fluff in a tub. Fluff in a tub in the Grove casa is not marshmallow, it is what I call the stuff I purchase throughout the year and store in plastic tubs in my gift closet. I have a tub for kids, one for my girlfriends and one that is unisex. I pick these items up at Old Navy, Michaels, Joanne and Justice online. A little tip: both Michaels and Joannes ALWAYS have a coupon on their website that you can print out for 40% off one item and I am not above making a few trips if I want to stock up.

What you need:

Cello bags and ribbon. Purchase these when craft stores have their 40 and 50% off your ENTIRE purchase and STOCK UP! They dont take up a ton of space and Pinterest has some great ideas on how to store your ribbon.

Fluff

Some of my twitter friends have asked what items I consider fluff so here is a basic list:

Lipgloss, stickers, pencils, pens and hand sanitizer from the Target $1 section

Hello Kitty items on sale at Old Navy

Glow in the Dark and Mood changing nail polish and lip gloss from Justice

Mini Hairburshes from Michaels and Justice

ipod accessories

fun breathmints or gum

As for Justice, I REFUSE to step inside the store, but thankfully they are on ebates and run 40% off sales on a regular basis. YES, I am still on the ebates bandwagon and have over $100 coming to me in January from doing my Christmas shopping online and I plan to spend it on an anti-aging facial. If you haven't signed up, take advantage of the J.Crew 30% off EVERYTHING and Justice sales by joining HERE. One last thing, you get 20% cash back for purchases at Snapfish, so while your family thinks you are being so sweet for sending them photo gifts, you can be planning your next trip to the spa!

Now onto giftcards. I am going to talk about how I wrap 4 types of giftcards.

Starbuck's

I have 2 go to ways to give a Starbuck's card:

1. Purchase the keyring giftcards and attach it to a fun keyring. I always tend to go for a monogrammed option! Put them in a cello bag and tie with a bow. You can either attach a gift tag or fill out the to and from on the giftcard and the "tag" is on the actual present

2. When you purchase your giftcard ask for a tall size cup and lid. Put the giftcard and a note inside the cup, put the lid on the cup and attach a stopper. Place the cup in a cello bag and tie with a bow. It adds a little size to the card.

Target

This is what we give the teacher's at Baby C's daycare. I purchase the giftcard boxes at 50% off during the day after Christmas sales. Last year they had a ton of sparkly turquoise and pink stripe and red and white stripe. I can use those patterns all year so I literally purchased 50, for $6 total. Score! I have been using them all year. I put the giftcard in the box, put it in a cello bag and add a big bow that depending on who I am giving it to might have a small bottle of hand lotion or hand sanitizer or lipgloss attached to the bow.

iTunes

The mother of tween giftcards! I am extra careful with these because Mini K knows what itunes is and I don't like her to think of giving her cousins, or friends cash. She is almost 6, she will have the rest of her adult life to budget, but her childhood I want focused on seeing excitement in her friends and families' faces when they open a present. I try to wrap an itunes card with some sort of music accessory: fun earbuds, a keychain speaker, a cord keeper. It keeps the theme of music and if we are giving the itunes giftcard to a movie fan (my Dad!) we put a bag of microwave popcorn or some 3D glasses in the cello bag and a bow!

Food / Restaurant

This year, my nephews really wanted Subway giftcards. They live in Chicago and Subway is their afternoon snack before a hockey game or after practice. We know they listen to their ipods when they warm up so we put a cord keeper in the cell bag with their giftcard and a box of Altoids. If the giftcard is for a nicer restaurant, say Capital Grille, you could throw in one of those handbag hangers, a wine opener or when you are at the restaurant purchasing said giftcard, pick up a few boxes of their matches to put in with the giftcard. You can also usually find inexpensive small candles. In other words, if you are giving your parents a "night out" put the matches, the candle and the gift card in the cello bag and you have given them a lot more than a giftcard without spending a lot more money.

I hope this helps and if you need any ideas, leave a comment or send me an email.

In other news, we celebrated Mini K's 6th birthday in Eloise fashion on Friday night with 26 of her closest girlfriends! My ears are still ringing, but they all had a great time. I promise more details tomorrow!