VALENTINE'S DAY GIFTS FOR SCHOOL

VALENTINE'S DAY GIFTS FOR SCHOOL:

The POM Teas in the teacher Valentine's Day gifts were a huge hit. The POM Teas were FREE at Giant.  Supplemented gift box with Free candy bars to fill in space in between the Teas. Recycled postal box, decorated with 75cent clearance red Christmas wrapping paper, decorated with hot pink tulle was a remnant at JoAnnes, and used free downloadable tags. Total cost was about $1 each

Students got goodie bags full of freebies: full size candy bars, GoGo Squeeze, and stickers with free downloadable gift tags. Total cost was Tax only...about 20 cents eac.  Sorry forgot to take picture

Love to see pictures of how you utilize your stockpile for gift ideas

Trident Gum & Walgreens

I saw this posted on Instagram and lemming my way over to Walgreens to do the deal.  Walgreens policy is to NOT adjust coupons down so YMMV if your store adjusts the final coupon down or not.  Had to go to 2 stores to use all my coupons since the coupon expires on Saturday.

Purchased 70 packs for Peppermint and Spearmint Trident Gum and paid 83cents plus tax.  Using the mint flavored gum to add to the teacher appreciation gift baskets.  Theme 'You were MINT to be my teacher."  So far I have 100 altoids and mint Trident gum.  Below are some of ideas I found on Pinterest

FREE Altoids at Giant

Altoids on sale 2/$2.  Use .50/1 coupon from 9/14 RP = FREE

I am using the Altoids as part of gift baskets for the teachers.  Theme:  You were MINT to be my Teacher

Stockpile Gift Ideas

My son is doing really well in kindergarten so I wanted to show my appreciation to his teacher.  Soooooo I turned to my stockpile and Pinterest for ideas:
White Basket - Target on sale for $5.99
Tropicana OJ - FREE at HT - paid tax only
POM Juice - FREE at SFW - paid tax only
Water - 2 cents each at HT
Ice Tea - 8cents each at Giant
Gift Tags - Click Links below to download free tags pictured
Thanks for Sparking my Creative Juices this Year! - Here
Thank you for quenching our thirst for knowledge water bottle labels - Here 
Thank you for being a Tea-riffic Teacher - Here
Thank you for quenching my child's thirst for education (apples) - Here
C is for Caffeine - Here
String - leftover from another project
Paper- I have lots of paper on hand but I did purchase Astrobright card stock at Target for $3.97 that contains 50 sheets of each color - red, blue, green, yellow, and orange

PS - it was a HUGE hit with my son's teacher and did not break my bank 

Teacher's Last Day of School Stockpile Gift

I got the "Enjoy Your Summer" idea 2-3 years ago after seeing some very cleaver teacher gifts posted on Pinterest.  I decided to combine my couponing and stockpile to make this year's teacher gift.  This is my version of the "Enjoy Your Summer" teacher gift. 

 

 What is included?

• $25 Target Gift Card - FREE, I collect Gift Cards through out the year on MM items at Target
• Beach Sandal Card - $1 at Target's Hot Spot last year
• Insulated beach Tote - Regular $16.99 at CVS.  It was 90% off at CVS Summer Clearance Bag last year, Paid $1.70
• Burts Bees Chapstick - Regular $3.49 at Harris Teeter.  Got it for 49 cents during SD
• 2 pairs of Flip Flops - Reg $2.50 at Target.  I got it FREE last summer during a Target DD sale
• Suave Lotion - Reg $3.99 - FREE during HTSD
• Banana Boat Sunscreen - Reg $8.99 - FREE at Target last year
• Canister of Wet Ones - Reg $2.34 - Paid 34 cents at Shop Rite
• Package of Wet Ones - Reg 99cents - FREE at Target last year
• Caress Body Wash - Reg $3.99 at HT - FREE during HTSD
• Neutrogena sunblock - Reg $2.99 - FREE at CVS last summer
• G2 Gatorade - grabbed from stockpile
• Dasani bottled water - grabbed from stockpile
• 2 bags of Pop Corner snacks - grabbed from stockpile
• MIO water enhancer drops - grabbed from stockpile
• Pumice Scrub - grabbed from stockpile
• tissue paper - grabbed from stockpile

As you can see it does not have to break the bank to give a gift and show your appreciation.  It does; however, take planning and organization.

Gift Ideas

Saving money is all about planning.  Impulse buying does not save money.  Planning is half the battle so here are some BBQ themed gift ideas to think about and plan.

Soon it will be summer.  Graduations, Fathers Day, End of School Year gifts for teachers, Birthdays, House warming gifts, raffle prizes = $$$.  So lets go searching in our stock pile for some gift ideas.  Todays Theme: BBQ

Here are some gift ideas from items in your stockpile: McCormick spices (they have been FREE at various stores for weeks now); Sauer Spices (They were FREE during last HTSD); A1 Steak Sauce ($1 at last HTSD); Weber BBQ sauce (FREE at HTSD last summer- expiration date 9/2014); and Kraft BBQ (FREE to 50cents a bottle last summer at various stores with coupons- expiration date 10/2015).

Also from your stockpile you will need wrapping accessories.  Ideas include:  cheap tissue paper at Target clearance; cheap Easter grass that you found on sale after Easter; Dollar Store clear baggies; cheap ribbon on clearance at JoAnne Fabrics; cheap gift bags fromTarget Dollar Spot clearance; and/or Cheap wicker baskets from a Thrift Store.

Here are 2 links to print your own FREE downloads to use for gift tags: free-printables-summer-grilling-party-bbq-party

Now lets be creative.  Here are some great ideas if you need a BBQ themed gifts - maybe for church, school, giveaways, thanks you gifts, etc.

Need only a small gift of several gifts?  This one is an easy peasy no brainer.  Dollar Tree sell clear cellophane bags for $1.  Place some colored Easter Grass in the bag.  Place BBQ item inside.  Make and handmade tag and use ribbon.  Viola!

Need a gift from a child?  Use a bag or box.  Here is a felt frog bag found last Fall in Target's Dollar Spot for 25cents.  Once again use Easter grass and handmade tag and it makes a very cute little gift for your child to give someone.

Need something on a larger scale?  I recycled the White Wicker basket from an Easter Basket raffle I recently won.   I placed Easter grass and tissue paper inside.  Then arranged steak sauces, BBQ sauces and spices.  This makes an excellent gift for Fathers Day or for a giveaway at a Church raffle.

As you can see I did not break the bank for these cute summertime BBQ themes gifts; however, it does take some planning.  Stay tuned for more inexpensive gifty ideas.

Kids Healthy Valentine's on the cheap

Last month I got Dole Squish'ems Apple for FREE during Harris Teeters Super Doubles.
Printed FREE gift tags that I found on line:  Click for Valentine's Day Gift Tag Link
Then got out my scrap book supplies:  green ribbon and card stock to enhance the gift tags 

I think they turned out super cute for my son's school Valentine's Day party this week