Tight Ass Tuesday - Op Shopping and Yard Sales with Lisa!

Today I welcome Lisa to my blog for Tight Ass Tuesday. You will be inspired by her challenge for the year. I know that I'm going to give it a good old crack next year. She is truly amazing, crafty and savvy! 

To check out the blog post that I have written on DIY Tips from a Pro Tight Ass, jump over to Lisa's blog called The Thrifty Challenge.

Enjoy x

Hi, it’s Lisa from The Thrifty Challenge.

My blog was created as a challenge to spend one year reusing things found at op shops and yard sales (that means no shopping in mainstream stores!). However when it comes to gift giving, I still buy things from shops. I’m all for being generous to others and buying great presents but sometimes it all gets a bit too much and you need to get creative to stretch the dollars further.

Kirsty asked me to share for Tight Ass Tuesday some DIY ways to make cute gifts that can save you some money.

Here are some of my tips:

Never buy cards! 

A handmade card is always more personal and even someone new to crafting can make a cute card.  Cards are about $5 each whereas I can make one , with love, using materials I already have. For example we had 7 weddings the space of 3 months and weddings can already be mighty expensive (especially when your husband is a groomsman in 3 of them and all of them are at least 3 hours away from your home). I made all the engagement, kitchen tea and wedding cards out of bits and pieces I collected and saved some money for more important things- like dresses to wear to all these weddings!

Get creative repurposing finds.

I love a bargain and there are few better bargains than those found op shopping. I’m always looking for things I can repurpose and turn into cute gifts. One gift I like making friends is turning old golden books into journals. I look for books with cute covers and then take out the pages and replace with notebook pages. Then I get the pages from the book, tape them together and use them as adorable wrapping paper. 

Or here’s a picture of how I turned a plain mug into a cute personalised mug using only a sharpie and the oven  (and this mug can be washed again and again without losing the text). I’ve made a few of these as gifts. For example I made a friend one that said “She likes strong coffee” and filled it with coffee beans before giving it to her for her birthday. Learn more about this in this blog post Star crayons and a new mug.

Get organised and find presents early.

Waiting until last minute to get a present is never a good idea. If I do then I usually feel stressed and end up spending more than I want to get the easiest to find thing possible. Now for people who I always need to find presents for, I have a cupboard. This cupboard is where I put things I find that suit loved ones (whenever I find them) and then when birthdays, christmas, anniversaries roll round, I’ve already got some amazing gifts tucked away. For example my brother is studying medicine and he is so challenging to buy for.  I always end up giving him money but to make this birthday present more special this year, I put the money in a children’s medical kit that I had found at a garage sale. I used a labeller to add Dr. Jon (though this photo was taken before I did that) and while he just got his usual cash gift, this present made him laugh.

So get creative (and organised) with your gift giving and your friends, family and wallet will love it!

Lisa x