February 6th, 2007 - Inexpensive birthday gifts for kids
It’s my kid sister’s birthday Saturday. It took some thought and asking others for suggestions to come up with an inexpensive gift idea, but I managed to do it for free! She’s getting a small collection of dress up clothes. I went through the box I’m saving for Maggie and found enough items to give away. I guess they weren’t really free, as some of them had been purchased earlier. But they were bought for Maggie, and I know at least 4 of the items were free or part of a “fill a bag for $1″ sales.
It seemed the perfect idea after our Christmas gift was hit. I found a funky old orange handbag and filled it with cheap costume jewelry from garage sales. She still loves putting all the stuff on. I thought dress up clothes would be a nice addition to it. (Includes a dress, two adult shirts that will be like dresses on her, 2 belts, a narrow scarf with leopards, and a funky green hat (modeled by Maggie).)
And the card: a “drawing” by Maggie. Cost: also free! We’ve discovered the birthday card that everyone will receive for the next who knows how many years. Grandparents, uncles, cousins, aunts. They all will adore it!
Thank goodness the gift was free, because shipping wasn’t: $7.20! Aaack. I had to go to the credit union because I’d only brought $6, figuring that was plenty–it was all the ones I had or else I would have brought even less. Next year, I’ll gather the girls’ birthday gifts sooner and send them along with the Christmas gifts. Had I known earlier, I also could have used parcel post to save a bit. (Rheanna’s birthday is Saturday, which I only learned last Saturday. She’s turning 4, but only became my SIL last November, so I have a good excuse for not knowing her birthday in advance. In fact, I didn’t even think of it until early December, after I’d send the Christmas gifts. Her sister’s birthday is the end of January, so it works out nicely for mailing everything together.) Now I just have to come up with ideas for holidays and birthdays before summer garage sales so I can buy inexpensively again.