Easy, Cheap, and Awesome DIY Gifts: Princess Treasure Box

Presents for kids can get complicated; there are a lot of toys out there that your kids will play with for a week, and then they will forget about them. If you can make a gift for your kid, it will be more memorable, and it will be more personal. A princess treasure chest is a great gift that will be fun to make.

To start you need a nice box. You can use a hat box r a Tupperware. Anything you decide to use can be altered to suit your theme. To personalize the box you can decoupage it using images of flowers and other pretty things. You can also simply spray paint it the favorite color of little girl you are making the box for. You can add ribbons, bows, rhinestones, and sequins to the box to make it special, and you can use markers or paint and stencils to write the name of the recipient on it. This box should be a little bigger than what you intend on filling it with because you want to leave room for her to add her own special items.

Some items are essential to complete this project. First you must find a lovely tiara or crown. You can make your own crown using grapevines, wire, flowers, ribbons, and hot glue. You can buy different crowns and tiaras from the local party store or dollar store.

There are many items that you can get cheaply to fill this box. I like to go to the local thrift store and dollar store when putting together these types of boxes. You can find many pretty scarves, hats, sunglasses, and jewelry at these types of store. Lace gloves and slippers are another a fun thing to throw in the box. You can also find inexpensive children makeup kits at the local dollar store, and you can get a lot of kid's hair accessories and toys there as well.

Another important item you will need for this present is a dress. You can find a dress at your local thrift store or yard sale. The dress you pick has to be perfect, and you might like to pick a few different dresses. Older prom dresses are great, and bride's maid dresses also work well. Something fancy with a puffy skirt will work well. Remember you can always hem and alter the dress, and you can add ribbon, sequins, lace, and rhinestones to fancy it up a bit.

These princess boxes are a lot of fun to put together, and the person receiving this gift will be more than thrilled to play with it for hours on end.

4 Cheap and Awesome DIY Gifts for Kids

 

Buying gifts for kids these days can be a hassle. There are always product recalls and most of the time toys are over priced and can be out of stock. Why not make your own gifts this year? Homemade gifts are personal and can be customized to suit the recipient perfectly. Here are some inexpensive and great gifts you can make for kids right in your home.

Crayons are always a great gift for kids, and I have never met a kid who didn't love crayons. You can make awesome rainbow crazy crayons using crayon remnants for little or no money. Simply gather broken bits of crayons that have been left over and cupcake pans. If you have paper or foil muffin cups that is good, but oil will work just as well. Lightly oil the cupcake pans or fill them with muffin cups, and add the crayon pieces until the cup is about an inch or so full and bake in the oven at 350 degrees. It will only take a few minutes and when they are cool you can pull them right out.

Another great kid's gift is the keepsake box. Find a nice durable box like a cigar box or something similar. Next cut out pictures of things that your kid is interested in and glue them to the box in a nice arraignment. Now cover the box with a sealer or modge podge and allow to dry. This box will be there special box for keeping all of their little treasures. Before you give them this present remember to include a special little item to start their collection.

Homemade play dough is another kid's gift that is fun, easy, and cheap to make. You can make this dough by simply using 2 and a quarter cups of cornstarch, 2 cups of baking soda, and 1 and a quarter cup of cold water. Add the water to the dry ingredients while whisking. Heat the mix until it becomes thicker than pancake batter. Next put dough on a plate and cover with a wet cloth. After it is cool you must knead it. This dough will last a while. You can add color to the water before making dough for fun if you like.

Another fun gift that will get kids to take a bath more often is the treasure soap. Find a cool little present at a local dollar store such as a plastic figure or a fancy ring. Next buy some premade soap base or use soap scraps that you have at home, and melt them down. You can use a cupcake pan or small Tupperware container as a mold for this soap. Fill it with wax paper and pour a small layer of melted soap and let it cool for a little while. Next add the toy and cover it with soap. These surprise soaps are fun and creative.

There are many fun gifts that you can make yourself for kids. You do not have to spend a lot of money on presents for children. These projects will make your gifts more personalized and special.

Have it all Step 1 - The Life Planner Binder

Ok so we all know the most important part of any plan is the plan itself, and if you want to have it all in life, that means having your cake and eating it too, then you need a good plan to start. So after years of working and working and feeling like there was no end to to the vicious cycle I finally created a life planner, and to my surprise not only has it made me happier and more efficient it is a lot of fun too.  I have to shout out to Alaina Leary for the inspiration I took one look at this confetti vellum page marker and was totally inspired. Check out her work and the tutorial at this link

Ok so with no further ado here are some pics of my planner

Isn't it so cute! It is actually an American girl doll binder I got on clearance for about $3 at the craft store. It came with a couple pretty patterned divider pages and 2 clear sleeves.  

This is a little in case of emergency note.

Here is an awesome pen slash tool holder I made with some elastic cord, cardboard, fabric scraps, and a glue gun. I am making 2 more for my niece and nephew shortly so I will post a tutorial and link here soon!

This shows the back of the pen holder, and an awesome multi-pocket divider, organizer for keeping all my stickers, scrap paper, and such. It was pretty easy to make using stickers, glue, old folders, and cardstock. Check back for instructions!

the back of the multipocket divider. I love the long pockets and the space to keep my mini sticky notepad. The blue patterned divider came with the binder. So cute!

Here is a look at my daily to do list. It is crazy, but I like to keep a spot for positive and not so positive outcomes. I a working with highlighters and started using number stickers trying to figure out all the random things I have to do everyday. I list work projects, some home stuff, happy stuff, and any other obligations or important things.

  

Here is what it looks like empty. I will be posting a downloadable link shortly if anyone is interested in printing it out. It could be prettier, but I would rather color on my pages than use the colored ink.

Ok so one of my biggest challenges is organizing, decluttering, and maintaining my house. It is crazy, crazier than possibly imagine. I mean I am not fit for a hoarding reality tv show, but a couple more years of living this way and I just might be. So this is my basic daily, weekly, monthly house cleaning list. You can find the original printable version of the daily cleaning planner page from Shemakesahome at this link; I switched it up to suit me, but that is the fun part. Love it!

I made this up real quick in photoshop. It is a fun meal planner so I can try to eat better and more creatively. Or at least be aware of when I am eating too much junk =)

A simple cardboard divider. I plan on filling it with quotes. 

My basic shopping list for my business. One of my main time saving goals lately is trying to go shopping as little as possible and always being aware of what I need has saved me trips and time. I also have a bill list to make sure I am keeping that on track here. 

This is a fun page where I set monthly goals, happy thoughts, things I want to try, and random monthly goals.  

Blank goals page

I make arts and crafts, costuming pieces, jewelry, and assorted pretty things so I am constantly updating my order lists. This is my basic work order list where I breakdown all the different orders I have to make and organize them by type of item and date. I also keep a little section for rush orders. It is so handy to have this all the time, and I use labels to add more orders if I don't feel like using a new page. Super handy! 

This is a fun little page for any ideas or inspirations. 

Here are those clear sleeves with a handy quick reference calendar and an awesome drawing from my nephew. 

I love my planner/binder. Still not 100% sure what to call it, but awesomeness. I will update with links to tutorials and printable pages for everything you see here shortly. Feel free to ask any questions, comment, or link to pics of your planner. I am off to cross "blog about planner" off my to do list!