Great, affordable ideas for wedding gifts

that's how paul and i look at it too - it's all a part of me! my ex works at the same company i do (and paul does as well!). we all work in different states, but our paths do cross. and i sent him a gift when he had his babies, and he just sent us a wedding gift. we're all good!

and yes - that was a tad off the original topic! lol

i love that idea of a money jar! and i know a loonie is money, but what denomination? or is it just a general term?

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i love that idea of a money jar! and i know a loonie is money, but what denomination? or is it just a general term?

A looney is a $1.00, and a toonie is, yup, you guessed it $2.00

They are both coins, Canada believes in trying to make paper money obsolete. It does make saving mad money easier, I use to save loonies, now I save toonies! It can add up quickly you think you have no money and then ,what do you know, look at all the loonies and toonies at the bottom of your purse. LOL

What a great idea to make a framed picture out of the invitation, quite unique and its funny, I was previously married and nobody thought to be so creative, and of coarse the bride and groom would love to have a copy saved and framed as beautifully as that~ Thanks for sharing..

On another note: I have absolutely no attachment to my ex, yet all my pictures, dress, veil etc. is still at my parents house..My current partner is a little sensitive to the issue but its all sitting in a box hoping that one day a daughter might want to use my very expensive designer dress, if not, she can decide to throw it out at that point...but then again, styles change and I for sure would not be wearing the style my Mother did..LOL

Glad to hear you still have a great relationship especially when kids are involved~Very nice to hear

i think people just assume because there was a divorce, it was all negative. sure, i wish i wasn't divorced, but i am. and there were no hard feelings between us, it just didn't work for us. we don't have kids - we're great friends though - both my current husband, and his current wife totally understand that. i just don't understand why i have to close him out of my life just because our marriage didn't work! anyway - way off topic. lol

Well, I started the post & you can get as off topic as you want in my post. My mom has been married a few times. I have her ring from the first wedding. She gave it to me when I was 16. I never knew her first husband. It was just a beautiful ring & I loved wearing it on my right hand when I was younger. The meaning behind the ring changed once my mom gave it to me as a gift. I liked the style so much that I picked out a similar engagement ring. I don't think objects from past weddings need to be discarded. They may have more sentimental value because of a special memory with family. And I think sometimes things are just things. All the pots, plates, etc. we had were from my mom's first wedding. They are still great pots & plates after the divorce.

oh yea - most of my house stuff (kitchen stuff, furniture, etc.) are from my first marriage! lol

and to make an honest effort to get this thread back to it's original topic ... another great and inexpensive idea for newlyweds is customized stationary!

Another idea in that article I posted is to go to a good wine store. You know the kind where the emplyoees know about wine. Buy a bottle of wine or champagne that would be at its best age in 5 or 10 years. Then write a note explaining how it will be aged to perfection in 5 years for them to enjoy on their anniversary. I think it would be nice to include memories from that day or the time surrounding their wedding in the note.

Oh, this makes me think of something really cheesy that mike & I do. He covered a box with scrapbook paper & pictures of us together. He got some girls in his class to help. Then when we write each other cute little notes or give each other cards we stick them in the box afterwards. On our 1 year anniversary I was getting ready in the bedroom. When I walked out he had scattered the entire box all over the apartment. After we got back from dinner we sat on the floor & took turn reading the notes to each other. It was wonderful! It reminded me of all the reasons why I love him. So now we have 3 boxes & I'm starting the 4th. Each one is more fun to make than the last because we have more memories & pictures together. This one will have pictures from our biggest vacation yet (UK & France) and our engagement pictures. So maybe a memory box would be a nice gift. If anyone is interested I'll descibe how its made.

Instructions: Tear up pieces of scrapbook paper & decopage (sp?) them on. Its that glue like stuff you get a craft store. I think the brand is Modge Podge. After the layer of paper is dry, we put pictures on top & decopage again. Sometimes we put lines cut out from cards we gave each other onto the box. I like those between you and me hallmark cards. I'll fill the inside with pictures too. Sometimes I'll get all the pictures printed in black & white. This has really become my craft now. I still don't think I've made one look as good as the one he made.

I'm on a roll with cheap gifts! My favorite bridesmaids gift ever was a little photoalbum. It had pictures of me & the bride being silly together on each page. Then she stuck words that either came from scrapbooking stuff or out of magazines on each page. Things like "hot stuff" & a picture of us posing before a night out dancing. We laughed so hard looking at these albums. Someone took a great picture of us all looking at the albums laughing. So I already started working on doing the same gift. Hers will have the picture of us looking at her albums & say "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." I don't think I'm having bridesmaids anymore, but I'll still make the gifts. I already scanned all the old pictures & got them printed off. I did that right after her wedding over a year ago.