Easy Thank You Gifts

I've always felt that when the Christmas season rolls around we all go into a frenzy making or buying little gifts for all those who do service for us all year and the recipients are overwhelmed by all the treats and knickknacks. Why not give Thanksgiving gifts to those teachers, secretaries, mailmen, etc.? Afterall the gifts are meant as a way to say thank you. Presented here are simple gifts that won't break a tight budget. They start with the plain Sierra Pacific journal with pen or undecorated swivel note pad (an amazing $1.00 each).

While tidying up my craftroom I came across two pieces of handmade paper that were too good to throw out but had foxing spots and bug holes (from hoarding them too long LOL). The marbled paper is of good thick quality so it is forgiving when adhering it to the snap-closed book. I used wide pieces of Merikan tape to stick the paper to the cover. If you trim the paper with just a margin as thick as the cover you can use Fabri-Tac to glue the paper over the edge and you can further embellish by rubbing ink on the finished edge. At first I was going to stamp or write in a title on the oval label but I decided to leave that for the recipient to decide.

This swivel note pad is really cute and easy to cover. If you start with an interesting fiberous paper you really don't have to do any more embellishing but you can. To cover the aging flaws of this once beige washi paper with plant inclusions, I sprayed it with some autumn ink colors. Simply hand cutting the paper leaving a slight margin and gluing with Fabri-Tac made the project an under 10 minutes quickie. I tried using the Merikan tape but the fiberous nature of the paper made it peel off too easily. Fabri-Tac glue works perfectly for this project because it dries quickly without warping the paper. You might want to make a deccorated pen to go with the note pad. Ben Franklin Crafts sells all of these Sierra Pacific products for your ' Thanks for Giving' gifts. Thanks for reading this post. Please come back soon for other holiday ideas.