{"id":770,"date":"2008-12-17T18:46:55","date_gmt":"2008-12-17T23:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/UpbeaT\/?p=770"},"modified":"2008-12-17T18:46:55","modified_gmt":"2008-12-17T23:46:55","slug":"a-diy-gift-guide-for-the-poor-and-weird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2008\/12\/17\/a-diy-gift-guide-for-the-poor-and-weird\/","title":{"rendered":"A DIY Gift Guide for the Poor and Weird"},"content":{"rendered":"A random assortment of gift ideas, for you. I broke my body, brain, and so-called 'spirit' this week, so, it's a bit disjointed. I'm going to go cry now.<\/em>\n\nBox of Hugs\/Kisses\/Positive Mantras<\/strong>\nGet an empty box... and fill it. Good for kids to give. Bad for kids to get.*\nI recommend adding this gift along with another gift... You don't want your figurative love to be plain laziness. The box can double as a storage box if you compress your love enough.\n\nMake Your Cards so Gorgeous and Heartfelt That They Are the Gift<\/strong>\nA 5 x 7\u201d masterpiece. Yeah. But, seriously, if you personalize\/artsy-it-up it enough, your loved one will appreciate your, cough, \u201cunique\u201d style and the time you put in making them a lovely card.\nCOUGH. They better.\n\nNon-Sequitur Trinkets<\/strong>\nIf you're doing the tiny gift bag thing for many of your friends, add... strange things. Strangely strange or strangely useful. Depends on who it's for. Chop sticks (if you can't eat with them, they're hair pins), marbles, chap stick (which I lose often), tiny note pads, pens, paintbrushes, LED lights, I dunno, whatever. Extra, presentable trinkets from home are good. Think useful, or at least philosophical. Reuse. Dollar stores are a blessing, but... are also full of junk.\nAlso, bauble things<\/a>.\u00a0 These can also make great jewellery, i.e., if you were to glue them to ring-things, bracelet things\u2026 push pins\u2026 \nAnd candy. Always, always... give candy.\n\nMixtapes\/Things Like Them<\/strong>\nOnce upon a time, there were things called 'mixtapes'. Through analog magic, one recorded a series of songs, or one's own voice, onto a cassette tape and could present it as a gift to a friend or record label fiend or something to that effect.\nMake a mixtape, or burn a cd of songs for your someone special, labels and all. If you can sing, why not add your own voice? If you can TALK, why not add unnecessary commentary after every track?! Do a MIX-PODCAST.\nIf you're really crazy, try a mix-Data-CD\/DVD storage thing. Instead of just music, you can load it with pictures, random word documents, poems, website links, downloaded games, pixel art, msn conversations, anything you like that is special to the both of you. Awwww.\n\nLessons<\/strong>\nCan you play the guitar? I can't. Give someone free lessons in some brilliant ninja skill you have, whether it be singing, drawing, doing backflips... If materialism feels necessary, make little coupon thingies and stick them in a card.\n\nCompiling(s) of Why-I-Love-Yous<\/strong>\nFariya suggested a Powerpoint presentation of a 100 reasons why you love someone. Well, if that ain't th' sweetest thang I eva heard I must be listenin' t' honey now mustn't I? 100 reasons why you love them, 100 reasons why they're great, etc...\nOr, make a small book of their best qualities. \"NEVER LEAVE THE TOILET SEAT UP\"\n^_^\n\nFavours<\/strong>\nI stole this from a friend's brain. Give 'guaranteed' favours; save for assassinations and other deplorable actions, offer to unconditionally help a friend out with... I dunno, the dishes, an assignment, moving... once again, the adorable paper coupons in a card are applicable.\n\nA Personal Event<\/strong>\nInsult someone all day long. I'm just kidding. Throw someone a 'just for you' party; cook lunch\/dinner for them, pamper them for a day, just spend time with them... These are the kinds of things I hear people only do for their boyfriends and garbage on Valentine's Day. Yeah, there are other people in your life, I'm sure, and days other than Valentine\u2019s Day. [\/scorn for youth]\n\nWearable Doodles<\/strong>\nDecorate. Clothes.<\/strong>\nWhite shirts are a good place to start. Use sharpies or fabric markers. I suggest Crayola, as others fabric markers can be expensive\u2026 as can fabric paint. Buy a white\/light shirt in your loved one\u2019s size (if you are certain of that size), steal a pair of your friend\u2019s pants that they do not want, get blank canvas shoes from the craft store\u2026\nI want to say you can use plain acrylic paint for fabric as well, but I have yet to try it myself. It would also be 107% permanent, a frightening prospect for non-Monets.\n\nPersonalized\/Theme Gift Baskets<\/strong>\nFor example, movie-themed, with popcorn, a DVD, a blanket, like this cute one here<\/a>**. One can also try travel-themed, if your loved one has a country they\u2019d love to\/will visit, or if you\u2019ve got a little person on your list who has yet to travel\u2026 Cat-themed, Star Wars-themed, Uncensored Bugs-Bunny themed, etc. Fill it with anything and everything pertaining to said theme. Darth Vader Pez Dispensers? \n(**Yes, I frequent that site.)\nHere are examples of more personalized gift baskets<\/a>. Kind of like theme-y one, but\u2026 person-themed.\nSuch as a \u2018pamper kit\u2019 of bath stuff for Mom, \u2018beer kit\u2019 for Dad, a \u2018memories\u2019 kit for your best friend\u2026 For your sister\u2026 a Star Wars kit\u2026\n(Ha ha)\n\nCollage covered\/customized Blank Journals<\/strong>\nYou could even add secret messages every few pages. If you have time, can you make the journal yourself from scratch? Can you make the PAPER<\/a>?\u00a0 Can you handle the TRUTH?\n\nThe Deft of Needle<\/strong>\nHaveth you the basics of sewing? Tote bags<\/a>, and those little ipod\/mp3\/cell phone cases<\/a> are easy and quick to make. \nSewing ninjas can advance to scarves and hats for winter! Sewing many ad nauseum can cover quite a few people on your list. Or I imagine it would. We\u2019ll find out after exams, now won\u2019t we.\nAnd you know those expensive heating pads? Yeah. Dried corn in a sewn up bag.<\/a> Right here. \n(NB: I think rice works too.)\n\nEATS<\/strong>\nI can\u2019t cook, I can\u2019t bake, maybe you can. Everyone eats, thus everyone can appreciate food as a gift. Provided it\u2019s fresh and all. A candy example; Peppermint bark<\/a>, chocolate melted with broken candy canes, is super simple and super tasty.\nMake, and present beautifully any food you are good at making. Those possible to save or refrigerate are always good. My mom makes meatpies for our family friends and presents them on lovely plates wrapped in cellophane with ribbon and whatnot, but people usually care about the meatpies.\nCompile a book of quick recipes for your fellow, starving college student friends. Example here.<\/a> Don\u2019t be intimidated by the immaculate Martha Stewart presentation; it\u2019s just a pretty binder with pretty paper.\nIronically, Stewart herself (or her site) provides what looks like a simpler version.<\/a> No, I do not frequent this site. I don\u2019t even know how I got there.\nOr try a \u2018recipe in a jar\/box\u2019<\/a>, in which the ingredients are already packed in nicely and ready to use.\nLastly, minimize the waste you produce. Use the comics section of a newspaper as gift wrap, save the wrapping you get, use and old (WASHED) shirt, do whatever, use your brain. Get creative. I\u2019m tired, go away.\n\nLINKS<\/strong>\n

Message board thread of random ideas from random individuals. <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

DIY Gifts for Geeks.<\/a><\/span> Contains a \u2018winter emergency car kit\u2019 you can put together for cheap.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Inexpensive DIY Gift Roundup #4: Gifts for Teens & Twenty-somethings<\/a><\/span> Or so they say. I kid.<\/p>\n

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DIY Network: Christmas Gifts\u00a0. <\/a>Plentiful, but some\u00a0possibly time-consuming. <\/span><\/p>\n

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A Do-It-Yourself Christmas: 34 Great Gifts You Can Make Yourself<\/a>. You will spot for yourself which ideas I 'borrowed'. <\/span><\/p>\n\n

-Liesl<\/p>\n\n* (blank stare) \"But I wanted an Xbox...\"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\nA random assortment of gift ideas, for you. I broke my body, brain, and so-called 'spirit' this week, so, it's a bit disjointed. I'm going to go cry now. Box of Hugs\/Kisses\/Positive Mantras Get an empty box... and fill it.…\n<\/div>
Continue reading “A DIY Gift Guide for the Poor and Weird”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
Continue reading “A DIY Gift Guide for the Poor and Weird”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,62,64,60,58,67],"tags":[271,272,269,270],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}