Did Santa bring you gift cards this holiday season? If they're for stores you actually like, then shop away! But what if your gift cards are for places you consider more ho hum than ho, ho, ho -- and you know you'll never use them? Letting them sit in your wallet unused is just a big waste of money. The retailer gets paid, and doesn't even have to sell any merchandise.

It's estimated that 5 billion dollars from last year's gift card sales will go unspent. Yes, 5 billion! Don't become a statistic; instead, make the most of unwanted gift cards with these 5 smart strategies:

1. Sell/swap. Thanks to sites like Ebay, Plastic Jungle, Swapagift, Gift Card Buy Back and GiftCardRescue you can now buy, sell or swap gift cards online. MSN Money has a great article explaining some of the ins and outs of using gift card swap/sell/buy sites.

2. Shop for others. Use your card's balance to buy stuff for this year's birthday gifts or even next year's holiday season. Who says the balance has to be spent on something for you, anyway? Free from Broke has a bunch of ideas for maximizing your gift card's spending power.

Your little ones will bowl over for this crafty gift, and you'll have a ball making it!:

I'm already brainstorming holiday gifts, and it's not even Halloween. Am I brainwashed or what? Regardless, trinket soaps are both fun and affordable, and I'd love to try my hand at creating a few gifts for family members this year. Luckily, this video gives step-by-step instructions for adorable trinket soaps that I can't wait to try!



A few important tips to keep in mind?:

1. Use a clear glycerin base if you want your object to be visible inside the soap, and a milky, opaque base if you want it to be a hidden surprise.
2. Avoid using a loaf-shaped soap mold-you'll have to slice up the finished soap, and may end up cutting through the objects inside.

And, of course, a bit of soapy food for thought:

September and October are big birthday months for the children in my husband's side of the family, so I'm starting to plan a few cost-effective gift-wrap embellishments that are both exciting, re-usable and that won't break the bank. This adorable DIY yo-yo is pretty high on my list, and I can't wait to see the smile on the kids' faces!

The tutorial is pretty self-explanatory, so I'll leave you to devour it on your own. I love cute embellishments on childrens' gifts, because their imagination shines through with many uses for the packaging. Of course, you get the ubiquitous bow-on-head gals, but I've also seen many children save their wrapping for paper crafts, fabric fun and felt projects.

If you're not into packaging, however, you can create these yo-yo's for bedding, curtains and/or pillows similar to yesterday's rosette tutorial! They're a beautiful way to add texture and drama to any craft you're working on and the result is always surprising!

It happens. People buy houses. Sometimes you know them well, sometimes you hardly know them at all. Then they have a housewarming party. What sort of present do you buy for them? How much money should you spend? What if you really want to stay away from an impersonal gift card? These questions have sent me into a panic in the past.

The amount of money you spend is entirely subjective and up to you. Though I believe that the less money you spend, the more thought you need to put into the gift. I know I would rather receive a $20 coffee table book than get a card with a rumpled $20 shoved inside. The former says that you care about the person enough to shop for something that you thought they might like, even if you are working with a limited budget. The latter? Well, that says you didn't spend all your money at the bar last night.

1) Wreath for the front door. When we bought our first house many years ago, it was in the late autumn, right before the holiday season kicks into full gear. One of the nicest housewarming presents I received was a fresh wreath to hang on the front door. It was handmade and beautiful, perfect for our first Christmas in the house when our cash- strapped selves were not going to be buying any extras.

It seems everyone I know has a birthday in July and I've been searching for the perfect gift for my girlfriends who love to entertain. Because nothing is more summery than a cold glass of lemonade, I love this sweet [and tangy!] gift idea...

Why not download a few of Creature Comforts' free recipe cards and lined labels? I'd love to fill out a label with this recipe from Times Online and affix it to a mason jar with some pre-made lemonade mix.

Lemonade not quite your thing? This lemon bar recipe from Recipezaar is both easy and surprisingly delicious. Lemon muffins are also a big hit around my household and would be easy to package in a country basket, perfect for gift-giving.

A sweet idea with an even sweeter price.

By Anna Sattler

Little ones like to get in on the action when it comes to giving gifts. As much as they like to open a present, I always watch in delight when I see how happy a child is to give a grown-up a present, especially if they made the gift.

You can watch in delight too when your child makes the perfect Father's Day desk accessory for the special dad in their life. All you need is cardboard, craft sticks, acrylic paint, glue, and alphabet foam stamps, and of course, a willing child or two. This project is geared towards younger children, so you will have to help them cut out the cardboard that is used in making the letters, and also help them with the gluing of the letters.

Dad will love his new desk accessory, but if he doesn't have a desk, the cardboard decoration will sit perfectly among pictures of his loving family at home. Best of all, he'll get a charge out of knowing that his little DIYers made the Father's Day accessory themselves, just for him.

Here at DIY Life, posts about weddings are always popular, but often, posts about knit and crochet patterns come in a close second.

I thought it might be interesting to combine the two, by looking at a few free patterns for wedding cakes made from yarn. (Hey, they don't have to be frozen, and they never get stale!)

• Crochet Today's Crochet Confection cake pattern (PDF download) is, at 4"x8", life-sized. It's an easy, single-tier cake that you can display on a stand over a form.
• Berroco's Buttercream is also life-sized, but this one is a tiered cake with flowers; it can be used to store dishes. It's made in their Ultra Alpaca, but any other worsted-weight yarn should work just as well.
• On the miniature side, there are the Norma Lynn Cake Sachets. Several of the designs here, like the Two-Tier Cake and the Clumsy Cake, seem wedding-appropriate, though they're part of a collection of desserts. The second page of cake sachet patterns has a triple-tier wedding cake with flower toppers and ruffled trim.

Suggested uses? The sachets would make great giveaways at a bridal shower; they'd also make nice package decorations for gifts. Some of the projects might make cute gifts for attendants, in the right kind of wedding. They would be fun commemorations of a special anniversary, or whimsical decor in the right kind of room. Professional wedding planners could also probably appreciate them.

Outside of the wedding framework, you can always choose different colors, changing the "wedding cake" into a "birthday cake" -- or merely making a cute trinket for a friend who loves sweet desserts.

And if you're looking for more patterns like this, check out an older post of mine -- Amigurumi-o-rama: Crocheted Food.

I know, paper cups are bad, and I am bad if I use them. What if I reuse them? Can I redeem myself just a little?

If you've got paper cups kicking around, there are all sorts of ways that they can be re-purposed into cool Kiddie Crafts. Just this afternoon, I went to the pantry for some dried pasta and realized that there was only a very little bit left. I also came across some leftover party cups that I'd stashed away. What do you do with pasta and paper cups? Make maracas of course!

After the break I'll tell you how, share another paper cup craft that we tried, and point you to a few more that I think pass the kiddie craft test (simple, inexpensive, fun, and easily modified for different ages).

Got a kiddo who's driving you stir crazy on a rainy day? Or maybe you just have a budding botanist in the family. Either way, this kid's terrarium from National Geographic is sure to be a hit with kids of all ages.

Have a responsible child run down to the basement and dig out that old fishbowl... you know, the one you bought after you won that goldfish at the county fair? Wash it out with soap and water, then rinse well. While it's drying, gather the rest of your materials:

• potting soil
• horticulture soil
• small stones
• plants of your choice
• scissors
• water
• decorative figure of your choice (a Polly Pocket? Ben 10? Let them decide.)

Visit National Geographic Kids for details on the how-to of this nifty terrarium, but basically you're going to layer the stones, then the charcoal, then the potting soil. Put your plants in the dirt, decorate, and place in a sunny place! Leave it to your children to prune the plants as necessary... responsibility is good for them!

(via Craft)

I love strawberries, both as a food and as a motif.

Recently, two separate summery strawberry stitching projects were posted over at WhipUp within a couple of days of each other: a pattern and tutorial for felt strawberries from Mr. Monkeysuit, and a felt jam-jar topper with a strawberry applique by Amy at Lucykate Crafts.

Even though they aren't by the same person, they seem like a perfect pair to me! You'll find further suggestions for this adorable project, including links to supplies, after the break.

I often wonder: when everyone is making LP bowls, LP coasters and now, LP bookends out of our adolescent artifacts, what is the world coming to? However, after seeing HRG's clever bookends idea over on Craftster, I willingly rifled through many worn album covers, feeling a few pangs of nostalgia, and finally settled on a Diana Ross (the later years) album and a generic Christmas album.

With hot water bubbling on the stove, and steamy water pouring from the faucet, I fumbled around trying to dip, pour and bend the albums at a right angle using a giant wooden spoon as my tool.

Now come on, a wooden spoon? The result was not so good. Read on to see what happened on my second attempt, and how to get it right the first time.

It's so easy to just email photos off to family and friends, but there's not a lot of thought behind it. If you really want to give somebody something special, consider this exploding scrapbook box.

You'll need three sheets of 12X12 cardstock, one sheet of 6X6 cardstock, glue, ruler, scissors, photos, and any embellishments you'd like to add.

Measure and cut the 12X12 sheets into cross (or tic-tac-toe) shapes. The outer layer will be the largest, and the inner two layers will be slightly smaller. Measure and score one-inch folds on each side of the 6X6 cardstock. Cut a flap on each corner, and use glue to secure the lid.

Decorate the layers of the box and the lid as you wish. Secure the bases of the box layers with glue, slip on the lid, and your box is complete! Check out the gallery for details.

[via CraftyDaisies]

I think most people would agree that bath products make a nice gift. Unfortunately, they're a little over-gifted, if you know what I mean. But, if you take some effort to make your own products and to personalize them, what was old-hat suddenly becomes new again. Whipup's bath bomb surprises are a perfect gift idea that you can personalize for anyone.

You'll need baking soda, citric acid, your choice of essential oil, a spray bottle with witch hazel, and your choice of trinkets to insert in the bath bombs. You'll also need a large bowl, a whisk, an ice cream scoop with a release mechanism, and a tray covered with wax paper.

To make the bath bombs, combine the baking soda and citric acid. Then slowly spray in the essential oils. Adding the witch hazel can be a bit tricky as you need just the right amount of moisture. Once the consistency is right, you'll be able to use the ice cream scoop to create the halves of the bath bomb. Then insert the trinket and put the two halves together. Whipup has the details.

Keep reading for different gift ideas with these "surprise inside" bath bombs.

Back when I was writing about all the things you can do with one yard of fabric, I found that for many projects, a yard of material was actually too much. There are scads of things you can make using only fabric scraps, leftover from other projects.

This is good news for those of us who save everything, but really don't have a place for it all... so pull out those bags of fabric scraps and start sewing! Some of these projects make great gifts; you'll be customizing your gift for your recipient, and saving a lot of money, too.

Fabric flower cards: Maggie has written a previous post on how to make fabric flower cards. Using your fabric scraps, you can create a floral garden right on cardstock. What a beautiful gift.