These are a part of our Freebies series of Printable Gifts and Accessories. These Miniature Gingham Gift Boxes match the Miniature Gingham Carrier Bags we posted a few days ago.

These images are provided for personal non-commercial use and may not be published elsewhere. If you want to share this with your friends, please link to this page.

If you enjoy our free printable templates, please consider making a donation to help us produce more.

Gingham Gift Boxes

For gift boxes, print on cardstock or heavy paper.

1. Print colored top and one plain bottom template.
2. Cut on dark lines
3. Fold on lighter lines.
4. Glue tabs to sides.

Yellow Gingham Gift Box	Pink Gingham Gift Box
Green Gingham Gift Box	Blue Gingham Gift Box
Print one of the following Gift Box Bottom for each box you make. Gift Box Bottom

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These small bags with pretty gingham pattern are ideal for small gifts or visible storage. Simply click on the template images below and print with printer setting on “Scale to fit page”. Choose landscape paper orientation for larger items. Assembly may take a few tries if you have never done this sort of project, but be patient and you will find it well worth your efforts.

These images are provided for personal non-commercial use and may not be published elsewhere. If you want to share this with your friends, please link to this page.

If you enjoy our free printable templates, please consider making a donation to help us produce more.

Gingham Carrier Bags

For carrier bags, regular printer paper is recommended. Directions are provided on image:

1. Fold down top of bag.
2. Crease on lines to make rectangular shape and glue into a tube.
3. Fold bottom of bag end as if gift wrapping a box.
4. Use yarn, ribbon or string for handles and make a crease down each side as you have seen on paper bags.

Click on the small images to enlarge and print.

Yellow Gingham Bag	Violet Gingham Bag	Spring Green Gingham Bag
Red Gingham Bag	Blue Gingham Bag	Pink Gingham Bag
Orange Gingham Bag	Green Gingham Bag	Brown Gingham Bag

We have decided to start a new section in our blog devoted to providing printable paper products for your personal use. These will include such items as greeting cards, gift bags, boxes, tags, invitations, and other stationary designed especially for Our Fourpence Worth. You only need to open and print templates, and possibly do a little easy assembly to get your finished product. We hope our projects will save you money by providing attractive alternatives to purchased products. If you enjoy using our design, we would appreciate it if you tell your friends or link back to us.

We already have many designs finished and scheduled to be posted. Please check back soon!

Madoline and I live in fear of debt; that is one of the reasons we are so vigilant about saving money. We have witnessed firsthand the consequences of extravagant spending and debt (perhaps we will share these stories at a later time), and that is why we live the way we do. So how do we stay out of debt? The solution is so simple it almost doesn’t seem like bona fide advice, but it really is.

I know everyone hates hearing these trite statements, but the reason they are so often repeated is because they are true. In fact, they are so basic they should be considered common sense. These principles work for both staying out of (and maybe even getting out of) debt.

The simple solutions to staying out of debt are:

• Spend less than you make
• Don’t waste money
• If your expenses are higher than your income
  • Cut back, and/or
  • Make more money

How to spend less than you make

Before you spend money on any treats for yourself, set aside what you need to pay your regular bills. If you aren’t able to keep from spending that money by only mentally setting it aside, try the following:

• Open a new bank account for your regular expenses (rent, utilities, etc.). Tip: Credit unions offer accounts without fees or minimum balances. Let’s call this account your “Expenses Account.”
• Add up all your bills and expenses at the beginning of each month and transfer that amount from your main account to your Expenses Account.
• If the bank or credit union issues you an ATM card and/or checks for that account, keep them in a safe place at home instead of carrying them in your wallet or purse.
• If you get paid every 2 weeks and your bills are due at the end of the month, try not to spend any money on luxuries with the first paycheck of the month. If your expenses are less than the amount of your paycheck, put all of that amount into your Expenses Account, plus a little extra padding just to be safe (to prevent overdraft charges in case you added wrong).
• After you have set aside all the money necessary to pay your bills, see how much you have left. Put as much into savings as possible, but if you feel like you need to treat yourself to a little something, do so at your own discretion.

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While gifts are a great way to show that you care, an important thing to keep in mind is that most mothers and grandmothers would probably prefer to spend quality time with their families on Mother’s Day rather than receive a fancy and expensive gift. The most frugal and meaningful gift would therefore be a family get-together: watching movies at her house, a backyard barbecue, playing games, a picnic at the park or going to the zoo with her children and grandchildren. If you do have such as family outing, make sure someone takes lots of pictures and provides her with an album or photo CD of the day. This is, of course, unless your mother lives with you and your kids and what she would like most of all would be an entire day of peace and quiet to herself at home.

As for actual gifts, we believe most mothers would appreciate something you made or put some thought and effort into. Below are some suggestions for Mother’s Day gifts. Ideally, you would do some of these things all year round, but Mother’s Day is a good time for them too. Not all of these ideas will suit everyone, but hopefully some of these will work for you and your mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, wife, or any other maternal figure in your life.

Note: Not all of these suggestions are really “frugal” as in “cheap”, but they are frugal in that they are ideas for prudent, useful and practical, but still meaningful gifts that show you’ve put thought and effort into it and, therefore less likely to go to waste as many commercial Mother’s Day gifts tend to.

Hobby Gift Baskets

A few suggestions for baskets you can assemble. You can often find nice baskets at dollar stores or at thrift stores for a very low price. Many of the items recommended in the following list (i.e. books and music) can be purchase used and still in good condition. Used items often clean up nicely with a bit of rubbing alcohol and a paper towel. And even purchased new, these items still make useful gifts with lasting benefits.

• For the Literary Mom
  If she likes to read, scour used books stores and library sales for books she would like (mysteries, vintage books, classics, etc. - paperbacks suggested) and assemble a book basket. You could even include a few snacks to enjoy while she reads (cookies, chocolates, cocoa, tea or coffee mix).
• For the Crafty Mom
  A basket of yarns, fabrics, sewing, knitting or crochet supplies. You could pick out a craft instructions book, find a project she might like and assemble the necessary supplies for that project.
• For the Musical Mom
  CD’s, sheet music, and music books. You might pick a particular theme such as Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy, romantic piano, or Italian opera or music from her youth. For older moms, you might have to include a CD player. For pianist moms make or buy a cushion for the piano bench (the unpadded ones are incredibly hard even for young bodies).
• For Moms with Pets
  Assemble inside a new litter box or pet bed: treats and necessities such as grooming supplies, pet vitamins, hair catching tools, odor control, collars and leashes, training equipment, hair bows, super odor suppressing cat litter, car restraints (seat belts), and/or an obedience class paid for by you.
• For the Gardening Mom
  An assortment of seed packets with flowers, spices, fruits, and vegetables. The frugal mom may save a lot of money growing her own produce. For areas with insect problems, herbs such as lavender may deter bugs from the home. You can also include a book on using herbs for health and beauty and include seeds for the plants described.
• For Culinary Moms
  Collect free recipes online to present on index cards or a handmade book. You might choose recipes based on a theme, such as appetizers, a certain ethnicity, a favorite ingredient, or health benefits. You might wish to include few kitchen gifts like a baking pans, knives, silverware bought on clearance (we got ours for under $5), cheese graters, rolling pins, seeds for herbs or young herb plants. Instead of a basket, you could give a blender filled with fruits and smoothie recipes.
• For the Scrapbooking Mom
  Scrapbook supplies and the promise to provide future memories for her to document. Look for creative scrapbook materials such as pretty paper salvages from greeting cards, gift wrapping paper, and nice packaging from things you buy. Ribbon, beads, lace, small toys, letters of the alphabet cut from magazines, cards, and used books. Doilies and decorative embellishments can be purchased at half price or less after a holiday. Glue and scissors might be useful too.

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Here is simple home decoration project to spruce up your walls or sides of cabinets that have an electrical outlet or light switch plate. This electrical outlet pictured to the right is in a conspicuous place in our house and I found the yellowish white plastic color rather offensive, so I came up with the following easy solution for turning an ugly necessity into a decorative piece.

How to decorate an electrical outlet or light switch plate

1. Find an old unused picture frame or buy a small picture frame from a dollar store or thrift shop
2. Make sure the inside of the frame fits around the outlet or light switch plate
3. Take out the glass and save it for other crafts
4. Clean and paint the frame if necessary or desired (The one pictured above was painted with gold enamel spray paint)
5. Paint the electrical outlet if desired. You can use small bottle of acrylic paint from the craft or hardware store, usually about $1.79)
6. Paint any wall area that will show inside the frame, if desired
7. Glue the frame onto the wall

This treatment is suitable for electrical, cable, and phone outlets as well as light switch plates. (more…)