Saturday, March 30, 2013

The 11th Hour....

Well, practically.
 I'm sure everyone else is beyond ready for Easter and this is of no help but the idea does have possibilities for future holidays and events.
As I said on Facebook, I threw a puffy burlap carrot on the front door and called it good this year. March was full of deadlines for free lance work and speaking at a major conference was also on the calendar  and Easter was early this year. 
 Cute got lost in the shuffle.
 So that's how we rolled this year. Also, College Girl went home with her boyfriend to my old stomping grounds, Athens, so a little less motivation to roll out major Easter decor.

We hosted* last year so we I am invited out for Easter dinner this year. I wanted to take a little something to my peeps and since they are all beyond the age of cute stuffed bunnies and more into gift cards I wanted to package the gift card creatively.
I bought "fancy" all natural lemonade in swanky real glass bottles. Lemonade is Spring-y. And I picked up Chi-Fil-A gift cards cause, well, it's the South and we are addicted.
So now I needed to put them together .... somehow...



Scrounging in the studio I came across these clear plastic name tag holders like you get when you go to a meeting or conference. They are super inexpensive and crystal clear. They are made to hold a single thickness name tag so they are "snug" if you follow. That means that when you stuff things in them they stay. Perfect.
 
 
I love the crisp, clear look. I just put some Easter grass, a little business card sized note and the CFA gift card in the pouch. There are holes in the back of the pouch that are meant for the neck string if you are using it for it's real purpose but they work perfectly to string curling ribbon through. Just tie it on the bottle and you are good to go.
You could combine all kinds of treats and gift card in the pouches.

* We did host Easter for friends who are like family last year. The kids have all grown up but I haven't so I still made cutesy Easter treats and put bunny tails and ears on the real Coke and Orange Crush glass bottles - you know the drill. But I really wanted the kids to participate in an Easter Egg Hunt and not just sit around on their iphones :) So I thought about how to motivate them... what motivates teenagers and college students?... well, money and gift cards, of course. So I filled the eggs with quarters or slips of paper with numbers that corresponded with numbered gift cards to places like Starbucks, Chic-Fil-A and to itunes. I announced that it was time to do the Easter Egg Hunt , there were some moans and a mention or two about the heat but not from College Girl who jumped up and announced that she was hunting eggs. Then she announced that I had filled them with money and gift cards and we had an Easter Egg Scramble! Everyone was all in for this hunt!! They acted like little kids running around looking for eggs.
 It was worth every penny quarter :)