Homemade Gift Certificates

A homemade gift certificate is one of the quickest and easiest ways to come up with a present. Whatever the occasion is, these certificates can be made with minimum fuss.

Required Tools and Materials

Construction paper

Pen

Gift certificate book

Instructions

The first step is to get a gift certificate book. You can buy several of these for only a few dollars. However, you can make one easily enough. Get some construction paper and cut it with a pair of scissors. Add some decorations and trimmings if you like.

It’s much easier to create a homemade gift certificate with your computer. Open your word processor and choose one of the certificate templates there.

Write down your message and print it out. Double check the contents and print it out. Repeat the process for other gift certificates.

Gift Ideas for Kids and Teens

The contents should be appropriate for the person. Think of what that person really likes. For the kids, it can be an extra hour of TV watching or video games during the weekends. Or maybe it can be a trip to the circus or a new toy.

For teens, why not extend the curfew by a couple of hours? The homemade certificate could also be letting them drive the car or camping out.

Gift Ideas for Spouses and Parents

For your mother or wife, it can be treating her to dinner. It can be home cooked or you and the kids could take her out to a restaurant. Breakfast in bed is also a nice treat. How about volunteering to do the spring cleaning? You could jot down new clothes, a trip to the beauty salon, etc.

A simpler but no less effective present is a promise. Make your pledge on the certificate. This can be a promise not to smoke, clean your room or something else. For dads or husbands, you can volunteer to clean the yard while they watch the football game. The homemade gift certificate may also be for a spa or body massage.

Other Ideas and Suggestions

Kids can make their own certificates. It can be a promise to eat their veggies or finish their homework. A great idea is “movies night”. Rent or get copies of their favorite movies. Pick a day of the week (weekend most likely) and watch it with them.

The following ideas are suitable for kids or teens: set down a dollar amount so they can buy whatever it is they want. The certificates can also be for free snacks or dining out.

Certificates for holidays should stay true to the occasion. The designs should be fit for the holidays. Valentine’s Day certificates should have some hearts on it. Christmas should have Yuletide oriented designs too.

When making gift certificates, try to put some thought in the design. By putting in some work, the recipient will be more appreciative. Using Web based or software based templates is okay. But change the templates so that it will appeal to the recipient.

The supplies are affordable and all you need is a little imagination. These are the reasons why homemade gift certificates remain suitable for many occasions.