Unique Gift Giving on a Budget

“The good guest is almost invisible, enjoying him- or herself, communing with fellow guests, and, most of all, enjoying the generous hospitality of the hosts.”--Emily Post

When in doubt, ask Emily.  It is an honour to see a bride and groom, who are well suited for each other, pledge their lives to one another.  As a guest, I am there to say that I believe in what they are doing, that I am a witness to the goodness of this day, and that I will help in whatever way I am able.  With that said, I can't tell you how many weddings I have decided not to attend simply because I could not afford a gift.

Though it is no longer customary to give a gift that equals the amount the bride's parents will spend on you as a guest at the wedding, it is still customary to bring a gift (Thank you, Peggy Post for amending that rule of your mother's).  If you are able, by all means, stick to the registry.  However, just because you don't have a lot of money or you spent all of your gift money on traveling to the wedding, doesn't mean you can't give the bride and groom something lovely.   

The difference between spending a lot of money and looking like you spent a lot of money is creativity.  Thankfully, for those of us who don't have a lot of money to spend, our favorite stores like Anthropologie and Restoration Hardware have taken things which are beautiful and simple and have made them elegant and luxurious.  

Following are 4 beautiful and simple gifts, which will cost less than $10.  

1. Vintage Tea Linens

Find old hankies at antique stores, flea markets, and ebay.  I bought these for $1 each at The Madison Flea, which is an antique store with flea market prices.  Compare these to Anthropologie's Chit and Chat napkins, which are $8 each.  Add a personal touch with a recipe for English Scones.  If you still have a little left over cash in your budget, a nice additive to this gift would be Emily Post's book on Entertaining, which you can buy used on Amazon for 1 cent--or new for $20.

2. Vintage Apron
If you buy actual vintage aprons they'll run between $3 and $12 (compare that to Anthropologie's aprons, which look like vintage aprons and cost between $30 and $40).  I found this apron at The Madison Flea for $5 and paired it with this sweet yellow spatula.  For a personal touch I included a few of my favorite recipes.  Should you have a little more cash left over in your gift budget you can pair this gift with Bought, Borrowed, Stolen by Allegra McEvedy, Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, or The Fanny Farmer Cookbook by Fanny Farmer

3. A Framed Invitation
 If you're going to the wedding I'm guessing you got the invitation.  Find a lovely old frame.  I bought this vintage metal frame at Music City Thrift for $2.  Choose a complimentary fabric or paper and use it as the background.  I used this lovely old hankie I purchased at Madison Flea for $1.

4. A Jar full of Knobs
Ignore the name and just walk in--Hobby Lobby has an aisle full of cool knobs, all priced from $1.50-$6.00 (compared to Anthropologies knobs, which run $6-$12 each).  This is a collection of 12 porcelain knobs in a Ball Canning jar.  I bought them for $1.50 each (ok, ok, if you buy 12 then it's going to be $20 instead of $10.  So, just buy 6 if you need it to stay under $10).

You Asked For It! Aunt Beth's Blackberry Jam Recipe!!

Aunt Beth, being fancy and awesome in the 70's

You guys asked for it and here it is: Aunt Beth's homemade jam recipe.  I found out it is actually my Deedee's homemade jam recipe, which, as it turns out, is actually my Grand-Deedee's homemade jam recipe.  What I'm saying is this thing is 3 generations good. 

When I asked Aunt Beth how to make the jam her response was, "Just mix your fruit, sugar, and butter together, then boil and add pectin."  I asked her how much of each and she replied, "A lot."  So, here is the recipe (we think) for a  giant batch of blackberry wedding jam.

You'll need:

7 cups of Blackberry puree (or fruit of choice)

8 cups sugar

2 T butter

2 packets of Certo fruit pectin

1. To make the puree, heat the blackberries, then mash them through a sieve.  If you like the seeds you may skip this part.

2. Bring the blackberry puree to a boil, then slowly add the sugar.

3. Bring the sugar and berries to a boil.  As it begins to rise, remove it from the heat and drop in a "pat" of butter (we determined that a "pat" is about 2 tablespoons of butter). 

4. Lastly, add your packets of Certo fruit pectin.

5. Can your jam.  Watch this video for effective canning: click here

Everyone, repeat after me, "Thank you, Aunt Beth!!"

Olive, the other Reindeer: Gifts you can eat

Every Christmas my dad tells the story about the kid who goes to his mom and says, "Mom, I don't like Olive."  And his mom says, "Who is Olive?"  And the kid says, "You know, Olive.  The other reindeer?"  (i.e. Olive the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names).  My dad loves Kid-speak.  In fact, he loves it so much that even after my brother and I stopped using Kid-speak, he still called children "churren" and yellow "lellow" and balloons were still called "bombaloons."  My sweet little 10 year old sister (who is now my sweet little 22 year old sister) sat him down one day and said, "Dad, I need you to stop using those words.  I am 10 years old and don't know which words are real and which words are not real."  Thus ended the day of Kid-speak in the house of Thomas.

Back to Olives.  Every time I go to Seattle I have to stop at Pike Place Market to pay homage to the olive man.  His store is the 31 flavors of olives.  I once asked him if I could try them all and he told me yes.  It was glorious.  Glorious.

With that said, I have come up with a few Christmas presents, which will help your pocket out and 2 of which indulge my love of olives.  The only way you'll save money with these is if you give multiple people the same gift.  You'll need small jars for each of these--I suggest getting them at Old Time Pottery. Let's have money for groceries this month.


The-Best-Bloody-Mary-you'll-ever-have kit.
You'll need: a big bottle of Stoli vodka, a jar of olives, a jar of jalepenos.

Fill 1/4 of your vodka jar with jalepenos and olives.  Pour a bit of olive juice into it if you'd like (I'd like).  If you have the money and want to complete the gift of Bloody Mary, accompany your vodka with a bottle of Zing Zang and tabasco miniatures.

Rosemary Olive Oil
you'll need: a big bottle of extra virgin olive oil (whole foods has a nicely priced one) dried herbs (I'm just using rosemary, but you can fill it with any herb).  It is important for the herbs to be dry because if they aren't the water left in the herbs can grow harmful bacteria.  I have a Rosemary plant outside, so I am drying whole sprigs of this to put into my olive oil.  However, I'm sure you can find what you need readily available at specialty food stores.  Place your dried herbs in your bottles, then pour olive oil over them.

Wonder Salt
This gift will be of no use to someone who does not have a salt grinder.  Make a mixture of coarse Kosher salt, peppercorns, coriander, and dried herbs.  Package.  Fini.


Bacon Bourbon
You'll need a big bottle of bourbon (I suggest using the giant Bulleit bottle for $40 or just good old Four Roses yellow).  Good, smokey bacon--it'll be worth the extra bucks--I mean, who wants putrid bourbon?  I use Benton's bacon (available at our very own Mitchell's Deli).

Cook your bacon.  Make a sandwich for yourself, then pour the grease into the bourbon (1/4 c. of grease to 3 cups of bourbon).  Let it sit for an hour, then place the mixture in the freezer and let it sit for 24 hours in the freezer.  The fat will separate from the bourbon.  Remove from the freezer and strain the bourbon immediately with cheese cloth or a coffee filter.  Voila!  Bacon bourbon.

If you have the extra bucks, accompany your bacon bourbon with angostura bitters, an orange, maraschino cherries, and some brown sugar (or grade B maple syrup) for the ultimate Bacon Old Fashioned kit.

Homemade Vanilla
You'll need: Vanilla Beans (Olive Nation has good prices), your liqueur of choice (you can use vodka, bourbon, rum, or brandy), and sweet little glass bottles.

Use 1 vanilla bean for every 1/3 cup of liqueur.
Place the bean in your bottle and fill the rest with liqueur.  Shake the mixture and allow it to sit, shaking it again every week or so.  The vanilla needs to sit for 2 months before it's ready to use.  So, whoever you give it to will have to wait a month to use it.  But it'll be worth it--you just can't buy good vanilla anymore.


Homemade Sugar Scrub
Technically, this one isn't for consuming--but should you want to, there's nothing stopping you. Click here for the recipe.  If you're giving it as a gift leave the citrus out so it doesn't spoil.