Creative Ways to Give Gift Certificates

I found an easy way to do my gift giving this year: A Groupon for nearly everyone. It has simplified my holidays, and eased the brain cramp that comes when trying to brainstorm gifts for certain people. In fact, I wasn't originally planning on doing Groupons for my own husband, but when I saw several fun date night ideas, I ended up deciding to give him a “Year of Dates” for his Christmas present this year (I'll be posting ideas & printables for that soon, so stay tuned).

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Groupon Gift Shop

Ladies' Night Out (perfect for wives, sisters, mothers and friends)

The first idea I had was for one of my good friends. We both have young children, and they keep us very, very busy! I wanted to give her something that involved both of us doing something fun together, so here's what I did:

I gave her Groupon vouchers for a manicure, pedicure, facial and massage (as well as a manicure and pedicure for myself so that I can go with her). I then filled an apothecary jar with a bunch of fun goodies: nail polish, lotions, chocolate truffles, warm fuzzy socks and some other awesome things.

I then made a fun printable tag to go with it that says: “Gifting You a Silent Ladies' Night Out.”

(You can print the tag here:

Ladies Night Out Gift Tag

GENTLEMEN: Pay Attention. If you have a special lady in your life, do not give her another kitchen gadget. Give her this gift! It does not have to have the exact same Groupon….maybe she would prefer dinner, or a play, or getaway in the mountains with her girlfriends….whatever it is, find it and gift it to her with this cute tag. You will melt her heart, I promise. I don't know of ONE friend that wouldn't LOVE this gift. There's your hint 😉

College Student Survival Kit

One of my family's traditions is to draw names each year. We are given a very small budget and instructed to be as creative as possible when coming up with our gifts to exchange. This year I have been assigned my college-aged sister. Since I'm pretty sure she doesn't read my blog, I'm hoping that I'm safe in posting what I did for her this year.

Our budget for family gifts is $10-15, so every year I try to be as creative as possible to make the $10 stretch! Because Groupon has certain deals where you get $5 back in Groupon bucks for buying a $25 Gift certificate (certain restaurants and stores), I was able to get $10 in Groupon bucks from the previous gifts that I bought for other people. This meant I was able to get my little sister a couple of Groupons without using much of my budget. This left me with dollar bills to use in my actual gift.

I already had this hanging closet organizer, as well as a bunch of random snacks, office supplies, and samples, so I made my sister her own little “College Student Survival Kit.” The great things about this, is she can hang it in her dorm room closet in case she has roommates that like to sneak her food (haven't we all had those kind of roommates?) 🙂

The opposite side of the hanging organizer also has pockets, so that's where I decided to place some $1 bills and her Groupons.

The fun thing about this gift is that you can completely customize it to the person. My sister loves food, so her Groupons are for smoothies, and another for burgers. If it were my brother (also in college), I would probably include some Groupons that can be used on dates. Another fun thing to add to this gift is a coin tube with quarters for laundry (or tacos!) 🙂

Professional House Cleaning

Something else I found while browsing, was several deals for professional house cleaning. This would be great for a spouse, friend or even parents. We gave this as a gift to our mother-in-law this year and she loved it (at least we think she did)! In case any of you want to creatively gift the gift of a clean house this year, I made a fun little printable for you:

Get the Printable Here:

House Cleaning Gift Tag

Other Ideas

If you find a Groupon you want to give, and need some fun ideas for presenting it, totally send me a message! I love this kind of stuff.

Here are just a few more ideas:

I saw several deals for hot air balloon rides, helicopter rides, and paragliding. I ALMOST bought the hot air balloon ride for my husband and I, but after deciding to do a year of dates using Groupons, I ran out of budget for it. Here is how I was planning on “gifting” it to him:

You can find giant-sized balloons at a lot of party supply stores now, so I got one of those and attached it to a basket that I found at the Dollar Tree. This is a super quick and easy way to make your gift really fun, rather than just giving a card. You could even put the Groupon INSIDE of the balloon!

Other Ideas:

Horseback Riding Lessons: I saw a deal for Horseback Riding lessons (or even some rodeo tickets). For this one, you could fill a boot with some fun things and include the voucher inside the boot. I also saw some really fun cowboy boot stockings in the stores this year, that would be another fun way to present it.

Another fun idea: One year for my sister-in-law's birthday, my brother told her to meet him at a certain restaurant. When she got there, he handed her tickets, and walked out the door. There sitting at the restaurant were all of her friends. My brother surprised her with tickets to a concert she was wanting to go to, and dinner with her friends.  There are so many awesome Groupons that you could use with this idea!

Your Turn! What are some creative ways you have given gifts in the past?

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Tina M

I'm six-foot tall mother of three and I'm enjoying the view! I'm currently fighting a battle with Lyme disease and am determined to come out victorious. I enjoy warm summer rain, peanut butter everything, having dance parties with my husband and kids, natural remedies and healthy living. Most days I'm just looking for another excuse to avoid the piles of laundry.

@MothersNiche

Tina M

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