The cutest little gift idea

Making a gift doesn't always have to take a lot of time and/or talent.  Here's something adorable you can make in minutes.  The only skills needed are shopping skills.

I saw this in a store in the mall (so I can't take credit for the idea), and thought this would make a cute gift.  It was a clear plastic drink cup, topped with one of those domed lids, and filled with brightly-colored, wrapped candy.   Here are a few ideas to improve upon it, as well as make it useful as a gift for adults.

You'll need the domed, clear plastic drink cup.  Starbucks uses them for frappuccinos,  McDonalds has just recently begun using them for shakes,  and Baskin-Robbins has a clear plastic cup, but I'm not sure if they have the domed lid.  Anyways, start with the cup.  How to get one -- You could just walk in and ask for one.  You could buy a drink in one, then wash out.  If you're truly frugal, you could ask a spendthrift co-worker if you could have their drink cup when they finish their frappuccino.  Or,  you could buy a small denomination gift card from one of these places, then ask for a cup to put it in as part of a gift.  My guess is they'd give you one in this last case, and maybe even in the first case.

So, you have the cup, now to fill it.  For a child or tween, fill a McD's or B & R's cup with wrapped candy, the gift card, with or without shreds of brightly-colored curly ribbon, and tiny trinkets (the kind you buy for 25 - 50 cents from a vending machine at the store -- if you have kids they'll know where to find these vending machines), or dollar store hair accessories (like colorful scrunchies and elastic headbands).   Instead of a straw poking out of the hole in the lid, how about tucking in a pixie stix candy.  This is the sort of gift that I could've sent my own child to a birthday party with.  It would also be a great gift for an aunt or uncle to give to a niece, or grandma to a granddaughter.

In this photo, I've filled the cup with candy, a Coldstone Creamery giftcard, and topped all with rolled up colorful elastic headbands.




For an adult, use a Starbucks cup, fill with candy, individually-wrapped cookies or snacks (something more to an adult's liking), shreds of curly ribbon as filler, plus the Starbucks giftcard.

Here, I've "nested" candy in a bed of white and gold curly ribbon.  The candy chosen is wrapped in gold, silver and black, and I've tucked a Starbucks giftcard in the midst of it all -- a nice office or friend gift, for under $10.

These filled cups are a fun and imaginative way to dress up a gift card.  A lot more festive than just the card in its little hangtag holder.