Thrifty Gifty #1

From this

To this

For this (.50¢ plus some scrappy stuff)

Hi Ladies!

I am really excited about our Thrifty Gifty ideas. Here is the first one. If you don't have a little one to make this for, don't worry. We have ideas for almost everyone on your list! Or, if you want to do something nice, these are great for donating to Women's Shelters, children's hospitals and humanitarian organizations that send educational supplies to third world countries.

This is a fun and simple to make counting book. I tried to keep the design quick and easy so that if you decide to make these for groups of children like grandkids or nieces and nephews, they could be assembled in a jiffy! If, however, you would like a more elaborate counting book, for a little girl, check out Maren's blog (it's the Zany Not Crazy link in the right side bar). She has a super cute one!

Around your house, you might have old board books that your kids no longer read. But if you're like me, you might not. So, in my case, I went to the local thrift store and picked one up for .50¢....... pretty steep, I know! Now a few things to keep in mind. Your book may have a different number of pages than mine. No problem. You can count higher by adding a scarf with 5 stripes, 6 snowflakes, etc. Or, you can do what I did. My book actually had one more page. I just glued it to the page in front making it have one less. It was easier!!

Some other Christmas counting themes that are fun include:
The Christmas Tree:
One star
Two presents
Three ornaments
Four lights

The Nativity:
One Baby
Two parents
Three Wisemen
Four sheep

I have included a pattern for the numbers and text on the back cover. The way I did the numbers was to enlarge them to the size I liked on my computer screen. Then I used the screen as a light table, placing my cardstock over the top and tracing it right off the screen. Easy as pie! You are welcome to use my template, make copies, teach classes, whatever. Just don't make copies for sale and we will continue to be good friends!

For the snowman and parts, I used the Oh Joy diecut sheet. I traced the snowman onto the backside of the Mitten Mitten paper and made four total. Use one of the snowman that you traced for the first snowman since its eyes won't be diecut. Do the same thing with the buttons and noses. For the mouth I used a hole punch.