Frugal (and very useful) Bridal Gift
Years ago somebody gave me something called a 'Kitchen Witch.' It was a doll made up of wooden spoons, a dish towel or two, a copper scrubber for her hair, and she rode on a spoon.
You could make this 'kitchen angel' instead, using a dish towel and dishcloth. Here's another version, and it's incredibly cute.
We have five wedding presents we need to get, and for four of them, this is what we are doing:
A dishpan each, and the dishpans are filled with cleaning supplies (home-made or purchased at an awesome sale), sponges, scrubbies, scouring powder, bathroom cleaners, and so forth.
A Kitchen Angel
and a list of the things you can do with the dishpan, because they aren't just for washing dishes, you know.
Some of the things on our list:
carrying a picnic to the park
toting the books you want to read on a road trip
Storing cleaning supplies (if they leak, it won't stain the shelf)
soaking your hand washables
Growing worms
picking fruit or gathering produce in the garden
Putting over your head in a sudden thunderstorm
Washing a baby
Filling with popcorn for a movie night
Soaking your feet
Mixing up a huge pasta salad when you have our family over for dinner (but, not, please, if you used it to soak your feet)
I chose dish pans because I got them for a dollar each. But you could use other receptacles- mixing bowls, cake pans, baskets, a totebag, a bucket- and adapt the idea for the container that frugal and readily available for you.
What are some other suggestions you could add to our list of ways to use the dish pan? What's your favorite frugal wedding gift?
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15 Responses to “Frugal (and very useful) Bridal Gift”
July 29th, 2011 at 8:04 am
Our family also has had 5 wedding invitations in the last several weeks! I like to give books that have impacted my life in some way and then write a personal note on the inside.
I love the ideas for dishpans! I am hosting a large gathering in a few weeks and am planning to do taco salad. I think I will pick up several dishpans at the dollar store so they are fresh and clean and then use them after my gala for some of your other ideas!
July 29th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
I really like this idea. One thing I try to do to make gift giving less stressful is to prepack some generic gifts in pretty reused gift bags, then when a occosion occurs I just need to grab a bag and add a card.
Right now my gift shelf is empty and I know that their are some babies just around the corner, and lots of young single adults just itching to pair off with wedding bells:D
You now have my mind spinning with some frugal ways to refill my shelf.
July 29th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
I’ve never actually done this, but I’ve thought a nice wedding gift might be a container full of “fix-it” things like various kinds of glue (including epoxy, epoxy putty, Gorilla, wood, silicone, Elmer’s, etc) and different kinds of tape (clear wide, brown packing, filament, scotch, duct, masking, electrical, etc.) You could even throw a bicycle tire patch kit. What new household doesn’t need all those items??
July 29th, 2011 at 7:23 pm
Dishpans make great spongemop buckets; my neighbor grows tomato plants and beans in them, you could also grow herbs/lettuce; it could be a closet organizer; if short enough, under the bed/couch organizer; put it in a dresser drawer to corral socks/lingerie; ice bucket for a party; and for crafts…use it for tie-dying t-shirts; bird bath (ever watch birds in water for an hour?); when they have kids (!!), table-top sand box.
Fun idea for a gift when you add the tips.
July 30th, 2011 at 7:57 am
On the Southern Plate website, she has a recipe for “Dishpan Cookies”. That would be cute to include with your gift.
July 31st, 2011 at 8:57 pm
I am very tired and read this very quickly and saw “dust pan” rather than dishpan. I couldn’t figure how on earth one could use a dust pan to carry a picnic! LOL! I figured it out before I got to washing a baby.
August 1st, 2011 at 7:15 pm
I love it that you included “wash a baby” in the list…think of the money folks would save if they didn’t buy those short-term-use baby tubs!
August 2nd, 2011 at 12:09 am
Great idea (gifting dish pans)….Who keeps books in a dish pan?
Washing the baby in a dish pan seems really practical
August 2nd, 2011 at 10:44 pm
Homeschoolers keep books in a dishpan.=) I’ve seen several families who keep each child’s school things stored in their own dishpans on a shelf.
August 4th, 2011 at 7:02 am
We kept books in dishpans when the kids were little. Kept the pans on the ends of beds for use during quiet time.
Yes, we homeschool.
August 4th, 2011 at 11:59 pm
I love the dishpan idea. One of the best frugal wedding gifts we got was a great recipe book and a book on household hints (how to get out stains,etc.)
I think this would make a lovely wedding gift:
http://amygregson.blogspot.com/p/funky-cheap-typography-wall-art.html
August 5th, 2011 at 11:22 am
Someone gave me a kitchen whatchamacallit (I don’t think they said angel or witch… she kind of reminded me of the robot from The Jetsons
) made out of an ironing board, a mop and colander for the hair/hat, and a few odds and ends stuck to her and tucked into an apron she was “wearing” (over the ironing board). I have a picture somewhere on film paper. It was a fun gift that the hostesses of my shower gave me. I still have the colander. 
August 17th, 2011 at 11:42 am
When my sister remarried and they set up their household, just before Christmas, I filled their Christmas with a boatload of practical household gifts–a mountain of toilet paper, a bucket of dishwasher detergent, the largest box of her favorite laundry soap I could find, a shoe-box filled with her favorite bath soap, etc. Since they had just moved, got married and now had a combined family of 5 children AND had just overdone on Christmas gifts, the practical gifts they received were very welcome and alllowed them to not worry about such things for half a year. I’ve done this also with my sister-in-law who had a tendency to out-do herself at holidays and added other personal care items. I really like the idea of the kitchen witch and dishpan! I use my dish-pans for just about everything,including a cat box!
August 18th, 2011 at 2:13 am
Me and my wife are invited to (i don´t know exactly maybe one more or one less) 5 weddings in the next three months. I don´t know why all our friends marry this close…I really like your ideas maybe they will help us to get throgh this marriage-trouble
August 19th, 2011 at 10:01 pm
I like to cross stitch or loom presents (i.e. make a hat on pegs in a circle). Yarn and fabric and floss is pretty cheap. The impact of such presents is great. I also go to after holiday sales and get things for pennies on the dollar.
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