Ten Ways To Save Money This Holiday Season

As the holidays approach and the economy continues to suffer, everyone is looking for ways to cut back. But what can you cut out? Your hard-to-please mother-in-law will have something to say if the table doesn’t look like a picture in a magazine. Your old college roommate will be offended if she doesn’t get a card this year. The kids can’t wait to trim the tree. And you can’t exchange gifts wrapped in the funny papers! Fear not, frugal friend—flowery feasts and festivities are in your future!

With www.botanicphotos.com, you can create beautiful handmade versions of some of the things you typically buy for the holidays, without spending a lot of money. The site has over 1,000 flower, plant, and landscape images to choose from, and botanic photos featuring red, green, and white plants, trees, and flowers make the ideal images for using on holiday decorations and other items.

Season’s Greetings:

• Use the site’s flower, plant, and landscape images to design and print your own holiday cards, envelopes, return address labels, and stationary.
• Design your own photo cards with a floral background from an image at www.botanicphotos.com, add your message and print them at home.

Wrap It Up!:

• Print botanic images on lightweight paper and use it to wrap gifts.
• Mount the images on heavy stock and trim to gift tag -size. Punch a hole on one end and tie a ribbon to attach to gifts.
• Glue printed images onto small paper bags to create goodie bags. Line the bags with tissue paper and fill with treats.
• Shred or crumple printed images from www.botanicphotos.com and use them to pack fragile gifts. This is also a great way to use scraps left from other projects.

Deck the Halls:

• Glue printed botanic images onto scraps of sanded wood, cardboard, or other material. Punch or drill a hole through the top, and add a ribbon or ornament hanger. Add beads, sequins, or other embellishments, and then seal with a layer of decoupage medium for unique handmade ornaments .
• Transfer the images onto cloth napkins using iron-on paper: an eco-friendly and inexpensive alternative to throwaway paper napkins.
• Using iron-on paper, transfer the images onto smooth-textured guest towels .
• Print the images on heavy stock and trim around leaves and petals. Use these botanic beauties instead of doilies under plates, dishes, and bowls.

Try searching for terms like “pine,” and “green,” to find the perfect image at www.botanicphotos.com, or simply browse the photo categories for your favorite plant or flower. Get the whole family involved in some of these projects and you’ll save time too!