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In putting together our event guest welcome gift we were excited to be able to include a few wonderful, complimentary items from Dr. Teal’s and Nature’s Gate. All opinions are my own.For more information about my sponsored content please visit my policies page. This post contains affiliate links which are marked with an *. 

Our anniversary party was very similar to a wedding with guests coming in from other states to help celebrate. We didn’t have the opportunity to make wedding welcome baskets. (A tradition that really became popular sometime in the past 10 years after our wedding.) I love the thoughtfulness of the idea to welcome those who took the time and money to fly or drive a long distance with a small gift. So, when we invited family out to join us in celebrating I knew I wanted to have some gifts for them.

Guest Welcome Gifts

We rented a local AirBnB for my family to stay in during their stay. I didn’t want them worrying about food or toiletries when they first arrived so my guest welcome gift was put together with that in mind.

Event Guest Welcome Gift from A Well Crafted Party

I’m giving you a bit of sneak peek into the bags that were created for our anniversary party favors, but I had extras so I used it for the welcome gift as well.

What is in our welcome gift?

In the bag we put some basic groceries to help them have necessities for the first day at the AirBnB. We included some local items as well including Franz Bagels. We had cereal, milk, bagels, cream cheese, coffee, and half and half.

Event Guest Welcome Gift from A Well Crafted Party

We added in some toiletries into a box that would both help them feel more at home and also help them destress a little. Come on… family is always a little stressful wether for a wedding or a 10 year anniversary party. 😉

We included shampoo, conditioner, body wash, kids body wash, some Dr. Teal’s Body Oil* & Dr. Teal’s Body Lotion* and Nature’s Gate Sport Sunscreen*. I figured that the oil and body lotion would go a long way in de-stressing them after a long day of family fun. The sunscreen is something I’ve started to give to EVERYONE because I believe healthy skin protectants are one of the best gifts to give after going through skin cancer surgery twice now.

When AwesomeBox approached me telling me that they had the most awesome gift idea for those touching holidays and life-happenings such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Graduations, milestone birthdays, wedding showers, anniversaries…well, you get the idea, I wasn’t completely sold. I wasn’t even sold after using the service complimentary, until I heard EVERYONE exclaim about just how AWESOME this gift was when I recently gave it to a friend for her graduation and 30th birthday. I received an AwesomeBox and shipping in exchange for sharing my experience with you, my readers. All opinions are my own. Please check out my policies for more information on A Well Crafted Party’s sponsored content. Note: Personal images/ last names have been blurred/removed. Print quality is crystal clear and beautifully done! 

“Wow, it’s really awesome,” said my husband after looking through the gift that myself and 9 other people worked together to create for a dear friend and family member’s 30th birthday and graduation party.

It wasn’t the first time that day that I heard those words strung together and I couldn’t help but think that they certainly named the “Awesome Box” well. Recently I had the opportunity to set up and order an AwesomeBox for a friend.

What’s an AwesomeBox? Well, it really is a box full of awesome. Okay, I’ll try to refrain from using that word for the rest of the post. This neat little gift is a collaborative box of images and quotes put together in a well-designed package. The cards are 5 1/4 inches square with rounded corners. There are cards describing how many people contributed and then cards with images on one side and quotes on the other. Collaborators each upload images and quotes to build the box.

Sponsored Post: Setting up your AwesomeBox - featured on A Well Crafted Party
Choose to make the AwesomeBox by yourself or invite friends to join in on the creation. The real beauty of this gift is the opportunity to have many people pitch in to truly make the gift special.

How to create an AwesomeBox

Creating this easy, sentimental and fun gift is super easy. You simply visit www.AwesomeBox.com, create an account and select “Start a Box.” You can then upload images and quotes for the AwsomeBox. You will also have the opportunity to invite collaborators to upload images and quotes.

Sponsored Post: AwesomeBox Editing Options
The options for editing the AwesomeBox include photos, messages, and signature.

The one draw back to the AwesomeBox in my opinion was that I didn’t get to choose the background images that were used with the photos. I like the extra control of designing an item to look a certain way. However, to be honest, I might have never finished if I chose all the extra items. This made the whole process straightforward. And, when it arrived, I was so pleased with how the box came together and looked as a whole package that I didn’t even care that I didn’t select the backgrounds.

Reasons to Like an AwesomeBox

 

I liked working with AwesomeBox’s website as it was easy to understand, emailed reminders out so that the box would be delivered on time and it made it fun to collaborate with others. Once it was printed and delivered I liked it even more as the quality was really top-notch and there were added cards in the box that explained what the box was and how many people came together to create the gift.

 

Sponsored Post: Reminders and updates on your AwesomeBox ensure you get your gift on time! Feature of an awesome gift idea on A Well Crafted Party
The AwesomeBox system will remind you when it is time to complete your AwesomeBox so that there is time to ship your gift.

Awesome Gift Idea!

 

I really feel like the uses for this gift idea are sort of endless. Here are some ideas I came up with:

  • Proposal Idea: How cool would this be as a proposal idea? Have friends and family upload photos and stories about your significant other into the AwesomeBox’s system. Then as the final image upload a photo of the ring or of you both as a couple and put a “Will you marry me?” message on that last card!
  • Graduation Gift: Upload photos from throughout the years with messages about what the recipient wanted to be when they grew up or perhaps stories of things achieved over the years.
  • Family Recipe Box: Have family members upload images and recipes that they love and have a beautifully curated box of family recipes printed.
  • Anniversary Box: Upload one photo for every year with a favorite memory or short paragraph of what happened that year.
  • Family Flashcards: Have a big extended family that live far away? Create family flash cards with an image of your family member of the front and some facts about the person on the back. Use the cards to help kids get to know distant family members– or hey, quiz your spouse!
  • Birthday- There are so many ideas for how to use these for birthdays. I like the idea of uploading one image for each year with a quote about what happened that year or favorite things from when the recipient was that age.
Sponsored Post: The completed AwesomeBox is beautifully packaged and thoughtfully put together.
The completed box comes with all the messages and images uploaded by those invited to the gift. It also comes with a great message explaining what the AwesomeBox is and how many people pulled together to celebrate the recipient.

What would you use your AwesomeBox for?

Thank you to AwesomeBox for letting me experience your services. Thanks to readers for supporting the companies that help make this blog happen!

 

Mother’s Day is around the corner! Writing about all of these amazing working mothers has certainly got me thinking about Mother’s Day a little more than I normally would. It has made me want to tell my mother and mother-in-law just how much I appreciate them. Makes me want to snuggle up with the two boys who made me a momma. These DIY Mother’s Day Flower Arrangement tips make giving flowers easy and inexpensive.

Flowers are such a beautiful way to say that you are thinking about someone. But, with prices starting at $50 for a nice small Mother’s Day flower arrangement it is fairly cost prohibitive to many. I typically love giving flowers in addition to a small item that will last for some time or be a sweet treat for that person. Often spending $50 or more on flowers is just out of my budget. Thankfully, I know a few tricks to make a DIY Mother’s Day flower arrangement look like a million bucks.

Tips for DIY Mother’s Day Flowers:

Simple Flower Arrangement

Keep it simple!

Use one flower (or one color scheme) in a low vase to make a simple, but beautiful, flower arrangement. It doesn’t take much time to  make an incredibly easy flower arrangement. Your mom will love it, I promise!

 

Floating Flowers make great impact in an easy DIY flower arrangement - A Well Crafted Party
Photo by Katherine McLoskey Photography

Float your flowers for high impact and low cost.

Floating one or two stems or buds of flowers in water is a cost effective way to make a statement. These don’t last as long as some flower arrangements, but they are beautiful! The photo above shows a beautiful black lily floating with the bud of a white rose and some lily grass. If you would like some sparkle, try putting some sequins in your vase as well!

 

Use Unexpected Vessels in Creating Fun DIY Floral Centerpieces - A Well Crafted Party
Photo by West Impressions

 

Use unexpected vessels for your DIY flower arrangement instead of vases.

 

I love using unexpected vessels for flowers. Use bottles, cans, baskets, or boxes to house your arrangement. (You may need to put a small vase or jar in to hold the flowers with water, but the outer vessel can be anything really!) Get a beautiful serving bowl for a gift and put the flowers in it! Two gifts in one. We used picnic boxes for flowers on the tables at my sister’s cheery Summer Wedding. Guests received their lunches in the same boxes so it was a lot of fun seeing them all together.

 

Sprinkle your tea table with flower buds - A Well Crafted Party

 

Sprinkle your table with flower buds!

 

Last year we had a little Mother’s Day tea on the coffee tables in our living room. I simply sprinkled the tables with the buds from a few flowers that I picked up at the store and snipped out of my yard. The table looked festive throughout the entire tea party. The buds do get a bit wilted over a long period of time. But, this was a short tea party so I was able to make a small, low arrangement in a jam jar after the party that I was able to enjoy for a few more days.

 

Want to make some flowers that will last a little longer? Check out the posts below:

 

DIY Cherry Blossom Branches - A Well Crafted Party
Photo by Aubrie Legault – First featured on Hostess with the Mostess

DIY Cherry Blossom Branches

These DIY Cherry Blossom Branches will last for years and are so pretty to look at! A large vase with these sticking out would be a stunning gift.

Mix up your Mother's Day Flower Arrangement by adding in some paper flowers and leaves with real, inexpensive blooms. - A Well Crafted Party

Use Paper Leaves and Flowers to Fill in Real Blooms

I love real flowers. Sometimes when wanting to create a fun, whimsical look and to save money I’ll combine paper flowers and leaves along with inexpensive real blooms.

Make Mom a Tissue Paper Flower Arrangement - A Well Crafted Party

 

Make a Tissue Paper Flower Arrangement for Mom

 

Tissue paper flowers are easy to make, inexpensive and a lot of fun. Plus, they don’t die!

 

What do you like giving mom for Mother’s Day?