Need a unique gift idea?

Looking for unique gift ideas? Here’s one that our family recently had a lot of fun with; I hope it gets your creative gift giving juices flowing! It’s  great for anyone looking to give something “out of the norm” or perhaps even for a child that wants to give a great (cheap!) gift to a friend or family member.

Several months ago, I stole an idea from my teenage daughter, and it was a hit. She was really into creating scavenger hunts for my husband (Matt) and I- she would leave notes around the house with clever clues leading us from one place to the next. It was a lot of fun, so for her birthday, instead of buying her a typical present, I decided to make an epic scavenger hunt for her with the “gifts” being old photos of herself, family & friends that she had never seen before. Oh, and Silly String. Because Silly String makes everything more fun. Since I’m one of those parents that takes a bazillion photos and forgets about them as soon as I upload them, it was pretty easy to find a ton of photos for the hunt.

Next I wrote out 20 clues onto Post-it notes and numbered them, leading her throughout the house, yard, garage and garden shed. Matt & I hid on the balcony, Silly String in hand, watching her search for clues- it was pretty entertaining. Most of the clues were attached to the pictures and some were attached to Silly String. (Yeah, I didn’t really think that part through, but it actually turned out better than planned!) The idea was that she would have the Silly String for some later event, with her friends or something, but she brought each can with her along the way.. Meanwhile Matt & I were sitting at the last clue, ready to attack (outside) with our Silly String. Once she spotted us, the fight was on- she sprayed us, we sprayed back, and in the all the excitement, Matt and I wound up chasing her through the house, eventually cornering her under his office desk, spraying away. It was a blast! Once our cans were emptied, we realized that Silly String in the house is actually kind of messy (duh), but it was it was totally worth it, and the cleanup wasn’t too bad. 

Anyway, it was a ton of fun and more importantly, it got us thinking about other creative unique gift ideas. Do you have any “non-presenty” gift ideas that have been a hit in your household? If so, we’d love to hear about them!