Gift Giving for Po' Folk

This year I am more broke than I have ever been before. I fully intend to obsess over online sales, as well as scour eBay & craigslist for bargain gifts. I have ideas for everyone on my list and all of my ideas are out of my price range, so I'm just waiting patiently for good sales to come.

I have bought 2 gifts so far, both for Andy. In case he reads this (which he won't), I will not tell you about one of them. The other was inspired by this. I believe I was looking online for a good photo of Alex & Jade when I was pondering my couples-I-want-to-be entry when I stumbled across it. When I was MUCH younger I really enjoyed counted cross-stitch, and since Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros have become a "thing" for Andy & I, I decided I'd try my hand at it.

I printed off some 14 graph paper, and several hours later I had a pattern:

We popped in to the Hobby Lobby after my massage (fuuuuuck yes.) last night, and here's what I got:

$10: 50% reclaimed wood picture frame (8" x 10")

$2.76: 4 skeins of variant color embroidery floss (yellow-brown)

$2.99: navy blue aida, 14 ct, 12" x 16"

$1.49: #22 needles

Andy's delight upon opening the gift -- Priceless???

... Perhaps not, but I think for $15 it will be a pretty cool gift! I hope he likes it. My mom said it was lame, my sister says adorable. We'll see what Andy thinks! I'll keep you guys posted on my progress :)