[Lovage2]

My son has a bunch of friends and several cousins who have summer birthdays so I'm always on the lookout for a way to give a great gift for $5 or less that doesn't look cheap.

Michael's (the craft store) currently has a bunch of cute doll/stuffed animal outfits on sale. I found fairy costumes (complete with doll sized wings) for $2.99 and there were a bunch of other outfits for $2-$3.99. I'll be pairing a couple of these outfits with stuffed animals from the thrift store. The local shop I go to always has a bunch of great toys and there are usually teddy bears and such in like new condition for $1.00 or less (depending on size). I always wash stuffed animals before passing them on to the kids of course.

End result, something that looks as good as anything out of build a bear for about $4.00

I also keep an eye out for any really glitzy dress up clothes at the thrift stores. Last year 3 of his friends (girls) got gowns with matching shawls (the bottom of the dresses cut off and hemmed to make the dress not too long). A tacky silver lame shirt paired up with a foam sword, shield and helmet from the dollar tree made a great knight outfit for another friend (boy).

Another poster on this thread just gave me a great idea too! I'm going to take the popsicle stick puppet idea and run with it. I think at least one of the kids on our list will now be receiving a homemade Puppet Theater. I can easily cut out a box to be the "theater" (I've done that before) and if I can't find the characters I want to cut out and glue on I can always print the pics off the internet right?

Any other ideas people want to share? Like I said I've got a bunch of these coming up so the more ideas the better!

[cr1999]