DIY (do it yourself) projects are a fun and easy way to bring your friends a souvenir without breaking the bank. Most places you visit will sell you a magnet three times more expensive than necessary. Today I want to show you how to make cute and budget-friendly souvenirs! This past week, I had the opportunity to travel to Scotland for a few days and came up with some cute Scottish souvenir ideas.
1. Dean’s Cookies: First, purchase a box of delicious melt in your mouth shortbread from Scotland. Try the famous Dean’s shortbread, which costs two pounds for 16 cookies. Using Ziploc bag corners or cookie bags from the dollar store, place four cookies in the bag and wrap closed with a blue or green ribbon (Blue or Green for Scotland of course). Voila, an affordable and delicious treat to present as a souvenir.
2. Scottish Tablet: For a different twist on the above souvenir, you can make small treat bags with some delicious Scottish tablet! For this idea, buy two bars of tablet and cut into 8 small squares and place in bags. Try Caulder’s Confectionary for 79 pence. Another fun idea would be to mix with shortbread and create a mixed goodie bag.
3. An Engraved Coin: Popular Scottish attractions like Urquhart Castle have penny presses available. A photo of the attraction is pressed into the coin making a beautiful souvenir. Costing only one pound makes it a good option for budgets too. You can even go further with the idea and turn the coin into charm! Find out more about pressed coins here.
4. Water Vile: This idea came to me as I took in the beauty of Loch Ness. Why not collect some water and turn it into a souvenir right? Start by bringing two or three travel size bottles to collect the loch or fairy water in. Gather a few small stones/flowers from the area and save them. Once home, purchase small cork vials, letter stencil, and glitter from the dollar store. Start the project by adding the water, stones, and glitter (I used gold) to the vial. Using the stencil and sharpie to write Scotland or the waters location name. I think this is a really cool and authentic souvenir. Who doesn’t want the magical water that conceals Nessie or the infamous fairies?
If you like these ideas and would like to see more, let me know in the comments and subscribe!