More $1 Valentine's Day Gifts

Thoughtful, Inexpensive Gifts for Teenage Girls

A Few Ideas For This {oft hard-to-please} Bunch ;)

 

Let's face it. Teenage girls can be an unpredictable bunch. Certainly unpredictable... perhaps even scary at times? You never know what you might say or do that could be interpreted as embarrassing or offensive, and even a well-intentioned Valentine's gift could be misconstrued as insulting.

And yet, we still love them, and many of us remember how difficult it was to be a teenage girl, so we try not to take those overreactions personally, and continue to {carefully} let them know how much we care. And so the inspiration for this latest post in the $1 Valentine's Day Gift Series is that lovely group we call teenagers, and in particular, teenage girls.



Now I think these gifts are pretty cute, but you know your teens best--depending on the day, they may be annoyed or roll their eyes or somehow find some reason to criticize... but remember, it's only $1, and deep down inside, they know that it's the thought that counts. And if worse comes to worst, just buy them a bar of their favorite candy instead ;)

So here they are, Five $1 Valentines for Teenage Girls. This first pic is a shot of the group--how the items looked before I got them "gift-worthy." Each item was purchased at the dollar store, and I added a few minutes of "crafting" to make them a little cuter, as you'll see in the following pics.

Teen Gift #1: Heart Keychain
This first gift is pretty straightforward--a simple, sweet little key chain. Here I punched a hole in a piece of card-stock and thread the circle part through (I know that part is called something... the name is escaping me). On Valentine's Day, pop it up on her bulletin board or leave it for her on her dresser, and sit back and wait to be showered with love (well, maybe don't hold your breath for that last part LOL).

Teen Gift #2: BLING for Her Mobile Phone/Electronic Device
I think this one is really pretty cute. It's a simple, textured, sticker made for cell phones/electronics. I actually almost missed it in the store--they were up by the registers. I wasn't a huge fan of the box it came in, so I ditched it, printed out some smartphone clip-art, and used a glue dot to attach the "bling."

Teen Gift #3: Sports Armbands
I thought these were adorable, plus they had lots of color options in both wristband and headband versions. I was also surprised by the number of sports they had--soccer, football, tennis, baseball, basketball, cheer... I think I'm probably missing a few, but between the colors and the sports, there were definitely options! This is the only one of the teen gifts on which I decided to include a non-generic message, because I thought it was pretty universal, encouraging sentiment. Although I guess it could backfire, too... It's entirely possible that on a particular touchy day, the gift recipient may quip back at her mom, "What are you trying to say? That I sweat too much?" Or maybe I'm just jaded... I happen to have been a particularly quippy teen myself ;)

Teen Gift #4: Super-Cute $1 Pendant
I mean, come on--how cute it this?! I'm not trying to fool anyone into thinking it's 14k, but for $1?! It's just so cute. There were a bunch of different color options, too. And I'm a big fan of inexpensive jewelry--it's the best way to keep up with the trends without breaking the bank!

Teen Gift #5: Set of Headbands
Here's is an easy, practical gift idea, and the hair section at my dollar store was chock-full of different headband and barrette options. I picked the funky animal-prints, removed them from their original packaging and printed out another generic message. To support the elastic-ness of the bands, I glued some black paper onto thin cardboard (part of a cereal box, to be exact). I really wanted to add a corny "hair" message (e.g., 'Hope your day isn't too hairy!' or 'We'll try stay out of your hair today!), but in the end I worried they would be too easily interpreted as hair insults... and no teenage girl needs to focus any more energy on what they may already interpret as physical flaws, so I just played it safe again with a simple, "Happy Valentine's Day" message... hard to find fault with that!

Looking for more $1 Gift Ideas for your loved ones this Valentine's Day? Be sure to check out these other posts, too!

And, this post may be a little out-of-season, but could be easily adapted to a V-day gift!

Are we connected yet? If not, find me on Pinterest, Facebook, and Google+, and Bloglovin so we can start sharing ideas together!