90s-Themed Gift Idea

For me, nothing really beats looking at photographs from when I was a kid, going through my box of old toys, or open up my chest filled with little trinkets from my childhood. Sometimes if feels recent, other times so long ago. Since we see so many trends return or silly articles laughing at the things we liked during our decade of birth, or reminiscing about awesome movies or shows, I often feel still pretty connected to being a kid.

One of my cousins turned 24 in February, and I decided I wanted to give her something for her birthday that would make her reminisce about being a kid. So, I made a 90s-themed gift. My favorite things about being a kid in the 90s were the Disney movies, cartoons on Nickelodeon, some of the fashion trends (tattoo bracelets, butterfly clips, jellies shoes, overalls, and hair scrunchies!), glitter, and bright colors. So I combined a lot of these elements to create a gift that embodied the 90s.

I started putting together these items as I was doing Christmas shopping. My cousin is getting married later in the year, so I especially felt that thinking back to things from her childhood would be fun. I wanted to share what I did, and offer up a few ideas for little crafts and wrapping gifts.

Color The 90s book: I found this adult coloring book on Amazon, created by illustrator Outrageous Katie. What I liked so much about this was that it featured such an array of random things from the 90s and was so different than the coloring books I had seen in stores. I almost bought a Lisa Frank coloring book, but once I saw this, I knew it would be perfect. A few examples of the 90s items featured on the pages are Dunkaroos (one of my favorite childhood snacks), Beanie Babies, Home Improvement, boy bands, The Amanda Show, Hacky Sacks, Bill Nye The Science Guy, Tamagotchi, and even OJ Simpson. 

Cartoon Pins, Magnets, and Bookmark: I made all of these items using images from some of my cartoon characters growing up. The Nickelodeon star magnets were made from wood stars, which I then painted a solid color, followed by a few coats of glitter paint. Once dried, I printed a few images, used a circle punch to cut them out, glued them onto the star, and then coated it with Mod Podge to secure it. I added a few accent gems, and finished off by gluing a magnet onto the back. I made a Doug and Rugrats-themed magnet for myself (which were my two favorite shows as a kid), and a Rugrats and Rocket Power-themed magnet for my cousin.

For the pin, I used a basic plastic pin you can usually find in the kids section at craft stores. I printed an image of Max Goof dressed as Powerline from A Goofy Movie (one of my favorite movies, ever), cut it out to fit the circle shape, glued on an accent gem, and snapped the two plastic pieces together. 

Finally, for the Doug bookmark, I printed an image on cardstock paper, and used a paper trimmer to trim it to a rectangle. I then used a whole punch at the top, and cut three pieces of different colored embroidery floss. After matching up the three pieces evenly, I thread it through the whole, tied a knot, braided the three colors together before forming another knot, and then trimmed the remaining floss.

The Nickelodeon images came from their website The Splat, which is pretty fun to look at because they have quizzes, a tv schedule, photos and gifs, and even offer a quarterly subscription box, all based on the now classic shows.

Scrunchie, Lip Smackers, Daisy Pin, and Tattoo Bracelet: I thought this combination of accessories really shouted the 90s, without being too outlandish. They are still usable to this day, and are a more subtle way to show off the 90s. The black hair scrunchie and Lip Smackers I talked about previously in a Little Finds Haul. I had gotten them for myself, and set one of each aside for this gift. I use both of these items a lot and think they never really go out of style.

The daisy pin (found at Maurices) is simple and cute, but shows off a common pattern from the 90s. I got a tank top a few summers ago with daisies on it, which reminded me of a dress I had as a kid. For the past few summers, it has been my most worn top. 

The tattoo bracelet is something I wore loads of as a kid. I had bracelets and chokers in this style. Since the trend has been coming back, I haven’t been too interested in wearing it again, but whenever I see one, I remember how much I loved them and how I wore one most days throughout the 3rd and 4th grade.

Velvet Choker, Gelly Roll Gel Pen, and Bubble Tape: I wasn’t sure if my cousin would be interested in a choker, but I thought this one was a fun pink color and the velvet was irresistibly soft (purchased through ASOS). I’ve still been enjoying the choker trend, so I was tempted to keep this for myself!

I still use a few sparkly Gelly Roll pens, but do miss the abundance of gel pens that I used to own and use often. I remember getting a few packs of pens, and always being sad when I used up my favorite pens. I would often just like to draw shapes and squiggles to see the different colors, or write a letter to my grandma (hoping I chose a color that was bright enough so she wouldn’t struggle to read it). I especially liked the pastel rainbow pens and Pentel Milky gel rollers.

I really wanted a candy to put inside the gift, but needed it to be mailable. Nerds, Bubble Yum, Fruit Stripe gum, Pixy Stix, Blow Pops, Ring Pops, War Heads, Wonder Ball, Air Heads are some of the options for 90s candies, but I managed to find Bubble Tape the most easily. Whenever I opened the bag I was storing the items for this gift in, I would get a huge whiff of the bubble gum scent, which was more delicious then I remembered. I can’t really say I had a distinct favorite 90s candy, but Oreo O’s and Dunkaroos were my favorite snacks.

Mulan/Pocahontas Pouch: My final craft item I wanted to put together was something Disney related. I felt that Mulan and Pocahontas seemed like a good choice, because both of those movies came out at a time when both my cousin and I were in the prime of childhood. Mulan is my personal favorite Disney princess, so she is especially important to me. My first bike was Pocahontas-themed, I had dolls from both movies, and I remember my dad coming home from work with the VHS of each movie. I also remember seeing a Pocahontas show at Disneyland, with Grandmother Willow’s scenes still very vivid in my mind.

So, to show off these 90s princesses, I picked a girl power-like quote from each movie and painted them onto each side of a plain canvas pouch. First, I stocked up on some acrylic paint. I then started the process by painting a sold color in the background of each side, used a stencil/pencil to copy down the quote, painted glitter paint over the section, and then carefully painted over the words. On the Pocahontas side I added leaves, and on the Mulan side I added cherry blossoms. To finish it off, I added a little pom pom charm onto the zipper. I wasn’t sure this was going to work out, but in the end I was happy with the result!

Amanda Show Card: With the gift ready to go, I made a very basic card featuring one of my favorite silly moments from The Amanda Show. My cousin and I were big Amanda Bynes fans, and seeing this, although so goofy, still makes me laugh. To make the card, I just printed out a photo and some text, and used some sticky 3D Pot Dots to attach it to a card.

Once I had everything compiled, it was time to wrap everything. I found some bright, neon tissue paper at Home Goods after Christmas. I started off by sticking the bookmark into the coloring book and wrapping it. Then I wrapped the choker necklace in a different colored paper and used a piece of tape to attach it to the wrapped coloring book. I wrapped each additional item with the colorful paper, doubly wrapping the pins and button, and then placed all of the small items into the pouch. After I wrapped the pouch, I tied some rainbow ric rac and silver string around the packages to bring it all together. Then it was time to sent it in the mail!

I’ve still been thinking about the gift since I mailed it, coming up with new things I could have added or characters/shows I forgot about that would have been fun to create an item around (Reading Rainbow! Arthur! Friends!). There really are so many things you could add, but what is fun is that you can make it your own, and feature the moments that stick out the most to you.