Registry Ideas: Skip the China and bring on the House!

Skip the linens, the china and the gift cards. I saw this neat and extremely different idea, a registry for a house. Yes, a house. It is called Hatch My House and their tagline reads "A cash gift registry to save toward a home." What a brilliant idea.

Many couples either live together already or have the main essentials. If you do not need embroidered towels or a waffle maker, this is a great solution. It is also easy to do. All you do is sign up, design your dream home and start saving money for your down payment. You also need to have a verified PayPal account. Your money from your registry is deposited there.

Hatch My House can be used for more than just wedding's too. Try it out for birthdays, fundraisers, baby showers, graduations and many other events and celebrations. To get started, just follow these 5 easy steps.

First, Sign Up

Sign Up for an online gift or cash wedding registry. Choose a username and password and verify your email. Once your email is verified, you can log-in to my account and edit your event or wedding registry details, which includes writing a personal welcome message to your guests!

Second, Design Your House

To begin building your gift or cash wedding registry, design your house by choosing the setting, style and color.

Step 1: Choose a setting

Step 2: Select a house style

Step 3: Choose a house color

At this time, we have two house styles. We hope to add another style soon, and more after that, but need your opinion before we do. Please vote to help us decide what style house to add next!

Third, Link Your PayPal Account

In order to receive cash gifts towards your gift or cash wedding registry, you must sign up for a free PayPal Premier account or link to your existing account. Visit PayPal to learn more about their Premier service and sign up. By signing up for a free PayPal Premier account, you enable us to create a 'donate' button that is linked directly to your house page. This enables your family members and friends to donate directly to you. PayPal will accept the payment on your behalf. When you wish, you can request that the cash gifts in your PayPal account be deposited directly into your bank account.

Please note that you must 'verify' your PayPal Premier account by linking your bank account to your PayPal account. When you decide what bank account to link to your PayPal account, you may want to consider signing up for an interest-bearing savings account with your preferred financial institution. This way, when friends and family give to your down payment registry, you can collect interest on the funds.

Once you link your PayPal Premier account, we recommend you call PayPal to verify that your account is set-up correctly. You can call or 1-888-221-1161.

Fourth, Publish Your Registry

Publish your gift or cash wedding registry in Step 4 for FREE by using the coupon code provided on your dashboard. Once you complete Step 4, your personalized house page URL link will appear in your dashboard and you can start saving towards your home!

By publishing your registry, you get all the benefits that come with it, including: personalized house design, a personalized URL, welcome message entry, gift tracking, goal tracking, house interior, house exterior, thank you e-cards to send your guests and your house image to download.

Fifth, Build Your House Fund

Now that you've published your online gift or wedding registry, you will want to direct your friends and family to your Hatch My House page. We recommend forwarding your friends and family your house page URL link via your event invitation or wedding website. You can also send them links through Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. You can also download your house image and create a personalized card to include in your event invitation.

Once your link has been sent, your family members and friends will arrive at your Hatch My House page to make a gift. They'll buy a part of the house and their gift will be deposited into your PayPal account – and you start building your house fund immediately!

For more information on how to Hatch Your House, click here.

Happy Tuesday!