Something Nice and Something a Little Crazy

Recently my bloggy friend Paula of Sweetpea had a giveaway for homemade herbal soap, and I was the lucky winner!  The soap arrived charmingly packaged in ticking stripe fabric tied with twine.  They smell so good, especially the rosemary mint!

I have been using rosemary lemon at the kitchen sink and I'm really enjoying it.  It leaves my hands smelling fresh.  If you'd like to try making your own soap, check out how Paula did it.  I'm thinking it sounds like a nice teacher gift.

On a totally unrelated topic, here's where things get a little crazy...for me, anyway.  First, some background.  My sister Laurie and her four daughters have matching tattoos.  It's five ichthus (Christian fish) in the shape of a flower, representing each of them and their faith.

While we were there, my nieces suggested that my sisters and I should get matching tattoos as well.  Laurie and I were totally on board (although I must admit I was a little nervous about it), but Wendy was a flat-out "no".

Wendy, me, Laurie

Back home, Craig and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary this weekend.  (That makes me sound so old!)  A few years ago on our anniversary I had tried to convince Craig that we should get matching tattoos, but he was against it.  This year, with tattoos still on my mind, I brought it up again.

While still not a big fan for his own sake, he was willing to do it this time.  Seriously, that's how much he loves me!

Long story shorter, we now have matching infinity tattoos.  They are small and simple, because for all my big talk, it was really a huge leap for me to even set foot in a tattoo shop, never mind actually sit down and let somebody inject ink into my skin!

For me, that's pretty crazy!

Wrap It Up

Have you wrapped gifts yet?  I usually do it Christmas Eve after the kids are asleep, so they wake up to a bounty of gifts under the tree.  However, I was just thinking today how my mom used to do it over several days leading up to Christmas, so the pile grew gradually.  I think that method heightened the anticipation for me, and it might be fun to do that for my kids.  I’m just worried that they might peek.  I did.  At least once.

I am not a particularly talented or creative gift wrapper.  I try to make it pretty, but it’s just not really my forte.  So I’ve searched for some inspiration, and thought I’d share with you some of the cuter ideas I found.

This one from Country Living has to be one of my favorites.  It’s a thrift store shirt wrapped around the box and embellished with a thrift store brooch!  They don’t explain how to make it look that neat and tidy, though…I have a feeling the back of the box doesn’t look quite as nice.  You could adapt this idea by using a square of fabric, and a brooch would make a pretty bit of bling on any gift.

Love this musically themed package! Country Living suggests enlarging sheet music of Jingle Bells and printing it on thick paper.  I have also seen piano music books at thrift stores; a page could wrap a small gift.

One more from Country Living:  using peppermints instead of styrofoam peanuts is tasty and pretty!

You know Martha can wrap!  These beautiful packages are wrapped in potato chip bags!  Carefully cut them open, wash with soap and water, dry, and wrap.  Pretty and eco-friendly!

 

I really like the look of kraft paper as wrapping paper.  It’s simple, but you can embellish it as much as you like with your choice of bows and toppers.

Family Fun suggests making “gift baxes” out of cereal boxes.

Also from Family Fun, some kid-friendly ideas for making gift bags out of lunch bags.  It would be fun for your child to present his teacher’s gift in a bag he decorated himself.

Do you get creative with your gift wrapping, or are you more of a slap-it-together type?  Hand-made bows, curling ribbon, or the ubiquitous stick-on bows that come in a bag of 50? (Not that there’s anything wrong with the stick-on bows!)

Later this week, I will attempt a tutorial on bow-making.  If you want to try it, you’ll need wire-edged ribbon, and floral wire.

Last Minute Gift Ideas

Well, I can’t believe it, but it is indeed pretty much the last minute for gift buying!

My sponsor Nanci, a Willow House consultant, says that tomorrow is the last day for ordering and ensuring delivery on time for the holiday.  There are tons of great sales going on!  There are special deals in the outlet:  check out this Southern Sippers Serving Bowl.  It’s gorgeous, and it’s only $8.96, and the set of four matching individual serving bowls is $6.96. 

Plus, spend $39.96 and get one item ($40 or less) half off!

Visit Nanci’s shop for beautiful and affordable gifts!

Michelle of Make 5 Dinners in One Hour has a system that will revolutionize your time in the kitchen.  She provides the recipes, the grocery list, and the instructions for filling your fridge with a week’s worth of meals in just one hour!

 

A subscription would make a wonderful gift for a busy mom (or dad) or working person who has to feed their family but doesn’t have a lot of time! 

Visit Michelle’s blog for recipes and ideas, and to subscribe!

Gina of Moneywise Moms is a super bargain hunter, and she shares them all with her readers.  Every day she posts, often more than once, about ways to save money on everyday things, and gifts.

Visit Gina’s blog for tons of bargain-priced gift ideas!

Amanda of Serenity Now is one of my favorite bloggers!  Her blog is fun and funny, full of great ideas and real life!

Visit Amanda’s blog for a fun diversion from all your holiday shopping!

Thrifty Gifty 2010 #5: Serving Tray (and Linky Party)

This is one of those projects that I knew I was going to use, but wasn’t sure exactly how.  I quickly came up with something tonight, but I’ll also share with you other ways you could go.

I got this serving tray at a garage sale a couple of months ago for about $2.



For this project, I decided to just Mod Podge some cute paper to the tray surface.  I spray painted the edges first, then spread on a layer of MP…



…then spread some cute wrapping paper on top, and did another coat of MP.  Most of you are probably way more experienced in the use of Mod Podge than I am.  I didn’t spend a lot of time trying to smooth out the wrinkles, so mine’s a little “textured”.  If I was really giving this to someone as a gift, I would put a little more effort into it.



Serving trays of various shapes and sizes aren’t too hard to find at thrift stores. Even a silver tray would work. You could do the wrapping paper, or use a pretty fabric, or the ever-popular chalkboard paint.  A monogram is always lovely, and if I had a Cricut, I would have done one in black on top of this paper.  It would probably be a good idea to put some kind of clear water-resistant top-coat on the whole thing.

Package it up in cellophane gift wrap with a couple of mugs and teas, coffees or cocoa mixes for a co-worker, hostess, or neighbor gift.

If you have an inexpensive handmade gift to share, I’d love for you to link up with the post!  I’ll leave it open for a few days, until Wed. Dec 15 at 11:59 pm.



You know the drill!

• you must link back to me in your post (I can’t find the button code, so if you want to include the button, use it like a photo, but still include my link)
• link to your specific party post, and not your general home page
• please be polite and visit several other participants and leave a nice comment
• I will delete entries that don’t link back to me or do not fit the party theme; I don’t want to be a meanie, but we gotta play fair

For the Christmas Cookie Gift Boxes, please visit this link.  For some reason the code to the specific post was deleting the linky list.

Thrifty Gifty 2010 #4: Monogrammed Candle, and Knock-Off Party

 

Today’s Thrifty Gifty is also a Pottery Barn knock-off.  These are my teacher gifts (along with a scarf I got for about $3 from Coldwater Creek).

I saw these monogrammed candles in the early spring 2007 catalog.  They were on sale: the 6”w x 4”h was originally $24, on sale for $14.99.  They also had a 5”w x 8”h, which was orig $49, on sale for $29.99.  Pretty steep for candles, if you ask me.

I picked up the yummy smelling Hazelnut Cream triple wick candles at Walmart for $3 each.  There are a couple ways you could go about monogramming them.  If you have a Cricut, by all means, use that.  I don’t, so I hand-cut my stencil out of contact paper.

First I printed out the letter I wanted.  Then I taped it to a square of contact paper, and cut it out with my Xacto knife.

Peel the backing off the contact paper and stick it tightly and smoothly to the candle.

Wrap paper or something around the whole candle to protect from overspray (I just tucked the edges under the contact paper).  Do the top too; I didn’t and the lid got a little dusting on it.

Go over it with several light coats of spray paint.  I accidentally used primer, but in hindsight that probably wasn’t a bad idea.  It might adhere better.

Wait a while for it to dry, and then carefully peel the contact paper off.

Party time!  Here are the rules:

• your knock-off entry must be made by you
• it must inspired by Pottery Barn, Ballard Designs, or Restoration Hardware
• you must include a picture of the original item from the catalog so we can compare
• it must be a specific comparable item, like my lamp shade, and not just a “this kind of has the PB look to it”
• you must link back to me in your post, preferably using my button code, which you can get in my right side column
• link to your specific party post, and not your general home page
• please be polite and visit several other participants and leave a nice comment

If you need more details, see this post.  Though I hate to do it, any entry that does not follow the rules will be deleted.  List will be open until Sun. Dec. 12 at 11:59 pm central.

Also, Monday I will have another Thrifty Gifty linky party.

Thrifty Gifty 2010 #3: Stamped Silver

This one is fun, and has many possibilities.  You will need some silverware, and a set of metal stamps.  I get pieces of old flatware at the thrift store for around 25c each.  I got my set of stamps (1/8”) at Harbor Freight.  You can order them online, or check to see if HF has a location near you; they have 330 stores in 44 states.

You’ll need to do the stamping on a hard surface, like a concrete floor.  I found it helpful to place the handle of the fork I stamped on a raised surface, so that the hammering wouldn’t totally flatten the handle.  I also had Craig hold the fork steady for me so that it wouldn’t bounce around with each whack.

This was my first attempt, which failed, but the photo is just to show what I mean by putting it on a raised surface.  I believe there are blocks made for stamping, but I don’t have one.

Now choose your letters, hold it as steady as possible (this is where Craig held the second fork firmly on the surface for me), and hit the stamp with a hammer 4 or 5 times.  If the stamp or silver shifts at all, you will get multiple impressions.

Here’s a little tip:  if you choose the word “eat”, make sure you stamp the E really well, so that the bottom line is well-defined, and the word won’t be mistaken for “fat”.

My spacing wasn’t the greatest on this one, but it kind of adds to the unique charm, don’t you think?

I went over the letters with a Sharpie, and then wiped the excess off, to darken it up a bit.

A set with herb or vegetable names would be a great little gift for a gardener.  (This is not really thyme, but it’s the only plant I have.)

A monogram would be pretty, or how about a personalized baby spoon?  I recently found a few demitasse spoons that would be adorable for that.  You could even personalize a set for your school-aged child to take in her lunch.  Really, you’re limited only by your imagination.

Do you have any cute ideas for stamping silver?  Do tell!

Don’t forget—PB, RH, BD Knock-Off Party tomorrow!

Thrifty Gifty 2010 #2: Canning Jar Soap Dispenser

 

Lest anyone is mistaken, I need to say from the outset that most of my Thrifty Gifty ideas are not original with me.  So just think of me as your Thrifty Gifty dissemination center.  That being said, I saw this one in Country Living magazine.

You’ll need a mason jar with lid (preferably one of the old zinc lids), and a soap pump.  All of these are pretty common at thrift stores.  You might have a little trouble finding a zinc lid if you’re doing this last minute, but they are easy to find and don’t cost much on ebay.  The project takes about 2 minutes to make, so even if the lid arrived in the mail the night before the gift-giving event, you’d have time.

I bought this soap pump for $1 at Goodwill, just for the pump part.

I have several aqua Ball jars with zinc lids that I got for $1 each a while ago.  However, they are quart jars and too big for this project, I felt.  So I used a newer pint jar (also from the thrift store, about 25c) and one of the old lids.  The old lids fit the new jars!  Now that’s great planning on the part of the Ball jar co.

Drill a 1/2” hole in the middle of the lid. Trim the pump if needed. Put it all together.  Done.

Much nicer.  I don’t have a problem using dish soap for washing my hands, plus this is supposed to be the “hand renewal” kind.

 

You could give this with a basket of other kitchen items, like cute dishtowels and fancy ruffled rubber gloves (you could probably make those yourself, too).

Country Living used an vintage aqua jar, and I would have if I had a pint-sized one, though I think I would want white or clear dish soap for that.

And just because it doesn’t merit a post of its own:  a few months ago, you may remember, I won a gift certificate to CSN Stores.  I used it to get this pendant for over the sink to replace the boob light that was there.  Love it!  And if you think my sink area is always this tidy, I’ve got news for you.

Thrifty Gifty 2010 #1: Monster Pillow

All right, here we go!  I’m being a little less strict with myself for this year’s TG series.  If I want to skip a day and do a post about something else, I will.  My goal is at least 5 TG posts.  I pretty much had to go into therapy after last year’s series, and I’d like to avoid that burnout this year.  So let’s just have fun!  BTW, there are at least 15 TG posts from last year that would still work as gifts this year!

This wasn’t announced previously, but I’m going to do an impromptu linky party today.  Add a link to your post with your inexpensive homemade gift idea.  If you want to use a post from last year so as not to reveal this year’s gift, that’s fine.  I’ll also have another TG party next Monday.

Today’s idea is perfect for children of all ages.  The original idea came from an older Family Fun magazine.  Skippy saw it and wanted one, so I whipped one up for him.  Meet Germie (as named by S.), the monster pillow.  He’s cuddly, tactile, cute, and each one can be unique.  You could tuck treats or notes in the pocket, and use it when the tooth-fairy visits.



This was totally free for me because I found some old corduroy pants that had seen better days, a scrap of denim, my button stash, and used the stuffing from an unwanted throw pillow.  You could go buy fabric at the store, which would give you more choice, but cost more.  Or you could find usable clothing items at the thrift stores.  A bag of polyfil for stuffing would cost around $5, and be enough for quite a few of these.

I was really free-flowing with this and didn’t use a pattern or anything.  I just cut out a random shape, front and back.  Make sure to make it at least 1/2” bigger than you want it all the way around for the seam allowance. It’s easiest to cut them out at the same time, but you need lay the fabric layers right-sides together when you cut.  You just want to end up with two mirror-image pieces.

Note:  the following step needs to be done before you sew the front and back together.

For the pocket/mouth, cut out a big U-shape of a contrasting fabric.  Hem across the straight edge with the sewing machine.  Then pin it to the front of one of your body pieces.  I hand whip-stitched around the curved edge to attach it, but if you want to machine sew it, you can.



Now sew the eyes on.  I layered buttons.  If this is for a young child who might potentially choke on buttons, you could embroider the eyes.



Next, put your front and back together, with right sides together, and pin around the edges.  Sew all the way around, leaving about a 3” opening to that you can turn it right-side out and stuff.  It can be helpful to use a chopstick or something like that to get the stuffing in all the corners.  Once it’s stuffed, hand-stitch the opening closed.

I didn’t know I would be posting about this, so I don’t have any in-progress photos.  Family Fun still has their instructions available if you need further visuals.  (For reference, Germie is about 11” from top to bottom…naturally, you can make yours whatever size you want.)

You may very well be able to make a Germie pillow for free.  If you have to buy clothing articles at the thrift store, it will cost a few dollars, but you should be able to make more than one pillow out of an adult pair of pants.  Even if you go buy the materials at the fabric store, I think you could get two pillows out of 1/2 yard of fabric.  My point is, it’s cheap to make!



If you have an inexpensive handmade gift to share, I’d love for you to link up with the post!  I’ll leave it open for a few days, until Wed. Dec 8 at 11:59 pm.

You know the drill!

• you must link back to me in your post (I can’t find the button code, so if you want to include the button, use it like a photo, but still include my link)
• link to your specific party post, and not your general home page
• please be polite and visit several other participants and leave a nice comment
• I will delete entries that don’t link back to me or do not fit the party theme; I don’t want to be a meanie, but we gotta play fair