Thrifty Gifty 2010 #6: Marshmallow Shooter

A few years ago these were the rage on my homeschool message board…everybody was making them for Christmas gifts.  We made a few and had fun seeing how far we could shoot the marshmallows (surprisingly far!) and also sent a set to my brother-in-law and nephew.

I’m not making a demo this time around, but I’m pulling these instructions from Camper Community.

Visit your local hardware store and purchase (per shooter):

• two feet (24”) of 1/2 inch PVC pipe
• 2 PVC elbows
• 2 three way junctions, also know as T’s
• 2 end caps.

Cut one 7 inch length of PVC. Cut five 3 inch pieces of PVC.

Tip: Place the PVC pipe in a vise and use a hacksaw for cutting.

Once your pieces are cut, assemble the shooter as above.  You do not need to glue the pieces together; that way you can take it apart for cleaning if necessary.

To use, take a mini marshmallow and put in the upper chamber. Blow hard and the marshmallow will shoot out the barrel, hitting your target with amazing accuracy.

These are really fun!  I’m actually thinking we need to make some more as the old ones are long gone.  Paint them if you like, and experiment with different configurations. This family likened it to Legos in that they take them apart and put them back together in different ways,and with different lengths of pipe. They would make a great party activity and take-home favors. 

I found a news segment video which will really help you visualize the whole thing.

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

Handmade Christmas in Review

Now that the big day is over, I can finally share with you the thrifty gifts I made for my own family and friends. I guess this could be considered part of the Thrifty Gifty series.

First off, my kids wanted Snuggies. Now, they are not terribly expensive, but 1) I still knew I could make them for less, and 2) Firstborn particularly wanted the free booklight that comes with it, but that only comes with the adult sizes. When I started looking into making them I also discovered that the back is open, which neither my kids nor I knew. Since they are just as likely to lay on their stomachs reading as they are to sit on the couch watching TV, I knew this wasn’t ideal for them.

I looked for fabric to repurpose at thrift stores, but didn’t find anything suitable. I ended up getting fleece throws at Walgreens. They were on sale for $1.99 each for a 50”x60” throw, and I needed two for each Snug-EEE (my version).

Basically, I put the two throws together and sewed a T shape, leaving an opening for the head and cutting away the shaded areas (also leaving the ends of the sleeves open, of course). I should have had her stand with her arms stretched out, but wasn’t thinking ahead.

I left them long to keep feet covered up, though I probably should cut a little length off since they’re tripping over them.

As luck would have it, I found book lights at Dollar Tree. I decorated the outside of the box, so they would “get” it. Cost for each Snug-EEE/book light set: $5.

For Craig, I made a felted hat from a $1 thrift store sweater, using this tutorial. It is grudgingly modeled here by Skippy.

For the kids’ teachers, I made the salt scrub. Hobby Lobby had scenting oils for body products in the soap making section. I did a peppermint-vanilla combo. Including jars, gift bags, etc, this came out to about $5 per teacher (plus I have lots of supplies left over). The kids didn’t really understand what was so great about salt scrub; when I told Skippy to write a note to his teacher on the card, he wrote “Mrs. B, this is some kind of salt”.

And for Dixie, who at Thanksgiving kept hinting that she was jealous of my sweater pillow, I made three similar ones, again from $1 thrift store sweaters (but I forgot to take a photo). I already was planning to and had the sweaters at Thanksgiving.

For me, Dixie made this adorable felted sweater pincushion, Betz White -style! I’ve been wanting one for a while, and then a few months ago the dog chewed up my old tomato pincushion, pins and all, so I really needed one! The dog, btw, showed no ill effects whatsoever.

It was a good hand-made Christmas!

Thrifty Gifty #15—Last Minute Gifts and Linky Party

Linking up with The Inspired Room and Funky Junk's Saturday Night Special, and Frugal Friday at the Shabby Nest.

Click on the button to see all 15 Thrifty Gifty posts. There's still time to make a few if you still need some gifts!

Okay, guys, as I hinted at yesterday, I’m suddenly in a Christmas crunch…I don’t know how it always sneaks up on me like this! Plus, my creative well is running a little dry at this point. So I’ve just collected a few quick ideas for gifts from the kitchen.

Always popular, gifts of food can be very economical as well as delicious! I’ve never heard of anyone saying “rats! another plate of cookies/truffles/cinnamon rolls!” Well, maybe fruitcake, although I don’t know, has anyone really ever eaten fruitcake?

Here are a few ideas that are perhaps a little more unique than the usual:
How about pretty jars of homemade granola? Melissa at 320 Sycamore posted a recipe her whole family loves.

country living

These Cran Crackle Bars from BHG have pretzels and salted nuts in addition to dried cranberries and chocolate chips. I love a sweet-salty combo!



Soup mix in a jar would be appreciated on a cold evening. Here is a list of about 2 dozen soup-mix-in-a-jar recipes.

source

Here’s one of our family favorites: my grandma used to make gumdrop cake every Christmas. It’s pretty, it’s delicious, and mini loaves would make nice gifts.

Grandma’s Gumdrop Cake

1. Cream together 1 stick of butter and 1 c. sugar
2. Add 1 egg and combine
3. In separate bowl, put 2 c. small spice gumdrops, 1/2 lb white raisins, and 1 c. pecan halves (which have been fried first in a little butter)…set aside
4. Sift together 2 c. flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cloves
5. Put about 1/2 c. flour mixture over gumdrop mixture…stir well to coat
6. Add remaining flour mixture, alternately with 1 1/2 c. applesauce, to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture…add 1 tsp vanilla extract
7. Dissolve 1/2 tsp baking soda in 1 1/2 tsp hot tap water and add to batter
8. Fold gumdrop mixture into batter
9. Pour into well-greased or lined loaf pans and bake @ 275 for 2 hrs

My recipe says this makes more than 2 regular loaves; I’m not sure how many mini loaves. You may need to adjust baking time for minis. I personally skip the raisins, but must have the nuts!

This picture is from MidWest Living; we don’t make it in cans, and I can’t vouch for their recipe, but gumdrop cake photos were scarce.

Last chance to link up!
Please follow the linky party rules. If you don’t I will have to delete your link, and that makes me feel like a big meanie. MckLinky will be open until midnight Sunday

1. use the code on my sidebar (upper right) to put my button in your post
2. your post must be an inexpensive (let’s say under $10, approximately) DIY gift idea or something you made using one of my ideas
3. link to your specific post, not your home page