Housewarming Jar

The idea behind this craft was to find a way to give a housewarming gift that was a little different than usual. I liked all the stuff I found on pinterest for gifts in a jar, so I took that idea and I put my own spin on it. I started with a jug that is about 10-12 inches tall and 8ish inches in diameter (those are my very precise estimations...). I got the jug at Marshalls for $6. I would definitely recommend buying larger glassware at Marshalls, they always have an amazing selection for great prices. The reason I went with a jug (is that what you'd call it?), instead of a jar was twofold: 1) It's bigger than a jar, 2) It has more practical reuse opportunities. The gift is for my brother and his girlfriend who live in a 1 bedroom apartment, so space is of the essence, if you will.

I then spent some time collecting items to put inside the jug. Here's what I came up with: an artisinal soy candle in a stemless wine glass that smells like sauvignon blanc, 2 Himalayan salt shot glasses, a gray Norwex kitchen towel, and an orange scrub daddy.

 My next idea was to add a personal touch to this project by etching "Home Sweet Home" on the glass jug! For step-by-step instructions on etching, see my post here. I used all the same materials. This project provided a new challenge since the glass surface was curved. It made it more challenging to hand carve out the letters., but I made do.

Gifts to go in the jug.

I taped the print out inside the jug for easy tracing.

Cutting out each letter out of the contact paper with an Xacto knife.

The result was a little less perfect, but if you aren't looking at the letters close up, I think it looks pretty good!

I might go back and touch up a few of the letters, because it looks like there are a few spots where the etching cream didn't fully set in before I washed it off.

The finished product! I can't wait to give it to the gift recipients!

Happy Housewarming :)

Beer cake

Okay, this is a fun one! My boyfriend turned 30 on Valentine's Day and I decided to make a beer cake as a decoration at the party I was throwing for him. The party was going to be at a bar, so I found this to be a very appropriate decoration. This is a very simple craft, so don't be intimidated!

Materials needed: cardboard cutouts measuring 8, 10 and 12 inches in diameter (one for each tier), 30 beers of your choice (I used tall boy canned beer, but this would work with regular cans, too. I think you could probably use bottles, as well, but might need some extra support between tiers), assorted materials to decorate.

I used a large cardboard box from one of my many weekly amazon deliveries to cut out the cardboard bases for the tiers. I am not the best at circle drawing/cutting, so my cutouts are far from perfect.

I decided to wrap the cardboard tier cut outs in tissue paper to add some color to the beer cake. You could also use wrapping paper, construction paper, or even paint to  add color to the cardboard pieces.

I alternated colors for each tier.

For tier one I used 11 cans.

Tier 2 was made up of 12 cans. You could also put the extra 3 cans I used in the middle on the first tier. In order to truly use 30 beers, I found you have to hide a few in there.

The top tier is made up of 7 beers. 6 go around the outside and 1 in the middle. 

I used some yellow fabric to wrap the top tier. It is tied in the back, which also helps keep the top tier together for easy transportation. I hot glued the bow on the front of the top tier. I printed out the "30 beers for 30 years" and used some black and blue card stock to mount it. I hole punched the card stock and ran a yellow ribbon through it to tie it to the second tier. I used some blue card stock to cut out a 3 and a 0. Using craft sticks, I hot glued the number cut outs to the front center beer. You can have a lot of fun decorating this, as there is no wrong way to do it! I just used stuff I already had to decorate mine. 

Happy beer cake making!

P.S. One of these days I'll have a dedicated craft area in our house so all of my photos won't be on my wooden floors!

In Case of Emergency, Break Glass

I found this idea on pinterest, and I thought it was super funny & cute, so I decided to make it for my best friend for Christmas.

Materials needed: shadowbox frame made with glass (I bought this one), clear contact paper, Armour Etch cream, sponge brush, an X-ACTO knife, print out in font of your choice that reads "IN CASE OF EMERGENCY BREAK GLASS", & lots of M&Ms (I bought one of those large re-sealable bags and used about half).

I used an 8x8 frame which turned out to be a perfect size. Make sure when you print out the template you print it so it fits well on the frame size you choose. I would also recommend using a very simple font. The more swoopy-ness there is, the harder this project will be!

Step 1: Tape the template on one side of the glass so you can read the saying on the opposite side of the glass.

Step 2: Put contact paper on the side of the glass without the template. It is VERY important that in the step you make sure there are little to no air bubbles in the contact paper. If there are a few air bubbles around the outside (not near the lettering) it should be okay, but try to avoid at all costs.

Step 3: Once the contact paper is smoothed down, you can begin carving the letters out of it. Using an XACTO knife, trace the letters and remove the contact paper where the letter should be. On letters like "A" or "R" be careful to keep contact paper where the hole in the letter should be. Letters with cut outs are definitely the hardest!

Step 4: Once all the letters are cut out, set up a station where you will apply the etching cream. Etching cream is highly acidic and can cause serious skin irritation, so take necessary precautions during application. I used plastic gloves, but was careful enough to not need them. 

Step 5: Once your station is set up, use the sponge brush to dab on the etching cream. Do not smooth it, just blot it on. I applied just enough etching cream so that it was opaque. 

Step 6: Review the directions on the etching cream bottle to be sure about the time you should leave the etching cream on. I left mine on for about 15 minutes to be safe. I do not think you need to leave it on for that long, but it doesn't hurt to do so. After washing off the etching cream with warm water, you can peel off all the remaining contact paper. The last thing you need to do is reassemble the frame and fill it with M&Ms!

Voila! It's somewhat difficult to read the etched message in certain lighting, but I think overall this project was a success! The gift recipient loved it.

Happy Shadowbox Etching!

Gift in a Jar - "For your Mistletoes"

I needed an idea for a co-worker Xmas gift, and thought this gift would be perfect.

The materials needed are quite flexible. I will tell you what I used. A mason jar (Target, $2.19), a 4-in-1 foot scrub tool (Marshalls, $3.99), Neutrogena foot cream 2 oz (Target, $4), Essie nail polish - color of your choice (Kohl's, $6 with 30% off), Toenail clipper (Target, $1), Cotton balls (I had some laying around the house), a few scraps of cardstock, some sort of ribbon/decorative string, & a printed out paper that reads "for your mistletoes".

I like to print out a few different fonts & sizes because I never know what will look right until I am almost done with the project. 

In total, I spent about $15 on these items, with the largest cost being the nail polish. I am a huge Essie advocate, but going with a cheaper brand would bring the price down significantly. 

If you don't have a corner rounding punch tool, I highly recommend one. Once I got mine I had no idea how I ever crafted/scrapbooked without it!

I used some scraps of paper that I had to create this little gift tag. Since I only had a triangle piece of the snowflake paper left, I made do with a funky layout of patterned cardstock and plain cardstock. I matched the color to the nail polish in an attempt to be more festive. I wrote a little note on the back of the tag wishing the recipient a Merry Christmas, etc. 

In the end, the 4-in-1 scrub tool ended up too big for the jar. I feel like it actually brought more depth to the gift by leaving it sticking out like this. I put the screw top on the jar, but I left off the center cover so the scrubber could pop out. I reused some paper ribbon that was on a gift I'd already received. Overall I was very pleased with how simple this gift was and how well it turned out. 

Happy Christmas gifting!


P.S. Happy birthday Molly!

Penguin Gift Tags

I always put a lot of thought into wrapping presents. I love how they all look under the tree. This year I decided to make my own gift tags rather than buying them. I found this idea on pinterest, but I put my own spin on it.

Materials needed: cardstock in black & white (you can use another color other than black to switch it up a little), orange cardstock or construction paper, scissors, glue or double stick tape, ribbon & a hole punch.

 If you can't tell, I am not the best cutter. This seems like a trivial skill, but in this project I suppose it plays a big role. I think that despite my mediocre cutting skills, my gift tags still turned out alright. I don't think anyone will be inspecting the tags as they are unwrapping their presents Christmas morning.

The first thing I did was make template cut outs so I could trace them again & again to make multiple tags. I arbitrarily drew an oval shape on my black cardstock and cut it out. I did the same with white, making sure it was slightly smaller. Next I cut out 2 small hearts and a triangle shape for the nose.

I laid the pieces in the way I planned to glue them to assure they were the right size. Once I determined they were a good fit, I used them as stencils for the next set of pieces. 

Switch it up a bit by using different colors besides black to make your penguins. 

 I did not use the hearts and triangle nose pieces as stencils since they were so small. I cut each of these free-hand (it's not that hard!). I used double stick tape to attach the white pieces to the black or pink (or any other color you choose) back pieces and I used a dot of Elmer's glue to attach the feet & nose pieces. Then I used a fine tip black Sharpie to dot on the eyes.

The last step is to punch a hole in the top of the penguin and add a ribbon. I chose a Christmas-y looking red & white striped ribbon. I think yarn would also look really cute and work well for this.

The final product!

You can either write on the penguin's stomach or on the back (use a metallic sharpie for the black penguins) to address who the gift is for. I think these will be a perfect addition to all my gifts this year.

Happy Christmas wrapping!

Going Away Present

One of my friends got an awesome opportunity to move to Toronto for a year for a temporary job assignment. Although I was super excited for her, I was bummed she would be leaving. I racked my brain for a cute going away present, and this is what I came up with.

Materials needed: A bag or bundle of suckers, a piece of foam, a mug, some sort of stick (see below, I used a pen!), and paper. 

I decided to use one of the Starbucks "you are here" mugs. I would've gotten a Toronto mug, except it's impossible (maybe not impossible, but expensive) to get one of the mugs if you don't actually go to that city. Since her home was Chicago, I thought it was a good choice. I took the piece of foam that I got and cut it to fit in the mug.

Next I needed to find something to hold the sign that I made. I was not as prepared for this craft as I should've been, so I had to improvise.

I used a pen wrapped in washi tape since it was all I could find.

I stuck all the suckers and the pen into the foam. I tried to mess around with the spacing so that you couldn't see the foam. I used blow pops, but you could also use something like dum dums that may help hide the foam better! If you don't use blow pops you could change the phrase to "The fact that you're leaving totally SUCKS"

I printed a note and taped it to a piece of cardstock. 

I used a hot glue gun to attach the sign to the pen.

The result turned out super cute!

So, there you have it! A cute going away present that acts as a little reminder of home when dismantled. I highly recommend these Starbucks "You are here" mugs, but they may be difficult to find at this point.

Here is a version I made for a male co-worker who was leaving the company for a new position. I used all the same materials, except I used a cylindrical piece of foam and I actually got some craft sticks instead of using a pen ;)

Happy well-wishing!

Yarn-Wrapped Pinecones

I found this idea for a holiday table decoration on pinterest and decided it seemed easy enough to try. I only needed a few materials: pinecones and yarn. 

I bought 2 bags of pinecones (I know it seems silly to BUY pinecones...but if you get them from outside they could have bugs, etc. These were cheap, so I figured it was a safer bet) These are from Joanne Fabrics and they were only a couple bucks. 

I bought 2 different colors of yarn to add some variety to my project. Since this is a Christmas decoration, I picked red & white. Both of these bundles (is this the correct terminology?) were under $5. 

Next comes the easy part - wrapping the pinecones in yarn.

I started wrapping and tried to tuck away the end by continuing to wrap around the same spot for the first few rotations.

I wrapped in a variety of different pathways so as to cover all of the pinecone. When I decided it was enough, I tucked the end of the yarn in the bottom part of the pinecone where the crevices are tight and can therefore hold the yarn so it doesn't unravel. 

When I was done, I put all my pinecones in a clear circular bowl. You can obviously put them in any sort of arrangement, but I think it looks nice in a clear vase so you can see all the colors, shapes and sizes.

Happy holiday crafting!