homemade holidays: gifts of 2015

After counting them all up, I figured I made over 50 handmade gifts  this year.  Most of those gifts were small scale, but that added up to a lot of crafting hours, and not many sleeping hours in December.  :)  I promised my husband not to make anything for two weeks after Christmas, but luckily I have plenty of things to show you during my hiatus.

All of the projects in this post are lumped together because I only have fuzzy phone photos of them - sorry about that.  Guess that's what happens when you craft late at night and wrap/ship first thing the next morning!

I took advantage of the free house box printable by Polka Dot Prints for Design Mom and made a gazillion little treat boxes for friends, playgroup mommies, helpful ladies at church.  I paired as many as I could with an extra little gift, like a sparkly bird ornament or small pack of letterpress cards.

These houses were obviously designed for Christmas, but swap out that wreath, and you could definitely use it all year round.  A heart for Valentines?  Bunny for Easter?  I think I'll get a lot of use from that printable.

My L-Letterpress was working double-time, and I gave out a lot of notecard sets.   These were printed with the Ruffles Printing Plate, which I think is quite pretty.

For Oscar's preschool teachers, I made patchwork lanyards using the tutorial from the blog, Simply Cotton.   These are super easy to make, and only take 8 charm squares (5x5" cuts of fabric).  Just a note, if you are sewing them in bulk:  sew all 8 charm squares together first, then cut the long strip in half, essentially making two lanyards at once.  It speeds things up a bit.

Also speeding things up, use one kind of fabric and skip the patchwork.  I made a more neutral (wardrobe friendly?) lace print lanyard for my sister-in-law, BYU-Idaho's newest librarian.   Love you, Holly.  :)

I think these lanyards make a great, useful gift for anyone required to wear a name tag to work.  If I were having any more babies, I would make some for the wonderful nurses in the maternity ward.  I bought the lobster clasps from an etsy shop, twpmango (also got some cufflink backs ... but I'll show you those later).

Ok, last up in the terrible lineup of photos, I made three colorful clutches using Elm Street Life's Bow Clutch tutorial.  I love this little bag - it is the perfect size for the little necessities ... wallet, phone, chapstick, etc.  Anytime I don't want to haul my diaper bag, I grab my little clutch like this.  Admittedly, the pink one turned out a little wild (sorry, Megan!), and the polka dot clutch was somehow sewn backwards, but are still cute for a pencil case, make up bag, travel pouch ... 

Phew ... sorry again about those fuzzy photos.  I'll take better photos of the things I made for my kids.  :)

Glitter Wreath Tutorial

As seen on So You Think You're Crafty, Week 2!  Thanks to everyone who voted for this project.  I know autumn is behind us, but it is so easy to customize this wreath in seasonal or holiday colors.  It would be a great last minute (not to mention inexpensive) Christmas project, if you still need some decorations.

Supplies Needed:

• Cardstock
• various shades of fine glitter (do I need to mention that the Martha Stewart glitter is the best?)
  
• spray adhesive
• a wreath form (mine is 10 inches, and I found it at the dollar store)
  
• wire for hanging
  

1.  Cut out a basic leaf shape to use as your template.  Cut out approximately 60 leaves out of cardstock.  I used a 10 inch wreath form.  If you are making a bigger wreath, you will likely need more leaves.

2.  Divide your leaves into groups for glittering.  Spray each group with spray adhesive and coat in glitter.  Shake off the excess.  I used the following colors of Martha Stewart Crafts glitter for this fall wreath:  Smokey Quartz, Yellow Gold, Cinnibar, and Fire Opal.

For a holiday wreath, a selection of green glitters would look nice, especially with a big bow and some red jingle bells. 

For a wreath to last all winter, I'd choose a variety of white and silver glitters for a snowy effect.

 

3.  Add a wire loop to your wreath form for hanging.

4.  Begin hot gluing the leaves to the wreath form, overlapping the bottom tips.  The hot glue gun will melt a styrofoam wreath form a little bit, but it holds well.

 

5.  Continue gluing leaves around the wreath form.  I changed the direction of the leaves at the bottom, but you may want to continue placing them in the same direction all the way around the leaf.

 

6.  Attach a bow.  My secret weapon for attaching bows to wreaths is a paper clip (or maybe everyone does this and it's not such a secret?).  Slide the small end of the paper clip though the back of the knot in your bow.  Then use the large end of the paper clip to attach the bow to your wreath.  This works especially well on a paper wreath like in this project, but I use this trick on all of my wreaths (it also makes it really easy to switch out your ribbons).

Need a bow-tying lesson?  You can find some tips at Martha Stewart.

 

Hang your wreath and enjoy!

Cora's birthday carnival brunch

Baby Cora just turned two!  I guess that means she is not a baby anymore ... but we can just go on pretending, right?  The carnival theme came about because 1) when Cora arrived, our lives turned into kind of a three ring circus, and 2) I really wanted to reuse those decorations from Oscar's school carnival.  :) 

Of course, I used my favorite tool, Silhouette CAMEO for most of the decorations (banners, labels, vinyl, food picks, etc).  There are a few days left to enter the giveaway, and your odds are pretty good!  Also, I'll be posting the Black Friday deals on Thanksgiving day this year, so watch for that.  This sale is going to be the best they've ever offered, so you won't want to miss it.

I have to say, serving brunch was the easiest party food yet.  We skipped the cake all together and just served mini-doughnuts.

 For the rest of the spread, we had mini quiche, croissants, sausage, tiny yogurt cups, little pancake stacks, and apple fritter bread (which is crazy delicious, and you should totally try the recipe!).

The pancakes were my favorite.

But you know what was really my favorite from the party?  This girl.  She is a total nutter, and we love her to bits.

I made her a Geranium Tunic using the Children on Parade fabric by Sarah Jane.  I've been hanging onto it for a while, so I don't know how easy it is to find now.  It is one of my favorite fabrics ever!

So all it all, it was just a really fun morning where we ate ourselves sick and clowned around.

 Happy birthday, Cora!

letterpressed gift tags and note card sets

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you have a joyful celebration with your family and friends.

During the holidays, I tend to put my favorite crafting tools into overdrive.  Earlier this week I showed you a holiday project with my Silhouette Cameo, and today I'm sharing what I'm making on my L-Letterpress System.  First up, the cutest little Christmas tree gift tags:

All of the printing plates from this gift tag come from the Wintertide set.  First, I blind embossed the mini flat cards with the polka dot background.  Blind embossing means you use the printing plates without ink so it just presses the design into the card, but leaves it white.

Then I set up my roller with bright green ink and set up the tree and "happy holidays" plates.  

Simply ink the brayer, roll it over the printing plates ...

close the lid, and run the platform through the Epic Six.

Presto ... they come out looking practically perfect!  Just realized looking at these photos that I still need to punch a hole in the tag, but you get the idea.  :)

For small gifts and stocking stuffers, I also made several sets of these small note cards for various occasions.  Tiny note cards are my favorite when I want to include a card but don't have a long message to write.  I always feel awkward when there is tons of empty space left over.

Things that are both pretty and practical make great gifts, don't you think?  

Lifestyle Crafts has some nice deals going on for Black Friday:  

• All borders, boxes & bags will be 40% off
• The Holly Jolly Craft Kit will be only $39.99
• Free shipping for orders of $50 or more, plus a free Sticky Thumb dimensional

Plus, you can use my code, HOMEMADE, to get an additional 20% off!  Happy shopping. :)

Silhouette SD Giveaway! (CLOSED)

I was over the moon when Silhouette contacted me about doing a second giveaway. It was love at first cut when I tried it for the first time last June, and now it easily ranks in my top 5 favorite crafting tools. I use it for everything - party decorations, wrappings for baked goods, gifts, gift tags, clothes for my kids, etc, etc. It is already coming in really handy (and saving me money) this holiday season for decorations and gifts.

Here are the Silhouette projects I've had up my sleeve lately:

I cut fall leaves to attach as gift tags to yummy pumpkin bread loaves - a great way to dress up your baked goods for gift giving and customizable to any occasion or season.  I cut my leaves nice and large, so there was plenty of room to write a note on the back.

The women's group at my church made 30 sets of Christmas Advent Blocks, using instructions I found at How Does She?  We mod podged the blocks with cute holiday papers and applied vinyl numbers and lettering that I cut on my Silhouette.  At a cost of only $2 per set, this makes a great small gift for just about anyone on your list.

 My friend, Sonja, recently threw a Sesame Street/Elmo themed party for her daughter's second birthday.  She loves paper crafts and was painstakingly cutting out all her Elmo decorations by hand, until I reminded her of my magical machine that cuts whatever you want.  In no time, we had cut alphabet and number garlands and some Oscar the Grouch, saving her time and money.

My Oscar was appropriately grouchy at the beginning of the party until he was allowed to wander off with one of the table decorations (which was filled with "Dorothy"goldfish crackers).

Did you know you can import pictures from the internet or your camera to the Silhouette cutter?  You aren't limited to the (thousands of) images in the online store.  Which means you can cut anything you want.  Which is awesome.

I made lots of onesies over the summer using the Heat Transfer material, and now I am using it to make custom t-shirts for Christmas gifts.   I applied this dinosaur silhouette to one of Oscar's shirts - the tail wraps around to the back.

If you want to make your favorite guy a gift this Christmas, the Heat Transfer is a great option.  It is easy to do and looks so professional.  The hardest part is just picking the design he'll love most!

Ok ... so my new favorite thing to make with the Silhouette is temporary tattoos.  My nephews are all getting silly mustache finger tattoos in their stockings this year.

You actually don't need the Silhouette cutter to make the tattoos - you can buy the tattoo paper, print from your home office, and cut them out with scissors. So if you're looking for the perfect stocking stuffer for your Justin Bieber-crazed tween, or tough to please 9-year old boy, some fun temporary tattoos might be your perfect solution. 

If you still aren't convinced this is the best cutter out there, here are some links to my past projects:

Baby onesies and baby shower decor pantry organization birthday party decor custom t-shirts

So ... on to the giveaway! One very lucky winner will receive their very own Silhouette SD Machine (a $299.99 value). The package includes:

• a Silhouette machine
• Software for Windows XP/Vista, Mac
• Power cable, USB cable
• 2 Cutting mats (one for thick media, one for thin media)
• One cutting blade
• $10 gift card to the Silhouette Online Store

This giveaway is now closed.  Thanks for entering!

You know you want it!  Let's keep things simple ... there is only ONE way to enter: 

Browse the Silhouette website and check out all the amazing things this one machine does.  Then come back and leave a comment on this post by November 26th telling me how you'd use your new favorite craft tool for the holidays.

The winner will be randomly selected and announced on November 29th.  This giveaway is available only to U.S. residents (sorry - international readers!  There are customs issues with the blade.  I'll have other prizes available to you later in the week).  

There are three little rules:

1. There is only one entry per person.  If you accidentally enter more than once, please delete your duplicate comment (you will likely have to scroll to the end of the comments to view yours).
2. Make sure I have a way to contact you!  Either your profile must link back to a public blog, or you must leave me an email address to contact you.  Anonymous comments (with no contact information) will be deleted.
3. You can only win one Silhouette.  If you have won a Silhouette here or anywhere else in blogland, you are no longer eligible.

I'm also excited to announce a special Cyber Monday deal!

It is only valid on Monday, November 29, 2010, starting at 4 am and ending at midnight the same day.

Here's the deal ...the Silhouette will be sold for $199 (originally $299). Silhouette America has NEVER sold these cutters for this cheap! This is the newest version with more capabilities and newest technology - the Silhouette is now Mac compatible.

It gets better ... the Cyber Monday deal will also include:

1 Roll of Cream vinyl ( $7.99)
1 Roll of transfer paper ( $7.99)
1 Home decor CD (Value $55)
Total ($70.98)

All for only $199 - almost $200 in savings!

I'll have the discount code posted bright and early next Monday at 4 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. In the meantime, leave a comment and keep your fingers crossed to win!

a very halloween birthday

I'm sure by now you are all sick of hearing about Halloween, but I had to share a few more photos of Oscar & Audrey's double birthday party.  My friend, Sonja, and I put so much work into it, but it was such a great time!  Both of the birthday kids were in Halloween heaven.

I wish I had taken more photos of the decorations!  Sonja's house looked awesome - she made several cute felt buntings, including the bats pictured above.  There were also decorated lanterns, lots of bat silhouettes, and a gigantic yarn spiderweb that covered an entire wall in her hallway.

I made a simple cake (vanilla with blackberry filling and chocolate frosting), and decorated the top with cardstock cutouts (made with my Silhouette) to look like a haunted house, or "house of spooks" as Oscar called it.  Sonja made yummy nutella mini cupcakes, decorated with the cupcake toppers.  Sonja's husband, Jake, cooked up a delicious dinner of pulled pork burritos with all the fixings, and we also had clementines dressed up as jack-o-lanterns, spooky mummy sugar cookies on a stick, cookie bones, and brownies with cute jack-o-lantern wrappers (there was no shortage of treats).

Since the kids were mostly 3-years an under, we kept the activities simple.  After handing out the treat bags Sonja and I made, we sent them on a mini trick-or-treat to the doors inside her house.  The kids received stickers, spider rings, a piece of candy, and a pumpkin-wrapped brownie.  Afterward, we sent them outside to break open a pinata to fill their bags with a few more treats.

We ended the evening with cake, of course.  After Audrey beat Oscar to the punch of blowing out the candles, we re-lit them at least five more times.  I hope they got all their wishes in.

You can find many of the ideas and tutorials from projects mentioned above linked on my Halloween Party Pinterest Board.