Friday, December 23, 2011

It's a Wrap!

I know I am pushing the limits of Christmas, having not wrapped a single gift.  Hopefully you are not finding yourselves in the same boat.  I figure, this post can be good for you whether you haven't quite started {like me} or if you are finished.  For the procrastinator, may you find inspiration to start....For the over-achievers that have it all done, maybe you would like to spice things up with some of these festive ideas.  

Candy Coating-So sweet I wanna gobble these presents up!

Rosette Flowers-Um...Love them!  Don't know if I would want to devote that much time to a gift wrapping job, but Gorgeous!

Cherry Wrap-This would be cute at holly and holly berries, huh?

Darling idea.  So simple, yet so fun.

Pull-Top Can Package-Cute idea too.  She recycles pull-top cans {can-openering the bottoms, taking out contents, then re-using the can}.  It would certainly surprise the receiver!

Another FABULOUS use for paint chips.

Thanks once again to Martha.  The link doesn't take you right there, but you will enjoy the ride!

Perfect especially if your gift was fabric related, right?

Love it!  Great way to use up scraps of wrapping paper or scrapbook paper you no longer want.  

These are beautiful, but the link is to a whole line-up of gift wrapping ideas.

An amazing Pinterest find.
She had days and days of lists of posts on creative gift wrapping ideas.  Worth every single click.

Here are a couple I liked...



Again, a little time consuming, but WOW!


Then there are the gift tags...
I thought these Gift tags were darling.


You gotta love this Bunting Gift Tag {etsy}

Then, if bows are your thing, here are a couple tutorials...




*BEWARE*  Wrapping can be so addictive one begun, that you  may begin wrapping random items from around the house...
like your Klenex boxes :0)

Grab a diet Coke, a cookie and let the wrapping begin!!!
Good Luck and Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Shhhh...Don't Tell!

I made this pile of scarves for all the ladies in my life back there at our family Christmas party in Minnesota.  Don't tell :0)  They will open the box Christmas Eve and find out there is one for each of them.  I am so excited!

Most were done the same way as the Fashion Scarf I posted a while back, but I also tried a new way that has been rolling around in this empty head of mine.  

Both turned out GREAT!  I knew more what to look for at the fabric store this time.  You want either very thin, light-weight knit, or heavy, drapey knit {for the shirred version}  I bought all my knits at SAS Fabric in Glendale for $2/yd.  You only need about 1 yard of fabric for the ruffled fashion scarf, making it only $2!!!  The shirred scarves I bought 4-5 yards of fabric for length, but was able to get 4-5 scarves out of each piece, again around $2.  I have seen scarves like these for sale at the store for anywhere from $20-$45.  I can't afford those, but I can afford $2 and 20 minutes per scarf.  That makes them a FABULOUS gift for my girls. 

Here is the shirred scarf.  This one was a little long, but gorgeous!  I had a really hard time putting it in the box.  I had a hard time putting any of the scarves in the box {selfish} but this one was probably my favorite!

Here is what it looks like stretched out.  You just "shir" the fabric in three rows.  I shirred the sides, then up the center.  Shirring is SUPER easy if you have never done it before you NEED to check out this tutorial.  The basics, wind elastic thread {by hand} into your bobbin, then set your stitch length to the longest it will go, and sew.  That is it.  It is just regular sewing, on a regular machine, but with elastic thread instead of cotton or whatever.  Love IT!  *BEWARE* shirring is extremely addictive and you will soon be searching your house for more to shir.  You can't say I didn't warn you!!!

LOVE IT! 

Now to make a second batch for the other group awaiting gifts.  There are girls all over the family, innocently sitting in front of their Christmas tree, totally unaware that they are about to get their favorite scarf EVER!
OK, exaggeration, but I can't wait to give these to my girls :0)
Good luck on all of your last minute endeavors, and as always,
Merry Christmas :0)

Teacher Treats

Got 'em done!  Here are the teacher treats for my kids teachers this year.  They both change classes all day, so they both have 7 teachers.  That's a lot of treats to make.  

I went with half of the cake pops ball-style.  I sprinkled green sugar crystals on the white ones, and used these adorable holly sprinkles to decorate the red ones.  The Holly I bought from Joanns in the Wilton section, but I also saw a smaller bottle {too bad I saw this one second} in the Christmas section at Walmart.

I used a tree-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the Christmas Tree Cake Pops. Once they were dipped and set, I added green squiggles and ornament-like ballies for decoration.

Here is the finished gift, complete with the printable I shared yesterday.  
I just found out that half the city has been out of school for day.  Not us.  We have a half day today, then it is hard-core Christmas partying the rest of the week ;0)
Have a great day and I hope you get to party hard-core-style too!
Merry Christmas!!!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

{Christmas} Treat Printables

I will add a picture as soon as I get them finished tonight, but here are some printables I made for the teacher gifts my kids are giving this year.  Thought I'd post them just in case anyone else is interested in them.  They are all designed to be sent as photos to your photo lab of choice.  

This guy is a treat bag topper.  Fold in half and staple to the top of a bag

I thought it was kinda cute, so I made it smaller to put on my treat plates to neighbors...

Then decided it would actually be good a little smaller :0)  You wanted the whole process of my madness tonight, right?

Finally, I added the tag with our family name so I don't have to write it on every card.  You can load this into any photo editing software with text and add your own family name if interested.

Now, to make cake pops for thousands.  It's gonna be a long night!

Bring Him Home


Just heard this for the first time while running the kids to school.
 Madison and I both bawled.
How could I get so crazy busy this season that I forgot about the brave men and women sacrificing their Christmas' with their own families so that we can keep the freedom we are blessed to have.  God Bless those soldiers and their sweet families this season.  You ARE in our thoughts and prayers.
God Bless You!




Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Gifts for Kids

My collection would not be complete if I left out the little ones!!!  Here are some gift ideas I saw that might make a good last minute gift for the half-pint in your life!  Some take more time than others, but these are things that would work for birthdays too if you don't have time this week.

This would even make a good gift for Grandma!  A kitchen she can pull out when the kids come over, then put away in a tiny closet until the next visit.  

Cute chairs that wouldn't be too much money or work, but get great response from you kiddos.

Charming!  I LOVE imaginative play kits :0)  
This is super cute and ready to be played with for hours.  It would be enjoyed for hours on Christmas day.  I can see the fort being set up, all the presents drug inside and kids giggling and playing for hours.  On my list!

What a great way to make a tutu!!!  It is so adjustable and easy to make.  LOve!

This book is cute and could be given as a kit, rather than finished.  With the book put together, an outing can be planned to go take photos of alphabet items.  That is a gift that keeps being fun even after the wrapping hits the curb!

I have seen a lot of paint chip activities, but as a clothes pin junkie, I am totally making this one!  Great gift for preschool-aged friends with very little prep time or cost!!!

I don't have time to make this for Christmas, but I can see Emmers loving the potato head family in felt.  She is crazy about the original version and this one is even more portable.

Years I have been wanting to make these.  Here is a great tutorial.  PVC is very cheep.  The connectors my husband says are expensive {they are like $.50 each-I have a different idea of what is "expensive"}  These guns can be made for a couple dollars and enjoyed for years.  My aunt made these for all the grandkids, then made bigger ones for all the parents and had a mega marshmallow WAR on Christmas day a few years ago.  Sounded totally fun.  Gotta DO!

How cute is that!?!  I can make this!  I have an endless supply of old tires out at the tire dump I take pictures at.  This see-saw promises hours of fun in the back yard.  We need a little more of that around here.


I am totally making these dollies.  They are so cute!  I am going to give the boy and the girl versions a try.  I am not sure I can make mine look this good, but I am headed to Hobby Lobby on Thursday to pick up some wooden pegs.  I will keep you posted.

This idea is a winner to me for the mere reason it includes STORAGE!  Brilliant!!!  
I also love any toy that inspires kids imaginations and mimics play like way back when I was a kid.  I wish my baby boy were still little enough to sit around all afternoon playing with little army guys or tiny plastic cowboys and Indians...*sigh* Why did my little boy have to grow up.  Make this for yours while he is still young enough to play with it!

Fun addition to any dress-up collection.

This right here is probably {in my mind} the most brilliant thing in this whole post.  You can bet I will be making these.  It is a maze made by sewing lines in the fabric, then a marble is sewn inside.  You push the marble around the maze with your fingers getting it from one end to the other.  What a fabulous quiet activity for the church bag or for children that need an isolated, concentrated activity or simply need to be kept busy to sit still.  Love IT!

So cute.
If I were a grandma, I would make these for all the grandkids...and one for me.  We are nuts about having pillows with us while traveling.  I never once put it up at my head, but use it as a desk for working while we travel.  A nice little pocket sewn on there and a handle for easy carrying would be fabulous.

I have long been in love with these car rolls.  Whoever invented the first one was a genius.  Thanks for letting the rest of us copy you :0)  Now if I could only find a little boy to make one for...

I would make him one of these too.  I love it when people make these car maps personalized to their particular city or town.  The local diner, bank, and grocery all shown with name.  Super fun.

Love the idea of wash puppets for baby.  These can be whipped up for pennies and in less than an hour for basic ones.  Nice last minute craft fix.

These are going to take me too long for this week, but a great idea.  Paper dolls that are not paper at all!  Make them out of felt and fabric for a much longer-lasting toy.
These babies will be around for your kids and then your grandbabies.

Super cute apron.  This would be great for at church or the restaurant where there isn't table space for the crayon roll.  Everything is held by the apron so you don't have to worry about crayons rolling all over the place.


Another fun activity that is totally portable and store-able.  Great idea and affordable too.

Kids can make other kids...
These monsters will make your monsters look forward to turning pages in their favorite books.  They make great little gifts for friends and don't take too much time to make.

How fun is that!?!  Your kids can put together a shooter kit in no time and their friends will be totally excited to play with it for hours.  I can see my son's friends really enjoying this one.

I don't know if anyone on the planet has a supply of extra charms, buttons, and do-dads like I do {part of clippie madness} but I am certain you could find enough thing-a-ma-jigs at the bottom of the toy box and in the junk drawer to make one of these I Spy Bottles.  The kids will have a blast looking for items to include.

Yep, you need to make the Angry Birds game.  You know you do.  Any kid would love a game kit.


super cute idea.  This would be great for Teachers {maybe with alcohol gel...or would that work.  Someone try it and let me know :0}, Grandparents, or even friends.  Have the kids create a work of art, then color copy it onto a transparency and insert it into the bottle.  Easy.


These paper blocks are fun and easy to make, then completely customizable by decorating the side as with markers or what-not.  Great for anyone, really.


Storing those toys that take over your already bulging playrooms...
Great!  Love that you can see what is in each bag.  Fabulous idea.



I am liking this mat.  Open, spread out all the legos, build, then pull the string and the whole disaster is cleaned up.  Brilliant!

OK, hoping to come back with at least one more list before Christmas.  One about creative gift wrapping maybe.  We shall see.  Good luck on your last minute prep and Merry Christmas!!!


Novelty Print Quilt Pattern

I have had a hard time finding good quilt patterns for novelty prints the past couple times I purchased them.  I made up this pattern so tha...