gift ideas

Try These!

January 5, 2013

I’ve never been a lipstick girl.  My mom never wore it, and you’ll rarely catch me wearing it.

Over the years I’ve tried various lip gloss and have been pretty happy with them, but my lips would always peel and it drives me nuts when that happens.

I mentioned that to my friend, Lauren, the other day, and she mentioned Revlon Lip Butters.

Oh my gosh!  They are awesome.

They are seriously like butter!  They give you color, but are super smooth and my lips aren’t chapped!

Go try them! 

Mom-that includes you!  Thanks Lauren!

(This is not a paid advertisement-I’m just that excited about this product!)

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Handmade Gifts: Beaded Necklace

November 29, 2012

So I envisioned taking beautiful pictures of this project and having a detailed post.  Truth  is, I threw this together on my living room floor while watching football with my husband and taking a break from a sick baby.  It’s that easy! :)

Supplies:

Wooden Beads(Hobby Lobby has them for under $2 for a bag that had at least 8).  My stepmom passed these along to me!
Ribbon(thin, inexpensive spool)

As you can see in the photo above, I wanted to make one with painted beads.  The beads are painted, but need to be touched up then strung onto creme ribbon.  I like the natural look too so I added some unfinished ones to some sage green ribbon.

When you add the beads, make a knot before and after each one.  To get this chunkier knot, I had to make a loose knot then add another one on top of that one and tighten together.  It took a little playing around to get the right size, but you can do it!  I thought odd numbers were best so I added five beads.

My model wanted to be silly!

I made the ribbon extra long so it hangs lower on me than it is on A in this picture. 

Just joining this series?  Click here for more simple handmade gifts!

 

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Handmade Gifts: Hanging Chalkboard

November 28, 2012

Aren’t chalkboards fun?  I love the fun they add to any space.

This project is again, super easy to do and doesn’t involve any sewing!

Supplies needed:

12×12 Birch wood(at Michael’s-they have various sizes.  This one was under $4)
Drill
Chalkboard Paint
Ribbon

Get out the drill(or if you’re not comfortable, ask your husband) and drill two small holes at the top.  I drilled about an inch down and a couple inches from the center.

 After you drill these(make sure they’re large enough to string ribbon through), sand it down lightly to make it a little smoother(I forgot this step because I wasn’t anxious to paint it for you!)

 

Paint it using chalkboard paint.  If you don’t want to buy a whole can of it, Michaels has these little bottles of it for under $2.  I’ve been pretty happy with the coverage overall.  Great for small projects.  I applied a few coats because I didn’t use a primer. 

 

Once it’s completely dry, string a piece of ribbon through the holes to hang it.  Make sure it’s completely dry so you don’t get paint on the ribbon.  Then rub a piece of chalk all over it to season it. As you can see, I almost forgot this part.  Hold the chalk sideways to get the most coverage. 

Decorate it as you wish!

Make sure you don’t skip the light sanding.  I really need to go back and sand it then apply another layer of paint.  You can see it’s pretty rough and not wiping off very well unless you get the rag wet.  You can also see the knots in the wood, but I think the sanding would help hide those.

Other posts in the series:

Button Bobby Pins

Jute Webbing Banner

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Handmade Gifts: Jute Webbing Banner

November 27, 2012

I wanted to create a fun banner that could be used for Christmas or year-round depending on your decor.  The goal was something simple that didn’t take long to make(that’s what I’m all about!)

At first I was thinking burlap, but then I was in Hobby Lobby and saw this jute webbing.  I’ve seen it used to dress up boxes before and loved the look of it.  Then I realized it could be cut in half to make a really cute banner.  I grabbed two yards(more than enough for this project) for under $2.  It’s only $.99 a yard.

Here’s what you’ll need:

a glue gun(I got mine from the Dollar Tree years ago, it’s cheap and doesn’t have a stand, but it does the job)

twine(also from the Dollar Tree in the hardware section)

jute webbing

scissors

The first step is to cut the webbing in half the long way, like this:

For this one particular banner, I only added five pennants that were about 4 inches long.  So cut the number of strips you need depending on how long you want the banner, and then cut the bottoms at an angle like this:

I used the middle two strands of red as my guide and eye-balled the cuts.  As you can see in the picture above, the webbing may start to unravel so if you have a sewing machine, it might be a good idea to sew around it so it doesn’t unravel. 

Then you want to take your twine and figure out how long you want the banner.  Be sure to leave plenty of room at the end of the banner to hang it up. 

Once I cut the twine, I folded it in half to find the center.  That was my starting point where I glued the first pennant down:

After applying the glue, I folded the top tab down, over the twine(pressing the two strips of glue together).  The glue will hold the fabric together and should prevent the pennant from sliding along the twine. 

After gluing the first one, I added one to each side and then alternated from there. 

 

With these shorter days, the day light is gone before I know it so I didn’t get a picture of this on the chalkboard, but it could go anywhere.  It’d look really good on a chalkboard, large picture, or even the Christmas tree.

If you give this as a gift, take a piece of cardboard and wrap the banner around the cardboard so it doesn’t get tangled.

Enjoy!

If you missed it yesterday’s project was: Button Bobby Pins

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A Keepsake

April 24, 2012

When P was a baby I read The Mission of Motherhood with some ladies at our church in Illinois.  They were so amazing and inspiring-just what I needed as a new mom! One of the ideas from that book was to start a journal for the kids and write in it occasionally throughout their childhood.  [...]

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Personalized Baby Gifts

March 23, 2012

These were so fun to make!  I can’t wait to deliver them to my sweet baby nephews. They are identical twins and super cute.  I wanted to make something that would grow with them and were similar, but not exactly the same.  This is what I came up with.  Hope they enjoy them too! They were [...]

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