If you are anything like me, you have:

a). a big stash of creative supplies & a plethora of random items in your possession.

b). lots of friends, family, co-workers, &  teachers to buy gifts for.

c). little or no money to buy those gifts.

d). all of the above.

If you answered (d), you have come to the right place!

Today, i’m going to show you & give you a few ideas for a “handmade” holiday using stuff you probably already have lying around the house.

idea #1:

recycled glass jar

i took a simple glass jar that i had left over from some pasta sauce (washed weel, of course), glittered the top of the jar, and added a few simple strips of  paterned paper & a label from my kenner road october kit. voila!

i made mine into a “piggy bank” type of jar.  you can cut a slit into the metal top of the jar for easy insertion of coins, but make sure you file/bend down the edges to remove any sharp/jagged pieces.

you can also fill the jar with some treats, or any small fun gift.

idea #2:

mini board book album

I purchased these 2 board books at the target dollar spot a couple of years ago. they’re about 6×6″, very sturdy & come with a little button in the bottom right hand corner that says a phrase. the one i already stripped (on the right), says, “that rocks!”. i’m going to fill it with pictures of my daughter’s friends for her.

you can use almost any childrens board book. i found that they are usually laminated with thick, glossy pages that can be easily peeled back to reveal a smooth cardboard surface to decorate, paint & embellish! if the one you have doesn’t peel back easily, you can always sand/roughen up the pages to give you a surface that is easily alterable.

more ideas:

for a truly “HANDmade” gift…

how about make a wreath of your children’s hands to give to a grandparent?

trace your child’s hand onto brightly colored patterned paper & attach to a wire form. this a great keepsake to remind you and them of the size your tiny child once was (sniff, sniff).

how about:

a jewelry/earring holder using an old frame, some material or paper?

or using an old embroidery hoop for the same above idea or mini tack board?

i hope you make this the year of a “handmade holiday”…

your family, wallets, &  planet will thank you!

I saw this tutorial for bookends and I immediately thought of scrapbook paper. The colors in this kit were so gorgeous, so I decided to give it a try. This project is so simple you won’t believe it.

Supplies:
2 Concrete Bricks (Home Depot has these for 35 cents.)
Kraft Wrapping Paper
Patterned Paper
Sewing Machine (optional)
Adhesive

1. Wrap the bricks with the kraft much like you would a present. Make sharp creases on all of the edges. See…

2. Cut 14 1 inch x 12 inch strips or enough to cover the height of the brick with a little room left over. I then sewed mine together with a zig zag stitch on my machine – that’s optional.

3. Adhere strips around wrapped brick (they will most likely not meet in the back.) Make sharp creases at the corners.

4. At this point you could embellish the front with words, alphabets or other embellishments. I’m a simple gal so I left them plain.

Install on a shelf – beautiful! If you make them, please link me up I’d love to see!

hey there!

this month’s theme of summer reminded me that i have a few summer getaways coming up and every year i try to remember to either make or buy a little notebook to keep with me when i travel. next week we are heading to a wedding in florida, after i’ll be heading to cha, and then later in the summer is our annual trip to cape cod. i use little notebooks to keep track of everything from items i saw that i liked, grocery lists, books i want to read, phone numbers/emails of friends i met, to memory joggers for journaling on my pages later.

this year I decided to make a little vacation jotter using the july kit.

you’ll need:

• your july kit and add-ons
• chipboard (you can use cereal boxes for this)
• 3×5 index cards – you can purchase these blank and lined in either direction
• larger index cards to cut if you plan on making the bingo cover
• a cropodile or standard hole punch
• binder rings (you can get these at an office supply store)
• large eyelets
• gel medium (or other adhesive such as mod podge)
• the corner chomper or a standard corner rounder
• brayer or bone folder

Directions

1. using your cutter or scissors cut two 3×5 inch chipboard pieces.
2. cut a piece of patterned paper to 3×5 inches. apply gel medium to the chipboard and adhere the paper. use a clean brayer or a bone folder to get rid of any wrinkles. do the same to the other piece of chipboard. let dry then cover the back sides of the chipboard as well. let dry overnight.
3. round all four corners of 30 index cards. i used my we r memory keepers corner chomper which allowed me to do a lot at once. you can use a standard corner rounder it will just take a little longer.
4. round all four corners of the two pieces of chipboard. if your standard corner rounder won’t cut through, trace the corners using one of your index cards as a template and use a craft knife or scissors to round the corner.
5. decide which piece of the covered chipboard will be the front and which side will face the back.
6. using your cropadile, punch one or two holes in the top edge of the chipboard pieces. the location of the holes will be determined by the lines on your index cards. (for one hole I’d punch the top left.) be sure to line up the holes on both pieces. i added large eyelets to mine so the ring would slide through easily.
7. using the cover as a template mark a small stack of index cards and punch through using the cropadile – continue until all of the index cards are punched.
8. add rings through the punched holes and add embellishments to the front cover as desired.

you can vary the size of these jotters, use fabric to cover them, use graph paper or other paper for the sheets, and really make them your own. if you make one of these, be sure to link me up!  have fun!

You may have noticed by now that there is definitely a theme that we {the creative team} are working through on the blog this month. When I began developing the Constant Companion kit for May I really kept thinking about friendship, and I love that Jessi’s post on monday was focused around being a good samaritan, something that I believe can really make a difference in the world.

One of the things that i love doing for my friends is giving gifts that are a reflection of who they are and what they love. What i don’t love about gift giving is the price of gift cards and gift wrap. I {like alot of you I am sure…} have really made a focus over the last few years to be as green as i am able and I really believe that giving gifts doesn’t have to incorporate alot of wrapping or cost, it just requires some ingenuity and some personal focus on who your giftee is, and your scraps are perfect for creating quick and beautiful gift tags.

One of our friends recently made a move into a new house and I think there is nothing better as a housewarming present as a fabulous bottle of wine. Once those boxes are unpacked, or during if you’re like me ;), it’s nice to know there is something to savor for all of that hardwork and schlepping of boxes.

This gift tag took all of two minutes to create. I just stacked some of the Sassafras Lass chipboard frames from the May sweet dreams add-on kit and then added some paper {the striped pattern is from the rub-ons packaging} and a “welcome home” rub-on. Then I cut a slit in the top and thread the ribbon through and tied it around the wine bottle. Simple and very quick.

Another friend is expecting a baby in a few months and i found this adorable vintage baby lap quilt at the thrift store last week. I wanted to give it to her wrapped pretty, but I definitely didn’t want to waste a lot of paper on gift wrap. So I folded it accordian style and along with some vintage seam binding I added a bright and cheerful vintage style tag.

To create the gift tag I used some paper scraps from a few of the May kits and added them to the bingo card in the Mister Mister add-on kit. Then I stacked one of the October Afternoon Wild Cards on top with pop dots and added another Sassafras Lass chipboard piece with the “handmade” stamps from the Sweet Dreams kit {again, I used pop dots}. I love that the tag is bright and cheerful but it definitely has a vintage vibe that goes perfect with the quilt.

Here’s to new beginnings on life and home and hopefully next time you need a little tag or card for a gift you’ll turn to your stash. I know the recipient will love that you took the extra effort to create something personable for them, I always do.

happy friday!

ps : sneak peeks are sunday … any guesses on what’s coming next? ;)

we’ve got three days until the holiday class ‘joyeaux noel’ begins on monday, december 1st. if you are a subscriber or purchased the peppermint fields add-on this month your email with classroom access and password information has been sent out. send us an email if it hasn’t arrived.

and if you missed out on the kits and still want to join us you can purchase a ticket in our etsy shop here.

happy weekend!

xo