Twine Napkin Holders

I thought I would add these twine napkin holders to my week of homemade gifts.  An easy, homemade, inexpensive gift.

I purchased these beautiful avocado green shower curtain rings for next to nothing.  Yea, I was wondering why they didn't just give them to me.  I mean, who has avocado green in their house decor? 

I took some twine and hot glue and transformed them into some pretty napkin holders.  I had a little help from my sidekick Bella.  She was a little nervous about messing up.  I said she will do wonderfully.  And, she did.

This isn't a difficult project and it is very inexpensive to make. 

Supplies needed:
shower curtain rings
twine (ribbon, washi tape, material)
hot glue

Bella and I used twine. 

This is pretty simple.

Cut a good length of twine.  Place a small amount of hot glue on the inside and put the end of the twine down and apply a small amount of pressure. 

 

Wind the twine around the ring, adding hot glue to the inside every so often.  Make sure the twine is tight, you don't want the avocado green peeking through.  When you are done, hot glue the end so it is on the inside of the ring.

 

If you want, you can embellish the napkin ring by gluing on a button, a leaf or fancy jewel.

This is a project that a child can do (with help).  Bella helped me make a few napkin holders.  I had to handle the hot glue gun, but, she did a great job with wrapping the twine. 

I know we did a good job. 

 

Nick came over to me and said that they were cool.

 

Homemade Note cards

Today we are making homemade (handmade?) note cards.  I'm cheating a little.  The cards are already made.  They are blank cards with envelopes that you can find at Michael's in the dollar bin. 

So, I guess we are done for the day....

Oh, right.  We should probably pretty them up. 

This is another great gift to make for someone. It's also a great gift that a child can make for someone.  (PSSST!  Makes a great Secret Santa gift, too!)

I enlisted my favorite side kick, Bella, to help me with this process.  She's artsy and would get a kick out of making some cards for someone. 

I took a stab at making a couple of cards myself.  I used a punch and punched all around the outer edges of the card.  I decided to add some red paper underneath it to make it stand out a little. 

                                       

On the second card, I used the same punch and only punched down one side of the card

At this point, I let my sidekick jump in and take this all to another level.  I told her there were no limits to what she could do to the card. (scary thought)  I told Bella that the cards were to be given as gifts so someone else can use them when they want to send a note (or letter).  Bella didn't understand why anyone would want a card that didn't say anything inside it.  She said her friends would think it was weird that she didn't write inside the cards.  I then had to go into this long explanation about blank cards. 

Once that 4 hour conversation about blank cards finished, I let Bella release her inner creative self and do some work on the boring blank cards.  I think she did pretty good.

 

decorative note cards

All set and ready to be gifted. 
Not to Bella's friends, tho.  They will think it's weird.

Homemade Lotion Bars

I am loving my homemade lotion that I make.  The last time I made it I used Cocoa Butter and I think I like it a lot better.  It's not as greasy as the Shea butter.  It seems to soak in a lot faster.   If you want to view the recipe, click HERE.

My problem is when I'm out and about and need to put some lotion on my hands.  The cold weather seems to dry my hands out pretty quickly and bringing my big glass jar with me everywhere might prove to be a bit difficult (unless I get a larger purse?).  So, I thought why not make a lotion bar so I can bring it with me. 

Why am I adding this post this week?  Because a lotion bar made of natural ingredients makes a wonderful holiday gift for that someone special.  That someone special might just be you, so, make an extra for yourself! 

I got this recipe from Crunch Betty.  You can visit her website by clicking here.  She has some cool things on her site.  Look around. 

I'm not going to go into all the details with lots of pictures.  Crunchy Betty did a great job with pictures and step by step instructions.

Here's the recipe:

Simple Lotion Bar Recipe

Equal parts of:  beeswax, shea butter, and sweet almond oil (or any other carrier oil your heart desires)*

15 drops essential oil of your choice (optional)

*I used cocoa butter (because that is what I had on hand and I like how it turned out in my last batch of homemade lotion)

 

You knew it would be a heart shaped lotion bar, didn't you?  What other shape would I make?

I have to say I love them!  I don't have a tin to keep my lotion bar in.  I have been putting it in a plastic snack bag so it doesn't get all over the inside of my purse. 

If you make them, let me know how yours turn out.  I would love to hear about it!

Homemade Hot Chocolate

I know.  You see recipes for homemade Hot Chocolate all over the Internet.  But, you have to admit, it makes a great gift for someone this time of year (it's about 7 degrees F as I write this post).

I made the mix and had several cups of hot chocolate made so I could take some pictures, but, they all disappeared.  I was a little bummed, but, I took it as a good sign when all of the mugs came back empty.  :)

Here's a picture of my cup of hot chocolate.  (not as exciting as the four mugs I made)

 

Try making it yourself.  It's really easy to make.  Here's the recipe:

Hot Chocolate Mix

 

2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup cocoa

2 1/2 cups powdered milk

2 teaspoons of cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

 

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.

To use:  add 1/4 cup of hot chocolate mix in your cup.  Pour in hot water and stir.

Seal the rest in an airtight container.

(you can also use warm milk instead of water)


The best thing about gifting Hot Chocolate is making it look festive. 

A couple of ideas:

Put the hot chocolate in a bag and put inside a nice mug.  Maybe add a small bag of marshmallows.

Put the hot chocolate in a glass jar and tie a pretty ribbon around the jar.

I purchased a package of cone shaped bags and added the hot chocolate.  I put some marshmallows on top and tied it off.

 

hot chocolate gift

 

hot chocolate gift with mug

Don't forget to add a pretty tag with instructions!

Cheers!

Handmade Felt Heart Ornaments

I'm so excited about this week's "Handmade" gift ideas.  These gift ideas are especially great for Secret Santa gifts!  They are not very expensive to make (you might have most/all of the materials on hand!)  Some of these gifts can be made by children.  And on some, your child can help you. 

Enough talking about it....Let's get started!

I thought I would start out the week with Felt Heart Ornaments.  I chose hearts because I like hearts.  I guess you can use another shape if you like.  I thought this would be an easy gift idea to make for someone on your list.  This ornament is also a great idea for a Secret Santa gift. 

I don't have pictures for everything I did when making this ornament.  I do have step by step instructions on how to make the felt ornament.

Here we go....

Supplies needed:
Paper
pencil
pins (optional)
felt (I used white, off white would look good, too)
buttons (I used red and stayed with the same color)
thread (color of your felt and the color of your buttons)
stuffing (cotton balls will work, too)
scissors
ribbon

Draw a heart.  Best done free hand.  And, don't try to draw the perfect heart.  I know it's hard.  I love drawing perfect hearts.

I drew my heart so it was a little longer and thinner.

 

Cut the heart out and pin to felt and lightly trace onto the felt using the pencil. 


Cut hearts out and match up and start sewing on the buttons (mine are sewn on randomly). 

Once the buttons are sewn on both hearts, sew the two hearts together (buttons on the outside).  Take your ribbon (you don't need much, just enough so you will be able to hang onto a tree...say, 5 inches?) and fold in half and sew (I made sure that mine was sticking out of the middle on top of the heart). 

Once the ribbon is attached, you can use your pins to pin the two hearts together to make it easier to sew.  Now you can start sewing your hearts together.  (I used white thread on my white hearts, feel free to use a different color)

Once you are halfway around, stuff your hearts and finish sewing up your ornament.

felt heart ornament

All ready for the tree!

We made it!

Ahhhh, paradise!

Sorry for the lack of posts.  This job thing just gets in the way of my blogging life.

I have several posts in the works.  Next week I am going to attempt handmade holiday gift ideas.  I thought this would be the perfect time since we still have a few weeks until Christmas.  These are really simple ideas.  Time to get your craft on and crank out some gifts. 

I have several ideas and am hoping to have enough to fill the week.  (wish me luck)