Custom Candle

Remember my Father's Day idea with the frame?

Well, here's my super easy MOTHERS day idea!! 

The best part is it looks way impressive!

Materials needed: 

Tissue paper

Wax paper

Printer

Blow dryer 

Candle

So, here's what you do; find a super cute picture and carefully print it out on tissue paper. I tape my tissue paper to regular printing paper to keep it from crinkling. Then cut it out and, with the picture facing out, wrap it around the candle using wax paper. Then blow dry the picture so the wax from the wax paper melts on top of the picture and connects to the candle wax. (I wear an oven mitt while I blow dry so I don't melt my fingers too ;) ) Then, carefully peal the wax paper away and ta-da! Super cute, super quick Mother's Day present! Enjoy! 

Oh, I have yet to burn a candle I've done this to, so I don't know what would happen. 

Cost: I only had to pay for the candle. I think it was $3.50

Time: about 15 minutes. Easy Peasy!  

Father's Day Gift Idea

This is a really simple gift idea, but really sweet too! 

Materials:

printer

picture frame

light ink (you want to be able to still see the print behind it)

Just find some cute fonts, print out the cute saying "my fingers may be small, but I've got GRANDPA wrapped around them" Of course you could do "DADDY" or "UNCLE" or "AUNTIE" or "CRAZY UNCLE JOE" whatever you want in replace of the "GRANDPA"  Then wrangle your baby/toddler and smear some ink all over their hands, print it over the saying, and RUN TO THE BATHROOM BEFORE YOUR ENTIRE HOUSE GETS INKED! (you moms know what I'm talking about) 

But seriously, that's about it! I did a very small frame so her hand barely fit, but you could do any size you want! add another handprint or two... have fun with it! You could add some fake leaves to the outside too, or buttons, or bolts... really make it your own! 

Cost: price of frame! I got mine at the thrift store for $1 

Time: 10 minutes plus drying time (you don't want to put it in the frame till the ink is dry or else it will smudge all over the glass) 

Toddler Gleeman Cloak

You guys, I'm insane. 

No, really. Okay, maybe not really... but I do have this habit of getting in over my head with project ideas. 

So let me tell you about the latest accomplished insane project, but first some backstory: 

I married a geek. And as part of my geeky-wife duties, I read (and by read I mean listened to on Audible- ain't nobody got time to read all that!) the ENTIRE Wheel of Time series. If you haven't read this series, what I have made probably will make no sense to you, but I will try to describe it well enough you can appreciate it! So in the books there is a Gleeman who is, basically, a storyteller. But not just like 'go to your local library' storyteller. He's like an all-out entertainer, with music and vocal talent and all that jazz. And you know someone is a Gleeman by a special cloak they wear. The way I understood the description first time through is it is a cloak that looks like it has patches sewn in all over and when the wind ruffles the cloak, all the colors show. And if you turn it inside-out, it just looks like a regular cloak. 

So with that in mind, I decided I should make a Gleeman's cloak for my little girl, so here you have it!

This is where the insanity comes in. I didn't even look at a pattern for this (which I really should have, you find out later) So basically, to make it all cutesy, I bought three matching colors for underneath, and then a cutesy black for the regular outside look, and a matching spiral design for the inside. 

Okay now think about that. How are you supposed to sew this so that it shows all the colors without any raw edges showing? It was tricky. I basically just made a quilt with flaps! 

Unfortunately that is where a pattern would have been nice! Turns out a cloak is not just a rectangle tied around your neck, and I didn't realize this until I was on my very last layer! Bummer... But I kind of tweaked it so it ended up working without looking too odd... 

Anyway, so here it is! Finished product! It is kind of odd, and bulky, and weird to fold, but it's pretty cute on Kaitlyn! 

Oh, and I just opted on easy for the hood and did patchwork inside and seamless black on the outside. 

There she is! Not too bad, huh?!  

She never stands still! But I think these pictures give a good idea of what it looks like. 

I should also mention I made this large on purpose so that she can wear it for a few years. No point in all that hard work if she's only going to be able to wear it for six months! 

Well there you have it! I hope you enjoy it! 

Cost: $50 (yeah, fabric is not cheap!)

Time: well I started it a year ago.... I probably put at least 30 hours into it! 

If you were to follow a pattern, the cost would go up, but time would probably go WAY down! 

Upcycled Bakeware

A month or so ago, my aunt took dinner to my mom. One of the items she brought was in this old, blackened, caked-on burn crud type pan, and she told my mom to just throw it away when they were done with it because it could not get clean. And the crafter inside me shouted "NOOOOOOO!!' So I snatched it and brought it home! I'm not 100% sure where I got this idea, but I know it's all my own. 

Anyway, so I brought it home and got out my fabric scraps and glue gun and went to work! IT was actually kind of tricky, not as tricky as I thought, yet a little trickier than it first appears. But still not too bad, and I love how it turned out! So I took all of my fabric and matched colors, and measured to make sure I had enough to cover all of it. It turned out I used 5 different types total. The purple to cover the inside sides, the dark green on the outside, then I got a canvas type of material for the bottom (and I just folded it under itself and stuck some hot glue underneath) and the ribbon from my wedding dress corset (we didn't end up using it for the dress, don't worry, I'm not cutting up such a beauty for a craft) to border the bottom to make the edge look nicer. Finally I used some tulle and just wrapped it around the handles. An there you go! I also thought about adding the beading around the outside rim edge, but I only had bits and pieces, so I didn't finish that. I may go buy some and finish it later. 

The final product is a tray I keep on my table. It looks so classy! I love it so much! If you want to try something like this, I think any thrift shop would have junky old bakeware you could use on the cheap! 

Cost: Completely FREE!

Time: 1-2 hours between thumbing through fabric and all that jazz. 

Purple Wire Ring

So, as I said in my previous post, I've never worked with wire. It's not really one of my crafts I work with. So this was my TRUE first wire ring. It looks great, right?! It was super simple too, but it's not very comfortable to wear. I think I need thicker wire... I'll experiment and get back to you on that! 

These are the beads I got from the dollar store, and while they're pretty great for dollar store, you can see the purple doesn't look so purple. Which is my second complaint with the ring, But other than that! I think it looks great :) 

Anyway, this one wasn't very exciting, but ya can't win them all! 

Cost: $1 for the beads, wire I already had

Time: 15 minutes. Super quick! Give it a try! 

Wrap it up Nice!

So,  don't know about you, but I LOVE presents. Getting them, giving them, opening them! I also LOVE pretty, done-up-more-than-necessary things! the more decor and detail, the more I love it! So when Pinterest started showing me all those adorable gift wrapping ideas, I decided I needed to join the club! Here are a few of my creations: 

This one was for my friend's Bachelorette party, so I made a corset box. It was a little trickier threading the ribbon through than I anticipated, but I think it turn out awesome! 

Then, of course there is my Fairy Godmother kit wrapping. I tried to theme this all around what I think a fairy would use. As you can see, there's a golden doily wrapped in rafia, tissue paper roses glittery leaves, flower adorned boxes... I really had fun with this one! 

And one I didn't show in my Fairy Godmother Kit:

How cute is this?! It was a Christmas themed box. So I just cut some pieces off of a brown paper bag, taped them on with wasi tape, and stamped a cute butterfly! The top is from a candle that has long run out! How fun, right?!

This next one is a wedding gift. There's a dollar store close to my house that has champagne glasses. SO FUN! so I tend to go spend ALL my money there. If you see a gift basket, it's probably a dollar store deal. (it really has the greatest stuff!) Anyway, since dollar store treats aren't especially fancy, I splurged and got some Martinelli's and Lindor chocolates too! Then I added the burlap, lace, and ribbons to the bucket. I think it turned out SO PERFECT! 

This next one is a birthday gift to my mom. I had a necklace hiding in the candy. This one was a quick one too, but I like how it turned out. I spray painted the jar silver (you guys, I LOVE spray paint!) Then I just dove into my cave of craft supplies and surfaced with what you see! Again, I think it turned out quite presentable, don't you? 

final touch, a swatch of fabric with the lid. 

Remember what I said about gift baskets? Yep! Dollar store! All except the Martinelli's. This was a real grab-n-go gift, so this is the only picture I managed to get. It has matching oven mits, hand towels, bowl, and green rubber spatula, tongs, and spoon! (and the champagne glasses too, of course!) Fun, huh?! It's seriously the greatest dollar store I have yet to find!

And lastly, for the chocolate lover! I have chocolate covered cherries in tulle with a crocheted flower (yes, I crocheted it myself!)  tying it together, tied into a ribbon with a Hershey's bar! Classic! 

So there you have it! Another brilliant way to let the creativity out! 

Just as a word of relief:  This isn't for everyone. I have heard a lot of complains about how Pinterest and sites like it are making holidays and parties and food impossible and ruining self esteem. This is something that makes me happy, which is why I do it. I don't want anyone to see this and feel they need to do the same to be a good person or to keep up. Do what you love! If you just enjoy looking at the cute stuff, but have no desire to make it yourself, GREAT! But if you do happen to be similar to myself, I hope I can inspire you and regardless of how you are, I hope you share your talents with the world!  

Fairy Godmother Kit

So, in my family, I have an aunt who was always pretty special in my life. Unfortunately, she lives across the entire country. So, when my li'l girl was born, I wanted to make her a part of my children's lives somehow. This is what I came up with:

Winner, right?! And the first thing I did once I came up with the idea was search the Internet for "fairy godmother kits" guess what it came up with... NOTHING! I know! I was shocked too!! You mean the artsy people who have made Pinterest what it is HAVEN'T come up with this yet?! I am very disappointed, artsy people. VERY disappointed. 

BUT that did mean I got to invent it all by myself. Which was fun! I wish I would have taken a year to put this together because I have found SO much stuff since that would have been PERFECT!! But that's okay! There are definitely more packages in the future. 

Anyway, I was super lame and didn't take pictures of most of the stuff :( so you just get these couple pictures. But you do get to see my super cute wrapping! And really, isn't that just so cute? I will tell you what I pit in the kit, so you can make your own! I didn't make most of these, because of the sheer amount I wanted to send, and I was trying to get it done ASAP, but I have seen lots of DIY for just about all of it. 

Kit includes: 

1: wings, crown, and wand- OF COURSE! What's a fairy without these? You can see the wand in this picture. It's the purple butterfly in the bottom left corner. Cute, right?! 

2: Fairy Party and Planning Book: "for when you are just too tired to think" ha! it was a very cute book filled with recipes, party ideas, decorations, etc. 

3: Cozy Comforts: have you seen those home-made heating pads? They are filled with corn or rice or beans or something, and you just heat them up in the microwave and put them on your shoulders? Yeah, it's one of those! Because being a Fairy Godmother is probably tough! 

4: Angel Pin: just a little broach to remind her she's my daughter's guardian angel!

5: Soaps: So I have a friend who makes her own soaps (they are AMAZING! I don't use any other kind of soap!) and when I told her about this, she found me some champagne scented soap with glitter on top (PERFECT! am I right?!), a cinnamon one with an actual cinnamon stick sticking out of it, and a pine scented one (fairies are all woodsy and stuff, right? Actually this one was my favorite and I'm DYING to buy another one for her for my own use!) They were such a perfect touch to the whole package! 

6: A Token of Love: this was just a little metal heart, but it was so cute and cheap I figured what the heck! 

7: Frame (with 3 pictures): I didn't think she had any pictures of my darling girl, so I found a cheap wooden frame, stained it all dark and pretty, and added spiraling rhinestones around for a fancy border! 

8: Bonus: Just a bit of fairy dust: My friend also had mini jars  (like the size of my thumb) with glitter and super tiny shells inside! It was SO CUTE! and she was so nice to let me have one!! 

How cool and creative is this?!?!?!

So there you have it! FIRST EVER Fairly Godmother kit! 

I hope I see more on Pinterest in the future! ;) 

Cost: You guys, I don't even know! Definitely at LEAST $50. But you could cut that down MAJORLY by making your own stuff!

Time: it took me two months to wrangle stuff together, wrap, and mail.