Wall art or gift idea…

Kasaundra from Fishin’ with the Trouts created a beautiful easy DIY gift.  Here is her post:

I found a website that lets you design your own word clouds! You simply input the words you want to incorporate and input them as many times as you’d like that particular word large.  The downside is the site doesn’t have a way to save your art, but with a little help from the wonderful Brandon and Anna, I was able to have it printed up at Staples! The frame was one I already had on hand making the grand total of this baby shower gift $1.05!  I think it came out wonderful don’t you?!  If you’d like to try it go here.

Isn’t it awesome? Great personalized art and gift idea!  I actually have used wordle before and made t-shirts and stickers for my daughter’s band.  Lots of possibilities!  Thanks for sharing your creativity Kasaundra!
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Present Decor

Are you finished shopping for gifts? I’m not even close. My favorite part is wrapping them! I love giving gifts and making them pretty. Jennifer from A Hoot and Holler has a tutorial for the cutest felt flower clips which would be perfect for decorating a gift too. Here is her post:

Hand Made Stocking Stuffer-Flower Clip Tutorial


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This project is so simple. It’s a great way to stuff a stocking or embellish a gift wrapped for a little girl. Honestly, I have had several big girls ask for them too! I have not made a tutorial on my blog yet but I decided to give it a go. I know that there are lot’s of people getting ready for Holiday gifts. These will take about five minutes and cost you about 35 cents.

This entire tutorial was created with my sick nine month old in the front carrier. Half the time she was sleeping. The other half of the time she was pulling my hair or trying to grab the camera. Aside from the craziness, I think I was able to give an explanation as to how I make them.

First of all, to get started you will need:

-Some nice wool felt (Any felt will do but 100% wool felt looks the nicest)

-Matching embroidery thread and a needle

-Something for the flowers “center”. I used a felted wool ball this time but I have used rhinestone, beads, etc.

-one metal hair clip

-A glue gun

-Small scissors

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First you will need to cut two squares out of your felt a little bigger than your metal clip.

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Next you will need to cut a tiny hole in the center of the top of one of your squares. I do this by pinching the felt and then snipping a TINY hole into the top.
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Look! No hands!

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Slip the back of your clip through the hole you just created.

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Next your will want to put the other piece of felt on top sandwiching your clip in the middle.

You will take a long piece of embroidery thread (I usually just use two strands of it) and make a knot at one end.

Next, you will want to sew the two layers of felt together making your way around the clip as close to the edge as possible. I like to make my first stitch starting in between the two layers so the knot will not show.

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After you are finished sewing around the clip tie a small knot in the back and clip your thread. Then you will want to trim all the extra felt as close to the stitches as you can WITHOUT clipping your thread.

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Now for the flower pedals! This is the shape I chose for the tutorial. They are about a half of an inch.

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You will need five pedals for each flower. The next step is to sew them together with a long piece of embroidery thread with a knot at the end of it. Start at the v in the flower pedal. Pull each one down to the knot.

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This is what you will have when your finished with the flower.IMG_1320

Next you take the thread around to the back and sew the first and the last pedal together and tie a knot.

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Now just glue the felt ball or whatever you chose for your center on and then pop it on the clip and your set.

Enjoy!

DIY Baby Gift Set

Editing to participate!

Practice makes perfect. I originally made some bibs/burp cloths for my soon-to-arrive nephew. See the boy patterns I chose & DIY tutorial HERE. I had the opportunity to make some more for a baby girl. I love Michael Miller fabrics and they turned out so cute! Great gift idea!

This one is my favorite (damask/houndstooth). Front Side:

Back side is made from a hand towel
Burp cloth is made using cloth diaper
and
sewing a strip of pretty fabric down the middle
wild peace:

flower power:


Tie with ribbon

They’re so easy to sew. I made 3 sets in just a few hours.
The mother-to-be loved them.
No two alike…no trip to the store to return
doubles.

Great Christmas gift too!

Pretty Monogram Accent

This is a quick pretty home accent or gift idea.

Materials:

Wooden Letter (Joanns on sale)
Scrapbook paper (1 sheet did 2 letters and could do more)
Mod Podge
Lacquer

Sorry, I dropped the ball on pictures for a tutorial but it’s self explanatory/easy.

Instructions:

I traced my letters onto a piece of scrapbook paper (mine was a cutout type design).
Apply Mod Podge to letter. Apply Mod Podge to back of paper. Apply paper to letter. Let dry.
Apply a coat of Mod Podge all over the top of the letter and let dry.
I will spray with a coat of matte lacquer for protection.

Really simple, pretty and made with love. What do you think?

I’m linking to
DIY Day @ ASPTL

and
Home Accent Show & Tell

Dress up your gifts!

Gift bags made gorgeous from Jo at To A Pretty Life:

I usually prefer using wrapping paper instead of gift bags, because I like to have fun with ribbons and flowers, and I have always thought that gift bags didn’t allow me as much creativity. I may have to change my mind after making over these two 97-cent Walmart gift bags. This is how they started out:

After I added some ribbon, flowers, and tissue paper I already had, and tied the bag shut with jute string, the pink one was transformed from plain to pretty:

With the green one, I glued on the same ribbon, and free-handed a design with yo-yos that I made when I was 16 and staying at a crafty friend’s house. I have a whole ziploc bag full of these yo-yos, and while I think they’re cute, I didn’t ever have any use for them. This bag was tied with jute as well, and for a card, I tied on the little tag that came with the bag, and glued a yo-yo to the outside, both front and back. This green gift bag went from garden-variety to gorgeous!

Sorry for the bad alliteration…maybe I’ve been watching too much daytime reality TV.

Thanks Jo! Great job! I love making my presents pretty too!

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Here’s another idea that I sometimes do:
(Some of you have seen this at Evangeline’s Vine…it’s okay, I know you’ve forgotten all about it by now, right?)


A one-size-fits-all-shirt! Isn’t this a cute idea for dressing up a gift? I’ve made a few different money-origami gift tags recently and they’re a HUGE hit! This was my gift to my nephew for his 16th birthday. Everyone loved it and it immediately went into his wallet unfolded. :)



I also folded other shapes and tied them to the small gift package with ribbon. So cute!

Here are links to helpful sites. Money Origami and Origami Resource Center.

If I can do it – you can do it! It does take a few tries to get it just right, but in the end…it’s a great way to accessorize your gift. I’ve gotten big hugs in return!