Enjoy Project | Making Banners

“what day is it?"
"it's today," squeaked piglet.
"my favorite day," said pooh.
aa milne  

Before Janet had Edith there was a darling and refined Favorite Things Party thrown in her honor.

Eight ladies enjoyed peach fizzy drinks, tilapia, quinoa with beans, and oven-baked green beans.  I felt like such a lady.  

If you've never heard of a Favorite Things Party, let me introduce you!  Eight woman. Those eight women bring seven gifts each.  (My seven gifts were in the butterfly boxes! I gave some marker pens I adore.)  There is usually a price range of about $10 each gift ($70 total).  At the party, each woman gives her seven gifts away, and then receives seven new gifts!  It's like a grown-up white elephant meets Oprah's Giveaways.  You can see white serving platters in the picture - I love mine! And I also got a new chopping knife, some pretty darn cool soap, a reusable shopping bag, and more!  Each woman gifts one of her daily-life "favorite things" so everyone leaves with treats! Fun idea, huh?

For today's "making things" post, I have to give props to Becca (the host of the shower/party) for her banner idea.  Flag bunting has kind of had it's day (in my opinion), so I'm always on the lookout for new banner/garland ideas.  Becca punched different colored craft paper with a nice big paper punch. She then stitched them together with a sewing machine! I was impressed ;) It'd be fun to get creative with different shapes and layering styles and colors! Oh my!

I wish I could just take home an Edith. I am so in love.

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Enjoy Project | Making Gift Boxes

success is fickle, but creativity is a gift.

tommy shaw

Haaallloooo friends near and far!  Though today's project was technically a Valentines gift, I cannot wait to use the idea again on client packages, birthday presents, baby shower gifts, and more!  Wouldn't it be fun to write out a new baby's name?  Or a couples' initials?  Or one word you think just "fits" the occasion? I'll answer that: Yes, it'd be fun. You can obviously use as many or as few boxes as you need, for any occasion under the sun!  Heck, you can make one and send it to me for no darn'tootin reason at all! BECAUSE FUN IS ALWAYS FUN, not just on special holidays.  A'right.  Let's get it on like Donkey Kong.  To start with you need to print out letters and cut them out very, very carefully.  

Next, you tape the letters onto your gift boxes (I bought 50 square boxes online... You can pretty much get these anywhere).  I used painters tape (the blue or green kind) so that it would be easy to pull the letters off and they wouldn't rip or shred the boxes. Press the corners down hard!

And then spraaaaay awaaaaay!  This literally took 11 seconds.  So easy.  If you wanted to tape along the sides of the boxes with painters tape, I'm sure that would look beautiful.  I didn't because I'm lazy and dumb.  

After the spray paint has dried for 15 minutes or so, peel the letters off!  And wa-la!  I used chalkboard spray paint... but I think you can use whatever kind you want.  I think?  I didn't try.  Because I'm lazy and it was really cold outside.  

This part of the project is a take-it-or-leave-it part ;)  I wrote a word with a chalk pen (the kind they use at Starbucks or for menu boards at restaurants) that described my man starting with the letter on the box.  Inside the box was a little gift that went along with that word.  Somehow it really wasn't complicated... it seems trickier now that I'm typing it!

To contrast the dark and simple exterior, I wanted the insides of the boxes to be like exploding fireworks in a dark moonlit night! (Too much...? Yeah.)

Okay, so one of his "O" words outside the box was "Oh-so-kind!" (which is fully cheating, but YOU try to come up with a word starting with O that describes kindness!). Octopus on the oven (I'm trying to set a world record for "O" usage in a paragraph.  Oliver.)  Inside the "Oh-so-kind!" box was his favorite candy bars, so he'll "Stay Sweet!" Candy is sweet, sweet is kind, I'm kind and give him candy - it really all works so well. Oprah is at the opera in Oklahoma.

I filled these boxes up by paying next to nothing.  Many of the items were either free treats in my gift box at Alt Summit (like the black SquareSpace beanie, canned Izze, and other items) or were bought using gift cards from Alt Summit (I got a free $20 gift card to PinHole Press just for attending their mini-party!) He also got a wooden pocket knife with his name engraved on it that I bought in Park City during the Sundance Festival for $9.  Add some ever necessary mints and gum (come on, we ARE dating after all), cheap disposable cameras for a new date-night activity and a hand-written letter, and he really had it pretty good!  Even though his girlfriend is a cheapskate ;) (He instagrammed all of his goodies if you want to see)

(I was pretty proud of my other O word: over-the-top.  He is one of those people who has to go above and beyond in everything he does, he's not satisfied unless an idea is the very very best it can be.  Basically, he's a perfectionist to the core.  So his gift inside "over the top" was a blank PinHole Press notepad where I encouraged him "to stay dreaming!" I love all of his grand, nearly-impossible dreams.)

Turned out better then I expected!

To make sure the boxes didn't empty themselves during transportation (a friend hid them for me in his basement apartment), I tied these babies up with peach string!  Which was two tons of total fun in and of itself.

Fun, huh? :)

Enjoy Making Things | Glossy Watercolor Tabletop

“in creating, the only hard thing is to begin; 
a grass-blade's no easier to make than an oak. ”
james russel lowell

Good moooorning, Blog Faaaamily! Thank you so very much for all the kind feedback and general excitement regarding the blog and my latest posts.  It helps me stay motivated to press on!  (What kind of terrible person am I that I could lose motivation after only two days? I don't know.)  But truly, your comments and such bless my heart (said in a Southern Mama Cass voice.)

MAKING THINGS! You ready? Today we are making things!  A new glossy, happy, colorful, shiny, fun tabletop to replace a dingy, busted, drab tabletop.

This cute little table is an oddity.  It's perfect for parties, maybe for a breakfast nook... but not much else.  At least that I can come up with.  It's too big to be a side table, to small to be a desk, too cute to be garbage, and too banged up to really, really fix.  If this little guy is going to be mostly used for parties and cute meals, I decided to kick up it's personality a notch. 

I started by sanding down the table top and legs.  Nothing beats that smooth, fresh surface for paint.

After sanding, Sweet Table received two new coats of bright white matte paint.   This is where the fun begins.  All the other stuff is boring and mandatory.  Now we get to add some cuh-lllllah!

I googled around for a homemade watercolor paint recipe.  The one I used is as easy as they come: mix together three tablespoons of baking soda, three tablespoons of corn starch, three tablespoons white vinegar, and 1.5 teaspoons corn syrup.  When fizzing stops, separate into containers, add drops food coloring and wa-la! You have made your own inexpensive paint!

The paint is a little but gritty, which worked perfectly for this project because it seemed to settle into the wood and not slide around on top.  It probably wouldn't be the best watercolor to use on paper (I'm only guessing though). 

Before I began painting I had already planned what I wanted to do: a colorful thatched pattern!  I definitely wanted it to be "imperfect" and casual.  That look was also easier then making it perfect and very straight.  I love it when my design taste and laziness work together ;) (ps.  I painted with eye-shadow brushes! They cleaned up just fine when I was done.)

The next step to the project was adding an epoxy glaze on the tabletop (I used this brand... and it was $10 cheaper at my local Home Depot!  And I used about 1/3 of the product for this table).  I didn't want the white matte paint to scratch or the watercolor to peel off, so after so research I ended on the hard plastic glaze look.  It'll be easy to clean and I think gives the old table a bit of a modern edge - kind of like those snazzy clear lucite chairs? Hey? (Don't you like my lackluster photography job? I poured the glaze at night, my iphone was right there... I caved to temptation.)

After I let it dry overnight, I had a fun new table!  I decided to give Sweet Table some props... maybe for a small ladies breakfast? This is, after all, the perfect party and breakfast table! I've never seen such a cute mimosa bar ;)











Make sure you let everything dry really well!  I did this project over a couple of days, one little step at a time.  Fresh white paint: dried over night.  Watercolor paint: dried overnight.  Glaze: dried over night.  I would love to try this with other objects! Maybe wooden frames or shelves?  I simply adore the shine and the color! You think you'd ever give this idea a whirl? :D

Christmas Crafts {Personal}

he puzzled and puzzed till his puzzler was sore. 

then the grinch thought of something he hadn't before. 

maybe Christmas, he thought, 

doesn't come from a store. 

maybe Christmas, perhaps,

means a little bit more! 

how the grinch stole christmas | narrator

--


He is an Angel.  Or at least that's His nickname around here.  All my friends love to tease Him for His super conservative personality, over-the-top honest and kind ways, and His naive precious demeanor.  They joke "don't taint the Angel's wings!"  Sometimes when we are all hanging out and He's sleepy everyone calls Him "Baby Angel."  Ladies and Gentlemen, we have entered a new season of nickname-ness: The Christmas Angel.  This handsome mister I am dating is obsessed with Christmas.


And since this is his first Christmas away from his homeland, I want it to be super-definitley-marvelously wonderful for him.  Beginning the day after Thanksgiving I've planned one Christmas activity per day.  We'll see if I can actually pull it off.  Since this blog has been a bit on the lonely side since He came along, I decided to show you some of our Christmas fun!


The 8mm Video App and ReelDirector App changed my life.  At least my video shooting and editing life.  We've been driving nearly every other Sunday to spend the day with some of our favorites, the Shorey/Baxter clan.  Elizabeth (Shorey) Baxter had her first baby a few days ago.  We spent the day driving, singing Christmas carols, talking, eating, watching football, holding a little guy, Muppet-ing and enjoying each other.

Then we got into craft mode.  I saw these yarn-wrapped letters on Pinterest a while ago.  I had the blessed idea to do this with a short holiday word.  Good idea, huh?

No. These letters were Christmas Purgatory - temporary and unusual punishment.  Word to those who think this looks fun: Use sans serif wooden letters.  Those horrible, terrible, curvy serifs really make your  throat tighten and pits warm up.  He saved the day with His newfound crafting skills - but it even took Him over two hours to complete just the N.  Boo to serifs. Booooo.
(This lady, however, took a different approach to serifs.  Might be worth a shot?)

Thankfully neither of us were ruined for yarn-wrapping crafts. These yarn wreaths have been all over the inter-webs and homes the past few years.  I decided to go ahead and make my first one.  SO easy.  So great.  Love it.

What could be better then a big wreath? Mini wreaths! Made out of shower curtain rings! These are actually fast to make, the options are endless, they are darn-tootin' adorable, and they make great Christmas ornaments!  We just had a ball working on them.

When you buy yarn and you can't knit, you must do something with it.  I spotted some cute yarn trees made from styrofoam cones a while back.  Even a gorilla could make these.  By far the easiest and fastest craft yet.

Happily I did experiement with a different textile: feathers! This photo caught my attention and I loved the little white, fluffy tree on the right side of the table.  I just hot-glued white feathers to the tree, sprayed some adhesive onto the feathers and shook glitter all over it! Eets maaaagical.

  On the fluffier side of things, I modified a pom wreath to make my own version!  I probably would have chosen to use the same size ball-puffs, but my local craft store only had bags with many sizes.  I still how it turned out, though I would like to try to copy the "original" again sometime.  This was also easy: hot glue, styrofoam wreath and fuzzy balls! (Restraining my inner Michael Scott...)Aaaaaand now we come to the best part.  We are only at the very beginning of this "doing something Christmas everyday" event and I've already used my Hail Mary.  We both got home on the later side of an evening because I had a basketball game (I coach in the winter).  My mind was buzzing with all things time-out, full-court press, foul trouble and winning.  When we got back to my house He said "What Christmas thing are we doing tonight?!" with His adorable, cheerful, eager voice.  Oh snap.  I forgot to prepare for the craft tonight. Shoot. "Let me run upstairs and change! Then I'll show you the special, exciting, um, awesome craft for tonight."  In my room I grabbed a bag of popsicle sticks, hoping for success though I knew the chances were small.  Popsicle sticks.  Jeez.  What a holiday wizard I am.  Poor boy.  He's used to multiple Christmas trees, home baked goods almost nightly, cozying up around the fire place and pretty ornaments.  Not popsicle sticks (plus a few scattered clothespins).  But it's all I had and I needed this for the win.  
"Okay.  SooOoooo.  We are going to make ornaments for your tree out of these!" I hoped I was selling him.  "We can make snowflakes! And letters! And we can paint them!" He looked at me.  He took the bags from my hands.  He asked "Can we put glitter on them too?" Touuuuuchdooooown!!!

But wait for it.
We spread out our sticks.  We start gluing away.  I'm all "Hey! Look, these could also be Stars of David!" like a first-grader making props for the Nativity Production where I have to wear a bathrobe and pillow case on my head.  I was making snowflakes and "J's" like a boss.

I look over and see Him in a trance.  Sawdust is everywhere.  Sticks are broken.  He has the hot glue gun in his lap, pencil behind his ear, tongue over his top lip.  Christmas Angel was assembling a to-scale North Pole Wonderland Fleet.

His Saint Nicholas Sleigh of Delight is not only aerodynamic, it has a roomy seat for a big tushie with safety rails for the long, busy flight.

We haven't painted the Yuletide Caribou Squadron quite yet.  But I'm sure Rudolph will have an actual red blinking nose and they will really be able to fly.

Psh. Popsicle stick snowflakes my foot.

I wish I could send you to a blog with a cute tutorial on how to make this Holiday Troupe for yourself, but, alas, I cannot.  It's all in His Christmas Angel head.  In a matter of minutes he can whip up the most sturdy, perfect, lovely crafts.  And I'm over there burning myself on the glue gun.

Oh well.

What would this world be if everyone was really good at crafts?
All I know is that I'm having the time of my life making memories this cheerful season.

Like the Grinch realized: 

Maybe Christmas, he thought,  doesn't come from a store. 

Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more! 

How have YOU been making Christmas time be "a little bit more"?

:D