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Entries from December 1, 2011 - December 31, 2011

Tuesday
Dec132011

Quick Gift Idea: DIY Glitter Clothespins & Gift Bag

So last week when I was creating my DIY Adorned Glittered Clothespin Gift Toppers for the Martha Stewart Crafts Dept. Gift Wrapping Challenge, I realized something. After the glittering step, and before the adorning step, you have a great little gift on your hands. Small clothespins (or even large ones) are perfect for hanging images onto an inspiration wire...and with mini magnets super glued to the backs you have instant fridge clips. Package sets up inside little paper bags, and you have sweet presents to hand out to your coworkers, children's teachers, favorite librarian, etc.

To create the clothespins, pop on over to The Crafts Dept. for my easy-peasy tutorial (just stop once you finish the glittering step). Then make a festive bag by adhering strips of double sided tape in any pattern that you like to a plain paper bag (available in Target or craft supply stores).

Place your taped bag onto a piece of scrap paper and heavily sprinkle the tape with fine glitter (any color you like). Tap excess off. If you'd like you can add a paper button (like I did above), glue on a real button or fabric flower, stick on a gift tag, etc. Finish the whole thing by wrapping the glittered pins inside a piece of tissue paper and placing them inside the bag. Voila! A charming handmade gift that is both easy and affordable. xo Ez

Supplies used:

  • Martha Stewart Glitter | Michael's Craft Store
  • Kraft Paper Bag | Michael's Craft Store
  • Double-sided Tape | Target
  • Scissors
  • Wooden Clothespins | Large pins from Target / small pins available at Michael's
  • Martha Stewart Button Craft Punch | Michael's
  • Tissue Paper | Target
Tuesday
Dec132011

Inspiration Daily: 12. 13. 11

Image credits: 1. paper globes, 2. Foil Icicles, 3. 10-12Tree1, 4. simply

Monday
Dec122011

DIY Adorned Glittered Clothespin Gift Toppers

Hi guys! Wow...two DIY posts in one day (and it's only Monday)! Can you believe it?! I'm especially excited to share this project with you all today since I created it for the Martha Stewart Gift Wrap Challenge over on The Crafts Dept. They are kicking the challenge off this week with my DIY Adorned Glittered Clothespin Gift Toppers...and then over the course of the week there will be three other amazing DIY packaging projects shared by three other amazing packaging/blogging experts. It's going to be epic!

These toppers are seriously just so easy and fun to make, and will hardly cost you anything too. I hope you'll head on over the The Crafts Dept. to check out my entire post...and then stop back by on Friday (if you feel so inclined) to vote for your fave (even if it's not mine). I'll try to remind you all on Friday when voting is open. Thanks for your support! I hope you love my project. xo Ez


P.S. Check out this post for a wee gift giving idea that goes along with this project.

Monday
Dec122011

DIY Fabric Gift Wrap: Cozy Parisian Holiday

Hi guys! So a little while back Waverly got in touch (exciting right) to ask if I would like to participate in their special month-long 12 Bloggers of Christmas feature. Of course I said yes...

...and today I am pleased as punch to finally be able to share my little project with you. Here's my take on a Cozy Parisian Holiday:

I like to keep the paper simple on most gifts that I give, so as to allow the adornments to really shine. In this case I wrapped everything up in basic kraft paper that can be found in stores such as Target and Michael's Craft Store. Affordable and classic!

Next I picked out a Waverly fabric with a whimsical Tres Chic Parisian print that I knew would look adorable topping a gift. If you don't have the same fabric available to you, you can easily substitute any other heavier-weight printed fabric that inspires you. Maybe you won't end up with a Parisian theme, but that's totally fine. Have fun looking through your local fabric store (JoAnn's carries Waverly fabrics, including the Tres Chic version used here - online only) or thrift shop and see where your imagination takes you.

Next (for my version) I cut the Eiffel Tower "photograph" out of the fabric and attached it to my wrapped gift using a standard glue stick (applied directly to the wrapping paper).

Once the main "image" is attached you can really go nuts adding any sort of adornment you like, such as Glitter Velvet Ribbon (left) or Japanese Masking Tape (right). The key is to let the main element shine.

For a vintage sparkle, you might also enjoy gluing the fabric element to an old book page, sheet music, or map. Cut out around the image with enough of a paper border so that it shows nicely. Use as-is, or take it a step further by adding a line of glue topped by a dusting of Smoky Quartz Glitter. Let it dry and attach it to your wrapped gift with a glue stick.

There are so many creative options, but in this case I decided to keep it cozy by finishing my gift with a wrapping of red yarn along with a few yarn pom poms. Remember how I told you there would be a project coming up where you would want to know how to make them? If you missed my quick 5 Minute DIY: Yarn Pom Poms video tutorial, you can find it here.

Be sure to leave the tails on your pom poms (as seen in the tutorial video) so that you'll have a way to easily attach them to your gift...like so:

Next I decided to make some easy ribbons by quickly ripping some gorgeous black ticking into long 1.25" wide strips. You can also cut the fabric into the widths/lengths that you want, but I personally love the raw edges of the torn fabric, as I feel that they look so much more time-worn and charming that way.

After I prepared my ribbon I wrapped it around wooden spools for easy storage. I also plan to give a few as little stocking stuffers this year!

This method of creating ribbon should work with just about any woven cotton material. Just think of what you could create with scraps from your fabric stash, the thrift shop, or a quick trip to the fabric store (of course the Waverly fabrics work perfectly for this particular project too).

After tying a ticking ribbon around another wrapped gift I decided to add an extra touch of charm with a fabric element from the same Tres Chic fabric that my original gift was wrapped with.

I carefully cut out the images I wanted (aren't these fashionable ladies so great), applied a layer of glue to a piece of heavy-weight cardstock, placed my fabric cutout on top of the glue, and smoothed it down with my fingers.

I then carefully trimmed around the image to remove the excess paper, leaving a nice sturdy paper-backed cutout.

It's easy to personalized the toppers by simply writing a note on the back with a fine-tipped pen. When you're ready to use it, just attach a 3-D glue dot to the middle and stick your fashionable lady onto your gift. You can also add additional touches to your toppers using glitter, sequins, or beads (not shown).

I hope my little projects will inspire you to include fabric in your gift wrapping this holiday season. There's no wrong way to do it, so just dive right in and have fun! xo Ez

Supplies used with these projects:

Check out the other eleven amazing bloggers who are a part of this great month-long series:

And finally, a quick heads up before you go. If you visit the project page for Waverly over on Facebook you can enter to win $100 from Michaels and JoAnn's. I hope one of you guys wins!

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Full disclosure: Waverly provided the fabric and yarn for my use with this project along with compensation for the additional supplies I chose to use in the completion of my designs.

Monday
Dec122011

Inspiration Daily: Oh Christmas Tree

Happy Monday friends! Today I just thought I'd share a couple blurry little photos of our Christmas tree this year. I just love the glow that you get with a white tree, and the pops of color from the ornaments make my heart glad on dreary grey Winter days...like today.

I hope your week has started out beautifully and that your weekend was everything you were hoping it would be. Thank you for being here today. xo Ez

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