Reduce, Reuse, Remember the Gift Tags!

I adore holiday cards. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy. Plus, it’s nice to find something besides junk mail in the mailbox for a few weeks a year. Now a days, photo cards seem to be the standard. And as much as I love seeing pictures of your child/dog/cat/vacation, I really appreciate the simple beauty of a traditional holiday card. I find myself hoarding these tokens of Christmas past because they’re just too pretty to throw away. Last year, I thought ahead and packed them away with all the holiday wrapping stuff. When I pulled them out, I was reminded of how my mom always reused last years holiday cards as this year’s gift tags. It’s such a simple way to upcycle and adds a unique touch to your gifts. I used three methods to create these tags. The Old Fashioned Circle Punch – Otherwise known as tracing the rim of a glass over the picture and cutting it out. (Yes, by hand.)  The New Age Circle Punches – I wouldn’t go less than a 2″ diameter unless you are just trying to dress up a plain package with a fun dot pattern. (Hmmm, what a great idea…)  Fiskar’s Rotary Cutter –

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Toasty Toes Gift Set

Toasty Toes Gift Set & Homemade Sugar Scrub

Everyone needs a little TLC after the holidays. Winter leaves our skin feeling like an alligator’s without the bonus of basking in the sun for hours. My homemade Vanilla Brown Sugar Scrub (recipe below) does the trick to get me feeling like it’s all going to be ok. The sun WILL come out tomorrow in May. To spread the love, I decided to make a big batch for some of the ladies in my life. Throw in a pair of warm, cozy socks and a bottle of nail polish and you look like the smartest, most thoughtful, soft-skinned girl on the block. I was stoked to find the adorable bag tag available for download on Our Best Bites. Using the same colors, I made coordinating labels for the sugar scrub. You can download the sugar scrub labels here. Happy holidays to you! Vanilla Brown Sugar Scrub Ingredients: 1 cup granulated sugar 2 cups unpacked brown sugar 1 cup oil (Any type of oil will do. However, I recommend not using olive oil though since the scent is  little strong.) 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract Vitamin E – optional (it works well to just break into a capsule of vitamin E and dump it out)

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Reinbeers

Easy-Peasy, DIY Gift for MEN: Rudolph, the Red Nosed REINBEER!

It is SO hard to shop for men. Power tools, Best Buy gift certificates, dress shirts… Boooooooooooring. I was racking my brain for the right gift for my many brothers (biological, in-laws, and step-in-laws). And then it happened. Mindlessly scrolling through pinterest, I happened upon this geniusness. And all my brother gift problems were solved. Reinbeers. Believe it or not, the hardest part of making this gift is the antlers. Mainly because pipe cleaners, with their super pointy ends, super annoy me. The googly eyes and pom noses went right on with your basic Elmer’s school glue. I added a wide ribbon around the elegant six-pack sleigh and plan to tuck in little manly treasures such as lottery scratch-off tickets, fast food gift cards, and beef jerky. Voila, an out-of-the-box gift for any man in your life. Be sure to check back next week for my DIY gift for the ladies. As much as I wanted to, I held back from creating winedeers. 🙂

Ribbon Centerpiece

Make way for turkey! Hanging Centerpiece Ribbon Chandelier

Every Thanksgiving I run into the same problem. I’ve painstakingly made (or purchased) an elaborate and beautiful centerpiece. Yet, when I go to put the main attraction (ie- the plethora of fat, butter, carbs, and turkey) on the table it starts to look like Walmart on black Friday – way too crowded. In turn, I begrudgingly remove the centerpiece and resent it the entire dinner. (Thank you, Grandma, for ingraining in me feelings of shame and self-loathing when serving guests a meal without a centerpiece. The horror!) So, when I went to write about the awesome ribbon chandelier I made for this shower, it hit me. What a PERFECT solution for a crowded Thanksgiving table! Hanging Ribbon Chandelier/Centerpiece What I love most about this project is its versatility. Obviously, your ribbon can be any color, shape, size, and length. You can choose to add cardstock pieces like I did, or not. Basically, if you can affix an item to a piece of monofilament, you can use it to create a hanging centerpiece. Wouldn’t it be great to add pinecones & fall leaves to one for Thanksgiving. Or candy canes for your Christmas table. Fresh or silk flowers would be beautiful for a

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Flowerless Pomanders

Inexpensive DIY Cupcake Liner Pomanders

Have an extra three hours? Then this one’s for you! But before you even start, head over here to learn how to hand dye your cupcake liners. Despite the excessive time required, I had a blast making these for the colorful baby shower I was planning. And they turned out so stunning, I might even consider doing it again. It all started when I stumbled across the below in Martha Stewart Living while I was at the gym. Oh Martha, you make it look so quick! And because I’m a chronic overachiever, I decided that I needed to add some color to each and every liner by hand dying them. I think it was worth it. Do you? Do-it-Yourself Alternative Pomanders Supplies: Styrofoam balls of varying sizes – I used an 8 inch ball, 5 inch ball, and two 4 inch balls. Just remember, they get bigger when you add all the cupcake liners to them. And, each ball took about 45 minutes to complete. Cupcake liners – I followed Martha’s advice and bought 300 mini cups. I couldn’t find enough white, regular size cupcake liners so I bought what I could, 150. I think their guidelines in the article above are actually pretty

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