Packaging a GIFT CARD

Anyone else hate giving gift cards for the simple fact that the "gift-ee" doesn't get to actually OPEN anything.  Well a friend of mine called my Mom (who is also creative) and asked for some clever ways to give a gift card to her niece.  I may be biased but she came up with some REALLY great ideas!  Here you go:

Gift card ideas from Debby:

*Buy a package of gum you think they would like, put the gift card inside and then use hot glue to close the container back OR tape the gift card onto the back.  You could also tape the gift card to     a candy bar or move size box of candy

*Buy a cheap stuffed animal at the Dollar Tree and attach the gift card with a ribbon-you could use a hole punch to make a hole in the gift card envelope and then tie the ribbon to the stuffed animal.

*They have really cute plastic glasses for $1 at Wal-Mart.  They’re clear plastic and have red and green polka dots on them-you could fill the glass with candy and stick the gift card in with the candy

*They have tons of cheap, cute little tins and boxes at the Dollar Tree that you could use

*You could buy an inexpensive ornament and attach the gift card to it with ribbon-write the name and the year on the ornament so they can keep it as a momento.  I do this with my kids and grandkids every year

*They have lip gloss for $1 at Wal-Mart-you could attach that to the gift card

*They have those $1 magic gloves just about everywhere-you could put the gift card inside one of the gloves

*Put the gift card in a plastic Ziploc bag-make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and put the giftcard inside.  Put the sandwich and a small bag of chips with a Little Debbie snack and a juice box (so it looks like a lunch).  This is my favorite idea but you would have to make the sandwich that day so it wouldn’t mold or something gross but I think she’d get a kick out of it!!!

OK-I’m out of ideas-you’re on your own. 

Debby

Thanks Mom!!!  Isn't she great?!?!?!  Hope you can use one of these- Happy Gifting!

Mixed Martha 'Motions

It's supposed to be "emotions" but the 3 M's just taunted me too much. I give in so easily to that little voice that snickers in my mind at things like that- the voice sounds a LOT like my friend Danielle Wolf.

ANYWAY- the real reason you are reading this post- MARTHA STEWART. That name brings strong emotions for many people. Some love her and emulate her every move, others loathe her and want nothing to do with her. I'm somewhere in the middle. I'm not a follower of her to the point that everything in my house is a soft breezy color and every gift or goodie I make is homemade but I'm also not a hater. She has some good ideas some of which I use and some I throw away knowing I will NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS use/make that!

No matter how you feel about Martha I have a link for you. On her website she has set up a "Santa's Workshop" page and it is CHOCK FULL of fantastic ideas! There are some really great recipes I'd love to try- these are just too cute!

And talk about GIFTS GALORE!!! They are all homemade gifts and you can search for different categories like 'for her,' 'for him,' 'for kids,' and others. I found several things that would be great ideas for not only Christmas, but birthdays and other celebrations!

Go check it out and if you make anything please let me know how it turns out!

Do you need a good laugh?

Have you had a bad day? Have you had a good day? Have you just had a whatever day?

Well I have the cure for ANY AND ALL kinds of days!!! Hilgers wonder serum takes care of..... oh wait, just kidding! (No I really don't think I'm that funny- don't worry)

The real cure is two cute blogs that I've fallen in love with. Now be prepared to not only get some crafty ideas, but also to laugh so hard, while trying to be quiet that (a) your husband looks sideways at you wondering what you could possibly be giggling at while he is watching SportCenter (b) you have to excuse yourself to the restroom cause you just peed a little (c) you need to get a tissue to wipe the latte spittle that just came from some oraface on your face that is now splattered on your computer screen OR (d) all of the above **Disclaimer- I of course did none of these things, I just have a good imagination** ;)

Now that I have given you proper warning to prepare yourself- visit Matsutake (which is apparently some sort of Japaneese mushroom, but her site has nothing to do with mushrooms) she is hilarious and has some of the most RANDOM but fun crafts to do.

Then my next favarito is Lollychops. By the end of reading her posts I felt that I had been in some craft fanatic brain of a child diagnosed with ADD but not on any medication. Long story short- she's amazingly random. Just fantastic!

So go visiting and then come back and tell me what you think of my new finds!

Baby Gift Set

Here is what I've been up to.... I actually made 3 sets of these, but forgot to take pictures of the other 2- whoops! This set was for my cousins wife who is getting ready to have a little girl after having 3 boys. We can't wait to meet little Laney!!! (Sorry the picture quality is so bad- I'm trying to figure out how to take better pictures so hopefully they will improve!)

These are the burp cloths. I think they turned out pretty cute! Here is the tutorial I used.

This is the diaper wipes case. Don't look TOO closely at it, cause it was a first attempt! Here is the tutorial I used for this one.

Finally this was the most exciting piece I made, a Changing Pad. It wasn't too hard to make, but my workmanship got better with each one I made. Again-don't look too close! :) The tutorial is here.

I really enjoyed making these and it got me excited for sewing again! So I'm hoping to do a lot more of this type of thing. I'll try to post whatever I make so you can all get ideas also! :)