DIY Mason Jar Photo Holder

It's not too late to craft some last minute gifts this Christmas. These Ball jar photo holders come together quick. Seriously, you make four of these in an hour or two. That, and they're cute and can be personalized with photos and gift cards. Win, win, win.

Supplies needed: 4oz mason jar, craft snow, small bottlebrush trees, wire (I used 18 gauge). You'll also need a small nail, hammer, wire cutter, pliers, and hot glue. It'll be helpful to find something round to wind your wire around to help it take shape - I used a thread spool.

(I found the 4oz Ball jars at Walmart and Kroger. They come in a 4-pack.)

Start by creating the photo holder in the lid of the mason jar. Using a small nail, hammer a hole in the center just large enough for the wire to slip through. Create two loops with the wire (twisting around a round object makes this easier). Create a long tail at the end of the wire loop. Thread this through the hole in the lid and then bend a 90-degree angle on the underside of the lid. Use hot glue or similar to secure the wire underneath.

Once your lid is finished, create your winter scene inside the mason jar. Use hot glue to adhere the bottle brush trees and then sprinkle in the craft snow. 

Screw the lid back on and add your photos or cards and you're done! Easy, cute, and personalized!

What last minute crafts are you making?

Happy holiday crafting, DIY'ers!

~julee~

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DIY Cork Wine Coaster and Bottle Tag

Is it a gift tag or a coaster?  It’s both!  These DIY cork coasters are a practical gift to give alongside a bottle of wine when attending holiday parties this season.  The upside?  You can make a whole batch of them in just a short amount of time. 

The most important thing you’ll need to make you own coasters is cork.  You can buy thin sheets or rolls of cork at the craft store.  (I purchased mine at Good Garbage.)  Then, you’ll cut circles out of your cork with a circle cutter or a circle template and scissors or exacto knife.  I made my coasters 4-inches.

Use paint or glitter to embellish your coasters.  Once you’re finished with  your design, use a standard hole punch to cut a hole for hanging and wrap it around the neck of your wine bottle.

Alternately, you can make a whole set of these to give as a gift on their own.

Happy handmade gift-giving, DIY’ers!

~julee~

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Make It: Faux Wood iPad Sleeve

Let’s face it, guys are hard to craft for.  I asked my husband what kinds of crafty things guys would like for Father’s Day, and he said something for electronic gadgets, and anything made with duct tape.  So I dug around a little bit and found this awesome faux wood contact paper that I purchased at the dollar store a while ago.  It’s not as sturdy as duct tape, but it looks a million times more cool.  Hence, an iPad sleeve made from faux wood contact paper.

DIY Faux Wood iPad Sleeve Tutorial

1) Supplies needed:  Heavy cardstock (2), felt (2), contact paper, spray adhesive, needle, embroidery floss, cutting tool (not shown).  2)  Cut the contact paper to the size of your device, adding a 1-inch margin on all sides.  Remove the contact paper backing and adhere it to the cardstock.  3)  Cut notches on each corner of the contact paper.  4)  Fold over the access.  5)  Spray your felt with the spray adhesive.  6)  Attach the pieces.  7)  Using a cutting tool or scissors, trim the access felt.  Repeat this process to make another identical panel.  8)  Use the needle and embroidery floss to attach three sides of the panels together. 

Happy Father’s Day crafting, DIY’ers!

~julee~

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November Umba Box

I made the decision to cancel my Birchbox, halt my Julep subscription, and purchased a 3-month Umba Box instead.  Umba Box is a monthly subscription service that delivers a package of 2-3 handmade items each month.  I obviously love the idea of supporting handmade artists, and I can’t think of a more fun surprise to get in the mail every month.  (Lottery pay-outs aside.)

The contents of this month’s box was a handmade journal from To Boldly Fold, fancy clothespins from Earth Cookie Creations, and crazy delicious caramels from The Caramel Jar.  I absolutely love each item!

Are you an Umba Box subscriber?  If not, you can use the code NOVFRIEND for 10% off a prepaid subscription, expires November 19th.  A subscription would make a great holiday gift.  I'm hoping Santa will put more of those caramels in my stocking.

~julee~

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D.I.Y. Graduation Gift Basket

Okay, so it’s not really a basket per say.  It’s a bag, but you get the idea. I always struggle with graduation gifts.  I realize that most grads just want a handful of cash and that’s usually the route I go.  It’ shard for me though because I’m a gift giver.  I always put a ridiculous amount of thought into the gifts I give, so cash always feels like I’m missing out.  I really do enjoy the process of thinking of a gift for someone and going out and finding it.  I especially love putting together baskets, kits or themed gifts.  So this time I just decided to skip the cash and do what I wanted.  I put together a little “going to college” gift set.  I knew the college that the grad was planning to attend so I used the school colors as a jumping off point.  I picked up an insulated lunch bag to contain the gift and added a reusable tumbler with the name of her collage.  Those were the two big items and the more expensive ones.  Everything else was picked up at the dollar store or grocery,  I added school supplies which included: a notebook, pens, sharpie, pencils and erasers all in the color scheme.  Next I threw in a few snacks including: gum, Twizzlers and individual drink mixes.  I stuck some tissue in the bottom of the bag to prop everything up and snuggled all of the items into the lunch bag.  I printed out a cute gift tag and tied it on with some black ribbon.  I think this gift would be great for grads, teachers, a new job or you could swap out the school supplies and make it appropriate for just about any occasion.

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Cookie The Fox: Free Doll Pattern

I finally found a few minutes to sit down and get this pattern drawn up for you guys.  This was my first foray into actual pattern making so hopefully it will be easy to follow   Also a little warning this post is super heavy in pictures, but I think it’s pretty necessary in order to properly show you how to put this together.  I’ve included a link to download the PDF pattern pieces, so you can print it out and make it as much as you want.  Please do not sell the dolls you make from this free pattern or sell the pattern.  Make all you like for family and friends and share the pattern, just make sure to link back and give us credit, ok? 

1.First cut out your pattern pieces and then cut them out from fabric.  I used an orange for the main body pieces and white for the lower face part, ear tips, tail tip, and bottom leg part. 
2. Place the lower face part onto the face piece and using a zig zag stitch stitch all the way around.  Do the same with the ear tip pieces.

3. Mark the facial features on your face.  I used a fine line sharpie, but you could also use a washable quilting pen.  If using doll eyes, carefully cut a tiny hole using the very tip of your scissors.  It should really only be the size of a pin hole.  Take a doll eye and carefully push the point through the hole, wiggling as you go to make the hole big enough. 

4. On the back place the washer on the doll eye and evenly force it down to the base.  Your eyes will now be secure.  Be sure you have them where you want them, because it is near impossible to remove the washer.

5.  Embroider the nose and mouth.  I use a back stitch for the mouth and satin stitch for the nose.

6.  Lay the face piece right sides together on top of the body piece, matching the neck areas.  stitch across.  Do this with both face pieces and body pieces. It will look like this:



7. Lay one top tail piece on top of one bottom tail piece, right sides together and stitch.  Do the same with the other two pieces. It will look like this:


8. Place both stitched tail pieces right sides together and stitch around the sides leaving the bottom open. Flip right side out.

9.  This is a little trick I do for finicky pieces like arms.  I trace the pattern piece to the fabric and stitch around that before cutting it out.  After I stitch it I cut it out close to the seams.  This keeps me from missing any spots on small pieces.  Do this for both arms.  Flip the pieces right side out.
10.  I don’t have a picture but sew the bottom part of the leg to the top part of the leg and then stitch the the front of the leg to the back right sides together and flip right side out.  It’s the same way you did the tail.

11.  Stuff all of your finished pieces.  I like to stuff mine pretty firmly.  You should have two legs, two arms and a tail.

12.  Take the head and body that you stitched earlier and lay the raw edge of your arm pieces along the raw edge of your body right where the head and body meet.  Pin and stitch.

13.  On the back body/head piece cut a small slit about 1.5 inches up from the bottom, big enough to insert the tail.

14.  Insert the tail through the slit and folding the body in half stitch over the tail. Like this:


15.  Place the front of the fox body on top of the back pinning carefully and making sure that the arms and tail are inside.  Stitch around the sides and top leaving the bottom open.  I like to double stitch to make it safer and sturdier. Flip the whole thing right side out.

16.  On the bottom insert the raw edges of the legs into the opening, turning the raw edge of the opening in as you do.  Pin and stitch across.

17. Stitch the two pieces of the skirt pattern together along the short side, right sides together.

18. Hem one of the long sides, by folding a 1/4 inch up and stitching.  Then fold up another 1/4 inch and stitch that.  At this point you can either make a casing along the top for elastic or use lingerie elastic as I did and hem the edge first and then stitch your elastic to the top edge stretching it as you go to make it fit. Like so



19. Stitch the two short raw edges together leaving a 1 inch section in the center unstitched for the tail if you desire.  Flip it right side out.

Now put your skirt on your finished fox doll and give it to a cute little friend to love.  Please link back to us if you make this.  We would love to see lots of cute Cookies floating around out there!
Download the PDF here
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Valentine Pouches

I do love Valentine’s Day, I admit.

I’ve been in a Valentine making mood (I blame it on Pinterest), but I haven’t found too much time to make much this week.  (Which I also blame on Pinterest.)

I usually make my daughter a little handmade something to give her along with a small box of chocolates. 

These are two little zippered pouches I made for her last year. I’m trying to get my crafty mojo on so I can get started on her gift this year.

What do you guys do for Valentine gifts?

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