Make a Christmas Ornament

How Does She shares 10 really cool things you can do with wooden blocks. I really liked this idea of making Christmas ornaments out of pictures that you love. They look super easy to make. Here is her tutorial:

1. Paint your block (I just used craft paint).

2.  Mod Podge a picture on one of the sides.

3.  Sand any leftover picture paper off.

4.  Screw in an ‘eye’ in the top.

5.  Add ribbon

6. Admire

 

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The Weather Outside is Frightful!

How to Make Rice Bag Hand Warmer (from eHow.com)

Photo from marthastewart.com

Step 1
Cut two 4-inch-by-4-inch squares of flannel. Turning the two outside portions of fabric toward each other, sew three of the sides together with a straight stitch. Sew all but an inch or two of the fourth side and turn the bag right side out again.

Step 2
For oil-scented rice, mix approximately one teaspoon of oil to a pound of rice in a jar and shake together until the rice is coated. Set aside.

Step 3
For herb-scented rice, mix one pound of rice with approximately three tablespoons of dried herbs (i.e. lavender, rosemary, etc.). Mix together well and set aside.

Step 4
If you want unscented rice, simply measure out the approximate amount you will need and set aside.

Step 5
Using a small funnel, pour rice into the bag until it is three-quarters full.

Step 6
Carefully turn the remaining open edges in on the bag and sew them shut. Check the perimeter of the bag to make sure that there are no openings for rice grains to get through.

Step 7
Place the bag in the microwave and run it on medium high for 2 minutes. Put your new hand warmer into your pocket. It should stay hot for about 30 minutes.

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Our Heritage

This may not be your cup of tea, but I am one of those 9/12 project tea party maniacs. I think patriotism is an important value to teach our children, so in addition to the PJS bags I am making for my children for Christmas, I am adding a copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. We are going to go through it bit by bit when we have Family Home Evening. Think about it- when was the last time you read the Constitution? School? Ever? I realized that I have never read the whole Constitution, all the way through. I think most Americans could probably tell you what the first few amendments are, and maybe mutter something about Life, Liberty, and Happiness.

I have just felt lately that in order to be a good citizen, I needed to be better educated. Am I an old fart, or what? Any way, over at the Heritage Foundation, you can get nice booklets with the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence for a dollar a piece. And they will even send you a free one if you sign up for some of their other services. Get a few, keep one for yourself, and give away the rest to patriotic Americans on your gift list. A Heritage Foundation membership is 25 bucks, and if you have a Tea Partier on your list- they would probably love it as a gift. (If you think it over, a subscription to whatever your particular giftee likes would make a great gift, subscriptions are usually the first thing to go when someone is trying to budget their finances.) I am very grateful to live in the United States of America, God bless her, and us. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

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Happy Thanksgiving

Here is a really cute gift idea for Thanksgiving.

Recipe from Pillsbury

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17 and Counting Neighbor Christmas Gift Ideas

 

is spending the month featuring a Neighbor Christmas gift idea every day. They have 17 posts/ideas so far. Here are a few of my favorites (click on the image to be taken to the post with the tutorial):

Bakerella:

Recycle pop top cans in a unique way:

Recycle your old formula cans into decorative cookie cans:

"There’s “seven” reasons why you are “up” on our list of favorites!"

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Happy Thanksgiving!

I am in charge of doing the craft project for my daughters 4th grade class this week.  (Go figure!)  I had them make this cute turkey.  It was soooooo easy!  All the pieces were cut out with punches and I used glue dots to attach the pieces to the peppermint patty.  These could be used as place settings, hostess gifts or something small to give to friends at Thanksgiving.  

 Can you tell what punches were used for each piece of the Turkey?

 Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and 

thanks so much for all the support you give us 

here at "One of a Kind Gifts".

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Easy as 1,2,3 Baby Toys

1. Print your photograph onto sticker-backed photo paper.

2. Cut it into squares.

3. Attach to blocks.

Voila -- homemade baby toys!

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Decorative Soap Dispensers

In need of some great and extremely useful teacher gifts? Have a germ-a-phobic friend? or a friend with a new baby trying to keep germs away from well-wishers? Try making some personalized hand sanitizing dispensers. With all the buzz about the flu (and it is the season) these are great gift ideas to help keep everyone safe.


I found two really cool tutorials from different sites that you can adjust for whatever the season (fall, Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc).
 

This cool bottle tutorial is from The Idea Room

And you can learn how to make these from the tutorial at Just a Girl.

Besides gift giving, how cool would one of these look in your guest bathroom?

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Free Toys

Know any little girls who like fairies or dollhouses? If you have a printer and some card stock, you can print them out some gorgeous dollhouse furniture at TheToyMaker.com .  Make sure to click through to the printouts, they are much more detailed than the thumbnails, like the ones above. I think I am going to use these print outs to make little crafting kits for some of the little girls on my Christmas list.

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Yes, there is an app for that!

 Yes, there is an app for gift giving.
Download the Holiday Gift Guide app to your iPhone for free! The app, built by NearbyNow, allows you to search multiple gift guides all in one place―by category, recipient or price. Buy items you like online or use the app’s GPS technology to locate the closest store and reserve them for pickup.

Find the app here.

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Bon Appetite!!!

 I found the cutest gift for any occasion!  

It is a kitchen blackboard and recipe holder .

 

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/member.php?uid=37120

The black board is covered in scrapbook paper with a cutout of a chef. (Stamp can be found at STAMPIN' UP)  The recipe holder is a big wooden clothes pin also covered in scrapbook paper.  This would be a great gift to give with a family recipe cookbook or with some yummy recipes you have found that you would be willing to share.  (Keep some secret of course!)  Here are a few more that I found...

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/member.php?uid=71262

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/member.php?uid=23531

Bon Appetite!

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Scrabble Pendant Necklaces

This idea is so cute I can't get over it. Over at Trey and Lucy there is a really great tutorial on how to make these babies:

Believe it or not, these necklaces are made using scrapbook paper and scrabble game pieces! Think of the possibilities! These would make awesome Christmas gifts for sisters, mothers, and daughters. I definitely want to try to make some.  Her site has all the links needed for the chains, scrabble pieces, and all the other supplies you will need.

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Beach Towel Gifts

So it snowed today and there is snow all over the ground and trees. It makes me miss the warmer weather. I thought I would post some gift ideas that helped us remember the summer and beach.

All of these are from Martha Stewart's website.

Hand Towel Beach Bag

Beach Towel Tote Bag

Terry Cloth Pillow Cases

Beach Towel with Pockets

Make these gifts for the beach lover in your life. Maybe crafting with beach towels will help you get through this cold winter.

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Free Gifts

This holiday season seems grim, there is no doubt about it. At my flea market, we trotted out the holiday schwag, and we were taken aback at the reaction of so many people: Oh no! Not Christmas, I can't even think about Christmas, they said. In my view, having money has never been what Christmas is about. It is about doing something thoughtful for those you love, and going the extra mile to make it something they will enjoy. I am here to declare that this does not have to cost one red cent. This month at the flea market, we have been upcycling old clothes. For the uninitiated, "upcycling" is not just a smugger version of recycling, it means using stuff that is really only good for the trash, and making it worth more than it was even when it was new. In the fall, lots of people seem to go through their closets and get rid of the shabby ill fitting clothes that once they loved but no longer wear. We have been collecting these bags of clothes bound for the landfill, and making them into fabulous cloche hats and vintage looking handbags:

I

I made the handbag and the cute hat out of old pajamas that had seen better days. The clothes were stained and faded in places, but most of the fabric was still pretty. I cut the shirts into strips, starting at the bottom hem, and working in a spiral, all the way to the top. You don't have to be neat or even accurate when cutting, all of the jagged edges go away later. Then I knitted the strips of fabric into a tube. Now here is the confession: I have no clue how to knit- I had my husband's cute Grandma try to teach me once, and she pronounced me hopeless. The trick is to purchase one of these kits:

These are knitting looms. The instructions are easy to follow, a child can do it. You simply loop yarn or in our case fabric strips, around the pegs, and use the tool to pop the loops over the top of each other. It is easy as breathing. There are lots of youtube vids on how to do this, so I won't clutter up this post with tutorials. And these take next to no time to make. I have found these sets at Wal-mart for under $10 dollars, but you could even make one yourself out of a bit of plywood and some old nails if you wanted to be super frugal.  After you have made the initial purchase of the looms, all the things you make out of it can be practically free. The bag and cloche hat I picture above were made from reclaimed jammies, some thread I had laying around from other projects, and some vintage brooches. The cameo on the bag was one that I bought a long time ago, but it ended up being too big and clunky to wear on it's own- but on the bag it is perfect. Look around you- do you have old clothes? Broken jewelry bits? you may be well on your way to fabulous upcycled gifts for all your dear ones that cost you almost nothing.

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Spaghetti on Us

Oven mitt filled with spaghetti and sauce:

We know how hectic the Holidays can be with all the Christmas rush and fuss,

So relax a bit—Open this MITT, and have some Spaghetti on us!!

Idea from laurieturk.blogspot.com

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Fabric Luggage Tags For Travelers

Is there someone you know that travels alot, maybe for business? If so, here is a fun gift idea you can make to help them spot their luggage easily from baggage claim:

 

Here is the tutorial on how to make this fabric luggage tag over at Skip to My Lou. Enjoy!

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Totally Terrific Tins!!

   A good friend of mine made these cute little tins for all of her friends for Christmas this year.  They fit perfectly in your purse and keep the pad of paper from getting destroyed.  She bought the pads of paper, the pens, and magnets all from the dollar store and covered them with scrapbook paper.  The tin and small envelopes were bought from Michael's.  She covered the top of the tin with scrapbook paper and added the persons name in chipboard.  I think they turned out really cute!  Here are a few more tin ideas... 




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www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/member.php?uid=165810

                                                                                                                                     

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