Matchbox Shrines

I love making art out of found objects. There is nothing so satisfying as taking something that is not worth anything and turning it into something beautiful or fun. Lately I have been making little shrines out of matchboxes. You can get a package of ten matchboxes at Wally World for less than a dollar. Add a little paper, glue and paint and make something more than the sum of its parts.   

These are fun to make for your friends- you can put a pair of earrings or some candies in one for a sweet little gift. I like to make them wearable, because that is how I roll:

You can add a pin or a even make a necklace:

I used old earrings and added broken jewelry pieces to this one.

Another fun application is to make a wallet sized picture frame:

More fun:

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Really last minute gifts

It's Christmas Eve. You need a gift, a neighbor gave you something, and you HAVE to reciprocate before the next day- it's just the way you roll. Only problem is, everything is closed. Well, except the pharmacy on the corner. They will probably be open after the apocalypse- no time off for the zombie revolution for those poor employees! How can you possibly find something that will look thoughtful and not hopelessly tacky at this stage of the game? Answer: Get yourself to the Walgreens, and buy a package of M&M's. If all they have is the individual sized ones, you can get a pack for each family member.  Tie them up with curly ribbon, and add this tag:
M&M Christmas Story
As you hold these candies in your hand and turn them you will see...
The M becomes a W, an E and then a 3.
They tell the Christmas story, It's one I'm sure you know.
It took place in a stable a long, long time ago.
The E is for the East where the star shone oh so bright,
The M is for the manger where the Baby Jesus slept that night,
The 3 is for the wisemen bearing gifts, they say they came,
W is for worship, halleujah, Praise to his name.
So as you eat these candies, or share them with a friend,
Remember the Spirit of Christmas, and never let it end!
Merry Christmas!


You drop them off on your way home, singing some carols to make it look like you meant to do this all along, and YOU have saved Christmas for another year!

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It's not your fault, really!

I thought this was an unintentionally hilarious article ( In the Wall Street Journal! ) on how to shop for craft supplies to make homemade gifts- the author seems to think that it is the fault of the unhelpful sales staff at different craft stores that makes her mosaic projects so ugly! So that's it sports fans- we now have a valid excuse when our projects fail- it was that idiot at Michael's fault! And yes, I am a huge geek for reading the WSJ. I thought this article might be comforting, since we are down to the crafting wire here on making stuff for Christmas gifts. Time to give up and go buy gift cards! Merry Christmas!

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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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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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Time to make the donuts.

I had a really good post for today, all about this great bunny that I made out of an old sweater and baby hats and all of this schwag-  but my camera is out of batteries, and I have a flat tire so I can't go get any. So I am just going to post this fabric with donuts on it to distract you from the fact that this isn't a real post:

You can buy this awesome fabric here.

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Halloween costumes!

Halloween costumes aren't necessarily a gift, but they are a gift for your children when you hand make them with love. They are the kind of gift that will not be appreciated until they grow up, but that is ninety percent of being a parent I think.  Anyway, my kids go to a school where they have abysmal rules for their "fall festival". This is a party where you aren't allowed to call it Halloween, they serve vegetables, and the activity is a story read by parent, which was picked by the teacher. The kids have to be able to put their costumes on by themselves, in minimal time. So I started making them costumes out of a hoodie, that they could slip on easily over their clothes. Turns out it was a pretty good idea all the way around- it keeps them warm on Halloween night, is sturdy, and they can wear it all the time to play after the fact. You can turn a hoodie into almost anything if you apply a little felt, easy stitching and maybe some duct tape. Last year we made a Storm trooper out of a hoodie by outlining the armor bits with duct tape. This year we made "Batman Beyond" and "Domo Kun":

 

In the past we have made a cat, a skunk, a unicorn, dudes from Lord of the Rings. All you need is a little imagination, and you can make one too.

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Truckload of Chocolate

Got me a new cool resource: thetoymaker.com

This little truck is just one of dozens of cute paper toys that you can print out right from her site for free! I am loving this cute truck- you could fill it full of chocolate kisses and say, you deserve a truckload of love, or any other cheesy thing. Her paper toys book looks pretty neat too. Most of it is geared toward children, but lots, like this truck, just take a little imagination for lots of different uses. Happy paper folding!

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Crafting vs. Art

I generally call myself an artist rather than a crafter for lots of reasons,  but generally it is in deference to crafters. It really isn't a snobby affectation- I have to much respect for crafters for that.  Here is a perfect example of what I mean: I was looking at Aimee's scarf post, and thinking-I could do that, that looks like fun, and I set about going to work. I settled on a pair of old pajama's to use for my scarf. The pants had a nice vintage rose pattern on them. I like using old clothes for projects. They are soft from lots of washing, and you can bet on the fabric holding up if it has been washed so many times and still looks pretty good. I also have this thing abut taking something useless and making it more than the sum of it's parts. I looked at the precise squares from Aimee's picture and said, no, that will take too much time, and I cut long strips out of the pj's. Now here is the difference: Crafters are careful. They probably iron. Crafters would have made sure that all the fabric strips were the same width, and length. Not me. I hacked random long sections of pajamas out, some of them were crooked. I was going to take pictures of my process, but I was too embarrassed.  The edges were jagged and pretty much a mess. I didn't care. I noticed that on one of my pieces, there was a stain I had missed when I was checking out the fabric for this project. Crafters would say eew, and throw it all out. I decided it was "organic" ( It looked like it was chocolate) and I was going to use it anyway. I fashioned a patch out of some scraps, and sewed it on in an "I meant to do that" kind of way. After I sewed the patch on, I noticed it looked all wonky. Crafters would have carefully picked the stitching out and redone it. I sort of trimmed it up with scissors and then abandoned it, rationalizing that no one will notice that anyway.

I sewed the hacked up pieces together, and made one long patterned strip, and one long pink strip. I put them right sides together, and sewed down the sides, making a huge tube. I didn't sew straight, really, which is why I will never be a quilter, which is a highly specialized kind of crafter. My tube was ragged and uneven everywhere, so I hacked off the bits that were sticking out egregiously. I turned it right side out. In some places the stitching had puckered up some. Crafters would call this "a mistake", I call it "charm".

The ends were ragged so I hacked them off, tucked them in, and top stitched them, which just means stitching really close to the edge, on top. That looked sort of cool, so I top stitched the whole thing. And It is finished, my pj pants scarf. Maybe you are thinking it looks like I have a pair of old pajamas slung around my neck. If you do, you are probably a crafter. Artists call this "eccentricity" and walk around like we own it. So which is your style? Do you carefully follow proven techniques, measure and come out with a fabulous looking stylized gift? Or do you scavenge thru your junk, apply vision, and dive in headlong, not worrying much about the outcome? You answer will tell you whether you are a crafter or an artist.

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It's the thought that counts?

Hi I'm Krista, and I'm addicted to the internet. (Hi, Krista.) I read lots of news, blogs, and articles, every day, and today, I gleaned this nugget of gift-giving wisdom, just for you. Apparently they have done a study on how thinking about romantic love makes you more creative. When in love, or even thinking about romantic love, it triggers your brain to think more globally, and therefore, more creatively. This is postulated to be because when thinking about romantic love, you are thinking more about the future, making plans and goals. In contrast, when one thinks of more, ahem, physical love, it triggers you to think more with your analytical mind, and focus on the here and now, or as they put it, you are thinking locally. I won't go into the details, except to say that they cracked me up. So if you want to think of a really creative gift idea, for anyone, try thinking about being in love- apparently it works for creativity in all areas of life. Here is the money quote:
"A global processing style promotes creative thinking because it helps raise remote and uncommon associations. Consider, for example, the act of finding a gift for your partner. If we think about a gift while in a local mindset, then we’ll probably focus on more literal and concrete options, most of which involve a tangible object wrapped in colorful paper. We’ll probably consider the usual suspects, such as a watch, a book, or perfume. However, thinking about a gift more globally might inspire us to consider a gift as "anything that will make him/her happy". This may, in turn, bring to mind more diverse and original ideas, such as going on a joint vacation, writing a song, or cleaning and remodeling the house."

  You can read the whole thing here.
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eCards

Here is an easy idea- send an eCard. I know it is not the same as a snail mail card, but if you remember that birthday at 11:30 at night, you can send an eCard and still have it be date stamped for the recipients actual birthday. My favorite eCard site is Dover. I like it mostly because it is free, but Dover is also where you can get oodles of clip art that is copyright free for your own crafts or art. They have all sorts of styles and themes. Also, signing up for Dover's free email newsletter is very worth it- they send you free clip art! 

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Pocket reminders

This past weekend I attended the huge Tea Party rally in Washington D.C. . While I was there, I thought about getting some gifts for my children, but I really didn't want to spend an arm and a leg for all the over priced junk at the Smithsonian, or other souvenir carts they had all over town. As we marched up to the Capitol building, we passed by a Buckeye tree growing on the Capitol lawn, and there were nuts all over the ground. In a flash I decided to pick some up for my children. ( It helps if you understand that the Buckeye tree is Ohio's state tree.) When I got home, I explained to them that these small buckeyes were a good symbol of our freedom. We live in a republic, with each state loosely connected by the federal government, and the Buckeye tree reminded me of that. You could see all the different trees on the lawn there, each it's own little world, but because they were on the Capitol lawn, They were protected and kept safe from harm by the gardeners there. Just like our relationship between the states and the federal government. (Maybe it is a stretch, but it was a sort of profound thought at the time.) So I gave them to my children and asked them to keep them in their pockets for awhile, to remind them about their freedom. For the next couple of days they were all like oops, I lost my freedom. Look mom, I'm abusing my freedom! Smart alecs. Anyway, it got me thinking, what else could you give as a small gift that someone could keep in their pocket? A small charm for their key ring that symbolizes your relationship, or a marble (for some extra sanity) or maybe a small polished stone or shell that you picked up on the beach when you were away together? Gifts don't have to be expensive to be meaningful. Sometimes it really is the thought that counts.

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The sound of love

Here's a quick little idea- why not borrow your loved one's phone, and get them some fun ring tones? There are lots of ring tones on the internet for free or cheap.  You can find instructions on how to upload them too, usually with a little google-fu. How about finding the song played at your wedding? When my husband got me a new phone for my birthday, he set it up with all kinds of hilarious ring tones- my favorite being the one that plays whenever one of my 6 crazy sisters call: Here it goes again!


OK Go - New Music - More Music Videos
And my main ring tone that he added? It's my mantra:



OK Go - New Music - More Music Videos
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Everything but the Kitchen sink

 I think the easiest way to give a fun gift is when the idea for a cute tag is already done for you. Consider Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavors:

So sorry I flipped out on you. Let's kiss and make up.

Thank you so much for feeding our pets while we were gone!

Please go out with me, Jamaican me crazy!

Happy Birthday! Congratulations on becoming old as a fossil!

Thanks so much for everything you did for the PTA meeting/cub scout dinner/office party!

Goodbye! It was nice working with you!

Hint Hint *wink*

For a soldier or his family: Stay safe during your deployment! Thank you for your sacrifice for our country!

Hang in there. Maybe this will help.

  You are an Extraordinary Person. Thanks for being you!

This makes a great last minute gift- grab a pint, some stick on labels that you hand write on, and you are good to go!

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Send your own message in a bottle...My friend Shelly is my partner in crime. We have a flea market booth over at the Streetsboro Flea Market. Our booth is called Three Penny Market. Shelly is the queen of all things recycled- she never throws away anything, because when she is done with it, you want it back! Today, she was making some really great stuff. She had acquired ( we won't ask where) some of those bottles you see sometimes in stores for foodies, those tall bottles full of vinegar with dodgy looking peppers topped with wax. They had seen better days, so she emptied them out, cleaned them up, and bought new corks. She has been busy making them into spooky potion bottles for Halloween, but she made one that will make such a great gift. She filled one of the bottles with sand, and tiny shells, and put in a strategically placed note, (put in so you can read it) that says "Don't rescue me, I love it here." I thought this would make a great anniversary gift for your special someone, especially if you are taking a trip. She put in the cork, and added some charms and things to the outside, to finish it off. I think this gift idea could be adapted for all kinds of ideas, to announce things or to send any kind of special message. Click on the picture above to send a virtual message in a bottle to someone you love...

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