Hashtag alert and Progress Report: Wrapped and Done by Dec 1

Hey everyone, how is your holiday prep going? It's still my goal to be Wrapped and Done by December 1! We've been posting some on Instagram but we want to see what YOU are working on for your holiday prep! Please post using the hashtag #HolidayPrepYall so we can see what you're up to! Plus we will feature you on Instagram!

 Now, here's some of what I've been doing:

Ordering my Christmas cards! I just bought this Groupon to Staples, 100 cards for $19--that's the best deal I've seen ANYWHERE by FAR! But it's EVEN BETTER, knocked down to $8 for 100 because it's been shared with enough friends. There's also a deal for 50 cards Get the deal too before Sunday! Here's one I liked:

(Thanks Brooke, for sending me the link!)

Painting--making my own gift tags!

Wrapping

Bing-ing (Searching using Bing to earn rewards. I've earned $25 for Christmas presents so far. Read more here)

Ibotta-ing (Rebate app, I've earned $18.25 so far )

Shopkicking (App to scan products in store, I've earned $15 to Target so far)

Ordering: presents from Amazon using my Bing Rewards! Win!

(no picture because I can't ruin the surprise!)

Getting our pictures taken, here's my favorite face I made:

Things that still need to be done: Christmas cards addressed, holiday baking, holiday decorating (I refuse to do it until after Thanksgiving, but the day after is just fine), ordering, wrapping and sending more gifts.

So let's see YOUR photos!! Use the hashtag #HolidayPrepYall and we will re-gram it on Instagram!

Present Wrapping- A bridal shower gift

Have you noticed how present wrapping is a lost art form? My mom is amazing at wrapping presents. Her edges are crisp, her bows are homemade, and they are always color coordinated. I, like most people I know, way over use gift bags. I still try to make a cute card with a bow attaching it to the present but something is special about tearing open paper on a present.

I was recently invited to a bridal shower and I purchased a set of glasses for the bride. The box was perfect to be wrapped because it was nice and square. I looked through my paper stash with dismay as I realized I didn't have any wedding paper.

 I did have some neutral brown paper I think is so adorable so I opted for that. It has a subtle pinstripe that makes it a little fancier. I used a white satin ribbon and wrote "Congratulations" on the front. I used this tutorial for the congrats. I love doing this "fake" calligraphy and bust it out all the time! The paper folded great and was stiff enough it didn't tear or get any creases. I was so proud to bring that present :)

Do you enjoy wrapping presents?

Gift Ideas: SparrowNestScript

I met Emily in high school. Emily is an incredibly talented woman! We played violin together in orchestra, she is a talented pianist and an avid reader. I've always been impressed with how hard she works. Emily has beautiful penmanship. She has created an Etsy shop to sell her calligraphy wares. I'm constantly in aw of the new items in her shop and her custom work. Her shop is SparrowNestScript and is full of tons of unique items!

Here are some favorites of mine:

Motivational Sunset Card

Indifferent Christmas Card

 

Harry Potter Inspired Notebook

Happy Holidays Rubber Stamp

Please take a look at her shop on Esty or her shop Facebook page! 

Gift Idea: Watercolor Artwork by My Sweet Rose

This weekend my husband and celebrated six years of marriage! And six years ago we moved into an LDS ward (congregation) where I met the lovely Laura. She is a woman of many talents and has opened an Etsy shop, My Sweet Rose, to offer those talents to you!

Here she is:

 

Yes, she's beautiful in addition to being an artist, photographer and awesome momma.

I asked her a few questions about her work and here's what she had to say:

When did you start painting? I started painting when I was in high school. Back then, I used acrylics and loved painting huge flowers like Georgia O’Keeffe. Then when I got to college I took a drawing class and a watercolor class and I changed mediums. From then on I’ve mostly worked with watercolors, although I occasionally do some larger works in acrylic and oil paint.

Where do you get your inspiration? My inspiration comes from nature. I’m always attracted to the simple beauty found there, from feathers, to fruit, to my potted plants around my house. I also love to peruse Pinterest and draw inspiration from all the beautiful things there.

How do you find time to paint with two little ones? Painting can be hard some days with my two busy sons (ages 3 and 1 yrs) but I usually get little breaks here and there throughout the day. They may be brief 10 minute increments but I know there’s always bedtime to really focus in and get things done. Most of my painting happens between 8 pm and 10 pm. I also try to get the housework done during the day, with the help of my boys, so I don’t have to worry about finishing it up after they go to bed. And if worse comes to worse I find a baby sitter and get to work!

So talented right? She also does custom work like these home portraits! Which would be perfect for someone like Brooke, who just bought a new home!

Please visit Laura's shop to see all her beautiful work: My Sweet Rose!

Lyrics + Photograph

First and foremost, Cassie if you are reading this, STOP! This is a present for you! No, seriously, stop reading!!!

My freshman year of college, I was introduced to Jack's Mannequin. I quite enjoy their song "Swim". It was stuck in my head the other day and I was immediately inspired to craft. I talked to my friend and we collaborated some ideas. Finally, I settled on a picture (from my friend's trip to Tahiti) and some lyrics from the song.

I printed out the photo on card stock. I let the picture dry for about an hour. I then trimmed the photo using the canvas board I would attach it to as a guide. I left some white as a boarder for the picture.

Then I painted the board with a layer of mod podge making sure I covered the entire board so there wouldn't be any air bubbles.

After letting that sit, I painted the front of the picture with mod podge. I did this quickly so the color wouldn't have time to bleed. I also made sure all the brush stroke were going in the same direction. I let it dry over night (it dried quicker than that but I had to help out my roommate with a project.) Taking an ultra fine point permanent marker, I wrote some of the lyrics in all lower case across the top and on the bottom of the picture in the white space.

Finally, I added the title of the song in white puff paint to the bottom of the picture. I set it aside to dry and voila!

Pictures will be added later tonight after I download them from my phone!

A Box out of a Box

I wanted to give my friend a present but didn't have the right sized box to put it in. I decided to improvise with an already made box. Why not? I took a granola box and cut off the extra amount. (The extra could be used for another box, too!)

I then made a cut about 1 in down each corner.

Next I folded all the sides down carefully creating a straight seam.

Then I folded the smaller edges in first, the larger sides second and there you have a box! Easy beezy!

I also wrapped it so you couldn't tell it was a granola bar box.

DIY Bows

I'm back at school and I definitely don't have wrapping paper or bows. I realized this after I got invited to a 2 year old's birthday party tomorrow. But what I did have was ads, lots and lots of ads! I didn't think a 2 year old boy would want his totally awesome robot shirt wrapped in Mary Kay so I went with a good ol' K-Mart ad. I wrapped the shirt up just like I would with wrapping paper. But I wanted it to look better than just that so I decided to make a bow. Now, I've never done this before so I just had to wing it.

 I cut strips off from the ad, keeping the center fold. I didn't cut too many since this is a small present. (I also cut some length from the ends to make it shorter.) This also cuts several strips at one time and the same width if you cut the ad booklet closed.

Using double sided tape, tape down the ends to the outside of the fold. It should look like a heart after you tape down both ends.

 

I also put tape inside the fold just to add stability. Do this until you have enough hearts. Using tape, attach the hearts to each other at the bottoms. You can also staple them altogether (I don't have a stapler...but yes, I have double sided tape.) I folded the ends in opposite directions splitting at the middle so I could tape both sides down to the present making it more uniform but you can see how your bow looks and decide how you want to tape it down. And there's a free way to wrap a present!

Christmas in July- Gift Tags

Similar to my mom I love to give gifts. There is something magical when you have thought of the perfect gift for someone you love. You purchase it and have to keep the secret. You select special wrapping paper and you make sure it has a beautiful ribbon and of course your need an amazing gift tag!

I got an idea for gift tags made out of polymer clay (Sculpey) from this tutorial and I thought it would be cute to do holiday tags. I think the variations on this are endless. Here are a couple ideas that I had.

First pick the color you want and knead the clay to make it warm. You can roll it out with a small rolling pin (as shown in the picture) but I used my "clay conditioner" (similar to a pasta maker). I put it through the largest setting then when I moved it to a smaller setting I put it through width wise to widen it. Make sure your clay is warm or it won't go through. My gift tags are 1/4" thick. I wouldn't suggest going any thinner because they will be fragile.

Next pick a shape. I cut mine for a Christmas tree. You can use cookie cutters in this step as well. Make sure you cut a hole to tie them onto the package. I used a mini set of stamps to stamp in the "to:" and "from:"

Last bake them, put them on your package, and impress people. After I baked mine I used permanent marker to fill in the letters so you could read them. You can also use acrylic paints.

What variations can you think of?