Posts made in November, 2009

Tiny Hot Cocoa Packets

Posted by Lindsay on Nov 17, 2009 in Crafts, DIY, Featured Articles, handmade, Holidays | 1 comment

I’m probably going to be regurgitating a lot of crafty finds that I come across online for you all over the next few days and/or weeks…I’m very busy with a couple of new clients (woo hoo!) and with getting ready for the Christmas fairs around here, so I’m looking for inspiration like crazy!  Plus with “the economy how it is” (aren’t you sick of that saying??) I’m sure people are looking for ways to save pennies and a good way to do that is to hand make your gifts!  So my newest crafty find that I’m loving are these adorable ‘Tiny Hot Cocoa Packets’ by LollyChops, that I found through a link from the fabulous Kim of The TomKat Studio on her Facebook page!  Thanks, Kim!

Aren’t they adorable?  The crafty mind behind LollyChops gives you step-by-step instructions for making the mix, how to add it to and make little baggies to put it in, and how to package it up nice and pretty!  And lucky for us, the PDF template is available to download so you can make your own teeny tiny packaging!  And they really are teeny tiny: about 2″ wide x 4″ tall and the baggie holds 10 tablespoons of mix, which is enough for about 3 mugs of cocoa.  I made one this morning from the PDF.  So cute!  Click –> here <– to download the file.  I’ll post the link again at the end if you want to read the rest of the post first.

Here are the directions on how to make the actual cocoa mix.  Yum.  And nice and simple.  And chocolatey.

It takes some nonfat dry milk powder, sugar, unsweetened cocoa, mini chocolate chips (or you can substitute crushed candy cane, mini marshmallows or dark chocolate flakes), powdered nondairy creamer and a little salt, all in one big bag or container.  You put a little bit of it into a baggie, and then put the baggie into the teeny tiny template that you print out, cut, fold and tie with a ribbon.  Easy peasy.  This is what page 2 of the PDF looks like and the photo above is what you get with page 1.  Handy, right?

She also gives you some instructions on making a little sandwich baggie to fill with cocoa mix that will fit inside of the packaging.  I attempted a baggie and it will work, I just don’t have all of the ingredients to make the cocoa mix!  Yet…

First you cut the top off of a sandwich baggie.

Then you fold the baggie in half (side to side, not bottom to top…), but not quite folded all of the way over…then tape.  See photo:

Now fold the opening down around itself, and scoop the cocoa mix into the opening by the tablespoon.  You’re only putting mix into one side of the bag.  You should be able to fit about 10 tablespoons into the baggie.  The instructions say that each cup of cocoa should take 3-4 tablespoons of mix…which will make 3 mugs of cocoa.  After you scoop your mix in, fold the top of the baggie back over itself to close…or tie with a twist-tie.

Now you can attach the baggie inside of your paper or cardstock packaging that you printed and folded.  Here is my attempt that I tried this morning.  I printed it onto white cardstock.  Sorry for the low-res photo…I took it with my webcam on my computer.    And don’t mind my messy office!

I would just tape the baggie inside of the little cardstock triangle by the top and bottom of the bag (LollyChops recommends taping the baggie mix to the bottom to avoid it sliding around).  Or tie your twist-tie in with the ribbon where you punched a hole in the cardstock.  Any other suggestions?

It’s also perfect size to add a trimmed-down business card to the bottom…except you can’t sell these exact templates (they’re for non-commercial use only), but if you just made your own packaging templates on the computer you could!  The full template size is 2 1/4″ x 10″, and each side of the template is 4″ tall…just add a blank (or add your info.) 2″ x 2″ square in the middle, which is the flat bottom, and add the name of the mix and instructions to either side.  You’ll see what I mean on the template…

Click –> here <– to download the file.

Do you know of any other cute handmade gift ideas floating around out there on the web?  I’d love to know your favorite resources!

I’m off to browse the rest of the LollyChops site…see ya’!

{all images, except my 2 webcam shots, via LollyChops}

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Giveaway Winner and New Likely Design Feature!

Posted by Lindsay on Nov 16, 2009 in Creativity, Decorations, Featured Articles, Giveaways | 1 comment

First thing’s first – my Rosebud Card giveaway has ended and using random.org, we have chosen a winner!

The winner is comment #5 – Colleen – congratulations, Colleen!  We’ll be in touch!

I can’t wait to hear how she loves her cards.  Thank you Rosemary at Rosebud Cards for your generosity, I appreciate it and I’m sure that Colleen will as well!

Up next, if you haven’t noticed yet – there is a new little ‘tab’ at the top of the blog, pointing you to the new “Lillie + James” page.  Lillie + James is my new venture in partnership with my sister-in-law, Erin.  We have been crafting and coming up with decorating ideas like crazy, so please contact us if you’re interested in taking advantage of our services!

We had a ball setting up this Christmas table, and photographing it was interesting to say the least…can you say ‘timer?’   Thank goodness Erin’s son came home so he could capture this angled shot for us, ha!

Read more about Lillie + James here.  Happy Monday!  And happy birthday to our other sister (or sister-in-law, in my case), Kayte!

xo,

Lindsay & Erin (aka Lillie + James)

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Just a Quick Note…

Posted by Lindsay on Nov 13, 2009 in Blogging, Environmental, Guest Bloggers | 1 comment

Hey everyone!

I am just popping in really fast because I don’t have a chance to write a big post…we are getting an Infrared Energy Audit done on our house today so it’s cutting into my regularly scheduled time to blog – but I’m very excited about it! More on that next week!! Very interesting stuff…

But I have a few links to send you to…first – don’t forget – my Rosebud Cards giveaway is going on through the weekend, so head over there to enter for a chance to win your choice of 3 of their sweet cookie cards!

And secondly, today I have my very first guest post up on another blog! Michelle of When I Grow Up (an amazing life coach) is moving to her newly purchased home (congrats!!) and wanted to keep up on the blog in the process, and she graciously allowed me to tell my practical-to-creative-career path story. Check it out: Black Sheep. I hope you like it, it was quite a process to organize my thoughts and bang it out.

Black Sheep by dreamel.  I love this image that Michelle picked for my post…

Also…I am proud to announce that Glenn started to paint the bedroom (in following my paint plan) and he likes it!!  He really, really likes it!!  And so do I…but I already knew that I would…muah ah ah ah ah!!  More on that next week!

And as usual, have a GREAT weekend!!

xo, L.

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The Tackiest Thing Ever

Posted by Lindsay on Nov 12, 2009 in Crafts, Creativity, Featured Articles, Holidays | 3 comments

Okay, I just couldn’t help myself with the title.  Only tacky because I’m talking about tape…get it?    I’ve been thinking about Christmas a lot lately; buying gifts, packaging them, mailing them, making cards, and also making cute packaging and craft fair items for Lillie + James.  How can I make my gifts or packaging stand out?  I’m really bad at wrapping gifts and tying cute bows, so when a short-cut comes along that can help me in any way, I try to keep it in mind for future reference!  Enter…decorative tapes.  I know these have been all around the blogs before, but I think that it’s an appropriate time to bring them up, don’t you think?  Especially with new holiday collections coming out!

After seeing a few photos and videos of these decorative tapes in action, I knew I just had to have some. I think the first company that I ran across is called TapeSwell, a unique line of decorative packing tapes. You can easily dress up a plain old brown paper bag gift-wrap job with these (it’s an easy way to recycle – yippee!), or make a conversation starter for when you’re standing in line at the post office to mail the gift! But they’re not just for wrapping packages…you can put the tape on anything you want to dress up; glass, candles, picture frames, lampshades, gift bags, and they even suggest making headbands and necklaces out of the stuff! Check out their “Tacky Ideas” section on their website here! There are tons of great products and patterns, so I’ll shut up and let the pictures do the talking (I especially love their new holiday tapes, though!!).

Okay, I’m piping in again…how great are the containers that they come in?  You can buy the tape as a single roll, or in a combo pack as shown below.  I love those little tins!  Click on the pictures and you’ll be taken to that particular tape on their site.

These are their holiday patterns…

They even carry these adorable Holiday mailing labels on a roll.

And speaking of mailing labels, tape isn’t the only thing that they do.  Check out these Envelope Wraparounds (perfect for sending Christmas cards!).

But don’t let the tape limit you, check out these Tacky Ideas (I like the cards, especially!):

Now check out this video I found, via Daily Grommet.

Cute, right? There is really no limit to how easy it would be to dress up your packages, gifts, envelopes or anything else that you could think of! Prices range from about $7 – $20 depending on the combo that you buy, and I know a lot of people that spend more than that on wrapping paper every year!

I also want to point you over to Happy Tape – a website that distributes Japanese masking tape (Japanese because it’s made out of Japanese washi paper, which is a little different than traditional masking tape that we know and love).

Look how cute the tape looks, dressing up a plain cardboard pastry box.  And they also have ‘new’ holiday patterns in pretty metallics!

This is simply a package wrapped in tape, with a label attached at the seam.  Adorable!  I have to get some of this before the craft fairs come up…

And this is a garland, made with…what else? Tape!  Look at the little fruits on the table with toothpicks and tape flags…perfect for a baby or wedding shower as a placecard!

Single rolls start at $5.50, or you can buy 10-packs for $34.00.  I’d even scour eBay or Etsy to see if I could find some I haven’t heard of, and do a web search for more crafty ideas…you could make some crazy wall art with these for sure!  No painting, only taping, and at $5.50 or less for a roll it would be an easy and cheap project.  Just like I like it!

Happy wrapping, everyone!  xo, L.

{all images via TapeSwell or Happy Tape.}

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Embroidery Hoop-La

Posted by Lindsay on Nov 11, 2009 in Art, Crafts, Creativity, Decor, DIY, Etsy Finds, Featured Articles, handmade, inspiration | 0 comments

Are you a stitcher?  Embroidery is becoming very popular and I’ve been noticing it more and more in home decor (and not just on throw pillows!).  Have you noticed this trend as much as I have?  Hanging an embroidery hoop is an easy way to fill an awkward space, and it is a great way to add some personalization to your decor.  I think the idea is just absolutely adorable, inexpensive to buy, and even more inexpensive and easy to DIY.  After seeing a lot of embroidery work, or embroidery hoop art around the web, a lot of the paths lead me here: Sublime Stitching.  I love their motto: “This ain’t your gramma’s embroidery!” They have the cutest (and edgiest) embroidery patterns, lots of how-to’s if you’re not sure how to get started with embroidery, and a shop for all of the tools you’d need to take up this easy-to-learn hobby.  I was clicking all around the site a few months ago, and I even bought one of their ‘Ultimate Embroidery Kits‘ with the intention of making some personalized art for my house, and a few Christmas gifts…well Christmas is only a month and a half away so we’ll have to see if I actually follow through. 

Not into stitching?  Try hanging an embroidery hoop stuffed (is that the right word?) with your favorite designer fabrics and you have an artful arrangement that makes you happy every time you see it.  I’m kicking myself for not buying a lot that I found on Etsy of various sizes of embroidery hoops…haven’t found another lot at such a value since!

I love this studio space, via Apartment Therapy.  The owner’s blog can be found here (called The Locker – she makes lovely fabric-and-paper cards in her Etsy shop).

Do you love the embroidery stitching look, but don’t want to stitch your own?  Well, fortunately there are a few sellers on Etsy that make them for you and they are amazing!  Here are a few that I’ve found that I’m sure you’ll love as much as I do.

This image above is via Green Wedding Shoes, and links to a post about giving these as a wedding gift, but the actual images are from an Etsy shop called Miniature Rhino where the owner will create a customized design for you!  How.  Stinkin’.  Sweet.

This is another piece from Miniature Rhino (I found the image at Lara Lewis’ blog here) but I don’t see it in the Miniature Rhino shop while I’m looking today.  Wouldn’t this be a great gift?  I’d keep checking her shop if you like it!  Stitching a constellation is a such a cute idea.

I really can’t get over this look – it’s like a parlor wall, where most people would arrange a huge wall of photos, but these hoops just make me smile!  I think a wall with both photos in frames and embroidery hoops would look amazing!  Image via Nea on Etsy. Below is a close-up of the little grey and green hoop on the bottom.

I love the grey and green branch.  This is Nea’s ‘Branch Wall Wear“.  I’ve had this one in my Etsy favorites for a while.

You can even put a chalkboard oilcloth in an embroidery hoop.  Love it!  Via Bliss in a Teacup on Etsy.

How about using fabric scraps in an embroidery hoop as a bulletin board?  Via Apartment Therapy.

Another example of mixing some cute patterns in an arrangement of hoops! Via Things I Like to Look At.

This is an image from the Etsy shop andwabisabi where you can buy this set of cross stitch patterns for $3.00, and you’ll get it practically immediately because it’s sent to your e-mail address as a PDF.  All you need is an embroidery hoop, some embroidery floss, a needle, a piece of fabric and a pattern, all of which can be attained very inexpensively and at any craft store or online shop like Sublime Stitching. I’m inspiring myself to pick my project back up and create some art for my wall!

How about you?  What do you think of embroidery or embroidery hoop wall art?  I, for one, am loving it and the handmade look that I’m digging right now.

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