DIY Coffee Filter Gift Bow

This week we had a baby shower for a co-worker, and I wanted to coordinate my gift packaging with the decor which was kind of pastel and vintage-y. I got some mint & white striped wrapping paper from Hobby Lobby (using a 40% off coupon of course). The paper doesn't have a message so it can also be used for birthdays, weddings, etc... I'm all about versatility!

To dress up the gift, I sought inspiration from my recent coffee filter floral wreath project. Now that I'd been enlightened to the crafty potential of coffee filters, I figured there had to be a way to make some sort of bow with them.  And as it turns out there was--except I don't have a step-by-step tutorial for it since I was experimenting on the fly. 

Basically I just folded several coffee filters into halves (twice), then bunched them together, and tied some jute around the bunched-up bottoms very tightly. (So technical, right?) Then I scrounged around my craft stash for some scraps of lace and wrapped this around to cover the jute. Add just a dab of hot glue to secure the lace.

To give the gift more of a rustic feel, I used jute instead of regular ribbon, and then tied the coffee filter bow into the middle. For as randomly as it was constructed, I was pretty happy with the final outcome. It's more like a flower/bow combo, really.

And bonus, the bow didn't fall apart when the guest-of-honor unwrapped the box, which I was a little afraid might happen. So I must have done something right.

This pretty packaging would also work great for a bridal shower or wedding gift. If you're the slightest bit crafty, you can easily make your own bow just like this (or probably better)!  And coffee filters are stupid cheap -- like 100 for $1 -- so it's a very cost-effective method too.

Have you ever created your own gift bows?

Oh, Baby - Initial Art Gift Idea

Even though I have some upcoming blog posts planned about our newly painted walls, I haven't had time to work on actually writing them yet. Sad face. So in the meantime, I'm sharing this quick and easy gift idea. 

Let's rewind to a few years ago, when I made this personalized nursery letter artwork for one of our friends who had a baby boy:

I wanted to use a similar concept for another friend who just had a little girl recently. The only things I knew were A) their nursery was mint green and B) I wanted the final piece to have a sort of rustic/natural/sophisticated vibe. I wasn't sure how it would all come together, but all it took was a trip to Hobby Lobby to peruse the aisles for inspiration. At the end of the trip, my basket included an 8x10 frame, a piece of scrapbook paper, a chipboard letter, and some jute. 

Baby Shower Gift Idea + Pretty Packaging

When it comes to gifts, sometimes I’m a buy-it-off-the-registry-and-stick-it-in-a-gift-bag type of person. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) Other times I like to have fun and be a little more creative with my gifting, if only for my own enjoyment. Case in point: my sister-in-law’s baby shower this past weekend. I had seen a couple cute ideas on Pinterest and this was a perfect opportunity to try them out.

1) Onesie Cupcakes

(inspiration pic below)

{ via Living My Style }

2) Washcloth Lollipops

(inspiration pic below)

{ via Surf & Sunshine } 

Adorable, right? So first I went out shopping in search of some onesies. The only challenge was, because they don’t know the sex of the baby yet, I had to find something gender-neutral. On top of that, it was very hard (in my experience anyway) to find something gender-neutral and colorful. So, I ended up with some white & tan ones with little monkey designs on them. Not very cupcake-y looking, but they would have to do. I also had to settle for white socks.

Scrub-A-Dub-Dub: DIY Sugar Scrub

This year, I was once again on a quest to give homemade gifts to my co-workers. (In case you weren't around last year, I had put together these gift baskets with some baked goodies and a crafty cinnamon stick candle.)

And now that I’ve discovered Pinterest, I’m not sure if it makes my quest easier (because there are so many great ideas out there) or harder (because there are TOO many great ideas to choose from!).

There was one gift idea in particular that I really wanted to try though: DIY sugar scrubs. I researched many different variations and recipes – all which sound amazing. I finally settled on this Coconut Sugar Scrub  that I found on Pinterest.

via A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

It consisted of two simple ingredients: granulated sugar and coconut oil. I decided to go with the Nutiva brand coconut oil, which is organic and unrefined (found at local health store - $7.99 for 15 oz.). This stuff is actually for cooking, but according to the label it can also be used for “luscious skincare and healthcare.”  Double duty - love it!

Based on a different recipe I had seen, I also decided to mix my plain granulated sugar with some raw sugar, also known as turbinado sugar (found at Walmart). It’s much coarser, and seemed to me like it would add nice texture and make a good exfoliant. (In my non-expert opinion, anyway.) So basically, you could eat this sugar scrub, although I'm not really sure I would want to.

With my three ingredients on hand, I mixed together 1 cup of granulated sugar, 1 cup of turbinado sugar, and 1 cup of the coconut oil (for a total sugar-to-coconut ratio of 2:1). NOTE:  I had to warm the coconut oil a little in the microwave to soften it up so it would stir better (it’s a solid at room temperature).

Once it was all mixed together to a nice “scrubby” consistency, I of course had to try a little bit out. It actually felt pretty good rubbing it around my hands, and the amount of oil wasn’t too overbearing. I rinsed well with warm water, dried my hands, and I do think they felt nice and soft afterward (and yes, they smelled just like coconut).

I spooned the mixture into the little airtight jars I had bought from Hobby Lobby, then decorated the jars with ribbon and a gift tag (made by laminating squares of single-sheet Christmas paper from Hob Lob).

Another side note: I had some leftover sugar scrub that I saved for myself in a different jar. After a couple of days, it seemed to get a little dry and crumbly, but I think that's just because the coconut oil hardens up. The oil will still distribute itself once you start rubbing it in your hands.

Are you giving any homemade gifts this Christmas?

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Recipe of the Week: Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I recently had the urge to make some chocolate chip cookies, but not just any chocolate chip cookie. The recipe off the back of the chocolate chip bag (although good) wasn't going to cut it this time. So I started searching for some new adaptations and happened to stumble upon Lisa's quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. After perusing a few of the recipes she had tried out (bless her heart!), I settled on this King Arthur Flour recipe, below. I think I was drawn to it because it uses vinegar, which I hadn't seen before in a CCC recipe.

2/3 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed

2/3 c. white sugar

1/2 c. unsalted butter, right from the fridge, or at room temperature
1/2 c. vegetable shortening (like Crisco)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. vinegar, cider or white (I used cider)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 large egg
2 c. all-purpose flour (no, I did not use King Arthur brand)
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. (I just used my baking stone.)

In a large bowl, combine the sugars, butter, salt, vanilla, vinegar, and baking soda, beating until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg, again beating until smooth. Mix in the flour (use a sifter!), and then the chips.

Use a spoon (or a tablespoon cookie scoop) to scoop 1 1/4" balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2" between them on all sides; they'll spread.

Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes, till their edges are chestnut brown and their tops are light golden brown, almost blonde. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pan till they've set enough to move without breaking. Repeat with the remaining dough.

NOTE: Upon reading the original recipe from King Arthur Flour, I chilled the dough for about 48 hours before baking. Apparently this is supposed to deepen the flavors or something like that. (Side note: Roll the dough into a log before refrigerating, like I did below, so you can just cut it in slices when you're ready. This is also a great gift idea for anyone who loves freshly-baked cookies... and who doesn't?!)

Just look at these gorgeous, perfectly-shaped cookies!

As you would expect, they were amazing fresh out of the oven -- nice, uniformly thick, and chewy -- but still delicious even after they'd cooled off later on. I think chilling the dough also keeps them from spreading out as much, so they stay thicker. The texture and color are just about perfect, too. If you want a really good detailed review, check out Lisa's post over at Sweet as Sugar Cookies. I really admire this girl for all of her baking endeavors (which we get to benefit from)!

Another thing I like about this recipe is that it only uses one bowl for all the ingredients. (Normally, I'm used to mixing the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another bowl, then mixing those two together.) As far as I'm concerned, this is my new go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

On the subject of cookies, did you know that putting a slice of bread in your jar/container of cookies will keep them from drying out and getting hard? I had heard it before but just tried it for the first time with these. The next day, the bread was hard and dry, but the cookies were still soft and chewy. Amazing!

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Manic Monday @ Serendipity and Spice

Personalized Nursery Letter Art

You may be wondering why I would be doing a project for a nursery. Well..... I have some news to share......

Just kidding! No, we are not having a baby. However, a couple of our good friends just became proud new parents of a baby boy (three weeks ahead of schedule). I knew I wanted to do some sort of DIY project for their gift, and I had been thinking along the lines of a personalized photo frame.

Then, I came upon the perfect idea while visiting Hennessy House. I wish I could take credit for myself, but I have to give Sarah all the props; this girl has creativity oozing out of every pore! Seriously, you should see her artwork. Normally I am both impressed and intimidated by her talents, but this letter art actually seemed like something I could attempt to re-create myself.

Basically, the idea is to trace a bunch of different stencils to create the shape of a letter. For a good, detailed tutorial, just check out Sarah's post. In her case (below), she used it as a wedding gift.

via Hennessy House

I, however, was visualizing it in a nursery. Since my friend's nursery has what I would call a sophisticated/modern jungle theme (it's really adorable), that made it pretty easy. I had no trouble finding various elephant, giraffe, and hippo silhouettes on Google Images. I also used a photo of the wall in the nursery to get the silhouette of the simple tree that also matches the tree in her fabrics. Then I printed off all the silhouettes in a variety of sizes.

The baby's name is Elijah, so I found a nice chunky font (Berlin Sans) for my letter "E"and blew it up to about 700 point size for an 8x10 frame. After tracing the outline of the E onto tracing paper, I proceeded to trace my silhouettes inside the letter. It was kind of like putting a puzzle together, trying to decide where they fit best. And although it was time-consuming, I thought it was pretty fun.

I wanted to make a couple different versions to see which one I liked best, but ran out of time and just went with my first attempt. Here's what it looked like as outlines only:

Then, I scanned in the tracing paper, printed it off on regular white paper, and colored in the silhouettes with a black Sharpie. (You could also just use the fill tool in Photoshop to color in the outlined shapes, but this way felt more "handmade.") Here's what it looked like when I scanned it in again:

In Photoshop, I erased the outline of the E, darkened the silhouettes by adjusting the levels, and just cleaned up the image in general. There was also a little blank hole that needed filling, so I added the date of Elijah's birth.

I found this silvery frame at Walmart, which I spray painted with Rustoleum American Accents satin finish in Iris Blue.

Then I just printed out my letter art on matte photo paper, and voila!

I think Sarah's version looks better, but overall I'm pretty happy with mine. This is such a great gift idea -- inexpensive, yet it still requires effort and creativity. With that said, you don't have to be an artistic genius, just have a little bit of patience.

And the season of giving continues...

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Linking up to....
Motivate Me Monday
Anything Related Tuesday
Amaze Me August
Look What I Made! (Creations by Kara)
Whatever Goes Wednesday
What I Made Wednesday (Sweet Peas and Bumblebees)

   

    

'Tis the season of giving

Graduations, weddings, and babies, oh my! Anyone else finding their summer booking up quickly? And then there's the gift shopping... (Whoever said Christmas is the season of giving?!)

This weekend was a baby shower for one of my friends, and the wedding of one of my college roommates. Of course, gift registries make it easy to find something that you know they'll like. And I definitely make use of those registries most of the time! But I also like to try to put just a little extra effort into my gift-giving. (Remember my gift baskets from last Christmas?) Don't get me wrong, sometimes I'm such a last-minute shopper that I have to shove everything into a gift bag -- no tissue paper or anything -- and call it good.

Problem: For the baby shower, I purchased several little random items from the registry, and I didn't want to wrap them individually or throw them in a storebought gift bag.

Solution: Assemble a fun (and inexpensive) gift basket.

White gift basket from World Market: $4
Yellow shred from Walmart: $1
Gift basket bag from Hobby Lobby: $2

Since the bag was clear and you could pretty much see everything inside (which kinda takes away from the surprise factor), I also tucked some squares of different-colored tissue paper around the basket. Add some curled ribbon and a balloon, and voila!

Problem: For the wedding shower gift, I purchased a glass canister set off of the registry. Perfectly fine by itself and it's already packaged in a box which makes wrapping easy, but it still seems a little...boring.

Solution: Since the canisters will most likely be used for some kind of food storage, include some favorite recipes as a bonus.

I went through my recipe binder and picked out 8 of my current, tried-and-true favorites (several of which I've blogged about). I typed them out, printed them onto white cardstock, and cut them into cards. To make them a little more sturdy, I took the cards to work and laminated them (which will also make it easier to wipe off splatters). Then I punched a hole in the top corner of each card and used a little key ring to hold them all together. It still seemed to be lacking something, so I tied some ribbon onto the ring to add a little color.

I thought this "booklet" would be a nice idea because everyone has to eat, and therefore everyone can use recipes, right? You could definitely get more elaborate with this and use prettier paper, more recipes, etc.

What do you do to add a personal touch to gifts? Do you go by the registry or take a risk and "off-list" it?

Note to self: You are no Martha Stewart.

I was a baking maniac this weekend.

This year, I decided to put together some simple gift baskets with homemade goodies for my co-workers. I already had ideas for most of the goodies. Then, I stumbled upon this recipe for homemade marshmallows. How fun would that be along with some packets of hot cocoa mix?! It sounded easy enough, and I just had to invest about $4 in a candy thermometer from Walmart.

Without going into a lot of detail, let’s just say that this was not one of my brighter ideas. The mixture was so thick that I nearly burned out the motor of my electric hand mixer and got marshmallow goo sucked up in the holes where the mixer sticks go. (Admittedly, that was my fault because the recipe called for a stand mixer, which I don’t own.) The result was a big, white, sticky blob that--while it did have the texture of a marshmallow--was impossible to cut into chunks or shapes. And even when I did get a chunk off, I had to roll it in so much corn starch and powdered sugar that it didn’t even taste good. Needless to say, clean-up was not fun either. Big fat FAIL.

This experience was a humbling reminder that I am no Martha Stewart. Well, at least I can bake a mean loaf of bread. I made both banana (my mom’s tried-and-true recipe) and pumpkin, baked them in some mini loaf pans (Chicago Metallic brand from BB&B) that had been lightly greased and dusted with cinnamon/sugar, and they came out beautifully!

For chocolate-covered pretzels, I melted a 2.5 lb Ghirardelli Candy Making and Dipping Bar that I found at Sam’s Club for $6.98. It dries with a shiny, glossy, hard coat and tastes better than almond bark (in my opinion). I only dipped the pretzels halfway to stretch the chocolate longer, and it made a ton. I put these in little treat bags and tied with a ribbon.

 
Since I had already bought some hot cocoa to go with my failed homemade marshmallows, I still stuck a packet in each gift basket, sans marshmallows.

The last thing in each gift basket was a cinnamon stick candle, a project from a couple of weekends ago. All of this was nestled in green glittery wire baskets from Hobby Lobby (where else?). Then I tucked in one of our Christmas cards that were printed at Sam’s Club. Overall, I’m pretty happy with how my gift baskets turned out and I had fun putting everything together. Gift baskets like these are nice because they still take some thought and effort, but not a lot of money.

Hope everyone's ready for Christmas! I'll finally be sharing all my decorations later this week... and hopefully soon after that I'll be able to show off our newly painted bathroom!