Friday Find: Gifts For Crafters

It's so easy to shop for myself, I wonder why others have trouble buying me gifts. This week's Friday Find is for the crafters in your life--get them something besides a Michael's gift certificate this year ;)

Also, I may be on hiatus for a couple of weeks here. My family (as in my WHOLE family) is coming to visit for two weeks over the Thanksgiving holiday. We will be busy, and I plan on doing lots of crafts with the kiddies, but I'm not sure how much of a chance I will have to take photos, upload and post to the blog while they are here. I may do some posting, but I'm not making any promises! Happy Thanksgiving to all!

On to the finds:

Holiday Owl Ornament Needle Felting Kit $12 from Fancy Tiger
This seller has a nice assortment of beginning needle felting kits. Really cute stuff!


Slice and Bake, Vintage Bakelite Buttons $19.80 from Green Ray Productions
These are vintage Bakelite buttons from the 1930s. I love vintage notions and could come up with half a million places to use these Bakelite buttons. These on their own would be a great stocking stuffer, or a pair an assortment of vintage buttons with old lace.


Heather Bailey Designer Felt $2.25 to $4.25 per 9"x12" sheet
Good felt is hard to find. The polyester stuff in craft stores tends to pill, and all of your hard work can go to crap pretty quickly. Heather Bailey recently came out with wool-blend and bamboo felts.


Custom / initial / handcarved rubber stamp $12 from lilimandrill
This is so simple and would make a beautiful, personal gift. Custom made in France (très chic, no?)




Vintage German Glass Glitter, Blue Tourmaline $2.99 from Bird Song Studio

Our glitter is imported from Germany and made with a real silver base which will allow the glitter to develop a lovely tarnished vintage patina over time.
Produced by Bavarian Glass Artisans and crafted in small batches by hand to create a superior grade glitter. A multi-stage process and multiple coats of pure silver give the glitter it's exceptional sparkle and shine.

This is real glitter, made from glass. Beautiful stuff, and this seller has a variety of colors to choose from. Note that this is made from glass--it's not for kids.

Faux-y Lady

This is my entry to the Singer/Craftsine.com Me, My Scarf and I Contest

The contest requires that you explain how your scarf reflects your personality. This is what I wrote:

How can something so elegant and sophisticated be so silly at the same time? In my Faux-y Lady scarf, I tried to capture that strange juxtaposition inherent in the vintage fur pelts that have always fascinated me. If this scarf is a reflection of my personality, I hope it comes off a little bit quirky and unconventional, but with a great sense of humor, and somehow still a teensy bit debonair.

Either that, or it comes off like I always have a vapid, glassy-eyed stare. But, hey, I'm still a fox!

A little cheesy, maybe?
Wish me luck on winning that serger. Ooooooooh, I want that serger!

Friday Find: DIY Holiday Gifts

I love making handmade gifts for Christmas. When you take the time to create something beautiful for a friend, lovingly wrapped up and tied with a perfect bow, and then she hands you a $25 Target Gift Certificate, stammering about how busy she's been over the holidays and listing off all of her various family members that were in town and the illnesses she endured, it really makes everyone walk away feeling like you are SUCH a thoughtful, generous friend and she's. . . well. . . she's "been busy."
If you want to get that glowing "better-than-you" feeling this holiday season, it's time to start thinking about making the perfect gift. This Friday Find features DIY kits and supplies available from some Etsy sellers to help get you started:



Sweet Donut Crochet Scarf PDF Pattern
$4.99 by Lilla Dolce
I don't know how to crochet! Why don't I know how to crochet?! This scarf is so cute and yummy, and looks like the perfect pattern for a beginner. Be sure to check out this seller's other patterns. She somehow manages to walk the line between silly and stylish. In particular, I love her Sunny Side Up Egg Scarf and the Salad Scarf would be ideal for a funny vegetarian friend.



DIY I Spy Toy Kit for Little Boys
$9.50 by Pattern Play
These little I Spy toys can quietly occupy a busy preschooler for minutes at a time! I recently purchased one of these kits from Pattern Play, and they are great quality kits with clear instructions. I haven't put mine together yet, but Huck loves to play with it just in the plastic bag! Also available is a Little Girl's Kit.



Square Glass Pendants with Gorgeous Chiyogami Papers (kit makes 6)
$14 makes 6 pendants by Annie Howe's Keepsakes
Here's a really affordable way to make personalized gifts. This kit makes six glass pendants (the seller makes her own glass), which you can back with beautiful the Chiyogami papers she provides, or get creative and use your own paper or images. I picture this with a photograph of a grandchild or a loved one who's far away (know any Army wives?) to make a sort of modern locket piece.



Wooden Dolls--Dress 'em up yourself
$15 by Goose Grease
These simple wooden dolls are ready to paint. Your choice of hair color, just convo the seller if your family has different haircolor and/or skin tones. I especially love these because they are gender-neutral toys--perfect if you know a little boy who loves dolls! Please note that they are on the small side and may not be suitable for kids under 3 years-old. Also worth noting that this seller has a custom wedding cake topper kit.



Make Your Own Leather Journal - Bookbinding Kit
$25 by MyHandboundBooks
And, finally, something for guys. A classic leather journal or sketchbook. Practical, classy, what more do you need?

Orange and Cloves

My father-in-law, who is an enthusiastic consumer of oranges, sent us home this weekend with a massive bag of oranges picked from their neighboring groves. They are juice oranges, so they burst apart and the sweet juice drips down your arms if you attempt to peel and eat them. You have to hover over the kitchen sink and make loud sucking noises as you shove your face into the half-peeled skin to try to catch the drips and keep the pulp from falling apart in your fingers. It's kind of a pain. Instead, I have been making freshly squeezed orange juice out of them for breakfast every morning. Yum!
Anyway, I remembered this easy fall craft that you can do with kids. It is nothing revolutionary, but shoving whole cloves into oranges smells soooooo goooooood. It's always fun to play with your food!

Friday Find: Non-Cookie Uses for a Cookie Cutter

I love cookie cutters! I have lots of them, but for some reason I never use them. I just collect them and they annoy Steve. The main reason is that I'm not a huge fan of sugar cookies, so when I get the baking bug, I don't crave them and therefore all of my beautiful cookie cutters are left unused. I recently bought some Thanksgiving themed cookie cutters, and once again I have no desire to make sugar cookies. But the little turkey shape is so cute, I have to do something! For this week's Friday Find, I set out to look for non-cookie uses for cookie cutters.


Jello Jigglers (For Cookie Cutters)
I may not be a fan of sugar cookies, but I sure do love me some Jell-o! They look like quivering little jewels ready to slide down into my belly. This would be a cute, easy project to do with kids. Imagine this in fall colors using leaf-shaped cutters--could be a very pretty and easy dessert to bring to a potluck!



How to Make Cookie Cutter Soap
This is a good video tutorial on how to make soap out using supplies you have on hand. It would be cute to make little seasonally appropriate soaps for the guest bathroom or to give as favors or gifts.


Savory Pumpkin Puffs
I made these recently for a party we went to for Halloween and they were very easy and yummy. Except I didn't have the right ingredients, so I cheated and used Trader Joe's Bruschetta topping and sprinkled them with cheese. Very quick to make, and the results look and taste like you slaved over it!



Silhouette Sandwiches
So cute! I 've always liked shaped sandwiches, but did not like the waste that came out of it. This way you don't have any scraps to throw away!


Gingerbread Candle Holders
A very pretty project just like this. I also imagine making little turkeys and using these as place settings for the Thanksgiving table that can be given to guests as a favor to take home.

Kissy Monster

My sister-in-law often chases my children around and slathers them in kisses as they scream and try to get away from her. So we made this Kissy Monster puppet for her recent birthday (Huck helped by choosing colors and deciding on the number and placement of eyeballs. Milo helped by trying to climb onto my chair and grab at scissors and pins while I sewed). This was my first go at sewing something stuffed, and I think I learned a few lessons. Like, don't stuff THEN sew. Not the best workmanship on this one if you examine the seams, but I blame some of that on my cheap-o sewing machine. It has problems adjusting to thicker fabric, even when I mess with the tension, so there was a lot of bunching thread and inappropriate language spewed forth during the making of this puppet. I keep entering various sewing contests to try to win a fancier machine, but so far no luck! Next up is the Me, My Scarf and I contest, which I think I have a pretty good shot at if my project comes out the way I think it will!