Category Archives: I Craft

Holiday Cookie Container

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I’m not a big fan of being wasteful and during the holidays, that is tough.  There are so many great ways to wrap and give baked goods that it’s hard not to be tempted to buying ALL OF IT. A few months back I was making coffee and I realized that the coffee bean tin was the perfect size for stacking cookies.  I decided to keep it along with any others used before the holidays.

Recently, I was sent a whole lot of Martha Stewart wrapping product and thought I would use it to recycle this tin as a holiday cookie container.

 

 

 

 Products:

Coffee tin.

Trader Joes coffee bean tins are also perfect.

Wrapping paper

Ribbon for handle

Paint for lid

Glitter (optional)

Label

 

 

 

 

 

 

ToDo:

1) First cut out the wrapping paper to fit onto tin.  I just laid it down and marked top and bottom.  I used spray adhesive to attach the wrapping paper to tin.

2) Cut slit in lid the width of ribbon you will use.

3) Paint lid and glitterize

4) Slide both ends of ribbon through to make a little handle.  Hot glue to inside of lid.

5) Make cookie label

6)  This is the hardest part: Fill with any cookies you didn’t manage to eat and share with a good friend.

 

I Wrap to Win

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If I’m invited to an event that typically involves a gift my first thought is not what I’m going to get them.

Nope.

It’s how I’m going to wrap whatever I’m going to get them.

If it’s a baby shower I look up the registry to see how the room is being decorated.  If it’s a wedding shower I will look at the color theme and or wedding theme.  If it’s a kids birthday, I’ll try and theme it to their latest interests.

You can see a few examples of this in this post.

In other words, I wrap to win.

When I walk into a room with my gifts?  The wrapping alone makes it a winner.  Oh, and I can tell when there is someone else who thinks they were going to win.  They’re usually the ones with their mouth agape as I walk past them smiling (or smirking, hard to tell sometimes.)  The rest of the room just lost.  It doesn’t even matter that they didn’t know it was a competition.

I’ve quilled snowflakes, woven ribbon, set plaster pieces, hand painted, sewn paper quilt pieces with raffia, stamped and stenciled my way through gift wrapping.    I’ve taken up to a month wrapping a gift before.

Let me repeat, a month.

Who is going to win against that level of (crazy) commitment?

Eleven years ago, I even had my own custom gift wrapping business.  I would make product and then sell it at local craft fairs.

My fair set up. They’re not all winners but they are all hand made. (this is a film photo people)

When I was contacted to review the Martha Stewart home office /wrapping line with Avery, let’s just say it was a full circle moment.

YES. YES SEND THAT TO ME NOW PLEASE.

So, what is important to me in wrapping supplies?   It needs to have a nice design, different elements that coordinate and the product is good.

Luckily, The Martha Stewart line has these elements.

If you’re looking to wrap gifts and ship them?  That all can be coordinated too.   Full package coordination.

Let your coordinating OCD heart sing loud while wrapping!

The one thing I really like are the labels.  It has coordinated labels that you can print on using the templates provided.  This gives an overall seamless look.

I like this line so much, I’ve already gone to Staples to buy the craft paper one with snowflakes on it.  And the candy cane one is probably going to be purchased as well.

As great as it is…I do have a few suggestions for the product:

I’m not entirely sure if this is just me or if other people like to coordinate their tree with the wrapping under it.  This year, Martha Stewart has a holiday line of tree decorating products at Home Depot.  My first thought was that if her wrapping line matched her tree trimming line I would be in COORDINATED HEAVEN.  But it was not meant to be.  I understand that Avery and Home Depot are not exactly the same type of store but I would have expected it to have been coordinated or at least have the wrapping line available with the Home Depot product.   It’s not that you couldn’t make it work; it’s just not made to go together in that way.

There was a misprint on the labels.  The template numbers on the packaging (to print on them) did not match the number on the actual label and then it ended up being a third template number I found on the Avery site that worked with chosen label.

Another suggestion I would make would be on the paper itself.  It does not have the interior grid cutting lines.  I’ve become a big fan of those and am surprised her paper does not have them.

To say I’m excited that Martha Stewart has a hand going in the game of wrapping paper would be an understatement.  I really hope the line does well and well enough to expand into other lines other than winter holiday wrappings.

And if by some chance my suggestions are implemented?

I’ll smile as I hand over my cash for it.

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P.S.  Do you see that cookie container up there in the picture?  I made it and You Can Too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: Red Sky public Relations contacted me to review Martha Stewart home office with Avery.  I said YES (probably twice and in all caps) and this is my review.  I was sent wrapping, shipping, tags, labels and ribbon.  I wasn’t paid for this review because I wrap to win.  It’s obviously an honest review because I came up with ways to make Martha Stewarts product better and who does that?

DIY Embellished Frames

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It’s beginning to look a lot like………..BOO!

If I could transform all my indoor decor into Halloween for the month of October, I would.  Pillows, curtains, frames, candles: all would be switched out for their spookier counterparts.

But I can’t.  First of all, I don’t have the storage space.  Second of all, have you seen the prices of all those holiday decor items?

Regular frame= $2.99.

Frame with a crow painted on it=  $10.99.

I decided this year to make my own Halloween inspired frames.

You can use any of these techniques with whatever colors, papers, and stencils.  They would be a perfect baby or wedding gift.  They could also be customized for any holiday.

I started with these unfinished wood frames from Michael’s craft store. They ranged in price from $1.00- $3.99.

 

 

 

I wanted to make them Halloween inspired without screaming Halloween.

And this is how they turned out:

These frames might look fancy, but I swear to hot glue that they were super easy to do.

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DIY Frame Index:

Crackle Frame in this post

Lace Stencil Frame

Paper Punch Frame

Stainess Steel Frame

 

 

Supplies for Crackle Frame:

You can find all products here

Oval Frame

Martha Stewart’s crafters clay nature starter kit

M.S. paint- Beetle Black in High Gloss

M.S. paint- Arrowhead

M.S. Weather Crackle

M.S. Onyx glitter (optional)

Paint Brush

Black and White photo

 

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Crackle Frame How To:

1)  Take out middle insert of frame and put aside.  Decide what color you want the cracks to be.  That is the first coat you put on. (I used black)

 

2)   Paint a base coat of black. I used high gloss, but any black will work. Don’t forget to do the inner ring and the outer parts.  Wash brush, which may be obvious to you but I have 143 dead hardened paint brush heads that say otherwise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3)   While the black paint is drying.  Start smooshing the clay into the mold.

This is actually the first time I’ve ever dealt with this “clay.”  I find it more like foam than clay.  It’s almost like an updated version of plaster that I used to set in molds.  The benefit of this new clay is that it is more flexible and less likely to break when you get it out of the mold.

It takes 24 hours to set in the mold.  You can just leave it there. Or, I suppose make the rose the day before, which I didn’t do.

 

 

 

 

 

4)   Honestly, I’m a little impatient so I have a craft hairdryer that I use to speed up drying times.  Right about now is when I’m doing that on the black paint if it’s not already dry.

(And if I’m being completely honest, once the rose was firm but not completely set, I took it out of the mold and hair dried it too)

 

 

 

 

 

5)    Next put on a layer of “weather crackle” on top of the black paint.  It’s clear but will go on very glossy.  Put on an even layer covering entire surface.   Wash brush.

 

6)   Don’t use a hairdryer on this step.  It ruins the crackle effect.  I know this from past experience.   BE PATIENT.   And since I’m not, I just started making another frame during this time.

 

7)    Look to see if the shiny has dulled some.  I usually touch a corner ever so lightly.  The weather crackle stays tacky, so if it’s tacky and not wet?  You’re good.

 

 

 

 

 

8)   Top coat.  Now, this part is a little tricky.  I’ve seen many a crack job gone wrong.

First, pour the paint you think you’ll need on a paper plate.  The key to good crack is keeping a wet edge.  You have about 3-4 seconds from the point you touch that paint to the frame before it cracks.  And don’t rebrush the part where you just painted.  You’ll smear the crack job.   The lighter the coat, the smaller the cracks.  The heaver the paint goes on, the bigger the cracks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9)   Now sit back and admire the cracks.  It’s like magic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day,  take your flower out from the mold.

I painted mine black and then sprinkled it lightly with some black glitter.

Then I hot glued it to top of my frame.

 

 

Voila.

 

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Disclaimer:  I was sent Martha Stewart crafts.  I’m not going to lie, it was a box of awesome.  I may have already framed the box in a gilded frame.    I used the mold clay kit they gave me on this project.  The rest of the items I already had or purchased with my own money.  I wasn’t told what to craft or what to use.   I didn’t have to write four different craft posts but let’s be honest, who could get through one post with all of that?  Also?  Overachiever.   And I don’t think I expressed any opinions, but if I did, I think we know they’re mine.    So there.

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Oh!  And this was my 100th post!