DIY "Fun in the Sun" Gift Basket

 

Hey, everyone! I am sorry that I have not posted in forever, I am so behind and I have so much to share. I hopefully will be able to post weekly as I did before, maybe even more, but I am not sure. Today I would like to share a summer gift basket I call the "Fun in the Sun" Gift Basket. I created this as a family gift that hopefully children will love, along with refreshments for the family. 

To create this, you will need:

-Lemonade Packets (I used True Lemon packets, which my family uses all the time. They have dye-free, caffeine-free, sugar free products, so I'd say this is a pretty safe choice.)

-Fresh Lemons

-A Jar (to put the lemon supplies into.)

-Sidewalk Chalk

-Glow-Sticks (or other Glow-in-the-Dark alternatives.)

-A Book

-A Basket (of course!)

-Yellow Tissue Paper

-Optional: A Card/Letter

To create this basket, I am not going to break the process down into steps because as you can tell, this is pretty straight forward. Simply put the lemonade supplies into the jar, and the lemons that don't fit can go in the basket. You can create a jar label by cutting brown card-stock or an alternative paper into a circle to fit the Mason Jar lid, writing "Lemonade in a Jar" on it with a black pen, unscrewing the lid to put the paper inside, and then twisting the lid back on. Fill the basket with the yellow tissue paper, and try to spread the paper out and fluff the paper up as much as possible. Place the book against the back of the basket. I used a book I published called "Meet Balance". I need to edit a few things, I found, so I unpublished the book temporarily, but you can find "Meet Texture" here. Both are part of a series I am writing called "Meet the Elements and Principles of Design". Next, tuck in your glow-stick package and jar, a card or letter if you decided to add such, and lastly the sidewalk chalk and extra lemon(s). You may need to rearrange depending on how your supplies look, but the idea is tallest items in the back, smallest in the front, and do your best to make sure everything can be seen. I hope you enjoyed creating this fun, simple summer gift! 

Thank you for visiting! I have lots of events and craft tutorials I hope to share with you soon!

-Lauryn

"Bag of Sunshine" DIY Gift + Free Printable Sunshine Banner

Good morning, everyone! Today I'd like to share a recent gift I made with a tutorial for you, as well as a free printable sunshine banner (becuase who doesn't need some metaphorical sunshine right now?). This gift may be hard to put together at the moment with most stores closed and everyone staying in, but this may come in handy after quarentine is over and some of the items you should be able to make at home regardless. I got lucky and happened to have these things already in my house. First of all, here is a list of what I included in my "Bag of Sunshine" gift:
-Sanatizer (from Bath and Body Works that reads 'Stay Pawsitive')
-Stickers (mine were from a pad of Happy Planner stickers I cut out and got on sale at Michaels)
-The free printable banner below
-Sunshine-themed sheet music that I watercolored yellow (found free online)
-A clay sunshine I made with Polymer clay and painted with acrylic paint and clear nail polish
-Some yellow pens I found in my art supplies
-A bag of yellow balloons
-Confetti (handmade)
-A watercolor quote picture (handmade)
-A car air-freshener that looks like a yellow-ish candle (from Dollar Tree)

Now, you could make your own clay with flour and salt to substitute the Polymer clay, and you could use any art media to make a picture or share a quote. I made the confetti with two hole punchers I got on sale at Hobby Lobby a long time back that were star-shaped and heart-shaped, but you could hand-cut the confetti instead if you don't have any hole punchers. I just used plain construction paper (the only kind of paper I had in yellow). Provided you have ink, paper and a printer, you can print the banner below and sheet music. For the banner, you will of course also need string, scissors, and a hot glue gun with hot glue or tape to cut out the sunshines on the printable and attatch them on a string. For packaging, I just used printer paper, a black marker to write the calligraphy with, construction paper, those Happy Planner stickers I mentioned, and I might've used a little scrapbook paper I had although if I did I didn't use much because, like I mentioned before, I didn't have yellow.  As for the other objects I included, these could be substituted for nearly anything yellow. Most of the 'Box of Sunshine' gifts on Pinterest use yellow foods, too, I just try to avoid food gifts generally. I think that about covers everything. Happy crafting!

Here is the printable:

I printed mine on cardstock. I hope this brightens your day!

-Lauryn