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 I need to edit a few things, I found, so I unpublished the book temporarily, but you can find "Meet Texture" here.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

DIY Easy Nutella Gift

Hey guys! Today I have a super quick and easy gift tutorial for any chocolate-and-peanut-butter lovers you know. If you are scrambling for some last minute ideas, this hopefully will come in handy! This could go for any type of butter, too. Almond, cashew, plain peanut butter, apple butter, and so on. This could even be just an addition to a gift basket or some other gift (as it was in my case).

All you need is:

-A Spoon (I chose metal because I planned to metal-stamp it but that didn't work out, but any kind would work)

-A Jar of Butter/Nutella

-Paper (for the label, preferably cardstock)

-A Ribbon or Alternative String

-Scissors

-A Pen/Marker

-Tape/Glue (almost any adhesive would do)

I don't even need to break this into steps as the gift is very self-explanatory. All you need to do is create the label by cutting out a circle, write "There's no 'butter' _______(fill in the blank) in the world!" or "than you!" followed by "Happy ____(fill in the blank occasion)!" You could tape or glue this onto the lid. Tie the spoon onto the ribbon or string and tie that into a bow around the mouth of the jar. That's all there is to it! 

I hope this comes in handy! Thank you for visiting! 

-Lauryn 

DIY Bird Magnet Party Favors

Hey everyone! I'm finally back. Here is a quick tutorial on how to create bird magnet party favors. These are super easy (meaning they can be made at the last minute if necessary. I know from experience.), practical, fun and pretty inexpensive. They do require several phases of drying time, however. If you substitute the clay I listed below, then they can be even cheaper. I created these for a bird-themed party, but you could create something else to fit your theme or use the bird magnets for a more open-ended theme such as nature, animals, etc. Unfortunately, I did not take photos of the process, so hopefully the instructions make sense. These are overall pretty self-explanatory.

For this project, you will need:
-Polymer Clay (NOTE: The acrylic paint is completely unnecessary if you have the colors of clay you want. I used old clay, so I had to paint on top of it once my birds dried. You can do details with the clay and skip that trouble, though.)
-Acrylic Paint or Nail Polish (I used Apple Barrel acrylic paint)
-Paint Brush(es)
-Clear Gloss (this could be Dollar Tree nail polish or a gloss paint. I like to use one from a local store called The Artful Barn that is only $2 or less, is triple-thick, and works great)
-Magnets (I bought mine in bulk on Amazon for cheap, although they are very miniature so I need to use two on the back of each)
-Adhesive (hot glue did not work for me, so I had to use J.B. Weld epoxy. Don't get it on your fingers, car, clothes, or carpet! I learned the hard way.)

Step 1.
First of all, you need to form the birds out of clay. Roll and squish the clay in your hands until the clay is pliable, then roll it into a ball. You'll want the ball to be just a tad bit wider than a quarter, probably, if that makes sense. Then place the clay down on a plastic plate, parchment paper or anything it won't stain or get stuck to. Use your thumb to press down and make a two-ball snowman shape with a small circle and large circle (all in one piece). Pinch the tip of the small, top circle and pull it to form a beak. Pinch and pull the bottom left part of the large, bottom circle to create a broad tail. Pinch and pull on the bottom of the large circle to create a cylindrical shape and press down so it is rectangular. This should be narrow. At the bottom of this rectangle, pinch both the left and right sides to create feet. The right should be longer than the left if your bird is facing right. You can use a fork, needle or other tool to engrave toes. You can add other details if desired, such as a wing sticking up, a varied head shape, a branch, etc. If you have the right colors, form the eyes, wings, beak, feet, and other different-colored elements and stick them on, making sure the edges are securely combined, and skip Step 2. I did not do this, so I will describe my process in Step 2. Bake the clay at around 275 degrees for around thirty minutes. This is a vague estimate, and ovens vary.

Step 2.
Once the clay has hardened and cooled off completely, coat the bird in the acrylic paint or nail polish color of choice. If you use paints, this may take three coats, involving each to dry before adding a new coat. Once that is dry, use black to paint on tiny dots for the eyes, and use black or another color of choice to paint a simple wing shape, the feet, the beak, and any details or designs you wish to add. I went for a very minimalist, graphic-design look, so my birds are highly unrealistic and more whimsical. To save time, you could paint the backs of the magnets plain black. Let the paint dry.

Step 3.
Add a coat of clear gloss to one side, let that dry, then do the other side and let that dry.

Step 4.
Glue on the magnets. Hot glue was not strong enough for my magnets to I used J.B. Weld epoxy. I had to mix two different parts together, and I used a popsicle stick. Then, with the popsicle stick, I dabbed two spots of glue for two magnets on the back of each bird, rubbed some on one side of each magnet, and stuck the magnets on. Do NOT get J.B. Weld or super glue on your skin or anything but this project! Let that dry, and you're done!

To package the magnets, I cut out squares of card-stock and wrote "You're a mother like no other!" You could substitute 'mother' for any word befitting your purpose. At the bottom I wrote "Happy Mother's Day!" I just used a regular gel ink pen. Even a decent ball-point pen could work. I tied them on with string or twine, and punching holes into the card-stock to tie the string through is highly recommended.

I hope you find this useful! I have a lot of events to share soon! 

-Lauryn

Star Wars Gift in a Bag (DIY) Gift

Hi everyone! Today I'd like to share a quick gift tutorial from this past Easter that I made for my brother: a Star Wars 'Gift in a Bag'. Usually you see 'gift in a box', 'gift in a jar' and such, but I was in a situation where I had to use what I had, and I didn't have jars, baskets, or good boxes, but I had paper bags. This can, of course, be adapted into a jar gift, gift box or gift basket. Although this was made for Easter, this would make a great birthday gift, and could even be turned into a Christmas 'Star Wars in a Stocking' gift. This is super easy to out together. I literally ended up creating all of my gifts on Easter morning, using what I had. 

Basically, to create this you need a collection of Star Wars items you know the recipient will enjoy. These could be bought or handmade. If you have Easter eggs, you can put items inside them and create character faces with them. I made Yoda, C3PO, and Darth Vader. I hot-glued tissue paper on my eggs, added cardboard for the ears on Yoda and a cardboard helmet piece on Darth Vader with hot-glue, and painted them with layers of acrylic paint. I also used markers on top of the paint when it dried for details I think (I may have also painted those, though, I really don't remember), and used a metallic silver on Darth Vader. What you include in your gift depends, but if you are making the gift for somebody who enjoys art, you could include art supplies. I filled the eggs with homemade clay, and the sack in the photos below held acrylic paint tubes. I hand-painted a baby Yoda tee-shirt as well, but if you make this gift for somebody older clothes can be tricky and I tend to avoid clothing gifts. I actually don't know if the shirt would fit in a paper bag, although I think it would, because mine was still drying when I presented it. Like I said, it was very last minute. I would have liked to include more, but I was using what I had and didn't order online in advance. Some ideas might be Star Wars books (stories, parodies, puzzles, tutorial books and so on), accessories or socks, candy molds that you could use to make either treats or crayons with, notebooks, cooking gadgets, and countless other items. When you have all of your items, the last step is to create a label by printing out the Star Wars logo (which is easy to find on Google), glue it on a folded or cutout piece of card-stock with hot glue or a glue-stick, and write "Gift in a ____" ("Gift in a Bag" in my case), and attach the label on (I stapled mine onto the bag, but in a gift basket it would be tucked in, and in a jar it would be tied around the jar or glued onto the lid). That's all there is to it! If you create a similar gift, I encourage you to get creative and turn things you know that the recipient would love into Star-Wars-themed items. Remember, make everything cohesive and stick to a simple color palette.

I hope you enjoyed! I am not sure when I will be able to post in the coming few weeks due to my school workload, but I hope to continue posting weekly. I can't guarantee that, though. Thank you for visiting!

-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

DIY Jack Costume (From "Mary Poppins Returns")

Hello, everyone! Today I am going to share a quick tutorial for one of the costumes I made last year for Halloween, which was Jack from "Mary Poppins Returns". This costume is super easy to make. 

My brother got the hat online, although I'm sure it could be paper-mached. I found the coat and pants at a thrift store, although I got quite a few before I found one that fit right, and I had to sew the pants smaller. I found a red vest at a thrift store with a zipper, cut the zipper out, hemmed it, cut button holes with scissors or an exacto knife, and sewed buttons on. For the scarf, I found a short red scarf or bandana type of thing at a thrift store and painted the black swirls on  with acrylic paint. The white undershirt was also from the thrift store. Because we live in Georgia and Jack wears so many layers, I think I had to modify the shirt by making it short-sleeved or something so that he wouldn't die of heat. Basically, the costume was just a lot of searching and modifying, which in this case was cheaper than making it from scratch. Fancy suits, plain white shirts with collars and vests are all very common at thrift stores, it's just a matter of knowing which ones carry them for cheap. If you live in Georgia, definitely try the Cleveland Community Thrift Store. If I remember correctly, that's where all of my costume parts for this came from. 

That's all there is to it! 

I hope you enjoyed this random post and find it a useful resource in the future. I look foward to sharing more tutorials and events soon!

-Lauryn

DIY Candy / Willy Wonka Bouquet

Hello! Today I am sharing a tutorial for a Willy Wonka/Candy bouquet. I made this for my brother last year when he played Charlie in a Willy Wonka play. This was a quick, very last-minute gift (otherwise I'd have never gotten him junk food with dyes). Please keep in mind that any of these treats could be substituted. For example, nut packages and a large bar of Lillie's chocolate or something could be used instead. 

To make this, you will need:

-Small packages of candy/treats

-A large, pretty treat such as a candy bar, homemade lollipop, homemade bread. a large cookie, etc.

-A small balloon

-Dowel rods or an alternative

-Hot glue and a hot glue gun

-Tulle

Step 1. 

Hot glue the candy/treat packaging to the wooden/plastic sticks/rods.

Step 2. 

Tie tulle around them all in a bundle and glue where/if necessary. Add in the balloon.

You're done! It's a super easy gift, and perfect for boys in theater who may not want flowers or traditional after-performance-type gifts. Plus, like I said before, this could be changed into a healthier version. I gave my other brother who played Mr. Bucket photos and a balloon in place of candy due to his dietary restrictions. There are lots of substitutes to a bouquet that are easy and quick. You could even do a non-candy bouquet.

I hope this comes in handy and you enjoyed! I look foward to sharing more activities and events with you soon!

-Lauryn