Gift Ideas

Spa Inspired Holiday Survival Kit with Buffalo Check Jars

26 · Dec 5, 2017 · 1 Comment

With the craziness of the Holidays, who couldn’t use a spa inspired holiday survival kit? It’s full of homemade sugar scrub, shower bombs in stylish Buffalo Check Ball Jars, one of my favorite Yankee Candles®, even a cute little Ball® jar filled with matches. It turned out so cute, come learn how to make some kits of your own to give give to friends and family this Christmas. You could even use it as a Secret Santa gift!

+ This post brought to you by the folks at Newell Brands, makers of Ball® Fresh Preserving Products +

I know when I’m working preparing all of the Holiday magic that comes this time of year, I can easily get a little run down. Nothing major, nothing a nice aromatic bath with some candles couldn’t cure. With that thought in mind, I thought it would be fun to put together this Holiday season to give to my friends, neighbors, teachers… Basically, anyone who could use a little pick-me-up as well.

Sharing Jars

I love the mission of the Ball® Sharing Jar. When you purchase the Sharing Jars your purchase will benefit Feeding America® – the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization. For every package of Sharing Jars purchased, Newell Brands will donate 4 meals*! I LOVE it when I can help support a worthy cause when buying stuff I would normally buy any way.

*Newell Brands® will donate $0.36 per package of Sharing Jars sold, up to $150,000 provided to Feeding America®. $1 helps provide 11 meals secured by Feeding America® on behalf of local member food banks.

Sugar Scrub Recipe

Before you can start assembling your Holiday Survival Kit, you’ll need to mix-up some simple sugar scrub. This couldn’t be any easier. You can mix this by hand or with a mixer. Either way is totally fine. Here’s what you’ll need.

2 cups sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil
10 drops of peppermint essential oil

Add sugar to your mixing bowl and slowly add your coconut oil until you get the desired consistency. I don’t like to add any food coloring because I don’t like to add extra chemicals and keep things natural. Plus, you don’t want to accidentally spill on something and have the color transfer.

Finish up by adding the essential oils and package in your Ball® Sharing Jar.

Shower Bomb Recipe

The shower bombs take a little more patience. These little guys are very similar to the Snowball Bath Bombs I made the other day. They are made with baking soda and you want to make sure you don’t activate it while you are in the process of mixing up your shower bombs.

1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup citric acid
1/2 cup corn starch
2-3 tablespoons water
3o drops peppermint essential oil

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add baking soda, citric acid and corn starch. Put water and essential oil into a small spray bottle and slowly spray dry mixture while mixing on low. Continue adding water/oil mixture until you achieve a nice wet sand consistency. DO NOT rush this process.

Add mixture to a silicon mold like the one below and press firmly.

Let mixture sit in mold for 4-5 minutes and then carefully unfold. Let the shower bombs sit on a flat surface overnight to dry.

Fill the other sharing jar with the shower bombs and attach printable tag to jar.

Buffalo Check Jars

These buffalo check jars are a true gem! I have a feeling I’ll be using these year-round. Here is a quick post to show you how to make them.

Printable Gift Tag

If you know me at all, you know I LOVE to design all kinds of printable. These may be some of my favorite thus far.

You can download the tags HERE

Match Jar

Alright, I am so in love with this little, itty-bitty Mini Ball® Storage Jars. They are only 4 oz. and they are just too darn cute!

They are the perfect size for a little match jar for your Holiday Survival Kit. I filled the jar with matches, thenI cut a strip of the matchbox striker and glue it to the side of the jar.

I also cut some vinyl on my Cricut that looks super fun on the jar…

You can download the cut file HERE

Holiday Survival Kit Assembly

Now, all you need to do is assemble your spa inspired Holiday Survival Kit…

I grabbed a Yankee Candle® Small Tumbler Candle to go with my match jar and a little box and I assembled my Survival Kit with he printable tag glued on the front of the box. I also tied the gift tags on the jars with some leather that I bought at my local craft store. Now, it’s giving time!

Secret Santa

I am super excited this year to participate in the Ball® Home Canning Products Secret Santa Program! Their lovely crew assigned me to an amazing talented blogger, Almost Makes Perfect. I adore her style and was thrilled to send my Spa Inspired Survival Kit to her. I can’t wait to see what she thinks of it.

I was lucky enough to receive a Ball Secret Santa gift from Jamie of C.R.A.F.T. She sent me this cute little candy jar set…

How fun is that? Adding some twigs as antlers and a belt to the jar to look like Santa. Honestly guys, creating with Ball® Canning Jars is so much fun! What can you guys think-up for this Holiday Season?

Disclosure + I am a paid partner for Newell Brands, makers of Ball® Fresh Preserving Products. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

How to Paint Buffalo Check Jars

3 · Dec 5, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Love the Buffalo Check trend? Yep, me too! I thought it would be fun to use some of the Ball® Sharing Jars to create some Buffalo Check Jars to use as gifts this Holiday Season. Here’s how you can make some of your own.

+ This post brought to you by the folks at Newell Brands, makers of Ball® Fresh Preserving Products +

Ball® Sharing Jars

This project looks a bit challenging, but truly it’s not! All you need are some of those fabulous Ball® Sharing Jars and some paint and you can create this trendy look for yourself.

I love the shape of the Sharing Jars and I love the mission. When you purchase the Sharing Jars your purchase will benefit Feeding America® – the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization. For every package of Sharing Jars purchased, Newell Brands will donate 4 meals*! I LOVE it when I can help support a worthy cause when buying stuff I would normally buy any way.

* Newell Brands® will donate $0.36 per package of Sharing Jars sold, up to $150,000 provided to Feeding America®. $1 helps provide 11 meals secured by Feeding America® on behalf of local member food banks.

Buffalo Check Jars

I’m a huge fan of the Buffalo Check trend and can’t get enough of it right now. Pretty much everyone I know feels the same way so, I thought a stylish Buffalo Check Jar would be the perfect gift for friends and family for Christmas this year. I’ve filled them with all kinds of stuff; candy, bath scrubs, shower bombs, soup starters, cookie kits, all kinds of stuff. Of course after the jars are painted, you can no longer preserve in them but, they’re great for everything else. Here’s how to make them.

Materials

Ball® Sharing Jars
Americana Decor Chalky Paint in Everlasting, Yesteryear & Carbon
sponge paint brush
1/4″ flat head paint brush
240 grit sandpaper
Americana Decor Clear Crème Wax
lint free cloth

Instructions

To begin, make sure you have washed and dried your jars. Then paint a couple of layers of the white (Everlasting) chalky paint onto the jar with the sponge brush. You can use your favorite kind of chalk paint here.

Don’t worry about brush strokes, they will get smoothed out in the finishing process at the end. Let dry, ideally for a few hours or overnight.

Next, you’ll use the 1/4″ flat paint brush to paint the gray (Yesteryear) stripes onto the jar.

You will loosely use the lines on the jars as guides. I really didn’t want a precise looking check wanting it to look more free form or hand painted. I didn’t want this project to become to crazy with measuring every little detail and taping the jar to get perfect lines. This to me makes the project so much more enjoyable and I love the look.

Start at the top points of the lines in the Sharing Jar and use your 1/4 inch brush line to create the stripes. Three stripes around the jar and then a vertical stripe in the center of the flat sections of the sharing jar. Let dry completely.

Now, you’ll use the black (Carbon) paint to paint on the black section of the check in the intersections of the gray stripes. Again, let paint dry completely. It would be best at this stage to let the paint cure overnight. It will help the paint adhere to the glass much better.

Once the paint is dry, you will use the sand paper to smooth and distress the paint. Be careful not to attach the jar with a little too much vigor. You don’t want to sand the paint right off the jar. Using a soft hand, smooth the dry paint, (this will remove the brush strokes) and then carefully distress the high points of the jar.

Once this step is complete, you’ll want to wipe down the jars with a damp cloth to remove any of the remaining dust. Then you’ll use your lint free cloth to wipe on some of the wax to seal the paint onto the jar. Use the lint free cloth to then wipe off any excess wax and buff the wax.

Now, you’re finished! You have the cutest Buffalo Check Jars ready to fill with whatever you like.

I created a fun Holiday Survival Kit and filled the jars with a homemade sugar scrub, some shower bombs and included a Yankee Candle® along with the cutest little match jar ever… You’ll have to check it out. It even comes with free printable gift tags.

Disclosure + I am a paid partner for Newell Brands, makers of Ball® Fresh Preserving Products. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Homemade Snowball Bath Bomb

16 · Nov 27, 2017 · 1 Comment

In a pinch and need a nice, simple and budget friendly Holiday gift for friends, neighbors, teachers and the list can go on and on. These bath bombs are a fabulous simple way to show your friends a little Holiday love this time of year. With the free printable gift tag, you can’t go wrong with this fun little gift.

When it comes to neighbors, co-workers, teachers and friends, I always want to give them a little something around Christmas to show them how valued they are in my life. I however, don’t want to inundate them with all kinds of sugary treats all of the time. (Don’t get me wrong, I am no stranger to the classic goodie gift plate.) Sometimes it’s nice to receive something that isn’t sweet during the Holidays. With this easy to make Holiday de-stresser, it may quickly become their favorite Christmas goodie this year. All you need are a few simple ingredients…

Snowball Bath Bomb Ingredients

1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup citric acid
1/2 cup epsom salt
1/2 cup corn starch
4 tsp. water
8 tsp. coconut oil
2 tsp. peppermint essential oil
spray bottle
3 fillable plastic Christmas ornaments 70 mm
3 fillable plastic Christmas ornaments80 mm
black medium oil-based Sharpie
3/8 inch black grosgrain ribbon
white card stock paper
hole punch
scissors
printable gift tag via WhipperBerry

Snowball Bath Bomb Instructions

This is one of those projects that is super fun to get the kiddos involved so, gather everyone around the mixer and let them dump away. Here is a quick little video that I put together to show how easy it is to make these little bath time gems.

Snowball Bath Bombs via WhipperBerry from Heather Thoming on Vimeo.

Use the 70 mm plastic ornament to mold the bath bomb.
Keep spraying until your dry ingredients start to fee like nice wet sand.
Turn the mixer on low and spray the liquid ingredients into the bowl. The reason for the spray bottle is so that you add the liquid as slowly as possible. You don’t want to activate your ingredients until you or your friend is in their nice hot bath.
Add the liquid ingredients to the spray bottle and shake to mix.
It’s helpful to have a stand mixer for this project but, in a pinch, a whisk will do. Add all of the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl.
Using the oil-based sharpie, draw little crosses or “x” all over the ornaments.

The following day, place your snowball bath bomb into the 80 mm fillable plastic ornament. It’s funny, they kind of expand a bit when they dry. That’s why you need the larger ornament to use as your gift box.
Leave in the mold for 5 minutes. Then remove the bath bomb from the mold and let dry overnight.
Let the black paint dry, it only takes a few minutes.
Print the free printable gift tag from WhipperBerry and cut out the circle.
Using a hole punch punch a whole to the side of the snowflake on the tag.
Then tie the tag on the ornament and you’re finished!

Check out the back…

Aren’t they cute! And… They are soooo nice in a hot bath sipping some peppermint hot chocolate. I may need to make a few batches to keep on hand for myself.

Here is a quick image that you can pin so you don’t forget the recipe.

Zipper Pouch a Perfect Holiday Hostess Gift Cut with the Cricut Maker

121 · Nov 22, 2017 · 8 Comments

I am a HUGE fan of thoughtful handmade gifts! I try as much as possible to create something special to give friends and family during the holiday season. This year I have become a little obsessed with stylish little zipper pouches. They are so handy for keeping those little odds and ends organized and really… They’re so darn cute! I’ve even created a design of my own it’s called the WhipperBerry Zipper Pouch and it’s the perfect Holiday Hostess Gift!

+ This post is brought to you by Cricut +

Not too long ago, I made a cute little pencil pouch using the pattern created by Anna from Noodlehead. I LOVED the pattern so much… I was a total nerd and decided that I wanted to convert Anna’s PDF pattern to a SVG file so that I could cut my fabric on my Cricut Maker. It took a little trial and error, but I managed to make it work. I imported my newly created SVG file to the Cricut Design Space and again, with a little more fiddling around, I managed to make it work. I was THRILLED! I love Anna’s pencil pouch and I’ve now sewn a few different variations trying to improve my sewing skills. I love this little pouch but, I’ve been wanting to make one that is larger and will hold things other than just pens and pencils. I decided to modify Anna’s pattern a bit and make a larger zipper pouch to give as holiday hostess gifts this year.

Why Sew with the Cricut Maker

This is a BOLD move for me! I’ve embraced all kinds of creative gift ideas, but I’ve never sewn for my friends and family. I’ve always thought it was too hard, too troublesome, too time consuming. This cute, stylish and heartfelt gift is quite frankly one that I would LOVE to receive. So, why not make several? I’ve always shied away from sewing because I could never cut the pattern just right. Something would ALWAYS be off… Not anymore!!! I’ve been cutting fabric for sewing projects now for a few months and man am I hooked. Knowing that you are starting off with good bones makes the sewing so much more enjoyable. Reasons why I love cutting fabric with the Cricut Maker…

Precision cuts – you’ll always start with good bones.
Less waste – you’ll use far less fabric by using a precision cutting tool.
Empowerment – the Cricut Maker is bring sewing to the masses, no more excuses, you CAN do this.
More intricate designs – have you always kept things really simple? With the Cricut Maker, you can get as fancy as you want.

Here’s a quick little video on how I cut my fabric for the zipper pouch

The WhipperBerry Zipper Pouch Material List

10″ zipper
14″ x 28″ of cotton fabric for lining + I used Cotton + Steel black and white Checkers for the lining and the accent fabric
16″ x 18″ main print cotton linen canvas – I used Cotton + Steel Tapestry Midnight Canvas
8″ x 12″ accent fabric
1/2 yard Fusible Ultra Lightweight Interfacing
thread that compliments your fabric
download the SVG cutting files

Instructions

First thing to do it to visit my post on How to Import and Use a SVG File in Cricut Design Space. I have a full video Tutorial on how to cut this exact pattern and it will really help the cutting go super smooth. Before I start cutting though, I fuse my interfacing onto the lining of my pouch. If you are using a lighter fabric for either one of the exterior pieces, you’ll want to fuse that fabric as well. Make sure to do this step BEFORE you cut your fabric. Pro Tip • If you don’t have enough interfacing to cover your entire piece of fabric, don’t worry. Keep your interfacing scraps and piece it together. No biggie!

Piece the Outside

Start by sewing the outside together by placing the main print and accent fabric right sides together and sew using a 1/4″ seam allowance. Press seam to one side and topstitch. Then repeat with the other side of the exterior of the pouch.

How to Prepare the Zipper

Before you attach your zipper, you need to prepare both ends of the zipper by folding it over towards the back side and placing a few stitches to hold it in place. Repeat on all four ends of the zipper.

Attach the Zipper

With exterior panel right side up, center zipper right side facing down (zipper pull at left) along top edge then pin in place. Place one lining piece, right side down on top of the exterior piece again pin into place. Using your zipper foot, sew along top edge using a 1/4″ seam allowance. Open like a book and press exterior panel away from zipper. Topstitch along zipper using an 1/8″ seam allowance. Make sure NOT to top stitch both layers together. Position outside panel and lining panel wrong side on together and press away from zipper. Repeat the same steps to attach the other side of the bag with the remaining exterior panel and lining panel to the other side of the zipper. This time placing zipper pull at right. Keep and eye on your top seems and make sure they match up. Then press both sides again.

Finish the Zipper Pouch

Open zipper halfway. This is an important step. Position exterior panels right side together and lining pieces right side together and pin along sides and bottom. Be sure that you place pins on either side at the intersections of where the lining meets the exterior on each side of the pouch and where the seem of the exterior meet. Sew along the bottom and sides of the pouch using a 1/4″ seam allowance. You will need to leave a 4 inch opening in the lining so that you’ll be able to turn your pouch. Make sure to not stitch together the corner cut outs. Speaking of corner cut outs… Check out the precision of how the fabric lines up. That’s solely possible because of the Cricut Maker. You can sew with confidence knowing that your fabric will line-up easily because of the perfect cuts. Ok, back to work… Reach inside your bag and shimmy the zipper open all the way. Box your corners by pinching the corners together and line-up the seam and pin. Repeat on the remaining 3 corners. Sew straight across with a 1/4″ seam allowance. Repeat with the remaining 3 sides. You’re so close to the finish line! All you need to do is turn out your pouch so that it is right side out. That’s where the 4 inch opening comes in handy. Pull it through that opening just as if you were turning a sock right side out. Are you just swimming with PRIDE now!!! Take a minute to make sure everything is settled in all the right places. Push the lining corners into the right spot. You may want to use the eraser side of a pencil or a chopstick to push those into place. You may want to even press your pouch again if it needs it. That’s it, you now have a beautiful, stylish large pouch that you made yourself. It has your fingerprints all over it. You chose your favorite fabric and it screams your style! Now, you can profile all of your friends and figure out what their perfect little somethings zipper pouch would look like. Then, whip one up for them to take as a hostess gift, holiday gift, friend gift, it’s Tuesday gift… Basically, it’s a great creative gift that ANYONE can make with a little help from the Cricut Maker & a sewing machine. You could even personalize it with some Cricut Iron-on Lite and the Cricut Easy Press. That would be really cool. What to win some amazing Cricut goodies for yourself? Enter below for a chance to win! a Rafflecopter giveaway If you’re looking to make a shorter pencil pouch, visit Noodlehead for that pattern and directions.