Neighbor Gifts

Garden Girl Canvas Zipper Bag Tutorial • Mother’s Day Gift Idea

1 · Apr 28, 2018 · 2 Comments

Hello… Mother’s Day is right around the corner, are you getting ready? I always love to create something fun for my Mom and for all the “Mothers” in my life. My Mom is a true garden girl and I thought it would be fun to create a cute garden girl canvas zipper bag using the new Cricut Patterned Iron-On for Mother’s Day. Have you guys seen this? It’s the cutest stuff!

+ This post brought to you by the amazing crew at Cricut +

Cricut Patterned Iron-On

You guys… This stuff is so fun to work with! It comes in florals, lace, polka-dots, geometrics, plus more. The Cricut Patterned Iron-On is the next creative wave coming out of the fabulous minds of the crew at Cricut. They are constantly working to make more and even better consumable products for us to use as we create with our favorite crafting machine. This iron-on vinyl is created with the long-lasting Strong Bond™ technology and adheres nicely to many types of fabrics. It works like a dream when using the Cricut EasyPress or even your home iron.

Garden Girl Design

Since my Mom loves flowers, I thought the Anna Griffin floral patterns in the Francesca sampler would be perfect. I’ve been crushing on Anna Griffin’s work for years so, this was a natural fit for me as I started to design this Garden Girl bag.

The design is pretty simple, it’s a flower that I found in the Cricut Design Space and then sliced the words into the flower and added a couple of leaves. But, no worries… I’ve got you covered. You can click on the link below, in the project supplies section, it will open this project up for you to use in Cricut Design Space.

Supplies

Instructions

Now, that you’ve seen the video, here is the step by step instructions.

Open the project in Cricut Design Space and click on the customize button. You may need to resize the design in order to fit your canvas bag.
Cut the design on your Cricut machine following the steps that Cricut Design Space will walk you through. Make sure that when working with any iron-on material you need to MIRROR YOUR IMAGE and CUT ON THE WRONG SIDE of the iron-on vinyl.
Weed your iron-on material. To “weed” vinyl or iron-on material means that you remove any iron-on material that you don’t want on your bag. For this design, you’ll want to remove the outside of the flower and leaves, then remove the letters from the inside of the flower.
Pre-heat your Cricut EasyPress to 340˚ and set-up your EasyPress Mat.
Place the canvas bag on the EasyPress Mat and prepare the surface by pre-heating the space where you are going to add the design for 15 seconds. This allows for greater adhesion for the Patterned Iron-On.
Place your flower down on the surface of your bag then, slide the leaves under the flower and place them where you would like them. I trimmed the bottom of the leaves a bit since they were going to be covered by the flower.
Remove the flower, cover the leaves with the Protective Iron-On Sheet and press the leaves at 340˚ for 30 seconds and gently pressing down on the EasyPress. First, on one side and then an additional 30 seconds on the other side.
Remove the Iron-On Protective Sheet and then, peel back the clear protective film on the leaves.
Place the flower over the leaves. Replace the Cricut Iron-On Protective Sheet and press again, like before. 30 seconds on one side, then 30 more on the other side.
Let cool for a few minutes and then remove the protective film.
At this point, you can decide whether you want to fill in the letters with Sharpie. I wanted my Garden Girl to stand out a little more so I decided to fill them in. You may have selected a Patterned Iron-On where the words standout just fine and you won’t need to fill them in. This is your call basically.

With that, your bag is finished and ready to gift to your favorite Garden Girl!

What would you like to create with the new Cricut Patterned Iron-On? Leave a comment and let me know, I love to see what you guys are working on!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

Christmas Gift Ideas and Free Printable Christmas Gift Tags

14 · Dec 14, 2017 · 1 Comment

UPDATED POST with new updated label originally posted December 1, 2015

Madly looking for gift tags for your friends and neighbors? These stylish gift tags are perfect to print on label paper and stick on really any cute container and make them look fabulous!

One of my favorite things to do is creating fun new little ways to show your friends and neighbors how much they mean to you during the holidays. It doesn’t need to cost a lot, nor does it have to take a whole lot of time & effort.

I went to Michaels and found some fun mugs and cute cups to create some easy, fun gifts. Then I created some stylish tags to add to the mugs and cups.

You can download the free printable gift tags HERE

You can print them on white label paper or you can print them on Printable Gold Foil (I love this stuff!) You can find it at Michaels too. All you need to do is download the PDF file and print out your labels…

I’m cutting these out with just a simple pair of scissors, no cutting machine required.

Now, I know that a lot of people love their sweets when it comes to Christmas, but not everyone appreciates ALL of those sweets. I thought I would come up with a non-sweet gift that will still be a fun gift to receive.

Everyone’s in love with the Buffalo Check this year and Michaels is right on trend with these fun cups. They even have some awesome Buffalo Check socks in the dollar section… PERFECT! I placed some matching socks into the cute cups and added the “Merry Cozy Christmas” Label on the front of the cup… 1st gift finished! Can’t get any easier than that!

Next up, the classic hot cocoa mug with a cute little twist.

I filled a large cone shaped cellophane bag with some hot chocolate mix and tied it with some buffalo check ribbon. I put it into a large buffalo check mug and then I added a cool battery powered set of star lights to the mug to add a little whimsical element. I love how it turned out… 2nd gift complete!

Last but not least I found another mug at Michaels that’s a great plaid mug. I noticed some Lindor Truffles up at the front of the store that matched the plaid pattern on the mug. I thought it would be a PERFECT pairing with the plaid mug.

Adding the gold foil gift tag just makes it look so classy! 3rd gift down and it didn’t take any time at all. All three are great, stylish gifts that anyone would love!

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.

Neighbor Gifts

Cricut Patterned Iron-On

Garden Girl Design

Supplies

Instructions

You can download the free printable gift tags HERE

Sharing Jars

Sugar Scrub Recipe

Shower Bomb Recipe

Buffalo Check Jars

Printable Gift Tag

You can download the tags HERE

Match Jar

Holiday Survival Kit Assembly

Secret Santa

Ball® Sharing Jars

Buffalo Check Jars

Materials

Instructions

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