I've finished 10 candle holders, though 2 of them won't be Christmas gifts (they're Halloween themed). I'll be taking a break from Christmas presents this week, to work on a wedding present. My dh's cousin is getting married. We looked at their registry list & realized that all we could afford was a dish towel & an oven mitt. So, we decided that I should make one (dh's idea actually). We're going to buy some wine glasses. I'm going to etch their names & the wedding date on them & some roses on the other side. I'm going to etch a candle holder & try painting the etched area to see how well that works. If it turns out nice, then I'll paint the etched roses on the wine glasses. So, that's what I'll be spending the next week working on. After that's done, I'm getting back to Christmas presents. Hopefully, next week I'll be able to get some more wax & some fragrance oils. That way I can start working on the candles for the candle holders.
I've been practicing on the knitting, and I think I've got the basics covered. I bought some chunky yarn to make a scarf for my niece. I think I'll make each of my girls a blanket for their dolls. I need to get the stuff to try out the lip balm. A co-worker of dh's gave me a coupon for 25% total purchase at Michael's. It might be a good time to stock up.
Good job Pam. Knitting isn't really hard, just takes practice to get it right. I still am forever dropping loops... at least it's easy to fix them when you do!
I love all your ideas and it got me so inspired I cleaned my messy sewing room today. I found things I had forgotten all about. I just need to get busy now.
One Christmas I made my mom and afghan and tied ribbons on it to represent her children and all of the grandkids. In the present I also included - gumdrops, bath stuff, coffee and maybe a candle. I gave her an instruction sheet that said something like - Put on water for coffee, go take a nice bath/shower, pour a cup of coffe, grab the gumdrops and sit down with the blanket wrapped around her. The blanket was done in a way that "you will always be able to wrap your family around you". I had sooo much fun with that gift! She loves gumdrops and I bought a brand of coffee she loved but rarely bought herself.
I'll share a few ideas that I made for Christmas gifts the last couple of years. I love giving crafty homemade gifts! These are ornaments. You can buy large or small (these are the small size) glass ornaments at Michaels. Cut thin strips of double-sided paper, then wrap them tightly around a skewer/paper piercer/similar and pop them into the ornament. They'll uncurl slightly once you let them go. Tie some coordinating ribbon to the top. You can add some fine glitter or fake snow to the inside, also. #2 in the next post!
Photo Candles Print a black & white photo onto thin tissue paper (carefully tape the tissue paper to a heavier paper to run through the printer). Cut the photo to fit on your candle (which I bought at the dollar store), place over the candle and cover with a piece of wax paper. Heat the wax paper... I used a heat embossing gun (from Michaels, about $30)... a hair dryer might work, not sure it would get hot enough? The candle under the photo will slightly melt, and the wax will melt off the wax paper to cover and hold the photo in place on the candle. The tissue paper seems to disappear and can't be seen at all when you're done. These are super easy and really inexpensive. (sorry for the poor photo quality)
Photo tile coasters... You can buy these ceramic tiles at most any home improvement store (Home Depot, etc). I buy them in boxes of 9 tiles for about $6. This won't work with the shiny porcelin tiles (like you'd use in your bathroom)... besides I like the "artsy" look the rough tiles give better They also will not transfer properly with colour, they need to be black & white. Size your photo/text and have it printed at... well, I don't know any American companies LOL I use the UPS Store, Staples, something like that... the images need to be printed on regular paper, but from a copy machine... with toner ink. Laser print and inkjet print will not copy to the tiles. Have them printed in mirror image (it will look backwards on paper). Cut to fit the tile. Apply a layer of Mod Podge (glue found at any craft store... glossy or matte finish doesn't matter, I prefer glossy) to the tile and place the paper face down. Press it down well, smooth out any air bubbles. If you have a heat gun (mentioned in my candle post above), that's the best way to dry these out quickly. Otherwise you can leave them to sit for a few days to ensure they dry out completely. Once dried, use a brush/sponge to wet the paper thouroughly. Gently use your fingers to rub the paper off the tile (it will kind of roll off), adding more water as needed. If the tile is not completely dry, you will peel up portions of the photo too, so be careful.... though having bits of the photo missing due to cracks, etc in the tile just looks artistic, like you did it on purpose Once all the paper is gone, add a few layers of mod podge, letting it dry between layers. Once the mod podge is dry, the tile will be waterproof and able to be used as a coaster. You can add cork to the bottom (I buy it by the meter at Home Depot, very cheap). I use Aleene's Tacky Glue ($2/bottle at Michaels) to adhere the cork. If you mess up and too much of your photo peels off, you can simply sand the remaining photo off the tile and start over. Darker colours show little holes in the photo more than lighter colours. If you're handy with a photo editing program, use it to erase unwanted portions of the background in your photos. The more light-coloured/white areas, the better it will look on the tiles. These are really easy once you get the hang of them. And they're really popular. I sold them at work the last two years, and made enough money from Sept-Nov to pay for all our Christmas shopping! Mind you, I was pretty sick of looking at those tiles afterwards LOL
Angie, those look so nice!!! I especially like the candles. I wish you had posted a month ago, and I would have made one for my parents' 50th anniversary, with their wedding picture on it!
I LOVE the tiles!!! That's what I'm going to be making for dh's mom and g'mom!! I'd make one for my mom, too, but she doesn't appreciate hand-made gifts. :roll:
I just realized that we have a whole box of tiles (off white) in our shed that were left from the previous owners after they remodeled the kitchen. I won't even have to buy tiles!!
You ladies all have some great ideas...I really love the tiles...I think I'll have to try those this year for gifts.
Thanks everyone! I'm so glad you'll get some use out of them Here's another. I only have photos of one I did for a baby shower, but I've also done these for Christmas. It's a good way to jazz up an otherwise run-of-the-mill gift, like a pair of pajamas or similar. It's an altered paint can. You can buy them empty and without labels at most home improvement stores for around $5. Make sure you ask for a key opener (they always give them to me for free) so the recipient can open it! Use a plain paper to cut a template for fitting your paper around the handles. Use a layer of mod podge to adhere the paper, smooth out all the bubbles. Let dry. Apply another thin layer over the paper to seal and prevent peeling/tearing over time. I use a small magnet on a ribbon attached to the key to hang it from the top of the can. It's just as much a gift as the gift you put inside it, IMO, and more unique than a regular gift bag
Angie, I love love the tiles. Wow. That is a great idea. I may do this. I think you are very creative. What else do you have. I love to see pics.
