A Wedding Gift

These are my second attempt at homemade gifts this year.  Two wedding gifts for a friend whose wedding was last night.  I was inspired by Pinterest for this first one:

It was very simple to make.  I took a 12x12 piece of scrapbook paper for the background.  Then, I used Design Studio to cut a large M for their monogram.  I also cut "the Martin family" and "EST. on their wedding date".  I glued it all on, and done.  I put it in a 12x12 frame, which you can get inexpensively at Michaels (I think this one was about $4).

The second part of her gift was this:

Not the best picture, but I took an 8x18 inch collage frame and matted her wedding invitation.  Then, I used the same paper and matted the open frame at the bottom so she can put a picture from her wedding at the bottom. 

Hopefully she and her husband liked it, and didn't wish I bought them something off the registry instead. : /

Birthday Gift for a Man

This is the first gift I made this year as part of my resolution to make more gifts. 

I really struggled with what to make since it was for a guy, and most of the things I make are feminine.  My brother in law enjoys his last name and they just got married last year, so I thought a "B" mongram refering to their wedding day was a nice choice.  But to make it a little more masculine, I used beer bottle caps to form the B.  The first thing I did was paint an 11x14 canvas camel colored to match their living room.  Next, I modge podged over the whole canvas to seal the paint under the B. Then I laid out the caps in a B shape, and used hot glue to attach them one by one.  I was careful to put the hot glue on the inside of the rim on the bottle cap so no glue would show on the sides.   The next step was to cut their last name and wedding date with my cricut.  I used my design studio software to make it fit across the whole canvas.  The last step was to modge podge over the words, and voila! Done!

To round out his gift, I also etched Bs into 4 shot glasses [this guy really likes his last name :)].  Etching glass is surprising easy.  I use Armour Etch and cut stencils in vinyl with the cricut.  You put the vinyl sticker on the glass you want to etch, paint the Armour Etch on the surface, let it sit, and wipe and clean it off.  Super easy.

And lastly, I made some beer bottle cap magnets for him and a simple birthday card.

Altogether, the wall hanging cost me about $5, the shot glasses about $2, and the magnets and card were about $2 total.  All in all, I spent $9, but I think it looks like it is worth a lot more, which is what I was going for.  His birthday is tomorrow, so we'll see if it is well received.

Until next time, happy crafting!

This is it! My first post!

Hello folks! Welcome to my blog. I put off writing this first post for a while because I wasn't sure how to start, but I figured talking about last night's craft night was the best way to go.  We get together at my house every other week, and I really look forward to it.  I enjoy having the extra opinions on my work and helping the other girls with their projects.  Last night, there was 6 of us.  Sometimes there are only 2, but its fun just the same.  We all work on different things: my sister does jewelry, my stepmom is making a recipe book, two friends are working on a scrapbook, and another is etching glass.  I had recently made gifts for a wedding and birthday, so my goal for the night was simple: 2 greeting cards.  I have to set my sights low because I get sidetracked with everyone else so easily.  I made 2 simple cards:

Here's the first one.  Like I said, very simple.  I used my Wild Card cartridge to cut the cake card and embellishments.  When I tried cutting the envelope, I didn't like the size it would have made the card.  So I used a premade envelope and cut the card to fit that inside.  Design Studio has been really helpful in visualizing my cuts and not wasting paper guessing what the cut will turn up like.  I wasn't happy with any of my fonts in that size, so I used small glittery stickers.  And voila.  Simple, but I think it came out well.

My second card was even more simple, so I didn't even take a picture of it. : /

But, I want to leave you with one more thought.  Not everything you try will work.  Case in point- a friend tried to print her daughter's picture in black and white on vellum and modge podge it on a votive holder (as seen on Pinterest).  This did not work.  But it did allow for a good laugh from the rest of us.  I figured I would share some pictures of her mishap to make you feel better about whatever latest problem you had in your crafting.

Not only did it not look anything like expecting, it was messy!

Hope your next project worked out better than this one! Until next time, happy crafting!