day 358: cosmo cricket gift box

the finished gift box

day 358 and i am counting down and starting to get excited about the impending 365th day that is only a week away now!  it was a stunning winters day here and i spent most of it drinking coffee and hanging out with the family.

so it wasn't until this evening for pinterest 365, i made gift boxes from the cosmo cricket blog.  they are so cute and this tutorial comes with a video to help you out with the folds.  the tutorial is also pinned to my gift wrapping and gift ideas board on pinterest.

the complete bag is made from a 12 x 12 piece of cardstock.  i made mine with a patterned piece that was double sided so it would look good inside and out.  the actual bag doesn't require any adhesive but it does make it sturdier.  as these are going to be one of the 20ish crafts i am providing at a certain party in seven days time, i decided to go without the little topper and just use ribbon to bring the top together.  i love how the box becomes like the shape of a house once the ribbon is secured!

there are four score lines to make this box

once i had done all the folds, i did use tape in these places to secure it together a little better

hopefully the pocky gives you an idea of how big these are inside ;)

the finished gift box

love how it makes the shape of a house when it's all secured together!

outcome:  definitely a great gift box, nice and sturdy for heavier items as well. at the party the makers of these sweet little gift boxes are going to put cookies in them to take home.  this little box could be filled with all sorts of lovely things and image how cool they would be for halloween or christmas goodies!

my thanks to cosmo cricket for the awesome tutorial, never would have got the folds without the video, but that made it so easy thankfully!

day 357: pallet welcome sign

finally i have used some pallet wood on p365!

day 357 and i figured before the 365 days are up, i should really do something with pallets ... anything really pallets are everywhere on pinterest!  the ideas are endless, signs, bookcases, hanging gardens, headboards, tables, outdoor furniture, there are tons of uses for freebie wooden pallets.  steve, my dear husband, has just finished a cape cod chair out of free pallets ... it cost the sum total of $0 as he even used the carcoal fence paint to finish it off :)  as i am writing this its dark, so i will show you a photo of it tomorrow, it's very cool.  i am rather more technically challenged when it comes to wood and nails so i went for a project that required no building ;o)

i used this tutorial from jaime of that's my letter.  she personalises absolutely everything with names and shows you an awesome trick for how to paint perfect letters on wood every time.  you simply print out the word and then use a ballpoint pen to trace over it with the wood beneath giving you a slight indentation in the wood making it easy to just "colour in"!  given i am using pallet wood, mine is going to be far more rustic than hers so i am excited to see if it woods on rough wood as well.

i went with a welcome sign and decided to put the word doc at 100% to eyeball the size against the wood i was using.  then i printed and traced over the letters onto the wood ... then did some colouring ;)

getting the sizing right

if you look carefully you can see the outline of the traced letters :)

done :)

outcome:  not bad given the wood was so very very rough.  i am totally excited to do this again using something smoother given how cool this outcome was!  it looks really good next to all my white things, a nice contrast to their starkness.  totally recommend doing this as it really does work AND stops any runs escaping the letter you are working on thanks to the little indentation around each letter.

sincere thanks to jaime of that's my letter, have always wondered how to transfer typesetting onto wood without a silhouette machine and now i have the answer :)

day 356: fabric on walls!

polly's new barbie garden thanks to ironing fabric on walls ... can you hear the glee in my voice!

day 356 and i have been DESPERATE to try this idea since i pinned it a couple of months ago but thought i had better wait until we move into our new home before i deface any walls!  ironing fabric on walls totally intrigues because of the awesome and endless possibilities that it could open up.  i have given up waiting for our house to sell and decided to attack pollyanna's barbie house walls with some iron and fabric :)

this idea i found on this thrifty house who found it from the brassy apple ... i love that both ladies took a totally different idea for their iron wall art and they both came out fantastically.  i decided to start with some trees along the side of the house without the front door and some bushy shrubs would be a great start to pimping out polly's barbie house with fabric :)

i mocked up some templates for size then set to work cutting and adhering the bonding to the reverse side of the fabric.  then it was time to get down to ironing the trees and shrubs onto the actual house!

the magic ingredient for decorating walls with fabric ... this is what bonds the fabric to the wall ;)

the boring façade of polly's barbie house :)

the finished wall ... happy with a new garden!

outcome: there is nothing better than spending a friday night pimping out a barbie house with fabric, heat'n'bond, and an iron ... it was so much fun, i totally wish i had my own one to do!

many, many thanks to this thrifty house and the brassy apple girls for this wonderful crafty idea, i am totally pumped to move now just so i can graffiti our new home with fabric :)  .... come on house, SELL!

day 355: hot cocoa with a twist

heartfelt hot cocoa's for a cold winters day ... these would be cool for valentines too :)

day 355 and the temperatures are noticeably cooler in the mornings and evenings as autumn draws to a close and we prepare for winter.  i have been making hot chocolates for the family as i nice warm up before bedtime.

my sweet family have been helping me all day preparing for our pinterest party next weekend ... lots of crafts to organise.  i wanted to do something special for them so they know how much all their help means to me.  i was reminded this afternoon while out grocery shopping of this pin and how sweet it was ... something simple but meaningful.  who wouldn't like cream in the shape of a heart in their cocoa!

i can't find the original owner of this pin, if you do let me know so i can link it up :) the idea is also pinned to my winter wonderland board.  to do this you simply spread some thickened cream into a container and freeze it.  i lined my container with baking paper so i could get the frozen cream out easily.  then make some hot cocoa, use a cookie cutter to cut heart shapes out of the frozen cream and drop into the hot cocoa ... that's it, but just wait for the smiles when they realise there is something heartfelt in their warm drink.  trust me it's worth it!

spread thickened cream into a lined container

spread out so the cream is about 1" to 1 1/2" thick and then freeze

cut shapes out of the frozen cream and put into the cocoa ... enjoy!

outcome:  this is way too effective not to use again.  the totally surprising thing for me was how long the heart lasted in the hot cocoa without melting and disappearing, you don't have to panic about the heart disappearing before the family/friends are served with hot cocoa as it stayed for ages!  and the smiles, well they were priceless ;)

to the owner of this idea, awesome and thanks ... again, it's the simple things that make everyday so special and this is definitely one of those things.

day 354: treat bags for the pinterest party

thank you treat bags :)

day 354 and i am in preparation mode for the pinterest party that is now only 11 days away!  people will be taking home lots of handmade goodies from the party that they will be doing themselves but i also wanted to give everyone a little packet of thanks for their journey home.

i saw these cute little "french fry" gift packets and thought they would be the perfect little home made thank you to all the people who are coming to help me celebrate.  the tutorial is by gudrun of embrace life and she has used hers as little christmas treat bags filled with chocolate hearts, they are adorable.  

the best thing about these little gift bags is they require nothing but paper ... they hold themselves together!  gundrun has used double sided paper, i have used single sided paper as i wanted red and white to go with the 'pinterest' logo colours.  once you have cut your paper to 8" x 8", in FOUR folds you are done!

fold one

fold two

fold three

fold four

done, in multiples, ready for my party goers!

outcome:  TOTALLY underrated how easy and cool these were going to be ... i am guessing as long as you have a square, these could work in a variety of sizes!  i love these and will always be using them as treat bags for parties, the options are only limited by the paper you find and the goodies you find to put in them!  am i the only one who didn't know about these cute little bags and how easy and painless they are to make?

my thanks to gudrun of embrace life ... gudrun is from oslo and i can honestly say without pinterest i would never have found her blog and i am so pleased i have because it's gorgeous :)

day 353: crockpot baked apples

happiness is an easy dessert for the family ... fill and walk away ;)

day 353 and it seems that the usually busy winter schedule is starting early and life already appears somewhat chaotic~!  it is times like this the crockpot seems to be overworked thanks to its ability to cook and bake while i'm not around, and today was another day it was asked to work twice as hard.

it first made the rotisserie chicken then in went dessert ... baked apples thanks to this pin i found on pinterest.  the recipe is from the skinny chef and looked way too easy to make giving me some cheap brownie points with the family for making dessert!  the recipe is pinned to my recipe must do's board.

it took no time to prepare the apples and fill them with the mix before setting them in the crockpot on high for an hour or two (depending on your apples, see why below!).  i didn't have any orange liquor so i substituted this with mandarin juice (we have a LOT of mandarins on the trees at the moment).

the ingredients

my lil helper filling the apples

my lil helper taking the photo for pinterest ;)

the finished product ... soft and fluffy but not too aesthetically pleasing ... you crisp eating apples people!

outcome:  they were done after just an hour.  i used granny smith apples that are fantastic for stewing and desserts ... you know the type that bake really quickly!  potentially not the best idea of mine given i walked away from them thinking they would take a couple of hours.  don't get me wrong they were absolutely delicious but didn't want to hold their shape as well as eating apples would ... just as well i was only serving them up to the family ;)  next time i make these, and i most definitely will, i will use nice crisp apples that won't melt at the sight of heat ... apart from that, the brownie points i made doing virtually nothing were priceless :)

my thanks goes to the skinny chef for the brilliant winter recipe that will become a staple in my home because, lets face it, i love easy things and this ranks right up there!

day 352: party favours for the upcoming pinterest party

pinterest party gift envelopes

day 352 and it's no secret i am getting close to my goal!  on the last day we are having a party to celebrate and with all good pinterest parties there's a whole lot of thank you's to make to those that have helped, supported, inspired, and taken the many urgent road trips to find vital supplies for the days creating.  i wanted to make something worthy of a pinterest thank you and have taken inspiration from clever charlotte's valentines felt envelopes as the perfect beginning.  this inspiration works perfectly with just something i made's envelope template to make the perfect pinterest thank you envelopes :)

the envelope template is available for free download at just something i made and is also pinned to my paper crafts board.  i printed the envelope out at half its size so the finished product would perfectly fit a gift card ... you can see where i'm going with this thinking ;)  the actual envelope was not stitched but glued together and then adhered with a pinterest logo i printed out then cut out in red felt.

the envelope template

half size is perfect for gift cards ;)

happily decked out with its pinterest logo!

outcome:  these are perfect for my needs.  thank you's for a long pinterest year happily sitting in hand made felt envelopes adorned with THE logo ... the ideal way to gift some love to those that have supported me unconditionally.  i think these bring together some of my favourite things from the year, felt and hand made ... if only i could find some way to add blackboard paint ... ;)

my thanks to clever charlotte and just something i made for the inspiration to come up with something i look forward to gifting out in 13 days time!