Make your own gift tags this season

DIY Gift Tags

Materials:

• 300 gsm white, red or green card
• Red and sage-green felt
• Sewing needle and deep red embroidery thread
• Holly leaves
• Deep red silk fabric scraps
• Red ribbon
• Craft knife, steel edged ruler, cutting mat, hole punch and double sided tape

1.  Choose any color card paper to make your gift tags to the size you require. Cute out a rectangle shape with a craft knife and a steel edged ruler on a cutting mat (or if you are not stocked up with all the crazy crafts equipment improvise with scissors). 
2. Punch a hole in the corner.
3. Repeat the steps until you have as many rectangular cards as you need (one per tag).
4. Attach the red felt to half of the card and the green felt to the other half of the cards using a double sided tape.
5. Trim any excess off.
6. Using a sewing needle and embroidery thread, sew holly leaves to the felt side of the red felt cards with one cross- stitch, tying the thread at the back and trimming the excess.
7. Cut three small squares off the silk and using double sided tape, glue it to the felt side of the green felt cards overlapping them at jaunty angles.
8. Add a small sage green felt heart to one of the silk squares with double sided tape.
9. Thread a length of red ribbon through each hole and make a knot in the ribbon.  

Cookie cutter ornaments

Check out this article on how to make some lovely Christmas ornaments with cookie cutters! It really doesn't get much easier than this!

HeliumHow to make cookie cutter ornaments

DIY: Microwaveable Heat Pack

A heat pack I made.

Be it cramps, toothaches or muscle pains heat pack always comes in handy. During the cold winter months you don't even need to be hurting to make good use of a heat pack. These cozy bits are a perfect pair with a cup of coffee (or hot chocolate if you like) to keep you warm this winter. So instead of paying a ton for one at a store why not make an arts and crafts date with your pals and make a batch of them? Have some for your own use or to give away to friends and family. They make a great gift alone or paired up with some other goodies. They can come in any shape or color you can create with your hands. They can be created flat as a coaster so that they release a fragrance when a warm cup heats them, or as a favorite stuffed toy to warm up your little one during the cold nights. The following is a basic "how to" for a heat pack. Again, you can make it any way you like just apply the changes to the basic instructions and you are good to go.

What you will need to create your own heat pack:
- Bird seed, or some other small grain. You might not want to use things such as rice  as it is sharp and could poke out if a piece doesn't happen to be lying flat with the other ones.
- Fabric. Anything will do pretty much but when you go out to buy it ask the sales person (or Google it) whether it is microwave safe. You don't want your lovely creation to be a fire hazard now do you?
- Either a sowing machine or just the thread and a needle if you opt to do it by hand.
- And an optional touch of fragrance with dried herbs if you so desire.

How to create your own heat pack:
- First think of the design, shape size, etc. and draw it out.
- Fold the fabric (make sure you have more than enough when folded for your heat pack) in half with the face side in.
- Then transfer the design (exact measurements) onto the back of the fabric (not the side with the design).
- Cut the fabric according to the shape you chose, but not along the lines of the drawing, instead leave at least an extra inch.
- Either with the sewing machine or by hand, sew three fourths along the way of your design then stop.
- Turn the fabric inside out (or right side out more like!).
- Fill it up with your choice of seed and any herbs if you chose to do so.
- Sew up the remainder of the fabric to close up the hole. In this place I like to create a tag with my initials or the person's whom I'm giving it to...just something fun that will also cover up the difference you can see after sewing the fabric once turned out.
Your heat pack is now all set. You should give it a test drive. Pop it into the microwave for a minute, two at the most and see how its working out!

DIY: Christmas Candy Hearts

While those candy hearts with messages on them have become so common around the Valentine's Day the truth is they aren't that great. We all love the cute idea but the cheap mass produced candies are faulty to the point that we might even feel bad giving them to someone! They don't taste that good, the messages are often faded, and the candies are mostly worn out or broken. So how can you preserve the adorable idea, personalize it and make the gifts last longer than a day? Easy, buy making these candy hearts for your darling out of polymer clay. They wont be edible but they will surely be cherished more than the originals were. You can even put your own short messages on them to surprise your loved one. And what is even better, now you don't have to wait for Valentines day to come around you can make a little twist and do these for your hunny on Christmas as well! 
What you will need to create your own clay candy hearts:
- Polymer clay in green and red, one block is about two dollars in your arts and crafts store, cheaper online.
- A straight edge knife or a craft blade.
- A few toothpicks.
- If you wish to make a mold of the hearts then you will need the Sculpey Mold Maker. If not then you can just shape your candy heart by hand.
- Red paint, tempera works fine.
- A super thin paint brush, or if you want just use the toothpick to draw on the messages.
- Baking tray and an oven, not a microwave!
- A list of short messages to put on the clay hearts.
- A packet of the actual candy hearts, for reference...and a snack.
How to create your own clay candy hearts:
- First make sure you have a nice clean surface to work on, you don't want hairs or other bits getting into your clay.
- If you are using a mold to create your hearts follow the instructions on the box for how to actually make the mold. Also make sure, when you are making it, that you press in the non letter side of the candy into it so you have a clean slate later on.
- In case you don't want to use a mold just form the hearts by hand, use the actual candy as reference. Its not hard and really you don't need a mold unless you are making a great number of them.
- After your hearts have been formed just let them sit a bit to harden, so they are not as mushy from your fingers.
- Alright now the messages, I personally do them with paint and a toothpick, freehand. Some people print them out then use rubbing alcohol to create transfers.
- Pick a short message and then carefully write it on the heart. The more unique and personal to the receiver of the hearts the better.
- Let the paint dry completely.
- Line the hearts up on the baking sheet and bake according to the manufacturers instructions.
The clay hearts are now complete. As for packaging, it all depends on you but here are a few examples... You can buy a pack of real stuff, carefully open it put the clay ones in among the real ones and re-seal the bag. It takes a little practice but its a nifty idea when you get it. You can also put them in small boxes from craft stores or in a Valentine's Day themed cellophane goodie bag.

On the road drivers: Stocking stuffer ideas for those back home

For those of you constantly on the road it must be hard being away from your family. You probably have a lot of missed holidays and weekends away from home going on. To top it all off buying Christmas presents is quite a limited task. You are left to the mercy of the very few truck welcoming places, even Walmart is deciding to put up the "this tall" bars on their lot entrances so semi trucks can't enter. So you are pretty much left with what? The truck stops you frequent, which all carry the same stuff more or less.

You can get around this problem with a little spontaneous planing. Yes that is right, spontaneous planing. How the hell does that work you ask. Well a month or two before Christmas you make a plan to spontaneously buy a thing or two in each state, city or peculiar truck stop you come by. If the money is tight don't fret at the thought of buying a ton of stuff. These are small but very dear items, the stocking suffers, not big gifts. So none of it should be expensive.
And what to get? Well it all depends on who you have on your list. But here are a few things I have come across which I don't see every day. They might prove to be interesting gifts for someone you know.

If you are heading out East, maybe to CT, NY, Maine, etc. grab a few cubes of the delicious fudge...or Deer Poop. I'm all for the goodness of fudge but the Dear Poop (most often nuts or raisins covered in chocolate) bags make for a great gag gift.

Apparently Montana has Deer Poop too!

In case you are going down south towards Florida and such you can get an alligator foot, or a head even. They range from tiny made into a key chain to quite big and are real. If you move on over towards Arizona you can get another key chain item, this time its heads and rattles of the rattle snakes. I don't know about you but little things like that are so cool to me, especially if it is something new that I haven't been around. Another thing is the Native American tea from the tee-pee on the border of NM and AZ on I-40.

Up north, in the Dakotas maybe? Get any of the Buffalo sausages or other cured meats. If you drive through Salt Lake City, Utah stop buy and get some of the salt from the lake. It is a great souvenir and it takes a minute or two to get free of charge.

These are just a very few pieces I found peculiar in my travels and couldn't resist buying. Wherever you go you will be sure to find a souvenir trinket for your loved ones back home.