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getting-boxed-up

Personalized Water Bottles

personalized-water-bottles

Here’s another goodie I designed and created for Girls Camp! The first thing I think about for camping is WATER. And I was in search of the perfect water bottle to give to the girls. (The camp director wanted their NAMES on the bottles…and you can bet I took on the challenge.)

It was fortunate for me that I found these metallic water bottles at the Dollar Store! I had to visit 6 dollar stores in order to find enough of them! Each store had a few, or none…and since I am not the type to give up, I just kept on going to more stores until I found matching bottles. (I was happy to finally find victory!)

Since our colors were grey, pink and chevron, I thought the metallic work work out perfectly. And then I found the pink herringbone vinyl (which is sort of like chevron, right?) and I just knew it was a great match.

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To make these personalized water bottles, first adhere the pink herringbone vinyl.

Second, trim the black shiny vinyl (I cut it into 1 1/2″ strips)

Third, cut the silver metallic vinyl letters with a die cut machine. (I used my Cricut and the Lyrical Letters font)

Adhere the metallic letters to the black vinyl strips. And cut them down into flags after you put on the letters.

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Here’s a tip for cutting the perfect flag end: Cut the middle of the flag first, up about an inch. Then, cut from the bottom left side up to the cut mark in the middle…and then cut from the bottom right side up to the cut mark in the middle. Voila! A perfect flag every time.

Last, adhere the flag with letters to the water bottles with the pink herringbone already attached.

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I think they turned out pretty cute, don’t you? (And there’s a sneak peek at the pillowcases I made…coming in another post!)

Bonus: here’s a sweet little (easy) gift sack I put together for a treat:

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It’s just a white lunch sack (small size) with chevron ribbon, white coffee filter flower, and clothes pin with washi tape! Sometimes you need a sweet little gift that takes just minutes to put together. ๐Ÿ˜‰ {Inside are the best animal cracker snack bags.}

getting-boxed-up

And here’s the start of getting things all boxed up. I hope they like them! And here’s what I love: acting as camp support (ie: making all these little gifts and helps) without actually GOING to camp. (In fact, I will be in California the whole time they are at camp).

But I do love still being a small part of the celebration. Happy day!

Now I hope you are not tired of pink and girly YET, I have another camp post coming soon!

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laffy-taffy-one-side-wet-wipes-other-side

Double-Sided Paper Pocket (tutorial)

I am excited to (finally) bring this post to you. Girls Camp started this week, which means it is safe to start posting some of my projects and handouts I’ve been working on for the girls! ๐Ÿ™‚ So get ready for a week of girly crafts and projects…here we go!

The colors for camp this year are pink and grey, with chevrons. When I was asked to help make some cute handouts and favors, I jumped at the chance (this is right up my alley)!

The first handout I thought of were these double-sided paper pockets. I found the PERFECT paper that had pink chevrons on one side, and polka dots on the other side.

double-sided-paper-pockets

You might recognize these little darlings, I used them for my Backyard Picnic here! See, if you just change up the colors, you have an entirely different feel. They are the perfect size for Ghirardelli chocolates, but use your imagination for other items that can slip inside the pockets.

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At my backyard picnic, I put Laffy Taffy candy on one side, and Wet Wipes (for the BBQ!!) on the other side. Perfect.

Wouldn’t these be adorable as a little “Thank You” for someone? For these little pockets, you need a 6×6″ sheet of paper, adhesive, and some ribbon. (For a larger sized pocket, I’ve seen them made with a full 12×12″ sheet of paper.)

Here’s a semi-quick (just under 4 minutes) video How-To:

Since it is July in Arizona, we decided to use Laffy Taffy for the Girls Camp pockets, instead of chocolate. I’m pretty sure that was a smart move. I hope the girls are enjoying camp…and laughing it up! Can’t wait to hear how they loved Girls Camp.

Leave me a comment and let me know if you have any other creative ideas for using these pockets. ๐Ÿ™‚

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cones-in-a-box

Easy Paper Cones

I love to make these paper cones as a container for small gifts and treats. Last Christmas, I made them in green and red and filled them with homemade caramels. For my daughter’s Sweet 16 Birthday party I made them in black and white and filled them with popcorn. And more recently I made them in a sunshine yellow color to deliver Lemon Shortbread Cookies and Hugs.

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They are simple to make and you only need 12 x 12 paper (I used paper from Michaels), red sticky tape (also from Michaels), ribbon of your choice, and a hole punch. (I also sometimes fill the bottom of the cones with shredded paper)

At first when I began making these, I couldn’t get them to look right. They were a little skewed and a little off-center. But when I took a class on piping chocolate (I know, strange)…the LIGHT WENT ON!! We made a little triangle out of parchment paper to fill with chocolate and pipe onto a plate. And that’s when I figured out I could apply the same technique to these paper cones!

First, cut the 12 x 12 paper in half Diagonally. Then tape and roll up, matching up the corners. I made a quick video to explain better:

So just take a few minutes to watch the video and you’ll be whipping up perfect paper cones in no time!

The great thing about these cones is that you can HANG them from a door knob if the recipient is not home. What fun to come home to a little treat hanging on your door! (If it’s hot outside, don’t put in anything that would melt)

And if you are the recipient of a pretty paper cone, why not enjoy the contents, re-fill with a treat of your choice and pass it on to another friend? The great Paper Cone Pass-It-On Project. That’s what we’ll call it. ๐Ÿ™‚

Here’s some ideas of what to fill your paper cone with:

Popcorn
Caramels
Cookies
Hugs & Kisses
Hershey’s Miniatures
Small wrapped candies
Miniature Lotion or Hand Sanitizer
Nail Polishes, Nail Files
Gift Cards and Treats
Movie Passes
Flowers
Notes of Appreciation or Encouragement

The list goes on…What would you put in your paper cone?

cone-with-bee-card

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two-boxes-small

A plain box to a fancy box!

I got these plain kraft boxes from PaperMart and they are small and cute, but they are PLAIN! So, to dress them up a bit, I am going to show you how easy it is to add an initial, some paper, and a ribbon to make this box Spectacular.

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You can use any color scheme you like. I chose pink and black today. It would be cute in purples or red, white and blue, even!

Here’s a quick video on how I made them:

I got the initials from here, but I did have to reduce them in size so each initial was about 2 inches. I printed them on white cardstock and cut them with a circle punch.

Aren’t they cute? And they don’t take long to decorate this way. I have to admit, it was the first time I used the Xyron Sticker Maker and I LOVE it!! Why didn’t they have these around when I was a kid? I would have turned everything into a sticker!! ๐Ÿ™‚
But don’t worry, you don’t have to own a sticker maker, you can attach the initial with glue dots, pop dots (or you can print the initial out on sticker paper). Lots of options!

I’d love to see your box decor, send me a comment with a link or email me. See ya next time!

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fabulous-felt-roses

How to Make Felt Roses

I love roses! Love them. In fact, I have a rose garden just outside my kitchen window so I can look at my roses as I’m doing dishes (what could be more inspiring)? It seems I have been extra inspired by roses this week! See my rose photo inspiration here.

So, to stay with the rose theme, today I am showing you how to make a FELT rose. And, oh, they are adorable! Felt roses are one of my favorite things to use to dress up a small gift. ๐Ÿ™‚
Click here to see the video on how to make felt roses:

And after you have watched the first video, take a look at some ideas on how to use these felt roses on gifts to spread a little sunshine:

By the way, these are a few of my very first videos up on this blog and on my YouTube channel. So, let me know what you think! (Be nice! *Wink*)
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Thanks for visiting today…see you next time.

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