Fine and Feathered

Wrapped

I love wrapping gifts. love. it.
My mom used to let me wrap all of her gifts (except the ones for me, of course) for her and I loved every minute of it. So yes, I was just as strange of a child as I am an adult.

I always like to wrap all of my gifts in a certain 'theme' because, ya know, I'm crazy and what-not. Originally I was going to do something very similar to what I did last year, but then I remembered I had several rolls of this Hallmark deep blue and bright gold wrapping paper I scored at the Goodwill this summer so I decided to use those colors as my jumping point. I fell in love with this this stamp and wrapping paper on PoppyTalk and decided I needed to whip up a stamp for myself. I just happened to already have a matching blue stamp pad (from paper source) which really helped tie in some of the fun newsprint wrapping paper (from Target) as well as the kraft bags (from Hobby Lobby).

I already gifted some things so there's a few missing from my original pile, and I'm also doing little baskets of home-made stuff too, but I don't want to ruin the surprise, so I'll show those off after the holidays. Who else out there loves to wrap? Anyone? Anyone?

Animal Stenciled Towels

It's no secret I love simple and easy crafts, especially when they involve cute little animals (or just animal silhouettes). These took only a few minutes and would be great little Christmas or hostess gifts. Plus, who doesn't need a kitchen towel with a moose on it?

I used Martha Stewart All-Purpose Craft Paint in Arrowhead, a foam brush, animal stencils (you can make these or buy them - I found a whole pack of various animal stencils at Micheals), and plain white kitchen towels. Use the foam brush to thickly apply the craft paint through your stencil onto the towel (youll want something behind to catch bleed though). Let dry 24 hours and then run through dryer on high to set.

DIY Sweater Pillow

I had a very sad moment last week when I accidentily shurnk an adorable vintage sweater. I tried a few ways to "unshrink" it but it already had that sort of felt-ish look that sweaters get so I gave up and decided it was time to do some crafting. I had this extra little pillow and it ended up being the perfect size to cover with the sweater!

It was pretty simple, I measured the pillow and cut the pieces from the sweater (I'm saving the rest for another little project:). Then used my sewing machine to sew up the bottom, top, and one side (right sides facing together). Turned right side out, slipped the pillow in, and hand sewed the last side. If you don't already have a pillow to cover you could just stuff it and make your own!

 

Christmas Tree in a Jar

 

My mom is getting together a little Christmas package to send to my "japanese sister" (the exchange student who lived with my family all last year) and asked me to make a little something. I wasn't sure what to make, but I've been seeing these little faux-terrariums (well, really they're just miniature diaramas I guess, but that doesn't sound very magical, does it?) and I happened across a bunch of little bottle-brush Christmas trees at a thrift store and thought it might be fun to make her a little "Christmas tree in a Jar" since she lives on one of the more tropical islands.

It's super simple. Starting with a plain ol' mason jar (or really any jar, and it can depend on what size tree you have), I hot-glued the bottle-brush tree (these are easy to find in craft stores too) to the lid. I used some pretzel salt we had (you could also use that "snow in a can" stuff they have at craft stores) and glued some around the base of the tree and added just a little extra to the jar for "loose snow". Then I glued the lid and ring onto the jar (just to make sure there's no accidents).

This is so quick and cute, I feel like it would be a great craft to do with little kids. Plus, they would probably love giving it a shake and seeing all the "snow" fly around:)