Personalized Gift Tags | Tutorial

We all want to make our gifts the most impressionable. Have some kind of "Wow!" factor to them. Gift wrapping has been taken to so many levels to up the ante on how attractive our gifts look. How we tag our gifts can leave an impression, too.

This year, I took a few of our family photos and turned them into gift tags to be put on our gifts.

Here is a simple tutorial on how to do that for your own gifts.

1. If necessary, resize your photos to 2 1/2 to 3 inches in order to get all of your subjects into a small area for cutting. I first resized my photos to 2 1/2 inches, but I found that the 3 inch size worked better.

2. I chose a 2 1/2 inch circle punch by Reflections. I centered all of the subjects and then punched out a perfect circle.

3. Most photos now do not have any printing on the back, so writing with a ball point pen or permanent marker will work for writing the receivee. Afterall, they know who they are receiving the gift from ;)

4. Make a little hole punch at the top of the circle and use string, yarn, and silver/gold thread to attach it to your gift.

5. You can line your tag with scrapbook paper to give the back a finished look. I did that with my first "batch" but it was difficult to punch them out because of the layers the punch had to cut through.

I love that I can personalize the gifts Addie and Ian give to their teachers at church. 

I walk by our tree and look at the gifts all lined up with their little tags and smile. They look darling and so personal.

I hope you give these a try. If you do, feel free to leave a photo of your finished gift tags of The Joy of Homemaking Facebook page.

Getting Our Craft On

I have always enjoyed making crafts.

By myself.

I know the type of crafter I am and I can control the type of mess and how quickly I can clean up the mess I have made.

When others are added into the mix, there is no telling what can happen.

When I was a classroom teacher, I would basically tell my homeroom mother that any and all crafts were her department (right, Cathy R?). Crafts with others is just not my cup of tea (or coffee).

So, God decided to give me children who love to make things! Crafts to be exact.

And I have (finally) decided to go with it!

As the summer approaches and school work has finished for us, I am trying to plan what types of activities we will do around here. I am thinking along the lines of a specific type of activity for each day of the week.

And Monday will be Make-It Monday!

We gave it a shot yesterday, and it worked out pretty well.

Addie picked a princess coloring page to paint, and Ian was put in his high chair with a huge dollop of whipped cream to "finger paint" with. Although, when he discovered that it was edible.... well, let's just say craft time was over.

We used our painting time as a learning experience, even though Addie didn't quite know it at the time. We took out our good paints in primary colors that GrandTiti and Uncle Jack had gotten us years ago, and we decided which colors Addie would need to complete her picture. Then we mixed our paints to make the colors that she needed. White with a little bit of brown made the skin color, we changed the shade of blue we had by adding white, we made purple by mixing the blue and red, etc.

I have also been on Pinterest looking for activities to do with the kids over the summer (here and here). Acti
vities that are not necessarily "school" type activities, but are really more fun than anything. When the fall comes, we will be diving right into our books, but for now we are just taking a break and having fun. 

Update | The Hat

I did it!

I made my daughter the hat that I had planned on making her. And honestly, she looks stunning in it!

I used the pattern I used in this post with the exception that I added three rows to the bottom and then did the final row of stitches.

My little fashionista!

Simplicity in Decorating: Painted Ornaments

I have always seen those little wooden frames at Michael's and Joann's but I never thought about trying them for myself.  I am not a painter, and for those of you that have followed me long enough, you know that I prefer to stick with things that I know I do well. 

After Christmas last year, Faye, Addie and I went to a large craft store (don't remember which of the two metioned above it was) to check out their after Christmas clearance sales.  I found these cute little frames for ten cents, and decided that this would be the year we had some fun as a family making them (thanks for being such a good sport, my dear, and for letting me run with my ideas.)

One day during our school time, since Brian was home, I pulled out the paints and frames (and one of Daddy's t-shirts), and we all sat down at Addie's table, which I moved into the dining room.  Addie loved it!  She tends to love art, coloring, crafts, glue, and all that good stuff.  In her mind, the messier the better!

We had a great time, laughing, talking, teaching her how to rinse her brush in the cup (not that it mattered much since she blended her colors on the frame itself). 

Now granted, with the amount of time it took to prep, make sure that everything we needed was at arms reach, that no one would need anything while we were painting, and panicking that the mess would be bigger than I imagined it to be (which it wasn't) doesn't make for the simplest project ever.  However, it did make for a time of simple fun for one particular little person I know. 

It was, in the larger sense, a simple family activity that I am probably going to make sure that we do again next year.  I think it will be fun to see how Addie's art and skill changes and progresses over the years.  Will Brian and I make one next year?  Probably not.  Like I said before, painting is just not my thing.  But it was a wonderful (and cheap) activity that the three of us could share in. 

So Excited!

Elmo is the toy of choice around here. Addie doesn't play with dolls or stuffed animals very often (unless it is her Elmo or Tigger). Elmo gets pushed in the baby carriage, the baby doll gets taken out and put on the floor to make more room for Elmo (the picture was taken just before the doll was put on the floor). A few weeks ago, Brian and Addie were watching Elmo videos online. This one is my favorite. It combines Elmo with a Sesame Street version of Time to Say Goodnight sung by the talented Andrea Bocelli. Although Addie usually goes to sleep well for us, I'm sure this conversation is what she is trying to tell us at times. I am so amazed at how Mr. Bocelli did not allow his blindness to keep him from using the gifts that God gave him. What a voice!

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I am soooo super excited right now! I have sold two items on Etsy! Do you remember the crocheted market bag that I made several weeks ago and put on the Haiti By Hand Etsy Shop? Well, it sold about a week and a half ago. And then, Thursday I found out that the Filet Stitch Crocheted Afghan sold. Both of my items were shipped out as quickly as possible. Right now I am working on several toddler hats to put in my shop and then I'm off to make some aprons.

Haiti By Hand

Today is a two post kind of day. Don't forget to check out the Saturday Recipe Swap post. If you remember, last week I had mentioned a couple of ladies who were directly affected by the terrible earthquakes in Haiti. Kristi's uncle has been found and was able to contact his family living here in the states. They were so relieved.

Rebecca Sower visited Haiti the week before the tragedy struck and developed relationships with many of the women there through the Haiti Gospel Mission. She has opened up an Etsy shop for the women of Haiti featuring many of their handmade crafts. All of the money made through this site goes directly to the wonderful women of Haiti who are trying to make life better for their families. There is no middleman.

Rebecca has already sold all of the inventory brought back from the women. She has asked for crafters here in the states make items to donate to the Haiti By Hand shop to sell for the benefit if the ladies in Haiti. I was in the process of making this crocheted tote bag when the call was sent out. I sent the information to Rebecca Sower, and it will be up on the Haiti By Hand site very soon along with many other beautiful items handmade by women here doing what they can to help women there. (My sister, Faye, is modeling the bag for me.)

You can help out in two ways. You can either purchase items from Haiti By Hand (remember that ALL monies go directly to the women in the artisan group of the Haiti Gospel Mission) or you can handcraft an item and contact Rebecca Sowers to have your item posted on her site. There are so many ways to help our fellow believers in Haiti.

The Sweater

I had mentioned a sweater that I was working on a few weeks back. I did finish it within a week (woohoo!), but because our main computer picks and chooses which pictures it will download, I haven't had a chance to show you. Here is my little doll wearing her crocheted hat and sweater. The pattern is Free Crochet Pattern 90462AD Flutter Baby Top Lion Brand Yarn Company .

Addie's Hat

Ecclesiastes 9:10a- Whatever your hands find to do, verily, do it with all your might.

I have mentioned in the past that I have picked up my crocheting needles again. I realized that while at one time in my life, projects that took a longer amount of time were gratifying, that is no longer the case. I also came to realize that the type, color and texture of the yarn has a great deal to do with the enjoyment of the process. And believe me, I have been enjoying to crochet.

I decided that Brian's afghan works as an oversized shawl draped over the office sofa and I have washed my hands of it. Beside we have so many crocheted afghans around here by more experienced crocheters that my unfinished afghan won't even be noticed. And...I have no idea what happened to the book that the pattern came from (I'm thinking I accidently sold it at a garage sale-oops!).
I have come to love smaller projects. By smaller I am not saying that they are one night projects (well for my mom-in-law they might be. I have never seen anyone crochet as fast as she does!), but they may take a week or two or less, depending on how much time I am able to put into them. The hat above was one of those quick, easy, while Addie was napping projects. The free pattern to make it can be found here.
I am also working on a sweater for her right now. I began on Sunday afternoon and I am trying to have it finished no later than Saturday so she can wear it when we go to see some Christmas lights. It is labeled as "experienced" but I decided to go for it anyway. I'll post the pattern link for it when I post the picture.

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Today's video is the new song by Matthew West and Amy Grant called Give This Christmas Away. There are some clips of Veggie Tales in there (the song is on the new video St. Nicholas), so Addie Baby, this one is for you.

Flower Free-Hand Art

I have decided to try my hand at a more free-hand style of sewing. I have enjoyed it so much since I am only limited by my imagination, and I am not bound to a pattern of any kind. No more worrying about skipping a stitch or miscounting. This little darling was a fun project that I did a few mornings ago while Addie and I watched her reading DVD. Everything was hand stitched (except for using the sewing machine to attach the denim to the interfacing) and the yo-yo (center of the flower) was handmade by yours truly. You can find this little darling in Addie's Attic. God has filled my head with so many ideas (when I asked God to bless me with ideas, I had no idea how many he would give me!), and now that I am actually translating them to fabric, my head is feeling less cluttered.

A New Addition to the "Attic"

Back during the Yahoo 360 days, I made the announcement that I had opened my own shop on Etsy.com called Addie's Attic . I figured that since God had given me a love of making homemade items (afghans, needlework, sewing items, etc), that I should use the gifts that He had given me to be a blessing to my family and to others. I work on the items for my shop when its little namesake is napping, or when Brian has a sporting event he wants to watch on TV. We both end up in the office, him on the couch watching his sports and me in my little closet/craft space doing what makes me happy.

Pictured is my newest addition to Addie's Attic. It is a sweet little girl doll (very much like my Addie, except Addie has more hair:) To spruce her up, I machine stitched fabric to the cloth and then hand stitched denim and buttons on top. This sweet little girl has become a favorite piece of mine.