Father’s Day Gift Idea

Tomorrow is my hubby’s 1st Father’s Day and I’m so excited to celebrate how great of a dad he is to our little girl. I’m so excited in fact that I’ve stayed up way past my bedtime to prepare his gift.

See if you can figure out what he’s getting…

Boxes are to be opened from the top down.
  Clue #1 – The Venue


Clue #2 – The type of music

 
Clue #3 – The tour


Clue #4 – A hint about the performer


Clue #5 – The performer’s name (Brad Paisley)

I’m very proud of myself that I have managed to keep this a secret for the past 2 weeks. Normally when I have something for someone I want to give it to them right away. I think he’s really going to be surprised tomorrow because he’s convinced it’s tickets to a Yankees game like I always get him when I ask him to reserve a date on his calendar for me.

Here’s a link to the tag I made to accompany the package. Feel free to use it for your own PERSONAL use if you like.

And, I’d be remiss if I didn’t wish a Happy Father’s Day to the best father a girl could ever have. I love you, Dad! Can’t wait to see you in July.

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

Happy Birthday, Caleb! How is it even possible that you are one already?! I only got a chance to meet you when you were 3 months old. This living on different coasts really stinks, but I do cherish all the times I get to hear your sweet sounds on the phone. Please come visit your Aunt Brie before you get too much older.

I loved this picture we used on your birth announcement. You are such a happy-go-lucky little guy. Your big brother, Braden, wasn’t too sure about you at first, but you guys have grown to be best buds. And, Grandma, well, you know she loves you.

I think I startled you the first time I met you!

I know that sometimes it seems like we give Braden all the attention, but I promise you buddy that next time I see you we’re going to have some special “Aunt Bee” and “Kayo” time.

Hope you have a fabulous birthday and enjoy the duck hooded towel and wash cloth puppet I made you for your gift. I hear bath time is your absolute favorite activity and that you go crazy for the color yellow.

I love you, Caleb!

*HURRY* Excellent Valentine's Gift Idea

One of my friend's just posted in their Facebook status update that they got $100 worth of gift certificates from restaurant.com for $6.60. Seems that TODAY ONLY restaurant.com is giving everyone 80% off their entire purchase if they enter coupon code HEART at checkout.

I had to check this out myself and sure enough I just bought $145 worth of certificates for $13.90! This will be excellent gifts for hubby, my in-laws and my parents for Valentine's Day this Sunday.

Check it out now because it's TODAY ONLY! And, don't forget to enter HEART at checkout to get the deal!

My Mom’s Birthday Gift

My beautiful mother celebrated her birthday on January 4th. For her birthday she requested a handmade lanyard for her work badge. She works as a flight attendant for Frontier Airlines and the company colors are purple, black and white. They’re required to wear a lanyard, but that lanyard must be able to break away if someone tried to grab it so that they don’t get choked.

I had a very hard time finding a magnetic clasp that was strong enough to hold the weight of her badge and everything else she has to carry on the lanyard, but that would also break away easily if pulled. The best solution I came up with was to use the clever clasp. It’s a magnet that also has two twists. If pulled hard enough, it will come apart, but under normal use, it should be strong enough to hold.

Here are some photos of the finished product:
 

She received it this past week and really liked it. If you need a custom lanyard for anything, drop me a line at divinecreations4u (at) gmail (dot) com.

Christmas Gift Idea – Sewing Projects

Here are the last two homemade gifts I made this year. I just recently relearned how to sew and am trying to broaden my sewing skills. I made a half retro apron for my sister and a fun sock monkey for my nephew. They opened them a week ago when they celebrated Christmas with our parents and both gifts were quite a hit!

For the apron, I followed a pattern from a book I picked up at the library called A is for Apron. There are lots of cute patterns in the book, but it didn’t get great reviews because the instructions are kind of haphazard and the patterns aren’t always correct.

My sister likes retro things so I thought this half apron would be cute. I picked up the fabric at Wal-Mart for less than $4 total, so it was a very reasonable project. My mother-in-law (who used to sew wedding dresses for a living) showed me how to use interfacing to make the waistband stiffer and how to line it to give it a more finished look because the book ignored both of these things. I think for my first piece of “clothing” it came out pretty good! And, it only took me a couple of hours.

I had ironed it, but then it got folded up in my luggage and I pulled it out quick to model it, so please ignore the wrinkles in these photos. Also, the waist band is made to be tied in the back, but it could also tie in the front like I show it here.

The other project I made was a sock monkey for my nephew. I found the tube socks at Target for $3.50 and had all the batting. This took longer to make than the apron because the ears, mouth, arms and tail were all sewed on by hand extra well to make sure no little toddler hands could yank them off easily. I posted more about this here. This is what the monkey looked like when I was finished:

Here is the cutie opening the gift and checking out his new friend.

Here he is in his little chair carrying on a conversation with him.

Looks like the sock monkey was quite the hit!

I’m linking up to Kimba’s DIY day with this post. Hop on over to check out more projects.

Holiday Baking

In continuation with the handcrafted Christmas gift kick I’m on this year, I decided to spend Saturday in a baking frenzy so I’d have lots of treats to give away. Here was my list for the day:

1. Cake Balls (about 5 dozen)
2. Chocolate Truffles with Sea Salt (about 4 dozen)
3. Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix (made enough for 4 pint size jars)
4. Homemade Marshmallows (I halved the recipe)
5. Savannah Bow Ties (about 4 dozen)
6. White Chocolate Chunk & Dried Cherry Cookies (a little over 9 dozen)
7. Corn Chowder (for dinner)
8. 3 loaves of French bread (for dinner)

I’m proud to say I accomplished all of it on Saturday besides the marshmallows and bow ties because I decided to go see a local remake of Scrooge with my in-laws, but I finished those items after church on Sunday.

Here are my reviews for numbers 1 to 6 (and I’m sure the first two will be sacrilegious to some readers!):

1. Cake Balls – Everybody it seems raves about these little treats Bakerella has made so popular. Personally, after tasting them, they were so not worth the time and mess. I have a major sweet tooth and these were too sweet for me. Maybe if I used only half the frosting they’d be better, but honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever make them again.

2. Chocolate Truffles with Sea Salt – I’ve tried a few different recipes from the Pioneer Woman lately and they’ve all been hit or miss. These looked delicious, though, and I stowed them away in my brain until now. They were rather easy to make and pretty tasty, but I’m not a big fan of the sea salt. Plus, it made my chocolate look weird the next day. I might make these again, but more likely I’ll keep searching for a raspberry truffle recipe.

3. Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix – This had received mix reviews, but unfortunately the most helpful ones weren’t posted until after I made it. Seems these newer reviewers had the same thoughts I did. This mix has a good beginning, but it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of chocolaty taste. Tonight I’m going to dump all my jars out and add more cocoa powder and powder sugar as these reviewers suggest and see if it helps.

4. Homemade Marshmallows – Not being a big marshmallow fan (unless it’s in hot cocoa or on a s’more) I’m not going to review these based on taste (although they did have a nice marshmallow flavor). I don’t know if it’s because I halved the recipe or what, but my marshmallows were not pourable at all. I used a candy thermometer and followed the directions exactly, but half of my mixture got left in the mixing bowl and the part that made it into the pan never spread into a smooth layer. I may try these again, but most likely not.

5. Savannah Bow Ties – Hubby and I saw Paula Deen make these a couple years ago and have made them every Christmas since then. They are pretty yummy. Expensive and tedious to make, but yummy.

6. White Chocolate Chunk & Dried Cherry Cookies – This is one of the Christmas cookies my mom makes every year and hubby’s favorite of hers. It’s based on the Mrs. Field’s chocolate chip cookie recipe and is very good. Here is the recipe:

White Chocolate Chunk & Dried Cherry Cookies

5 c. old fashioned oats
4 sticks butter
2 c. each brown and white sugar
4 eggs
2 t. vanilla
4 c. flour
1 t. salt
2 t. each baking powder and soda
24 oz. white chocolate chips
3 c. dried cherries (can substitute cherry flavored craisins)

Blend oats to fine powder. Mix butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In separate bowl combine oatmeal, flour, baking powder, and soda. Add to butter mixture. Blend well. Stir in chips and nuts. Roll into balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 –12 minutes.

Makes: Approx. 9 dozen

Here are my treats all finished and ready to be packaged. I picked up 6 Martha Stewart craft boxes from Michael’s because they were 50% off. Each one has four different compartments so I included four of each of the following: cake balls, white chocolate-dried cherry cookies, savannah bow ties and chocolate truffles with sea salt. Hubby is going to give these away to people he works with. The hot cocoa and marshmallows will be packaged nicely and given away to some of hubby’s clients or friends and the rest will be enjoyed by our family or taken to my office.

What are some of your favorite holiday baking recipes?

Christmas Gift Idea – Magazine Subscription

I always have a hard time thinking of what handcrafted items I could make for the men in the family. I know they all love food, but at the same time, that just doesn’t seem like a substantial enough gift for a relative.

One thing that I received last year was a few different magazine subscriptions and I have loved looking through each issue when it arrives in the mail monthly. That gave me the idea to give them each a subscription of their own.

My brother-in-law is originally from Montana and loves all things associated with hunting and fishing. I thought there would be no better thing than a subscription to Field & Stream. A simple Google search provided me a place to get the subscription for 80% off the cover price.

My dad enjoys remodeling homes and lending us a hand renovating our 1906 house. He also loves watching This Old House. Hubby receives the magazine and it is full of great ideas and info on how to tackle certain remodeling projects. I thought this would be perfect for my dad and turns out I was right. I found a very affordable subscription on Amazon.com. They have tons of different magazine subscriptions available for $5 right now.

Gift Ideas: Packaging

I was reading Money Saving Mom this morning to see if there were any coupon deals and she had a link to this awesome tutorial on How to Make a Gift Bow from Recycled Materials.

If you're anything like me, you have TONS of magazines lying around (thanks to the free subscriptions M.S.M. tells us about) that you could use to make bows. I definitely think I'll have to make some to use.

Christmas Gift Ideas: Donations

I’m happy to say that I have been all done with my Christmas “shopping” since before Thanksgiving. “Shopping” is in quotes because I didn’t actually visit a single store to purchase any gift. Every year I try to make as many gifts as I can and this year is no exception. The only store I visited was the craft store for a few supplies that I didn’t already have on hand.

Plus, this year I only had to “shop” for my side of the family because my hubby’s family decided to not exchange gifts this year due to the economy. Instead, we’re going to celebrate by having our traditional Christmas Eve dinner at hubby’s grandma’s house and then I’m  hosting a dinner on Christmas Day.

We did still want to get something for our grandparents, though. I was trying to think of something that they’d all really enjoy besides the basic coffee or bath and body products. Personally, I know I have way too many of those kinds of gifts just sitting around in drawers taking up space.

After a little thought, we decided to donate things such as mosquito nets, seeds, half of an alpaca, or a Bible in their name via World Vision.

Over Thanksgiving, we celebrated Christmas with two sets of my grandparents and they both loved their gifts. They said it was great because they really didn’t need more stuff, and they’d much rather have us spend our money for a good cause. I was so delighted that their response was the exact response I thought they’d have.

If you’re looking for a great gift idea for someone who doesn’t need anything, then seriously consider making a donation in their name. The World Vision Gift Catalog is perfect because there is a wide variety of gifts in many different price ranges.

Over the next few days I’ll post other Christmas gift ideas I’m using this year in case you’re interested.