Gifts – Page 8 – Gracious Rain

February 3, 2009June 30, 2020

Scrabble Tile Pendant

The perfect project for all the ladies on your Valentine list, these pendants can be made to fit any personality.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Wooden Scrabble Tiles (you can get these on ebay, or just get the game and cannabalize it…or if you live around me, I already did that, and I’m sure I have a few I can spare)
Super Glue
Diamond Glaze
ModPodge or Tacky Glue

Jewelry Bails (the little metal loop that you thread a necklace chain through)
Emery board or sandpaper

Scrapbook Paper
Scissors or Craft Knife (exacto blade)
Paintbrush or sponge brush

Here goes…

Step 1: Glue the bail (little metal loop) to the back of your tile. You have 2 options here, you can either glue it to the letter side, so that when the pendant is worn, there is a letter on the back and a pretty scrapbook paper design on the front. The advantage to doing it this way is that when you glue your paper on later, you don’t have to worry about it indenting in the shape of the letter engraved on the tile. They do that sometimes, depending on the thickness of the paper. Your other option is to glue the bail to the blank side, so that the pendant has a blank back, which looks cleaner. Also, you can make a pendant just out of the tile, without covering it with scrapbook paper for an initial pendant, in which case you would want to glue the bail to the blank side, as the scrabble letter should be facing out.

I use super glue to glue my bails on most of the time, but tacky glue also works, as does gorilla glue. I use the tip of the craft knife to hold the bail in place so I don’t get glue on my fingers.

If you’re using glue that takes a while to dry, try propping the bail up with something, so you can leave it to dry. Don’t try to hold it dry, it will not set solidly. Let the glue dry for several hours before moving on to the next step.

Step 2: While the glue is drying, cut out a piece of scrapbook paper just a little bit bigger than the scrabble tile. Alternately, I have seen people use photos of their children or pets, or hand paint the tile itself. Or even using scrapbook paper and glitter glue, or little rhinestones. Use the ModPodge or Tacky Glue and a paintbrush or foam brush to apply a thin coat of adhesive to the front of the tile, then glue your paper on.

Make sure to press all the bubbles out, if you get any. You can use a kitchen spatula, or bone folder, if you have one. Also, now is the time to use any glitter, rhinestones, etc, if you’re so inclined. Wait for the glue to dry. If you don’t wait long enough, when you move on to the next part it will tear your paper…so be patient. 🙂

Step 3: Using your craft knife, trim the excess paper from around the tile.

Step 4: Using the emery board, file the edges or the paper so that it doesn’t extend past the edge of the tile. You can also use the sandpaper to distress the surface a bit, if you like that look.

Step 5: Use something to help your tiles lay flat horizontally. I used a bamboo skewer. I have also used a ruler, and a post-it note pad. Anything works.

Using the Diamond Glaze (speaking of which, I had a really hard time finding this. I finally tracked it down at my local Archivers store. I know you can get it online also, and at one point, I thought Stampin’ Up carried something similar, as well. It’s basically a dimensional resin-type stuff. Hopefully it’s easier for you to track down, if not, I’ll offer some alternatives in just a sec.) first squeeze a little bit out on to a piece of scratch paper, and keep the pressure on the bottle as you go to put it on the tile. Why? Because Diamond Glaze is notorious for starting out with a bubble, and equally notorious for being impossible to remove bubbles from. So it’s easier to get the bubble out on some scratch paper first. I’ve found it’s easiest to go around the edges first, and then fill in the middle. The idea is to cover the decorated top of the tile. I usually do several thin coats, rather than one thick one. It tends to pucker and distort with one thick layer, as the top dries before the inside does.

If you can’t (or don’t want to) find Diamond Glaze, just break out the trusty ModPodge again, and coat your tile a few times, to seal the paper.

If you do get a bubble, get that exacto blade and try scooting the bubble off the edge. You will not be able to pop it, it doesn’t work that way. Just try scooting it off the edge of the tile.

Last step: Let it dry! It takes longer than you think. In fact, you should probably let it sit overnight. The last thing you want is your pretty little fingerprint in the middle of all your hard work. Additionally, these are not waterproof. Wearing them in the pool/shower/bath/waterfight is generally not recommended.

So there you have it! A cute, trendy, gift for your Valentines!

April

January 19, 2009June 24, 2020

Clipboards with Class

Do you have any boring old clipboards just sitting around looking ugly? Well, I spent the other day with my daughter, April and she showed me how to spruce them up and make them so pretty–you’d be proud to use them anywhere. In fact, if you use a new clipboard they would make a great gift. Don’t be afraid…it was really easy and just see how cute they look!

All you need is:

A clipboard

2 sheets of scrapbook paper

Mod Podge

Scissors

Emery board

Trace the clipboard onto one of the sheets of scrapbook paper.

Trace a 3 inch strip from contrasting paper for the top of the clipboard.

Cut both pieces out.

Spread Mod Podge adhesive and apply paper carefully.

Smooth out excess glue and air bubbles with a plastic scraper.

From the contrasting piece of scrapbook paper, mark and cut out where the metal clip piece will be. It doesn’t have to be exact because even if some of the board shows it still looks fine. Glue it in place. Let the glue dry for about 10 minutes.

Sand the excess paper off the edges of the board with a nail file, emery board or piece of fine sand paper.

This makes the edges of the clipboard look a bit worn.

Cover the whole thing with Mod Podge in two coats–one going from side to side, the other going up and down to give it a linen-look finish.

Allow the clipboard to dry over night. Be amazed.

December 23, 2008June 22, 2020

Rice Pillow

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At our house the rice pillow is the cozy remedy for sore joints, headaches, tummy trouble, or cold feet. Luckily, they are so easy to make. I made these two out of a couple of T-shirts that I was finished with.

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Cut two strips of fabric–the striped one is about 15″x 4.” The flower one is about 15″x 5.” The size depends on what you’ll be doing with it. A nice square is great for keeping your feet warm and a longer strip makes a good back of the neck wrap. The exact measurements aren’t that big of a deal.

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Double zigzag the edges leaving one short side open.

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Fill with rice, or wheat. We chose wheat because this is Utah…and we are all about wheat. :]

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You can sew the end shut or tie it into a huge knot–that works well with cotton knit.

It is a good idea to sew a pillow case for your rice pillow that you can remove and throw in the washer every week or so.

December 19, 2008June 22, 2020

Baby Flower Headbands & Clips

If there are babies or young girls on your gift list this year, these go together quick and easy–and are cute and trendy to boot!

Here’s what you need to get going:

Some double pronged salon clips. I bought mine at a local hair supply store, a box of 80 for about $6.

Glue Gun and glue sticks

3/8″ ribbon. I used grosgrain because I like it. Twill tape works well too. Satin is a little hard to work with, and with organza, you’ll likely get burned with the glue coming through. If you’re like me you might get burned anyway.

Fake flowers. There are several ways to acquire these. Scrapbook stores sell them as embellishments, but make sure you’re getting fabric/felt ones, not paper. You can also buy stems of flowers at a craft store and take them apart. Finally, you can buy felt squares (they were 25 cents a piece at my local JoAnn’s) and cut out your own flowers.

Flower middles. These can be anything from buttons, to little rhinestones, to scrapbooking brads. Use your imagination. I like using brads to hold all the layers together, and then gluing buttons or rhinestones on top.

Here’s how to do it:

First, cover the alligator clip with ribbon. Using the glue gun, start on the underside of the clip (that’s the straight side, without any angles). Glue the edge of the ribbon down then fold it over to continue covering the clip. This gives a nice folded edge look, that won’t fray. Glue the ribbon all the way around the clip, stopping on the underside of the top set of prongs. The bottom set will remain exposed so that we can clip it to things later.

Assemble your flowers. Combine different sizes, colors, and shapes for visual interest. Also, keep in mind what colors are popular or favorites for children’s clothing. I had fun with mine and made some seasonal, even. Try to incorporate 3 or 4 layers so that the flower has some depth.

Put the layers together with a brad, or glue them together with your hot glue gun (careful, or your fingers will look like mine).

Add some flair by putting glitter, rhinestones, buttons, fuzzy yarn, or brads. I used some glitter glue on a few of the petals and it turned out really cute.

Glue the flower to the alligator clip you covered earlier. Try to align the clip over any brad prongs so that they don’t catch hair.

You’re done with the flowers, now on to the headbands. I use crocheted baby headbands that I bought online. I’ve also seen them in boutiques and even a grocery store or two. They are cute, and stretchy and feminine, and the alligator clips can clip right into the fabric.

Alternately, you can make headbands out of knee-high nylons. Just take the nylon, cut off the toe and the ribbing at the top. Now, take the long middle part of the nylon and glue the two cut ends together, making a loop out of the remaining sock. Then, you can make a loop (with the ribbing) to wrap around the area you just glued together. Leave part of it not glued down so that you can slip the alligator clip in, and voila! A cute, interchangeable headband!

P.S. If you’d like to scrap the headband idea and just make some cute flowers to clip in hair (these work better for older girls, not babies), you can always assemble the flowers as above, but instead of using alligator clips, use the spring loaded clips. Again, purchaseable at a well stocked craft store.

Happy headbanding!

~April~

December 16, 2008December 5, 2022

Gingerbread House Festival

With my dad being the official “Gingerbread Man” in these parts–we couldn’t stand to let the season go by without that cinnamon and cloves scent in the air. So the girls got together at daddy’s shop…

And made a busload of honeycake dough.

The official recipe is called Lebkuchen. It’s a very stiff dough, so daddy’s mixer came in pretty handy. My little Kitchen Aid would have been smoking with this stuff.

Each one of these dough balls will make one pan.

One pan will make one house.

Here they are after being baked and cut and stacked.

Each of us had our own idea of what the “perfect” candy was–so when we got together on Daddy’s birthday, to actually put the houses together we had a ton of candy. Just looking at all this stuff gave me a sugar rush. It must have been the vapor of sweetness in the air. :]

**The most important tip for having a successful gingerbread house experience is to decorate the front, back and sides of your house BEFORE you put the pieces together.

This will save you from having to work in tight, crazy places and also keep you from knocking your house down while trying to glue candy to an upright house–not cool.

Once you paste the house together, then you’re ready to frost the top. We use Royal Icing to glue it all together and Fluffy White for the roof and yard “snow.” April is really good with the icicles. Me…not so much.

So, here are the results of our Gingerbread fest.

April’s professional house

Jacob’s house–ready for snow!

december-12-2008-025 Lyndi’s Orange Tree House

december-12-2008-027 Lyndi’s stained glass star

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Rhen’s Angry House…don’t ask. You missed the Teddy Graham hanging from the rafters and the snowman with a rifle. It was not pretty. I should have known there was just too much laughter coming from his end of the table. Boys can be so odd.

december-12-2008-0211 My silly little house with pink malt balls. Ummmm…. Note: Cream Savers are not particularily good team players. They slid off my roof all night. They get a D in behavior and staying put.