Printable: Snowman Drink Decorations

Have you ever visited the Mood Kids site before?  I discovered the site a while back and found their projects quite charming.  They have a good amount of fun printables.  One specifically that caught my eye was this snowman drink decoration.  I especially liked the creative use of the orange straw as a nose.  These would be fun to use as a surprise at dinner.  Or you could print out a set for a classroom party.   Click here for the free printable.

Chrismas Gift Wrap with Origami Details

 Origami Dove

Each year I like to choose a theme for my Christmas gift wrap.  This year I decided to incorporate origami pieces into the wrapping as a picture.  The gifts were wrapped with basic brown craft paper.  Once the gift was wrapped, I  drew directly onto the package with a white paint pen.  And for the final touch, I added an origami piece made from metallic paper.  The gifts came out fairly close to my vision.  If I had more time, I would have changed a few things but it is just wrapping after all.  I know this will all be ripped away in a matter of weeks so I can't be too picky.  Plus, I still have more gifts to wrap. 

 Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse

Origami Angel Tree Topper

Kid Craft: Holiday Cards for Dolls

My family and I our in the full swing of the holiday season.  The Christmas tree and other decorations are up.  The kid's have been feasting on their chocolate advent calendars.  Dates for holiday gatherings have been set.  And last but definitely not least, we've been crafting.  My daughter and I have been making these tiny holiday cards for her American Girl doll.  They're such an easy craft, I thought some of you or your children might enjoy making them too. 

Supplies:

Christmas images (about 1 /12in by 1 in) - we cut out images of cards from a Paper Source catalog.  Any small Christmas images will work. Look through all those catalogs you been receiving in the mail.

Scraps of card stock

Glue dots or glue stick

Scissors

Scoring Tool (optional)

Instructions:

1. Adhere image with glue dots to the right side of a card stock scrap.

2. With a scoring tool or by hand, fold paper behind image to make a card shape.

3.  Hold the card shut flat and trim off excess paper.  Making the cards this way opposed to measuring out the card stock first is easier for children.

Fun Labels for Your Handmade Goods

Image Credit: Sublime Stitching

For me, what elevates a nice gift to fabulous are the details.  That could mean the way it's wrapped, how it's presented or a special detail to the gift itself.  Which is why I'm absolutely smitten about these labels from Sublime Stitching. They're just the right touch of whimsy for that special handmade gift.  I personally like the Japanese labels that read "made with love".  However, the "this took forever" labels come in a close second because haven't we all wanted to say that at some time.  

What's your favorite?  Would you use these labels in your handmade gifts?

Hand-knit Gift #2

As I mentioned earlier, I've been trying to make a few gifts for Christmas.  I knit this hat last week. It only took me two days to complete but one could easily make it in a day.  And don't let the leaf pattern intimidate you, it's actually pretty easy to knit. I was even able to watch T.V. while knitting this.  That's the true test of a simple pattern.

This hat is knit on size 10 needles with bulky yarn.  If you look at the original pattern, you'll notice that there's a larger ribbed band at the bottom.  I had to adjust this since I used size 10 1/2 needles. 

The pattern for the hat was designed by Deniza Bakalova and is called Autumn Leaves Hat.  You can get the pattern for free on Ravelry.