Showers, showers and more showers...

The advantage to being a crafting pack rat is that if you need to throw something together at the last minute, you almost always have everything you need right on hand. (Provided that you organize your supplies of course - which I do.) 

My co-worker had a baby shower last Sunday and I was in charge of purchasing and packaging the gift. Unfortunately, I didn't have time for the packaging part until just before the shower. The only wrapping paper designs I had on hand were Christmas ones and I thought that Santas and reindeer would look a little odd on a gift given in July. That's when punches and stickers came to the rescue! And newsprint. Oh, by the way, did you know that the Ottawa Citizen gives away the end rolls for free? Yep. All you need to do is call them and ask. I carted away three:

That's probably a good few hundred feet of paper right there. They are pretty heavy - I had to use a trolley to get them to my car. 

I wrapped the present in newsprint (it was The Original Baby Bullet in case you were wondering) and then pulled out my gel pens and coloured papers and got to work. As part of the Sizzix set I bought at that garage sale a few months back, I got die of a foot. I punched a whole bunch of them in bright printer paper and glued them in pairs on the corners of the present. I had thought of making a more random scattering of feet all over but I just couldn't arrange them to my satisfaction. 

Okay, not my best pictures but I was in a rush.

The card was just a strip of cardstock with a sticker on it and piece of white paper inside. The bow was made of strips of white paper with "Congratulations Tugce & Yener!" written over and over on them. A little tape, a little glue and I was done and ready to go!

Jazzed Up Shopping Bags

I was cleaning my room the other day when I came across some paper shopping bags. I have always thought that the bags from clothing stores would make great gift bags if it weren’t for the big logos splashed across them.

(As much as I like Jacob, it’s not what I want to have on the bag unless the gift is actually from Jacob.)

Today, I happened to have some construction paper and glue handy and so I thought to work a little DIY magic and find cute ways to cover up shopping bag logos. Not bad, eh? Your next gift may just come in this.  J

Just a Little Package

One of my friends was feeling down last week and I wanted to cheer her up. However, when I thought of putting together something, it was 10 pm and I was a little short on options. My philosophy is: if life hurts, feed them candy. Unfortunately, I did not have any around at the time, so I figured gum would have to do.

Wrapping paper did not seem right for the occasion but neither did just handing her the pack of gum unwrapped. In the end, I flipped through Pinterest and expanded on this idea:

Confetti Gift Tags! So simple yet cute. Unfortunately, I could not find the original source so I cannot give credit for where its due.

I whipped it together in a few minutes late at night. The smile on her face made the effort worth it!

Craft Books from China

I recently went on vacation to parts of Mainland China with my family. The itinerary consisted mainly of eating and shopping. Of course, I had to hunt for some craft books; they are so much cheaper in China than in Canada! I found some really neat new crafts for me to try. Unfortunately, I can't read simplified Chinese but luckily, I have a mother who can (parents are so useful that way ; ) )  This is why pictures are absolutely vital to a good craft book. I am so excited about what I found, I have to show them off:

Not a craft book exactly but this book shows you how to make bows and gives different ideas about how to gift wrap presents. Compact and very useful.

This was an impulse buy - I bought it because it was pretty and it was cheap but I honestly do not know what I am going to do with it. I have never hemmed anything before and do not really have anything to hem but it just looked so neat that I could not help myself. I am sure I can fancy up a few shirts and pillow cases.

Chinese knots look so complicated but also so cool. I found this encyclopedia of various types of knots to try. We shall have to see how my skills with rope are. : P


The bulk of my vacation was spent in Hong Kong and the books which I found there were several times more expensive than the ones I got from Mainland China but the selection was much better. (And I can read traditional Chinese!) Check out some of what I found:

I was quite disappointed with how few good beading animal books there were. Either I did not like the patterns but I already owned it. This was the only one new one that I bought. Some of the bears are so cute!

Clay is such a versatile medium and the results can be so adorable. I do not have much experience with clay but it is definitely on my to do list. Looking at these covers; how could I resist purchasing them?