Happy Campers Marriage Survival Kit - Take Two

 Hello! Welcome to my blog! My sister got married last summer. What do you give someone who has everything? A creative gift of course! Since survival kits are my thing - my sister was definitely getting one. She already got a wedding day survival kit for her bridal shower. When giving marriage survival kits I try to think of what the couple is interested in. I also consider what season of the year we are in.  My brother in law was big time into camping and my sister, well, not so much. I thought a happy camper marriage survival kit was perfect! I had already made a Happy Camper marriage survival kit for an anniversary present (CLICK HERE TO SEE IT) but I wanted to update the graphics and also I purchased a few different things as well. I borrowed ideas from other survival kits I have made as well (CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL MY SURVIVAL KITS).

Here is a list of what ended up in this one:

I love shopping at Winners as I can find nice unique stuff there. I lucked out to find adventure/travel type merchandise like the water bottle and flashlight. I purchased a really nice blanket there as well.

I put it all in a bag that I found at Hobby Lobby when I went on a trip to the States.  

The tags can be found HERE. They are free to download for personal use. I like to put quotes with the tags so if you are into the quotes, cut them out and paste them to the back of the corresponding graphic. 

I hope this gives you some ideas for your next creative gift! If you make one I would love to hear if you came up with any different sayings.

Happy creating!!

Wedding Day Survival Kit - Wedding Shower Gift Idea

Welcome to my blog! My sister got married last year and I made her a wedding day survival kit. Survival kits are my thing. I love unique and creative gifts and if you have been to my blog before, you have seen a lot of survival kits. Check out my other wedding day survival kit HERE - it is boring but pretty.

My sister had a natural theme for her wedding so I wanted to  go with that theme. First thing I needed to do was find a bag I liked to fit some stuff and the kit took off from there. I found this bag in the cosmetic bag section at Winners.

Winners also had some cute supplies in their cosmetics and travel section. I found the lip balm, a travel sewing kit, and lotion there. 

Here is a list of the contents along with the saying I put with the items. I wanted some kind of snack - I chose a Clif bar because my brother-in-law's name is Cliff, so this was very handy. I had a different saying on the tag - for a personalized touch (You raised the bar when you found Cliff! Feed your adventure!)

My sister loved the gift and it came in handy at the wedding. The tags are free for personal use. For the tags go HERE.

Stay tuned for the wedding gift I made her - Happy Campers Marriage Survival Kit!

Thanks for stopping by!

Winnie the Pooh Diaper Cake Tutorial

Hello! Welcome to my blog! I was looking back in my project pictures and found this diaper cake I made four years ago before our first grandchild was born. Another grandchild will be born soon - so my mind has been on baby creations again. 

Here is how to make a diaper cake:

I decided to make a Winnie the Pooh themed diaper cake because I just love this Winnie the Pooh quote:

"The smallish things take up the 

most room in your heart."

 I made this rosette to put on top of the diaper cake.

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a "Tea"riffic Birthday Gift Basket Idea

Hello! Welcome to my blog! I have a problem. I can't just give ordinary presents. They need to have a bit of a creative side to them. Sometimes I have to give in and just get a present due to time restrictions or a lack of creative juices at the moment. The present needs to be inspired by the recipient of the gift of course. I try to think of what the individuals likes and dislikes are. I have to think about it for a while. I don't always know what the gift is going to be when I go shopping, like in this case. I just happened so see this adorable cup - and I thought - tea gift set. I lucked out and had scrapbook paper that went with the cup, and the gift card. I was able to put cute tags with some of the items, and dress up the gift card holder. This is what I put in the cup:

Here is the tag I made. I glued it to a skewer and tied a lace bow on it. 

I hope this idea helps you if you like to give creative gifts too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pint Jar Carrier Tutorial

Hello! Welcome to my blog! This project has been on my wish list for a while now. I love jars! I love

the gifts you can give in jars so I wanted to make a carrier for them. 

Here is the tutorial:

I just used a large box and cut it up. I was able to make three carriers. I tore the paper off the front to get the corrugated look. I used hot glue and a lot of it. You don't want the handle popping out when it is carrying precious cargo.  Here is the 2 pack carrier tutorial: 

 This is going to come in handy for gift giving. I will work on some tutorials for smaller jars and post them when I am done. Thanks for stopping by!

Mother's Day Poems for Mother, Grandmother and Aunt with Matching Gift

Hello! Welcome to my blog! I have always loved to give homemade gifts for Mother's Day, or if I had to buy something, to put some sort of creative spin on it. When my daughter was younger, we made all sorts of things together to give to her two grandmothers, an aunt and a great grandmother. The above picture is a simple project we did together by sewing the word "HOME" with jute on some cotton, drawing flowers hearts and butterflies on the cotton, and then framing it. The year we made these I made some poems to go with it. There is a poem for Mother, Aunt and Grandmother.  The beginning of the poems are all the same, but they are changed up at the end to personalize them. The poems are about the difference of a house, built with materials, and a home, built with a mother's love.

MOTHER

A house is built with materials:

lumber, brick and stone.

Love, patience and sacrifice;

That’s what makes a home.

A good foundation is a sturdy

houses start. The foundation is 

essential so the house doesn’t

fall apart.

The foundation of a home is s 

most important task. Its material

comes from a mother’s heart, 

a love that’s made to last.

I know things were not always

easy. Perhaps at times you felt

alone. But I want to thank you 

now for all your hard work,

for making our house a home.

GRANDMOTHER

A house is built with materials:

lumber, brick and stone.

Love, patience and sacrifice;

That’s what makes a home.

A good foundation is a sturdy

houses start. The foundation is 

essential so the house doesn’t

fall apart.

The foundation of a home is s 

most important task. Its material

comes from a mother’s heart, 

a love that’s made to last.

You are my mother’s mother,

the foundation of love is deep.

I thank you for your handiwork;

a blueprint of love so sweet.

AUNT

A house is built with materials:

lumber, brick and stone.

Love, patience and sacrifice;

That’s what makes a home.

A good foundation is a sturdy

houses start. The foundation is 

essential so the house doesn’t

fall apart.

The foundation of a home is s 

most important task. Its material

comes from a mother’s heart, 

a love that’s made to last.

You are my mother’s sister, 

But you are so much more you see;

you have always had a mother 

heart extended out to me.

Your door is always open. Your

 love you have always shown, so I 

thank you from the bottom of my

heart for making your house

my home.

If I was making this gift this year with my adult daughter I would make this craft to go with the poems: Click below to go to the tutorial.

love at home chalkboard

Thanks for stopping by!

Harry Potter Pillows

Hello! Welcome to my blog! I did not make as many presents as I wanted to for Christmas this year. I did get this one done, that I wanted to make last year. Thank goodness my niece still likes Harry Potter. These pillows were inspired by projects I seen on Pinterest - HERE and HERE I basically just winged the Harry Pillow. I didn't even draw out plans. My husband called it the Minion Harry Potter pillow. The "Keep Calm" pillow is made with cream cotton material and an iron on transfer. I downloaded a free Harry Potter font and the other font is Arial using the caps. I did knit the scarf and sewed it into the pillow at the seams. The rest of the pillow is made of fleece, including the mouth and scar. I machine sewed the eyes/glasses and hair onto the pillow and hand sewed the mouth and scar. I used chalk for the cheeks. 

The gift was well received. Thanks for stopping by!

I Love You Like a Love Song - Valentine Gift For Your Man

Hello! Welcome to my blog! 

I just finished my husband's Valentine's Day gift. It is similar to this wedding gift I made last summer...

I knew then that I wanted to make a Valentine's Day version of it. This gift was inspired by love songs. I chose six songs that have meaning to my husband and I - you know those ones that you have to get up and dance to. I chose an item that related to each song and wrote a little bit of a verse of the song on a tag. Here is what is in the gift pack.... 

1. Everything I Do, I Do it For You - by Bryan Adams. This was our wedding song. I bought Mountain Dew. On the tag I put - "You know it's true, everything I do, I DEW it for you."

2. Unchained Melody - by The Righteous Brothers. This is one of my hubbies favorites. I bought Oh Henry's because of the marketing campaign they had with the question Oh Hungry? On the tag I put "Oh my love, my darling, I've HUNGERED for your touch."

3. Your Still the One - by Shania Twain. I bought hot lips and Hershey Kisses to go with the line from the song that says "You're still the one I KISS good night."


4. Remember When - by Alan Jackson.  I made a Memory Album . I also made a stand for the album as I want to display this on my coffee table (click here for tutorial).

5. Amazed - by Lonestar.  I bought "Sidekicks" to go with the words, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my SIDE, forever and ever.

6. Remind Me - by Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley. I had a candle and matches to go with the words, "So on FIRE and so in love". I made custom matches by using a book of matches as my template to cut and score some card stock exactly, and I stapled the matches in the new matchbook.

I put all the goodies in a box bottom  - and I made a box bag. Click Here for Tutorial.

Here are the tags you can download (right click on image - open in new window - copy - paste in desired program - resize to desired size and print)

You can use the image above for a CD cover - just in case you want to burn a CD.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Busy Mom Survival Kit - Baby Shower Gift Idea

Happy Friday! Welcome to my blog!! Here is my latest baby shower gift basket. The stuff in the basket is geared more towards the mom, although the advice on the tags will definitely help the baby.  I suggest this package not be gifted to a new mom who needs baby stuff. Here is what I put in the kit:

1. WATER - Saying: Water cannot be drawn from an empty well.

2. JAM - Saying - Don't jam every minute with busy-ness.

3. ROSE AIR FRESHENER - Saying - Learn to smell the roses.

4. CHEERIOS - Saying: Be of good cheerios

5. KNEE PADS - Saying: When life is too hard to stand - kneel.

6. GLASSES - Saying: Focus on your children.

7. SNICKERS - Saying: Learn to laugh.

8. MENTOS - Saying: The joy of motherhood comes in momints.

Here are the tags I used below. I made both a male and female package so there are blue and pink tags. I added an elephant and cut out some clouds to put on the tags.

I put all of the items with their corresponding tags in my favorite bag to make - A BOX BAG - 

tied it up with a ribbon and attached the survival kit tag. This is a different but meaningful gift to give those busy moms!

Thanks for stopping by!

Love Each Other Like a Love Song - Marriage Survival Kit

Hello and thank you for stopping by my blog! If you have been here before you know that I like to make unique gifts.  One thing I strive to do with my gift giving is to add value and meaning to the recipients life. That is especially true when it comes to a wedding gift. I had so much fun making this one - a wedding gift inspired by love songs. The title of the gift is inspired by the song, "Love You Like a Love Song" by Selena Gomez. The other songs I chose helped me with what I purchased for the kit. I made tags to go with each corresponding item, and typed out the lyrics that went with the tag. I chose each song because it had some good marital advice in it. Here is what I came up with....

1. Love Like Crazy - by Lee Brice. I bought the book "The Five Love Languages"by Gary Chapman. I haven't personally read this book, but I read "The Five Love Languages for Teenagers" and it was wonderful. I am sure this is a good read for the newly weds.
2. Don't - by Shania Twain. I bought a rug. The song basically says not to brush things under the rug. Good marital advice.
3. Meet in the Middle - by Diamond Rio. I bought Chips Ahoy Middles. I really struggled with what I was going to buy to go with this song, then I ran it by my daughter and she suggested these cookies. It is great to get suggestions from other people!

4. I Won't Let Go - by Rascal Flatts. I bought the Schticky. Those commercials are so corny, but they make me want to buy the product - and I love saying "Schticky". The song is about schticking together and standing by your loved one.
5. Remember When - by Alan Jackson. A photo album goes with this song. I covered an album with drop cloth and personalized it. I will post how I did that soon. Watch this song on You Tube with the Up movie version. If you are like me you will cry your eyes out.

6. I purchased the songs on iTunes and burned them to a CD. It was really weird burning a CD as I don't use CD's anymore, but I needed one to go with the kit. 

I made a box bag - CLICK HERE for the tutorial. I used a 10 pound blueberry box for my base, cut off the upper flaps, measured and cut the paper, and put it together as the tutorial indicates. The upper right picture shows all the goodies in the box bag read to be closed. 

Then I taped it up, tied a bow on it and secured the tag on.

Here is one of the song tags. Each tag comes with the title tag, and two pages of lyrics. I tied all of them together to make one tag and tied it to the corresponding item with ribbon. Below are all the files for the tags. Right click, copy and paste into your favorite publishing program. 

And there you have it! Do you know anyone who is getting married soon?

Thanks for stopping by!

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Tatertots and Jello