Origami Easter Baskets

In my search for an inexpensive and cute easter gift idea, I came across these super cute origami paper easter baskets on Expert Village.

The directions were presented in a series of videos (which were a bit confusing because they were not listed in any particular order, so I have provided ordered links here)

Origami Easter Basket Video Instructions:

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Video 5

And here's what you get! I will be filling them with homemade goodies for my family and friends.. more to come on that!

Just a quick update...

More to come later. I just wanted to post a picture of the longies I am working on for my cousin's new daughter...made from my awesome Kool-Aid dyed wool!

A Tiny Valentine's Treat

Two of my friends are having some people over for Valentine's Day next weekend and while I have very little to spend (being a poor college kid and all) and gifts are not customary for such occasions, I was trying to think of something I could make each of them just to say thanks for having us over.

So the thought process began as I was sitting on my couch trying not to eat the Hershey Kisses I had left over from Christmas in a dish on my coffee table. Then it came to me...remove the green kisses from the Christmas assortment, and you have red and silver. Perfect for Valentine's Day!

So my very small (but I think rather cute) gift was in the works.

Back to the paper box. Soon people will stop accepting them from me...haha. But for now I am definitely taking advantage of that lovely Etsy tutorial.

This project doesn't really require any explanation, so here are some pics.

For those of you who read my last Valentine's post, these hearts should look familiar. For those of you who didn't and want to, click here to learn.

So there you have it. My cute (and incredibly inexpensive) little thank you gesture. I like to think it's the thought that counts. :)

Valentine's Day!!

Another fun holiday coming up...Valentine's Day! Continuing with my attempts to recycle and reuse, I came up with these cute Valentine's Day cards.


Here's what you will need:

• Tissue paper (The stuff from Victoria's Secret purchases works great!)
• Mod Podge (regular white glue would probably work too)
• Brush or sponge for Mod Podge
• Notecards or card stock (remnants of flashcards...)
• Cardboard or whatever you want to adhere your hearts to
• X-acto knife
• Scissors
• Pen or pencil

(The paper bag in the picture above will be used to make envelopes)

Step 1: Tear the tissue paper into a bunch of little pieces and Mod Podge them to your notecard. No particular method...just whatever you like.

Step 2: Once the notecard has dried, turn the card over and draw your heart.

Step 3: Using an X-acto knife, cut out the inner portion of the heart.

Step 4: Using scissors (or the knife again, if you prefer) cut out around the outside of the heart. You will end up with the shapes below:

Once you have your hearts, affix them to cardboard, or card stock, or whatever else you have in mind! I used double stick tape for mine...the Mod Podge made the hearts curl a bit so I thought the tape would help to fight the paper's urge to curl.

I also embellished with another of my many $1 stamps and cut down the inner heart a bit so it would fit better.

And they're all made out of ticky tacky...

Although Christmas is long past, in my family we are still trying to squeeze a little more celebration in. So with a trip to visit some more family just around the corner, I have just finished round two of cookie baking and gift tin packing.


It seems that 2008 is the Christmas of the paper (and wax paper) box. So using my new found paper box making skills I made these wax paper boxes to hold cookies instead of buying more candy or muffin cups. They worked pretty well, despite being no where near as precise as its scrapbook paper relative.

I tried some new cookie recipes this year in addition to some of my regulars. The tins (purchased around this time last year for a dramatically discounted price at Walmart) include:

• Peanut butter blossoms
• Snickerdoodles
• Ginger cookies
• Cinnamon peanut brittle
• Chocolate crinkles

I thought I would share some of these recipes because I think they are delicious and super easy. The peanut brittle (which is in its third year of Christmas gifting) is a great recipe from Gale Gand.

I normally make a double recipe (one recipe at a time), resulting in 2 cookie sheets full of brittle. I also like mine very heavy on peanuts so instead of using two cups of peanuts as the recipe states, I use about three cups (one and a half jars) of peanuts per recipe.

The ginger cookies are on year two and seem to be a hit. I only bake them for about 12 minutes resulting in a chewier cookie than the recipe would create.

Last recipe - the chocolate crinkles. This is the first year I tried these and they are absolutely delicious! I made these just as the recipe is written and they turned out wonderful.

The crinkles would also be great for Valentines Day!

Christmas Time is Here!

Well. Computer is back from vacation. A simple restarting can do wonders. Anyway...time for me to show off my Christmas wrappings so far.

I was really proud of myself... I didn't buy a single thing for these wrappings. Everything is either reused or homemade. I learned to make gift bags (a trick I will post soon) and boxes from this great video on Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/how-to-make-a-box-out-of-paper-scraps-243/. Definitely worth checking out.

Here are the bags. Nothing but some scrapbooking paper, double stick tape, Crayola markers, and some $1 rubber stamps from A.C. Moore & Micheal's. I have a bit of a problem when it comes to those dollar stamps. ; )

And here's a close up of one of my paper boxes (I have a book of scrapbook paper that came with some sheets I'm not too fond of so I folded them inside out and covered them with some festive stamps). Also, my attempt at wrapping a lip balm like a candy cane...not my best work. Haha. Anyway, just thought I would share my attempts to cut down on the wrapping purchases this year while trying to reuse a bit in the process. Perhaps it will provide a bit of inspiration.