New Favorite Gift Filling!

Ahhh, I can't wait to share the coolest thing since sliced bread! Well, not english muffins, but the regular sliced loaf. 

Beautiful, fun, and easy gift filling that really makes a statement!

So.. My name is Ally and I'm addicted to Pinterest. There, I said it. So good to be honest. Anyway, I found this post on Oh Happy Day (via the beauty that is Pinterest) where the blogger makes DIY Zig Zag Party Streamers. FUN!

I am always looking for new a fun ways to jazz up gifts that I send friends - so I tried my hand at zig zagging some tissue paper today. 

I took some orange and pink tissue paper (if happiness were two sheets of tissue paper, it'd be orange and pink - fact). I used 1.5 sheets of each to fill up the shoe box.

I cut strips about 4 or 5 inches wide. 

I then cut across the tissue paper (not all the way through) making a cut every 2 or 3 inches. 

Then I turned over the tissue paper and cut in between your previous cuts (again, not all the way through). 

I chose to stack tissue papers and do 3 or 4 strips at a time. You also don't need to be super precise as it's tissue paper. Bonus - less messy than the shredded filling as these stay in one piece.

TADA - beautiful streamers! 

I then placed them inside my gift box. 

What a fun surprise when my friend opens the box! Who wouldn't want to get a gift with this presentation!?

A giant free plug for Paper Source

Being in a new city without knowing a lot of people leaves you 1. with quite a bit of time on your hands and 2. quite bored. So I decided to take a class! I figured it would be a good way to meet others interested in what I like, to learn something new and have a fun evening that doesn't involve The Office reruns and stir fry. :)

I signed up for an Upcycling class at the local Paper Source - I love creating, crafts and cards - oh and I love the earth (reusing, reducing and recycling) so what better class that one where you use scraps and used materials to create beautiful cards to send to friends and family.

I had a blast - 3 hours of cutting and gluing and sparkling = my idea of heaven! It was also fun to use a bunch of tools that I don't have, like a boning knife, edge rounder, different stamps, etc. Here are some of the cards I made during the class as well as some that I made at home this weekend! Enjoy - and remember, sending a homemade card means so much to people. :)

Sending to a dear friend who is headed off to Italy this summer - so excited for her!

Sticky foam squares do wonders - on this card, I raised two of the bird cases and made them sparkly - just fun!

A Mother's Day card for my boyfriend's mom - I also learned how to make envelope liners which add an extra POP to personalizing cards! :)

Mother's Day card for my momma and envelope liner.

Not sure if you can see the sparkle, but I love this card.. Also, I used the same pictures of the red bicycle from a calendar that hard a large picture and a small picture. Creative, reusing, perfect.

Love Vespas! Also, the same concept as above, I used the outside of a calendar to make an envelope and the inside I used on the card!

Also raised the Vespa up using foam squres!

Up close picture of the 3D bird using foam squares.

Up close of the bird cages using foam squares.

I needed to send some Thank You's this week and decided to try my hand at making my own. Love how these turned out - all you need are flat cards, a bike stamp and a "thank you" stamp. Super simple!

All supplies can be found at Paper Source, or anywhere that cards, envelopes, glue, tape and foam squares are sold. I am addicted and can't wait to send folks these personalized, hand made cards. :) I hope you are getting inspired to create and send a little note of love to someone who could use it, or maybe take a class and get excited about something. :) Cheers!

Ode to the heart: DIY Valentine's Day Cards

I have been wondering if I should unleash my "show your love, people" rant since Valentine's Day is coming up.. and I have decided that I will - in moderation.

Listen people, we, as a society, don't show enough love. It seems like hand-written notes are a thing of the past, gifts are only for Christmas (or Hanukkah, heeeey Jewish friends) and we only know it's someone's birthday because facebook tells us so. Don't get me started on rude people and folks who don't smile back when you both make eye contact and you smile! Even just a turn of the sides of the mouth is appreciated.

I don't know a lot about our purpose on earth, but I know one thing to be true - one of our jobs is to show love, to give love, to make others feel beautiful and special, and then, in turn, to receive love. I am a HUGE fan of sending greeting cards (who does not love getting a personalized piece of mail? See below), finding the perfect gift for someone (that fits the receiver's personality, not the giver!), and letting special people know you love them - just because! 



So this brings me to my adoration of Valentine's Day. Not necessarily the history of Valentine's Day (interesting article found here: http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day) because it's quite gruesome and depressing, but the modern interpretation of Valentine's Day is to SHOW LOVE. How could this be bad? If you peel away the "I hate the commercialization, you-have-to-have-a-boyfriend, remind-me-I'm-single-why-don't-you"ness, the true meaning of Valentine's Day is for us to stop and take a moment to really think about those that we love. So whether this means sending an email to a faraway friend, or calling your mom, or making or buying a card for someone - it is important to stop and think of those we love.

Myth: "You have to have a significant other." 
My verdict: FALSE. Some of my favorite (and let's be clear, most of my) Valentine's Days have been spent with girlfriends - having a potluck dinner, watching horribly wonderful chick flicks, or having a "pamper ourselves" night. Those nights were lovely, and ones that I remember forever.

Myth: Valentine's Day is just a Hallmark holiday. 
My verdict: TRUE/FALSE - Yes, Hallmark makes a ton off of Valentine's Day, but you don't have to buy into that! I started making holiday cards during my first stint with unemployment (oh boy, this makes me look good). I didn't have a lot of money but I did have a lot of time. I used fabric from my favorite shirt (that had just ripped due to shotty craftsmanship) and spent hours making hand-made Christmas cards. That was two years ago and I have been making my holiday cards ever since.

Since I happen to have a lot of time on my hands this year (wow, surprised!) - I have made Valentine's Day cards for about 15 loved ones, that I will be sending with some other goodies that I am going to make this week (blog posts to follow, youbetcha!)


Here's what I did for my cards, but really, as long as you have some crafty paper and a pen, you can do anything you like! Even finger paint hearts is fun and easy. See below for links to other great Do It Yourself Valentine's Day Cards.

I found at Papersource:

20 paper hearts (already pre-cut but super easy to do yourself)

Ribbon tape (great alternative to ribbon since you don't have to mess with glue)

Small notecards that read "My favorite thing about you is" and "the best thing about you is".

And I went to town! Decorating each heart with ribbon to reflect the person that I was sending it to (remember - designing the gift for the receiver).. I then attached my card and wrote one to two favorite things about the person I am sending it to.

Not only was this a fun craft project, but I am hoping that these cards will bring a moment of happiness to my mom and girlfriends (and even some guy friends), they'll also appreciate the effort as well as the love. :)

Stay tuned for Valentine's Day cookies (homemade of course) and home made gifts / care packages!

Other great resources:

http://offbeatmama.com/2012/02/diy-valentines-cards

http://lifesacraftproject.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/diy-valentines-day-cards/

http://www.tipjunkie.com/

http://www.hellolucky.com/wordpress/

http://www.heartyappletite.com/2012/01/diy-valentines-day-card.html

http://thebridesguide.marthastewartweddings.com/2012/02/diy-valentines-day-cards.html