Dare to DIY: Give Handmade Gifts: Ladies' Day {Covered Button Earrings}

Sorry, I didn't get around to posting this last week. You see, this little project wasn't completed until yesterday! It is hard to post about something that isn't done! I think that it is worth the wait, though!

The inspiration for this project comes from several craters that I know or follow. Dana from Botny makes the most awesome hand-colored earrings. You can check out her awesomely unique items on her Etsy page. Another crafter that makes some awesome earrings is Emily from Taea Made. Hers are finished with a high gloss. Totally rad. You can find a pair or two of her earrings on her Etsy shop and see some of the other unique items she makes. Also, Lindsey with the Pleated Poppy just released a new line of fabric earrings. Here is her shop where you can also see some of the other great products she produces.

For this project, I purchased the blank button sets at Joann along with the earring backs. I went with 1/2 inch and 5/8 inch because I wanted mine to be dainty, but you could totally go bigger. Then I set to covering the buttons with fabric scraps. This was so much fun! I loved looking through the fabric to find the perfect fabrics for this project. Just keep in mind the scale of the print. If you have smaller buttons, you will want a smaller print.

After covering the buttons, I removed the shank on the back and glued on the earring back. And just like that you have a totally unique gift for the any lady on your list.
***Note, I had some difficulty getting the shanks off. I eventually got them off. I have purchased blank buttons without shanks in the past for crafting, but didn't see any this time. I would recommend trying to remove the shanks before making the buttons.***

After assembling the earrings, I punched out a fun shape from card stock, poked two holes, free-handed some doodles, and put the earring sets on the cards.
Look for my children's handmade gift post here.
And my gentlemen's handmade gift post here.

Dare to DIY: Deck the Halls: Advent Wreath

I have been wanting to start the tradition of having an Advent wreath at our home. Of course, I wanted something a little bit different, so I was dragging my feet on the entire project. I got the boost I needed when I said that I would bring one to church for an Advent event.

I started by looking on Pinterest where I found this blog post on Groovie Mom that featured a wreath that was similar to what I wanted to make. I started by looking for a base for the wreath. I ended up with a white cake stand from Pier 1. (I can't find the exact one I purchased, but this one is similar.) Then I purchased and chopped apart floral sticks for the greenery.

I got mine from Michaels. The hardest part in this project was tracking down the candles. I could find tapers, but finding purple and pink pillars was hard. Finally I got the purple and white ones at Target and the pink one at Hobby Lobby. At first I just laid the greenery around the candles, but it kept falling off and needing to be rearranged.

So, I cut a piece of white card stock into a circle, traced the candle placement onto it, and then hot glued the greenery around the outside edge. That way I can remove the greenery after Christmas and have a white cake stand to use. We have been enjoying our new Advent wreath tradition. Every night after supper we light the appropriate candles for the week and read a devotion out of an Advent book I found online. The girls look forward to it every night.

I am linking up to the Dare to DIY link party.

Dare to DIY: Give Handmade Gifts; Men's Edition {Beer Bar Towels}

In continuing with the handmade gift theme, here is a great gift for the gentlemen on your list. I saw these beer bar towels online last year and decided to make up a set for my brother-in-law. Of course I can't find a picture this year of the towels that I made. Grr. Anyway, I bought a set of simple linen dish towels and using large letter stamps and acrylic paint made a set of beer bar towels similar to these from the website Keg Works.

A simple and fun gift for the beer lover on your list!

Dare to DIY: Give Handmade Gifts; Kids' Edition {Superhero Cape and Mask}

My blogging friend, Kim, and some of her friends are hosting a Dare to DIY this month. You can read about it and follow along on Kim's blog Newly Woodwards. This week's challenge was to give handmade gifts. Now that is an easy topic for me. I love to give handmade, either by me or another crafter. The hard part is to post about it without giving a gift away to the recipient. :o) I am going to be posting a different gift idea the first three days of this week. Today's will be for kids, tomorrow's for the guys on your list, and then Wednesday is ladies day.

I recently whipped this superhero cape and mask set up for an order, but decided that it would make an awesome handmade gift for any child on your list. I used the cape tutorial from Nancy's Notions that can be found here. (The pattern is actually intended to be used for the Capes for Kids campaign. You can find out all about it here, but you can sew and donate capes for children living in shelters. Wouldn't it be great to make two capes, one to give as a gift and one to donate to Capes for Kids?)

Using felt, I customized the cape with the child's initial. But you could also use a symbol if you would like. I also created a felt mask with elastic to go along with the cape. This was a fairly simple project. I am sure a beginner sewer could tackle it. And what child wouldn't want a swell cape and mask this Christmas so that they can be their own superhero?
If you are looking for even more handmade gift ideas, you can check out this post from last year with a roundup of some of the handmade gifts I have featured on my blog.
And here are a few more:
Ruffled Tote
Fabric Luggage Tags
Coordinates Frame
Tea Wreath
ABC Cards
Wine Gift Bags

{Homemade Holidays: Week 5} ABC Card Set

Looking for an excellent children's Christmas gift? I made these ABC card sets for Peachy's playgroup last year and they were a hit. I used the free alphabet flashcard printable from Homemade by Jill. I had them printed at a print shop to save our home printer and then had them laminated. Index card boxes made the perfect holders with ABC vinyl stuck to the front.

I am linking to these wonderful parties this week.
Today's Creative Blog
Making the World Cuter

{Homemade Holidays: Week 5} Tea Wreath

I saw this tea wreath at Kojodesigns last year and made it for my grandma. (Hi Nana!!)

It was a fun project that turned out really well. I love that you can customize it with different paper and different teas to suit the receiver.

So if you are in need of a last minute gift, whip one of these up!

I am linking to these wonderful parties this week.
Today's Creative Blog
Making the World Cuter

{Homemade Holidays: Week 3} Fabric Luggage Tags

Time for the third week of Homemade Holidays. (You can find the first week here and the second week here.)

A gift for the frequent flyer on your list is a unique luggage tag that will help them pick their suitcase out from all of the other black suitcases on the carousel. I followed the tutorial at Skip To My Lou to create the two tags pictured. Simply print their name and address on the back and you are all set.

I am linking to these wonderful parties this week.
Today's Creative Blog
Making the World Cuter

{Homemade Holidays: Week 2} Ruffled Tote

I hope you enjoyed my first Homemade Holidays post last week. If you missed it, you can check it out here.
Now on to the new Homemade Holiday idea for the week. I got the inspiration for this project from a bag I saw at a craft fair. While you could make a bag of your own to decorate, I bought mine at Hobby Lobby and simply added the ruffles.

This is the perfect gift to give as is or to use as a gift bag. I can't think of any girl who wouldn't like receiving a fun ruffled tote.

I am linking to these wonderful parties this week.
Today's Creative Blog
Making the World Cuter