Neighbor Gifts- Snowman Boxed Candy

I love to give cute little gifts to my neighbors, mailman, etc. at Christmas time but being on a budget tenders to hinder my GRANDIOS ideas. I got this idea from my SIL A. She gave this gifts in her singles ward and I loved the idea. You take a simple box of store bought candies, wrap it, decorate it, and Ta da! An inexpensive gift!

1. Take your store bought candy (mine was $1. SCORE!) and wrap it in white tissue paper.

2.Put a small line of hot glue on the edge of the hat fabric (I used felt but you can use anything) and glue the other edge to it.

3.Glue the hat to the wrapped box.

4.Take another small strip of fabric and glue it around the box about 1 1/2-2 inches down from the hat.

5.I then took embrodery floss (it was right there since I'm working on another project but you can use regular thread too) and needle and sewed a running stitch parallel to the top of the box.

6.It wasn't tight enough for my liking so I wrapped the floss around the stitching and tied a knot.

7.Then I cut 1/2 inch strips in the fabric to make a hat.

8.With a preminate marker, I drew on a face and buttons. When the hubby came home from work and saw what I made he announce that it needed a carrot nose so I'll cut small orange triangle out of felt and glue that on too.

I hope you like this easy gift and if your one of my neighbors, watch out! You might get this soon!

Etched Glass Wedding Present Tutorial

Yesterday my cousin got married and invited us to the Reception. Being the Crafty Kid that I am I wanted to do something special. Before we continue I need to tell you a little about myself. I dream big! I want to go all out and be fabulous. One example, for my sister's Bridal Shower I planned to make cake balls hand dipped in chocolate and decorated by hand. When I realized that wasn't going to happen, I wanted to make a sheet cake and on each piece have a handmade blue white chocolate heart. Walmart didn't have blue candy bits, so I ended up just using blue sparkle frosting to make the hearts on the cake.
With that said, I had grand plans for what I was going to make. I knew I wanted to etch a glass casserole dish (I'd seen it here and loved it!) and if I had the money I wanted to make the insulated carrying case for it (from the same site). When I went to Walmart, I found a great deal on a glass pan kit. It had a 9X13 pan, 8X8 pan, a pie plate, a bowl and measure cup. With all that I didn't think the hubby would OK a carrying case too but I could still etch it. It turned out great! I thought I would show how I did it and some of the things I learned while I was doing it.

Supplies:
Glass Pan, Dish, Cup, etc.
Armor Etch
Stencil
Paint Brush

Difficulty: Medium
Time: under an hour
Cost: $10 for etch (at Robert's Craft)
+ the cost of a pan

1. Clean your glass really well before you start. Then attach your stencil to the pan with tape or stencil glue. (Instead of Etching the letters, I was difficult and etched everything except the letters)

2. Using a paint brush glob on the etch in a thick layer (I didn't do mine thick enough so I had to do it twice). What about 5-10 minutes.


3.This is what it looks like after you wait. You can see that it wasn't thick enough. Really glob it on so all you see is white and not the glass underneath.


4. Once you wash it off, dry it and Ta-dah! A Personalized Wedding gift. I really wanted to write more but this pan has a beveled edge on the bottom so that limited my space.


This was really fun! I really don't have patience so these crafts that happen right before your eyes are perfect for me! I hope they like it!