My Wrapped Gifts

You know how around Christmas your recycle bin overflows with paper products? It starts with the boxes from the gifts that were shipped to you, then it ends up being full of the packing material (be it plastic bubble-wrap or brown paper) and in the end it is full of wrapping paper after the Christmas day tornado of unwrapping. This year I decided to skip a few trips out to the recycle bin. Every time a box came I carefully unfolded the paper used as padding and stashed it in my gift wrapping supplies. I may have even ironed some of it if it was extra wrinkled.

So when it came time to wrap my gifts I opened up my sewing table to wrap on, pulled out all the brown craft paper, and got down to business. If anyone is wondering why my sewing table is so beat up, it's because it's sixty years old. Someday I'll do a post about my amazing Pfaff 130 which is also sixty years old but sews better than any machine I've ever used.

I printed the super cute labels for free from fresh picked whimsey. Then I just cut them out and attached them with tape.

My helpful husband was out getting super secret deals at the mall (he paid cash so I can't even spy on what store he was shopping at on the bank statement) and stopped at the dollar store to get some ribbon.

Whenever I have a gift that won't fit in a box I already have, I raid the pantry for cereal boxes. The cereal isn't any fresher in the box so I just make sure the bag is sealed and put it back on the shelf.

When they're all done and dressed up you may never guess that the paper was leftover from packaging. And the best part about it? My wrapping cost $1.07 for the ribbon. That's it. And I'm not double contributing to the recycle bin with even more paper. It feels good giving gifts to both my loved ones, and to the environment.

Random Acts of Craftiness: Copper Pipe Make-up Brush Holder

This month's random act of craftiness challenge was to make an original creation with odds and ends from the hardware store. I have wanted a holder for my make-up brushes so I set out to find something that would work. I drove over to ReStore and found a beautiful copper pipe for $1.50. It even had some verdigris patches which gave it more personality.

My brushes were in a copper pail with the rest of my make-up but they kept getting lost in the shuffle.

Every morning I had to empty the whole bucket and lay everything out on the counter then put it all away when I was finished (which rarely happened). Everything usually stayed piled on the counter because it had to go back in such a specific order. The bigger items in the middle, smaller items around, then the brushes filled in the spaces.

Now I don't have to worry about the brushes getting damaged because they're next to the pail instead of in it! Woohoo!

I started out using a hack saw to cut my pipe. It was a long and unhappy process. At the end of my patience with sawing I opened a hole about 1/3 of the way around the pipe, stuck in tin snips and cut the rest of the way around. That resulted in a very uneven edge but it was kind of artsy so I left it. I just won't let kids use my make-up any time soon. After the frustration of the hacksaw and the tin snips I decided to bend the final piece of pipe in half.

I arranged the pipe pieces in a pretty way and hot glued the end pieces to the middle bent piece. Then I stuck in my brushes and viola! A beautiful solution to a first world problem.

It probably would have been easier if I would have gone to a normal hardware store and got pre-cut pieces of pipe but then it wouldn't have been as full of frustration and cursing whimsy and personality.

Check out what everyone else made here!

Random Acts of Craftiness: Jacks Lampshade

The day has arrived. It's the Random Acts of Craftiness due date. Luckily this is pass/fail based purely on participation. Even though I feel like I failed, I participated, so I passed, woohoo! When Erin gave us the assignment of crafting with game pieces I drew a blank. There were way too many options. Finally I thought of the the simple game of jacks, played with a ball and metal pointy thing, yes indeed, called jacks. I attempted to make a lampshade.

  

After much measuring I thought I knew how many jacks I needed. One jack every square inch should have added up to just over 90 jacks. So I ordered 96. Well... I should have ordered closer to 200, or maybe even 400 if I put them closer together.

Since I didn't know how this would turn out and I didn't want to sacrifice my existing shade, I built a wire frame for my lampshade. It just consisted of bending wires until they made a circle and some stands.

Then fishing line and a few mornings watching The Price is Right before school and this is what I ended up with.

I love the shape of jacks. They are so fun.

As you can see from this beauty shot, I didn't have enough to even get half way done. But I got the front side finished.

My husband likes them closer together. What do you think?

 

 

I have been so busy going back to school that this is as far as I got on this project (and I got this far on it this morning, on the linky party due date). I have intentions of buying more jacks and spending more time tying them together with fishing line while watching The Price is Right. I just haven't had time to do it yet. I think I'll change the shade to a different lamp though. This one has too much silver.

I'm super impressed with everyone's projects who have linked up so far. Good job crafters!

Coffee Filter Lamp

This unfortunately was not an original idea. But I really liked it when I saw it a few places so I decided to make it. I don't remember where I first saw this project, it was over two years ago. Just know that many other people have made it.

I started out with only four items. Coffee filters, hot glue sticks, a hot glue gun, and a paper lantern.

Coffee Filters

Hot glue sticks

Paper Lantern

Hot glue gun

I started at the bottom and worked my way up. I just shoved my finger in the middle of each filter to make a point, put a dab of glue on it, and let it cool. Then I did it over and over and over again.

Making a point in the middle with my index finger

After one session of gluing I only was a fourth finished. I knew this was going to take a long time, but I really had no idea.

Finally, after a few more evenings of gluing, I was finished! I had a beautiful big fluffy snowball of coffee filters to light the corner of my bedroom.

I bought a light kit at Ikea for $5 and hung it based on the instructions. Then I was good to go; Flipped the switch and "let there be light". Woohoo!

Book Projects

A few weeks ago Doug and I stumbled upon an estate sale. It had been pretty picked over by the time we got there but I found a few treasures. These were just 25 cents each. And they're beautiful. I bought 4 of them but was so excited for my first project that I didn't take a picture of the first book while it was intact.

Vintage Readers Digest Books

For my first project I cut off the front and back cover of my favorite patterned book. Then I found a few fun pictures from inside and cut notebook paper to make an assignment journal so I don't fall behind in my schoolwork. I tried binding it with chain but it broke. Then I tried metal brads and that didn't work either. I ended up using elastic. It's not pretty but it works really well.

Isn't it fun?

My second project involved cutting a shadow box in the cover and pages and adding some genuine beach shells collected in Mexico. Eventually this project is supposed to end up in my mom's downstairs bathroom which has a beachy shell theme.

I have two more books which means two more projects. Any suggestions? I'm thinking of making the navy and yellow one into another notebook since it's so cute.

Bird's Nest Necklace

Yesterday was Mother's Day. Since I hate buying impersonal gifts for people, and because making things is cheaper, I made this wonderful bird's nest necklace for my mom. I had seen these before and wanted to try my hand at making one.

The "eggs" are freshwater pearls. The pearls and "nest" wire came from a great local bead shop called The Bead Fairy. The chain, jump ring, and clasp (not pictured) are all from Michaels arts and crafts store. The picture makes it look kind of gold, but it's silver. Someday I'll be able to take a good picture.

As far as the process of making it, I just made it up as I went. Two pairs of needle nose pliers and wire cutters were my handy assistants for this project. First, I wired the pearls together. Then I made some web-ish type thing on the back of them. I wound the wire around the "eggs" to keep them in a nice cozy nest. To keep the nest from falling apart I wound wire around in three different places. I ended by making the loop to put it on the chain.

What did you get your mom for Mother's Day? Do you prefer to make gifts or buy them (and why)?

P.S. The English language is crap. I got a little confused while editing this post. Here's why:

• Wind: blowing air
• Wind: to have a spiral direction
• Wound: an injury
• Wound: past tense of wind, but not the blowing wind, the spiral wind

Such garbage.

New Earrings

WARNING! Do not read this post if you dislike ears. There are multiple photos of my debut as an earring model. I'm serious, unless you're my husband or my mom, you've never seen my ears like this before. You've been fairly warned.

I finally got crafty! It felt great. I made these beautiful earrings and a gift for my mom for Mother's Day. Stay tuned for the Mother's Day gift on Monday, May 14 ( I don't want to post it earlier and spoil her surprise). So, how did I make the earrings?

I started with some things I wanted to wear as earrings. Little cabochon flowers and some zipper pulls.  I also used some earring posts, backs, and industrial strength glue. E-6000 is the most amazing thing EVER! I have used it on multiple projects and they are all still going strong.

The instructions on the E-6000 said to put some adhesive on both sides, let it sit for 3-5 minutes and get tacky, then to stick the pieces together. You can see in the photo above that there was some glue that squeezed out around the edges. When it wasn't sticky anymore I just pulled off the excess.

I went a little crazy with how many pairs of earrings I made. Now I have one pair for every day of the week.

Which is your favorite pair? What have you made lately?

Spending Plan

I am so glad I started a blog because it gives me a place to voice my opinion. While I was living at the U of U I had absurd amounts of money and nothing to spend it on. Unlike most students I had few expenses and no debt.

I was so relaxed with no expenses

My school costs were covered by a wonderfully generous scholarship. My room and board were covered by my work as a Residential Advisor. The money I made at student jobs had no purpose. While I had dollars flowing into my bank account, I also had no spending plan. Over the three years that I lived at the U, if I didn't spend any money, I could have saved up over $7000. On average I earned just under $200 a month. I truly had no expenses. Instead I had unplanned wants. Those wants caused me to spend the majority of the money I made. When I kept track of where my money was going, I was SHOCKED! I spent a lot of money eating out and a lot of money on clothes. I don't regret those decisions because it taught me a valuable lesson. I am just grateful I learned that lesson when I was younger and before I got married. So what do I do with my money now?

Residential Advisers: Pam, ME with brown hair, Lisa and Lavender

I have a spending plan! A spending plan sounds so much nicer than a budget. Every month is laid out in an Excel spreadsheet. It has categories for everything I spend money on. I allot myself a reasonable amount in each category and keep track of it weekly. The monthly allotment is based on yearly income minus the amount I want to save. I also have a spreadsheet for my yearly budget. Each month gets adjusted accordingly. For example, the yearly budget for gifts is about $300. If I divided that evenly it would be $25 a month. However, if I spend $25 a month until I get to December, then everyone on my Christmas list will be getting an item from the dollar store. I allot about $100 for gifts in November and $100 in December, leaving $10 each month for the previous months.

Me in my dorky accounting glasses

How did I make my spending plan? First I looked at everything I had spend money on in one month. I based my plan on those numbers. For some things I cut back a lot. I had been spending close to $100 on eating out and that had to stop. I changed my monthly eating out plan to $50. Make sure you plan the necessities first and the wants later. Rent, utilities, insurance, and groceries always get planned first. If I had any debt that would be taken care of with the necessities. The left over money gets divided into the "wants/luxuries" categories.

Fake mustache for Halloween goes in the wants/luxuries category

How do I  keep track of what I spend? First, I only use a debit card. I have direct deposit so I rarely have cash lying around. If I get $20 or less in cash it is usually a gift and I treat it as something extra that I don't have to keep track of. If it is more than $20, even if it is a gift, I put in into my account so I can keep track of it. Some people prefer to only use cash when they budget. They put the amount for each category into an envelope and when it's gone you're out of luck. I have a hard time keeping track of receipts so it's easier for me to use my debit card and look at my account statement later. I would probably save more if I used cash, but I'm not super strict about the amount each month as long as it averages out over the year.

What do I do if there's a hick-up in the spending plan? Usually I readjust. I move money from one category to another. For example, this year I'm spending a lot more on pets than usual because we're getting a dog. I have spent less on clothing and entertainment so some of that money has been moved to cover the additional pet costs. If I didn't have extra in another category I would reevaluate what is most important to me and cut down my spending in less critical areas.

Be realistic when making your plan. Obviously you shouldn't be spending more than you make but don't be overly stingy especially if you haven't had a spending plan before. When I first made my plan I went over quite often. It helped me to divide the month further into a weekly amount, and sometimes even a daily amount. Whenever I wanted to eat out I had to think that I only had $1.66 for the day unless I saved it up for an $11 meal at the end of the week.

All that planning is worth it if you end up with a front yard like this

There is no right or wrong in your spending plan as long as you're paying off debt, saving money, and meeting needs before wants. I am far from rich but my savings plan has allowed me to live free from debt and financial burden with enough extra to fulfill my small wants.

My post today was inspired by this article. What is your savings plan like? If you need any help developing a savings plan or if you have any questions just leave me a comment below.

P.S. Sorry for the poor quality photos. They are all from college and taken with a low quality phone. I should have spent some of my extra money on a camera.