Fathers Day Craft: DIY “Pop” Beverage Holder

May 14, 2013 by 2 Comments
Fathers Day Craft: DIY Pop Holster

Looking for a unique Fathers Day craft?  With this easy sewing tutorial you can make dad his very own personalized beverage holder!  Grab dad's favorite drink and our fun Fathers Day printable for the perfect Fathers Day craft for your dad. Hey there, Growing Up Gabel readers!  I'm Jenn from A Jennuine Life.  Camille recently asked for volunteers to join her as a "crafty" contributor, and I jumped at the chance. That's me with my hubby Dave and my two adorable little girls Arden and Hadley.  I'm an accountant by day (part time) and a wannabe artisan - sew, knit, stitch, fabricate, paint - I try it all!  I do definitely lean towards sewing so that's likely where most of my projects will begin, but I promise to keep things interesting! Father's Day will be upon us in no time flat, so I'm going to share an easy sewing project to create a DIY beverage holster.  Perfect for your favorite father to keep his drink at the ready while tending a backyard barbecue or hanging out ... [read more]

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Craft Supplies for Christmas Crafts: Discover Tophatter!

November 28, 2012 by 5 Comments
Bakers Twine and Scrabble Tiles from Tophatter

I am smack dab in the middle of holiday crafting.  Of course, I keep adding crafts to my list, which means I am forever on the hunt for crafting supplies at a good price.   I was recently introduced to a new auction website called Tophatter and I was excited to discover that Tophatter has auctions for crafters! Tophatter is not your normal auction type of website.  There are actual auctions that you attend virtually and bid on lots against other bidders live.  The auctions are run during a set time and you do have to be on-line to bid, but you can have the site send you a text message when an item you are interested in comes up for auction. There are many different types of auctions on Tophatter. You can buy jewelry, homegoods, handmade items, and, best of all, craft supplies.  It was really hard for me narrow down what I wanted to bid on.  During the auctions the seller is sometimes present and you can ask questions in a chat box about the items.  The seller will also ... [read more]

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How To Make An Envelope

August 17, 2012 by 6 Comments
How to Make an Envelope from growingupgabel.com @thegabels #crafts

Making your own envelopes is super easy and fun! You can choose any paper, any pattern and make them any size appropriate for your event. This is also a fun craft for kids to make and send "mail" to each other.   Next month I am co-hosting a baby shower for a friend.  I ordered some invitations from an Etsy shop and didn't think about how I was going to find envelopes for 5x7 invitations.  I checked around and most A7 envelopes, the size I needed, were either super expensive or came in boxes of 100. My friend, Rebecca, suggested that I make envelopes. Huh. Turns out that making envelopes is super fun, easy and creative! You can use any paper you want and really personalize your invitations.  I chose to use some baby boy scrapbook paper and it worked perfectly!  I also tried a standard 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and that worked, too. Lay your invitation in the middle of your paper and fold the paper in on all four ... [read more]

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Homemade Neckties: A Sewing Success

January 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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After a 20-some year sewing hiatus, I am in love with sewing again.  I can't seem to get enough of it and am spending most of my evenings at my machine, gleefully creating.  My husband loves to have matching outfits with our son and I wanted to make them matching ties to wear for Christmas.  I was a bit hesitant, but a friend of mine promised me that the patterns were easy. And they were.  I'm delighted at the results and I can't wait to make more. I made the ties using  patterns from You Can Make This.  I am in love with this site! It's like Etsy for patterns and directions for all kinds of crafty cuteness.  My husband is 6' 2" and I made him the regular length tie, but it was just a tad too short.  Nevertheless, he actually wore the tie to work and received a ton of compliments on it.  He must really love me to wear a too short, homemade tie to work!   This is Miles' first tie and he wasn't so keen on wearing it around his neck, but he put up with it for a few ... [read more]

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Holiday Gift Idea: Candy Cane Bath Salts

December 12, 2011 by 3 Comments
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I found this gift idea in an Advent devotional that I'm using this season.  The author suggested the recipe as a way for the reader to find some indulgence during the busy holiday season, but I thought this would make easy and fun gifts. You can use a combination of salts -- epsom, rock, sea salt, for example, or you can just use one kind of salt.  Epsom salts are found pretty much anywhere that has a pharmacy.  The rock salt I had on hand from making ice cream in a bag.  You can also dye part of the salts to make a red and white striped container, but I'm kind of leery of food dye in the bath tub so I skipped it.  I buy my essential oils through a co-op, but peppermint oil is pretty easy to find at a health food store.  Essential oils can get expensive, but a little bit goes a really long way. I used half-quart canning jars to package the salts because I have a lot of them on hand, but be creative! Plastic containers, old jars, even a plastic bag would work for ... [read more]

Filed Under: Christmas, Crafts, DIY Tagged With: , , ,
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