Coffee Break with Liz and Kate » Headline » Plea from Liz: Help us craft our way to Christmas!
Plea from Liz: Help us craft our way to Christmas!
OK, Coffee Break listeners. Kate and I have been talking behind your back.
That’s right, we’ve been scheming/plotting/planning and generally cooking up mischief (which we’re pretty good at, if I do say so myself).
As we are well aware, many of us struggle this time of year in many ways. We struggle to find the right gift, finish all the baking and decorating and caroling wrapping, not to mention financing all of the above. In fact, it’s really easy to lose sight of the reason for the season.
Fear not. That won’t be the case here at Coffee Break, if we have anything to say about it. So here’s the plan:
Each Friday between now and Christmas, we’ll bring you the best crafts, decorations, recipes and gifts we can find. Won’t that be fantastic?
So… what’s the catch? (Nothing is ever that simple and you knew there would be a caveat, didn’t you?) The catch, if you insist on calling it that, is that we are asking you the reader to participate.
Keep in mind, it’s not like we’re asking you to scale the Alps or something – just to share a craft, recipe or whatever you enjoy creating during the Christmas season. No writing (ok, directions would be helpful), no analysis or justifications – just some of your favorite homemade Christmas things. A photo would be nice, too.
Could be that you’ve never made a thing in your life, but are determined to make this your year. If that’s the case, drop us an email or comment about any questions you have, and we’ll see if we can’t garner a few answers for you.
Kate and I both believe Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year – not because of flat screens and video games or fur coats and diamonds. It’s wonderful because we get to shower those we love with, well, love. How better to show someone how you feel than with a gift that truly comes from your heart – and hands.
We’re counting on you guys – I hope you know that. But I think you’re up to the task, aren’t you? Because without input from you, our readers, this goes flop in the water like a dead fish, and that’s just not in keeping with the season, now, is it?
Here’s a very partial list of categories to consider:
Personal needs: like homemade soaps, bath salts, etc., monogrammed towels
Kitchen gadgets: recipe holders, napkins, placemats, etc, recipe boxes, homemade cookbooks, etched glassware or painted plates
Foods: Chocolate anything, homemade mixes for drinks, breads, etc, infused oils and liquors, candies, crackers (the world is your proverbial oyster, here…)
Clothing/Blankets/Outerwear: mittens, scarves, fleece blankets (a personal favorite in my house), quilts or quilt squares, handwarmers, neckwarmers, jewelry. Whew – so many ideas, so little time!
Decorations for the home and tree: Wreaths, candle holders, ornaments, floor mats, wall hangings
Baskets: for the seamstress or cook, gardener or football fan – you get the drift. What would you like to receive in a basket??
Outdoor gifts: Birdfeeders, garden rocks, welcome mats
I’ve yet to begin to scratch the surface, as all you creative types know! Part of the fun will be seeing all the different ideas that float around out there.
Can’t wait to see how you’ll craft your way to Christmas!
Send your questions and ideas to:
lizandkate@live.com
*Leave a comment on this, or any post and be automatically entered in this week’s giveaway!
-Liz
Filed under: Headline · Tags: christmas, coffee break, crafts, creativity, gifts
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I might be able to come up with a thing or three …. =c)
YES, YES, YES!!! Woohooo!! I knew we could count on you
)
I’m in! Can’t wait to share the recipe for Christmas Cranberry wine
I was thinking about putting together a basket for a workaholic friend. Maybe some stress toys, chocolate, time saving devices. I’m trying to come up with ideas, so I’ll stay posted to your Friday submissions.
I got a bunch of recipes – you can have them all!!
I would love to be involved!
I can’t wait for this!~
[...] Plea from Liz: Help us craft our way to Christmas! [...]
We are making handmade cards in Sunday school for the shut-ins at our church. I have some cookie recipes too. Count me in.
Send us your recipes and details on making cards – we’d love to have the suggestions!
I discoverd this great idea for the month of December and it would make a lovely gift when it is complete!
http://www.KidsGetCrafty.blogspot.com
Thu Nov 19 2009 http://www.paperclipping.com/
New to Paperclipping? A few things you should know: This is a great place to learn all scrapbooking techniques (I’ve posted more than 100 video tutorials). Several are free downloads, and I consistently release new tutorials every month. Others are members-only, available when you become a member. Finally, I recommend you subscribe to my RSS feed, or the newsletter (the form is in the sidebar) to make sure you get new videos as they’re released. Thanks for visiting!
december_daily
(note: I got the idea for this vintage aluminum tile background from Dedra Long in our Altered Books Tutorial. Imaginisce gave the poinsettia (minus the button) to me from their new Christmas line.).
Ali Edwards conceived the December Daily project three years ago. The idea is to create a minibook ahead of time with a page for each day. Then everyday in December you find a way to add your picture(s), journaling, and/or memorabilia to the pre-assembled book. These pictures are my 2009 book:
december_daily_1
You can see my entire album (before I add the events of each day) in the December Daily set on my Flickr page. This post only showcases a handful of my pages.
5 Tips For Super-Fast Assembly
Are you worried about finding the time to make your own? I flew through the assembly of mine and when I reached the last page I was sad because I wanted to do more. Here are some tips that made this one of my fastest minibook projects, even though it has the most pages of any I’ve ever made before:
1. Do it mindlessly.
Okay, how often does anybody tell you to do something mindlessly. Never, right? Well, I’m telling you now, don’t think through this one. Don’t ask what you might be doing on what day or how to make the page gorgeous. And if you do the other tips, mindlessness will be no problem.
2. Divide your Christmas supplies into five piles:
a. Whole Sheets
These usually come 12×12 and can be paper, transparencies or fabric
b. Alternative Page Foundations
These can be scraps, envelopes, pocketed page protectors, other minibook pages, and anything else unusual that you might want to use as a page foundation.
c. Numbers
d. Small Spots
These are to place numbers on. Some ideas are circles, very small frames, or tags
e. Embellishments and Ribbon
3. Crop your whole sheets all at once.
Cut your whole sheets down to the size of your album pages. Don’t worry about page placement or embellishing while you do this. Don’t worry about how many you’ll need. Just crop all the papers you want in your album and know that you’ll use the alternative page foundations (that 2nd pile) to make up the difference.
4. Mix cropped whole sheets with your alternative page foundations.
Remember, we’re still working mindlessly here. Just start interspersing them with the alternative page foundations. The only thing to think about is variety. That’s it.
december_daily_10
5. Add numbers and trimming all at once.
Are you starting to see the pattern here? We’re doing this in assembly line fashion, which you probably learned in elementary school is the fastest way to make a stuff, right? Now that you’ve mindlessly put your pages in order, you can add the smaller details.
If your page is from a scrap that is smaller than the regular minibook, you can give it a decorative edge, or some trimming. Don’t think hard about what to do, just know that you have these options and choose the first one that comes to mind. If your ribbon is in your embellishment & ribbon pile, you can grab it quickly and add it to a page edge without thinking or searching. Then add the next number to the page.
december_daily_20
If your page is the size of your minibook, give yourself a break and just add a number (perhaps on a circular spot) and move on to the next page.
Two keys here: MINDLESS WORK & ASSEMBLY LINE.
Oh, and don’t forget to have fun basking in all that Christmas-color goodness.
deember_daily_2
Click here to see my entire book.
Edited To Add: Someone requested links to supplies I used. I have not bought any Xmas items this year (Imaginisce items are the only brand new ones because they gave them to me). I’ll link the items I can still find available below. Note that I’ll receive a commission if you click and buy.
Poinsetta on cover * red polka dot transparency * 8×8 book covers * polar bear paper * frosted forest paper * flower-shaped transparent and chipboard page.
[...] your Craftdown to Christmas ideas to [...]