Lifesavers Lifepreserver Thank You Gift

  

Last week was the biggest day of my short professional career.  It was the yearly fundraiser my boss directs for our local school of the arts.  It was a great event, and even though I didn't get to mingle, I had a great time.  I didn't even have much time to snack on our amazing buffet but I did enjoy a bacon-wrapped scallop.  Yum!

To thank my volunteers I made these small gifts of appreciation and gave them to them on the day following the event.  

I couldn't find rolls of lifesavers so I bought a bag of individually wrapped lifesavers.

And I cut off lengths of plastic wrap & wrapped it around handfuls of the candy.

 I layered two pictures & wrote the Thank You on them, then laminated them...

and punched a hole in each one...

Here they are ready to hole punch...

And here is one, complete...

Everyone was glad to be remembered for their efforts and they thought the little gift was cute.  We had a great crew of people helping out and I'm so thankful for their energy & help!!  


I hope you get the chance to be creative today!  

...from Lori@Kitchenfunk

  And finally, I'm also linking here: Today's Creative Blog

Key Chains!

 

The other day I had the chance to read this post on Infarrantly Creative.

~If you haven't read Beckie's blog, you are missing out.  She has great posts full of fun and beautiful ways to add creativity to life. For some reason I am unable to post her blog link, but make sure to check it out HERE.~

But on her post from April 28th she had a blogging buddy post a tutorial for these gorgeous and simple key chains.  The buddy was Amy at The Idea Room.

So, I fell in love with them and went to town.  I didn't have the exact purse clip Amy showed, but I had "D" rings and I used those.  Here is my first one.  You can see that I had a little trouble with my stitching on the black ribbon, but I couldn't find my seam ripper and my daughter wanted to use it as it was... Here it is:

And here is my second one:

And this is my third:

And finally, my most recent:

I'm still not done making them!  I am having such fun.  My kids love them, and since I'm planning to make some zippered change purses, I'm making plans to make some change purses that match or coordinate with the key chains.  Fun!  

I hope you get the chance to be creative today!

...from Lori@Kitchenfunk

 

and finally, I'm also linking here: Today's Creative Blog

Thank You Tokens

In less than one month my work is hosting our city's Arts Gala.

It will be held at the local science and arts center,
and the students at
the school of the arts
will be performing and showcasing their work (song, dance, film, theater, visual art, and writing). This is an outstanding event that only costs $12 to attend. However, prior to the event we host an arts auction for a minimum attendance cost of $100, and all the money from the auction and the sponsors goes to the school.

So today I had to stuff and label
TWENTY-FOUR HUNDRED ENVELOPES.


Yes, 2,400.


And because our copier wasn't cooperating,
I had to stick to and from labels on all of them!

Because of this, several of my co-workers rallied around me and helped me get this done, so that tomorrow EVERY SINGLE envelope will be in the mail!
Can you believe it? How wonderful is this?


In order to thank them, tonight I made little gift bags full of jelly beans. This JELLY BEAN theme would not have even entered my mind if I hadn't seen someone on a blog do a Thank You with jelly beans in a jar last night.

SADLY, I cannot remember which blog it was, and I didn't save it because I didn't think I would ever use it. While I am not doing the showcased craft, I AM using some of her theme ("thank you for bean..."). So if anyone reading this knows who it is, please post it here so I can give her credit!

But I love how these came out. I only wanted something small, and these candy bags were perfect. I filled them with jelly beans, held the top closed, and then stapled the scrapbook paper over the top. Then I printed out the words, cut them out,
and glued them over the staple.

So simple!

I hope you get the chance to be creative today!


...from Lori @ Kitchenfunk

Spilled Milk, err Lemonade - Mug Rug?

I found some fabric I just LOVE and I bought two yards of it - JUST BECAUSE.

I wanted to buy ALL of it, but someone else must have loved it a lot, too, because there wasn't much left.So I took home my two yards but I REALLY really wanted to just sit and look at this fabric...
So I decided to make some COASTERS, so that at least I could enjoy a little of it.


I also experimented with a few other colors,
and I machine quilted some haphazard lines all over them.


I used batting in most of them, but then I realized I didn't want to use all of my batting when I had scraps of felt around the house, so I used felt for the last two. In fact, the ones with felt are a little better - they are sturdier!

In my final pieces, I ended up folding a 5 X 10 inch rectangle in half, but originally I was cutting two 5 inch squares, placing them face to face with the batting or felt on one side. Sew three sides together.

Then turn the pocket right-side out.

Finally, fold over the open side by 1/4 inch, iron, and sew along the outside, like so:

If you wrap them with a ribbon, you could give them as a gift!
Add some glasses and its an extra nice gift!

These were so quick and simple that I think I might make a few sets to put away for those times when I need a quick, thoughtful gift. They are fun to make, too!

I hope you get the chance to be creative today!

...from Lori @ Kitchenfunk

Baby Shower Gift

Now this was a fun project!
Talk about EASY!!

As soon as I saw these baby burb rags on Homemade by Jill,
I knew I had to make them:

This photo is from Homemade by Jill




There is a woman at work who is expecting her second child.
Her first child is a little boy and this one is to be a girl,
so our department is planning a pink
baby shower full of girly stuff.

I just loved these fuzzy little ends on these burp rags.
And they were so simple to make!

First I copied the pattern.
I just hand drew it,
but she DOES offer a free pattern!


I cut out the batting when I cut out the fabric -
(I used Warm & Natural Needled Cotton Batting)

Then I sewed around the edges about a half inch, and across the center, and finally, pulling back the fabric, I just cut the batting that was outside the edges.

If you follow her simple tutorial, you won't have a single problem.

Then I made cuts in the fabric that was left on the edges,
about 1/4 inch apart, and then I washed it - and ta da!

That adorable edging!

You can see in the photo above what the burpee
looks like BEFORE it is washed...


In addition, I found ANOTHER great tutorial for a
different style of really cute burp rags on this site:


See, aren't they great looking??

This photo for these adorable burp rags is from See Kate Sew

Her tutorial is also very simple,
and her idea for packaging them is adorable!

Here is my take on her project...

And you can find a free printable for a label on her site.
(I didn't use it but you might like to! - I was out of colored ink...)

Won't this be a great gift?

I'm so excited to give it to my co-worker!

I hope you get the chance to be creative today!

...from Lori @ Kitchenfunk