Adding a DIY Touch to Your Gifts

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Every Christmas, my Facebook feed fills up with pictures of people turning into Martha Stewart and pulling off DIY crafts I could even begin to dream of. Every year I tell myself I'm going to do it, I'm going to hand make all of my cards and grow my own tree and blow my own glass baubles. As if, right?

Mesmerising....

But, I'm still a big crafter. I love to make things, especially if they actually turn out well. These hand made gift tags are the perfect way to add a crafty touch to your presents!

They're ridiculously simple to make, and they look adorable!

I'm totally proud of myself

What You'll Need

Blank gift tags (mine say luggage tags)
Stamps
Ink Pad
Any other embellishments that make you happy

My tags are quite small, so the felt embellishments I bought for them wouldn't fit. If you go with bigger tags and bigger stamps, you'll want to make sure you get an ink pad that is one solid colour rather than split into three colours, like the one I purchased. I found it difficult to fully coat the stamps in the ink without getting any of the other colours on the stamp.

First, you'll start off with your blank luggage tag.

You can't tell, but they're lovely and sturdy.

Next, you'll press your stamp into your ink pad. Don't be afraid to apply pressure, you want a good bit of ink for a nice clear image.

Sparkles are definitely encouraged.

Next you just carefully place your stamp on the tag. Again, you'll want to place plenty of pressure so that the transfer comes out nicely.

Under Pressure...do do do dodo dodo

I haven't found a good way of keeping the bits around the design from coming off on the tag. It's more prevalent on some than on others. I personally like it, it makes all the tags a little unique.

It kind of looks like the hat is wearing a hat. Ha.

I decided to place my image in the centre of the tag as I got a To and From stamp to use on the other side. You could do this, or you could put your stamp to the left or right side of the tag and put your To and From next to it. There isn't a wrong way to do it, really.

If you stamp on the reverse side as well, use a paper towel to keep from getting any ink on your work surface.

In addition to stamps, you may decide you want to add some other embellishments. You could use any number of things; glitter, sequins, felt shapes, vinyl stickers....anything at all! Take a stroll down the scrap booking aisle of your local craft store for inspiration.

I used two gingerbread men on this one because they're small. And because I can.

To attach the tags to my gift, I used curling ribbon. If you're using curling ribbon for your bow, just tie the tag to the ribbon. If you're using adhesive bows, tie some curling ribbon to the tag and put the bow on top of the ribbon. I usually add a little tape to my adhesive bows - I find most of them are not sticky enough.

So festive! 

This is my first real experience with stamping. It was fun, and I'd like to learn more. It's something for me to look into in the future. Being that it's my first time, some mistakes were made (and lessons learned). For example, wipe off your stamps after each use if you are using two different colours. That should be obvious, but I just didn't think of it. If you don't, this will happen...

I'll pretend like I intended that.

It actually looks pretty good, so I used that tag. Some mistakes work out, sometimes!

Now, what to do with all those felt embellishments I bought?? Well, I used a couple as envelope seals for Christmas cards.

Sorted!

Do you DIY? 

Sending Christmas Cheer Abroad

Don't you just want to tear it open?

Happy December! I'll share a secret, I am absolutely nuts about Christmas. As soon as the weather starts to turn, this festive craze sets in and suddenly I'm humming carols and Googling new cookie recipes to try.

But it's also a little bit sad. Christmas should be a time for family, and mine is back in America. I'm blessed enough to have loving in-laws that have fully accepted me as a part of their family, but I still miss the people I left behind.

With that in mind - I'm going to give everyone a few tips on sending presents in the mail for Christmas (or any other holiday/occasion!).

Firstly, the golden rule of shipping is to think small and light. Postage can be expensive, especially if you're shipping internationally.

As with anything I do, I like to be prepared by gathering everything I'm going to need.

I might be just a tad obsessed

No, this isn't everything. Just most of it.

PRESENTS! 

Well, at least I try to gather everything I need. I inevitably get settled down to work on my project and then realise I left at least one thing across the room.

Wrap your gifts as usual, using whatever kind of fun or funky wrapping paper you want. And you know those super cute and super easy gift bows that you just peel and stick on the present?

Yeah, that one!

You'll want to avoid using those. They will probably fall off in transit, and your recipient will receive a box of beautifully wrapped presents along with a pile of bows. It's not the end of the world, but if you're as neurotic as I am you'll want those gifts arriving in as pristine condition as possible.

The most secure way to attach a beautiful bow is curling ribbon! 

Super shiny!

For those of you that have never used it, it's super simple. First, pull out a length of ribbon. You'll want it to be big enough to get wrapped around your present with plenty of room left over to curl - it's better for it to be too long than too short.

It starts out all nice, but you'll eventually end up with a tangled mess. It's just the way it is. 

Tie your ribbon around your gift any which way you want. You can totally use multiple strands. Use different colours and/or textures, too!

Don't worry, it's not finished yet! 

To curl the ribbon, you just place the ribbon between the blade of some scissors and your thumb at the base of the ribbon. Then, applying gentle pressure, pull the blade along the length of the ribbon until the end.

It is super satisfying.

See, it's pretty! 

This one uses the same colour with different textures. It's such a fun look! 

When most people send gifts that are difficult to wrap (like clothing) they usually either put it in a gift bag or place the gift in a box and wrap the box. Gift bags don't ship well. There is always the risk that the present will come out of the bag, ruining the surprise. Gift boxes are great, but using too many of them will bulk up your package unnecessarily leading to a higher postage cost. And folding something like a sweater and wrapping it on it's own isn't very secure - the movement of the sweater could lead to the gift wrap tearing.

Dear family reading this blog - this is NOT one of your gifts! 

Nice and sandwiched. Secure and easier to wrap! 

The best solution I've found to this problem is to use cardboard to secure your difficult item, and then wrap around that. It can create some funky shaped packages - but that just means they won't be able to figure out what you've sent! Now you can wrap the gift normally.

Lastly, it is very possible that your gift tags will fall off en route to your recipients. I've developed a handy little system to make sure that everyone gets to unwrap their gifts. Get a pack of coloured stickers!

They're inexpensive and easy to find.

Make sure you have a different colour for every person receiving gifts. Then all you have to do is stick the sticker discreetly on the bottom of the present. 

Yellow is Christmas-y, right?

Unfortunately, my husband packed and sent my package of festive goodies before I had a chance to take a picture. But to send, you'll want to find the smallest box possible without squashing all of your presents. Play present-tetris to keep your treasures secured and don't be afraid to use plenty of bubble wrap! 

Happy gifting! 

What's your favourite way to wrap presents?

Thanksgiving Recipe: Pumpkin Cookies!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

This year I didn't host a Thanksgiving dinner, or even have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner! My husband and I went to Frankie and Benny's (I get points because it's American themed), which was delicious! My little flat isn't big enough to do justice to the comfort foods that are a must-have for any Thanksgiving feast.

But I just couldn't let Thanksgiving pass by without cooking at least a little something festive. Pumpkin pie sticks out to me as the perfect Thanksgiving dessert, but honestly I didn't feel like a pie. So instead I settled on making some delicious pumpkin cookies! This is a recipe I've had for a while but never tried, and I can't remember where I got it. But the cookies are super soft - more like little cakes than a cookie! They're also really easy to customise - try adding some dried cranberries or a maple-pecan topping for an extra decadent dessert.

(Recipe without pictures at the bottom)

The Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Canned pumpkin is pretty hard to come by in the UK

Method

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (about 175 C - although for this recipe I used 180 C).

Combine your dry ingredients (except sugar) - so your flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Top tip: if, like me, you adore sea salt - that's fine. However, don't forget to grind it up!! I used the little chunks without thinking and had a couple of salty bites. It was still yummy though.

Yep, just like that. But, you know, stir it.

Now get out another bowl (I know, I know, more dirty dishes. It's worth it, I promise). Combine your sugar and butter - beat until nice and smooth. 

Appetising! 

You can use an electric mixer. I just don't have one.

Add your pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract to your sugar butter and beat it all together. 

I much prefer extracts to flavourings. They're just so much yummier.

The pumpkin gives it such a lovely colour. I have a nail polish in a similar shade.

Now combine your pumpkin mixture with your flour mixture. 

THE MEETING OF THE MIXTURES! 

Mix the mixtures together until they form a good sticky dough. 

Magic is happening here.

Plop your dough onto prepared pans. I used a baking paper type thing - the cookies didn't stick and cleanup was super simple. To keep the cookies more uniform, I used a tablespoon to do my plopping.

Don't eat raw cookie dough - you could get sick! I mean, I totally did it anyways, but you so shouldn't.

Bake those bad boys for 15 minutes or until your edges are firm. 

That's a lot of cookies.

That's it! You're done! Let them cool for a few minutes and then go to town. Now, they're not the prettiest cookies out there. At all. But they were AMAZING! 

Don't worry cookies, I love you even though you're ugly. 

Pumpkin Cookies

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F (175C)

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and salt. 

In another bowl, combine sugar and butter/margarine until smooth.

Add pumpkin, egg, and extract to butter/sugar mixture. Beat until well mixed.

Combine pumpkin mixture with flour mixture and beat until a sticky dough forms.

Drop dough onto prepared pans and bake for 15 minutes or until edges are firm. 

Let cool before serving.

What's your favourite Thanksgiving recipe? 

How To Plan Thanksgiving

Freedom from Want, the Thanksgiving Picture by Norman Rockwell

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! For my British friends, Thanksgiving is when we get together with family to stuff ourselves silly and then watch Football. There are other traditions too, as unique as the families that celebrate. Most of you have probably already planned your Thanksgiving meal, but for those of you that haven't, here are a few tips. 

Know Your Crowd

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You may not be able to plan a menu in which every guest loves every dish, and you will almost certainly have the dreaded Picky Eater sitting down to your table. There isn't much you can do about that one, other than make sure they have at least one thing to eat. But for the rest, think about the people you are inviting. Are there any vegetarians? Allergies? Religious restrictions? If you don't know - ask! 

In my family, none of us are super crazy about turkey. However, none of us would feel quite right without it! Silly, right? But knowing this, I would never plan a Thanksgiving meal without a big fat bird. It also wouldn't be Thanksgiving without my mom's special cornbread stuffing or a big buttery pot of mashed potatoes. You won't be able to include everyone's personal favourite dish, but you can totally include the all around crowd pleasers.

Don't Overdo It

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Like I said above, you just cannot incorporate every beloved comfort food into your Thanksgiving feast. Don't forget, you have to actually cook all the food you serve. The more dishes you decide on, the more time you're going to have to spend cooking and the more money you're going to have to spend. Food can get expensive! Your Thanksgiving shouldn't be spent stressing over how you're going to get 20 dishes on the table. You should be relaxing with friends and family and basking in the praise heaped upon your glorious spread.

This goes for planning your presentation as well. Rather than attempting to make every single side look worthy of Food Network, choose one or two things to really make an effort on. Your big, beautiful roasted turkey won't need much - it makes a mouth watering centrepiece all on it's own. I personally like to make a beautiful desert. 

Those are CUPCAKES! That I made!!! 

Make Ahead

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Believe it or not, you can make a TON of food up to weeks ahead of time! This can make your life so much easier, it will also spread the cost of the meal out. Check out this list from Food.com for a few recipes! 

So, what am I doing for Thanksgiving you ask? Surely I'm going to be serving up a host of tasty American dishes just like momma used to make, right? Nah. My flat is way too small for that this year. So we're going to Frankie and Benny's. That's a great perk of spending Thanksgiving Day in England - all the restaurants are open! 

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What are your favourite Thanksgiving dishes? 

Poke's Thoughts on Online Relationships

Awww, wedding picture :) 

This past week a good friend of mine has been going through a rough time. Her husband is currently in the ICU, unable to breathe on his own.  My heart hurts for her, and as always in situations like this, I just feel so helpless. It's hard enough to provide help in a scenario like this, but harder still when you are thousands of miles away.

The thing about this friend is, I've never met her in person. That's right, our friendship has been entirely online. This is not exactly new to me, my husband and I met online almost ten years ago. Some people seem to find it odd that you can develop a deep and meaningful relationship on the internet. Yet, I have before and continue to do so. The things I feel for this friend in distress are just the same as the things I would feel if she lived on my street. So, this got me thinking about online relationships in general.

Image from Chibird

How They Start

I've never actively sought online friendships. They've just happened, just like in real life. When planning my wedding I joined a wedding forum. I became a frequent poster and grew close to other frequent posters. We've since created our own space which is much more private and intimate, and our friendships have grown as a result. Many of us have met in person.

My online friend and I on the way to lunch together! 

How They Work

The best way to make a relationship of any kind last with someone is time. This goes for online and offline. You need to talk, connect, show a real effort to stay in touch and stay involved. Before I moved to the UK, I talked with my friends daily. Now the time differences makes that difficult, but I still manage to log on a couple of times a week. Before we were able to live together, my husband and I talked every single day. Skype is a great way to keep in touch with people and feel closer to them. My husband even paid for an American number so I could call him from anywhere using any phone at no charge to me. It's something I still use to keep in contact with my family. 

Gestures that show you are thinking about your friend/significant other can really help when you're apart. These can be as simple as a sweet picture posted to their Facebook wall

Chibird is a new discovery for me. I love it!! 

To a gift in the mail! Obviously when you're friends with a large community of people, this sort of thing can get expensive. We have exchanges - we use Elfster to draw names out of a virtual hat and exchange gifts. It's a great way to connect with people and learn more about them. 

My gifts for the Halloween exchange we just did. 

So, essentially, you'll want to treat any online relationship or friendship the same way you'd treat it in real life! Simple, right?

Stay Safe

Be internet-smart. You don't want to have to call in these guys! (From Catfish: The TV Show)

This is probably the most important part - stay safe! This is a group of people I have known for years! Don't rush into giving anyone your personal information. Unfortunately, it's all too easy to become someone else online.

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Disclaimer:
This is not a definitive guide to online relationships and friendships or internet safety. It takes more than a few paragraphs on a blog to be fully informed about such things, it's just a little snippet from my own experiences!