A Midsummer Night's Dream (Summer 2014 Secret Santa) Discussion

[Sheeeeeelby]

@ those are ADORABLE!! love love love the anchor! I spent the past 2 summers working in Cape Cod so I now love all things nautical as it reminds me of the Cape.

I'm not sure what exactly to craft for my FGM. I need to browse Pinterest I guess!

 

[tulosai]

@ those are ADORABLE!! love love love the anchor! I spent the past 2 summers working in Cape Cod so I now love all things nautical as it reminds me of the Cape.

I'm not sure what exactly to craft for my FGM. I need to browse Pinterest I guess!

Pinterest is a godsent for these things!

I also love the anchor one but my fave is the music notes one... I used to sing pretty seriously and am always nostalgic for music.

AND! Speaking of music... does anyone else LOVE songza? I just discovered it like a week ago and can't believe I've been stuck listening to Pandora all these years.

 

[chelsealynn]

@ those are ADORABLE!! love love love the anchor! I spent the past 2 summers working in Cape Cod so I now love all things nautical as it reminds me of the Cape.

I'm not sure what exactly to craft for my FGM. I need to browse Pinterest I guess!

What did you do in Cape Cod? 

I went there last October for a few days and fell in love with it.  I'm a bit obsessed; it's so beautiful there.

 

[kawaiisofoxy]

OK y'all are gonna either hate me or love me when you see how easy they are...

Go to this website and order their craft kits.  I used the 1" circular pendant trays.  They are a DOLLAR each, including tray pendant, glass, and chain! (also, NOT an affiliate link.  I get absolutely nothing for directing you to this site other than a sense of accomplishment).  Order kits and a bottle of their glaze (you can get something called "Diamond Glaze" from a local craft store, but this seems to work well without forming bubbles and as long as I have to pay shipping, I'm gonna order all I can at once!

http://www.sunandmooncraftkits.com/craft-kits.html

Then go to a local craft store and get some scrapbook paper.  Look for small, "busy" designs that will show up when you cut them down to 1".  Hobby Lobby has some brands of scrapbook paper on sale for 50% off right now, and the necklaces I made are all from 8.5"x11" papers that are on sale for $0.22 per sheet. I'm going to get some cardstock paper soon to see if it makes a difference and/or is easier to work with.

Then get on YouTube and look up "pendant tray tutorial".  There are several.  Watch them all, get an idea of what works best for you.  For me, it's putting the glaze on the glass, then laying it on the paper.  I also prefer to lay it on the paper and cut around it once it's dry, rather than cutting out paper with a 1" hole punch (which is just more special equipment you'd have to buy).  I recommend using a craft/X-acto knife to cut around, rather than scissors.  Using scissors gave me the bubble in the green necklace, the rest turned out fine with an Xacto knife.

Your initial outlay may be a bit much (Mine was about $30 for 15 kits, glaze, shipping, and about 10 pieces of scrapbook paper), but when you break it down, each necklace costs about $2 to make, and I'll have plenty of glaze and paper left over if I decide to order more kits!

Have fun!

 

[dressupthedog]

Pinterest is a godsent for these things!

I also love the anchor one but my fave is the music notes one... I used to sing pretty seriously and am always nostalgic for music.

AND! Speaking of music... does anyone else LOVE songza? I just discovered it like a week ago and can't believe I've been stuck listening to Pandora all these years.

I am a big fan of Songza! I listen to it all the time and usually enjoy it more than Pandora. I find that I listen to the same music over and over again with Pandora but tend to listen to a wider variety on Songza. I can't seem to get anyone else in my life on board with it though.

 

[trekkersangel]

I love them all and am jealous of whoever gets them! These are exactly the sort of thing I'm drawn to at crafty fairs!

Oh my goodness. . . craft fairs.  Oh how I miss them.  When we were stationed in UT they had them ALL THE TIME.  When we were in Germany they had bazars, & village Christmas markets filled with fun things like this.  Now that we're stationed in VA I have yet to see any form of a craft show or even a flea market.  Oh how I miss them.

Whomever receives the beautiful necklaces will be lucky indeed.  So much talent here!!!

 

[elizabethrose]

OK y'all are gonna either hate me or love me when you see how easy they are...

Go to this website and order their craft kits.  I used the 1" circular pendant trays.  They are a DOLLAR each, including tray pendant, glass, and chain! (also, NOT an affiliate link.  I get absolutely nothing for directing you to this site other than a sense of accomplishment).  Order kits and a bottle of their glaze (you can get something called "Diamond Glaze" from a local craft store, but this seems to work well without forming bubbles and as long as I have to pay shipping, I'm gonna order all I can at once!

http://www.sunandmooncraftkits.com/craft-kits.html

Then go to a local craft store and get some scrapbook paper.  Look for small, "busy" designs that will show up when you cut them down to 1".  Hobby Lobby has some brands of scrapbook paper on sale for 50% off right now, and the necklaces I made are all from 8.5"x11" papers that are on sale for $0.22 per sheet. I'm going to get some cardstock paper soon to see if it makes a difference and/or is easier to work with.

Then get on YouTube and look up "pendant tray tutorial".  There are several.  Watch them all, get an idea of what works best for you.  For me, it's putting the glaze on the glass, then laying it on the paper.  I also prefer to lay it on the paper and cut around it once it's dry, rather than cutting out paper with a 1" hole punch (which is just more special equipment you'd have to buy).  I recommend using a craft/X-acto knife to cut around, rather than scissors.  Using scissors gave me the bubble in the green necklace, the rest turned out fine with an Xacto knife.

Your initial outlay may be a bit much (Mine was about $30 for 15 kits, glaze, shipping, and about 10 pieces of scrapbook paper), but when you break it down, each necklace costs about $2 to make, and I'll have plenty of glaze and paper left over if I decide to order more kits!

Have fun!

Bahahaha I thought that these looked like Sun and Moon kits!  Their stuff is badass!

 

[kawaiisofoxy]

Yes it is!  Can you believe I pinned this craft (which linked to the Sun & Moon craft kit page) OVER A YEAR AGO?  I was looking through old pins for "pinspiration" (Ha! I should really be stopped) and found it!  I was like... hmm, easy, cheap AND pretty?  It's just like me! It's perfect!  :couch:  (I'm a bit delirious because it worked out so well.  The bad jokes, they are rampant.  My apologies.)

 

[elizabethrose]

Yes it is!  Can you believe I pinned this craft (which linked to the Sun & Moon craft kit page) OVER A YEAR AGO?  I was looking through old pins for "pinspiration" (Ha! I should really be stopped) and found it!  I was like... hmm, easy, cheap AND pretty?  It's just like me! It's perfect!  :couch:  (I'm a bit delirious because it worked out so well.  The bad jokes, they are rampant.  My apologies.)

Pinspiration!  Makes me think of the Pinstrosity blog!! Hahaha

 

[tulosai]

Thought I'd share this idea

http://www.sunset.com/food-wine/holidays-occasions/quick-bread-in-a-bottle#

Basically, you put all the ingredients for something you love to bake into a bottle/jar.  This obviously would work best when all the is required is dumping them out and mixing them.  I thought this might be a cool way for MUT's baking/cooking ladies to share a fave recipe with their buddy.  My craft having failed this is now my new plan... I just need to decide what recipe to go with.

 

[kawaiisofoxy]

There were a few months where I started almost every conversation with "I found this thing on Pinterest..."

All my quotes.  All my decorating ideas.  All my crafts.  All my recipes.  It was bad.

 

[SOSRedAlertSOS]

Y'all are so crafty! I cannot DIY for the life of me, I made a wreath the other day for the first time and that went alright. I was thinking of making one for my FGC but I don't know if she would use it, or even like it.

 

[puppymomofthree]

I am thinking of sending one of my favorite naturebox snacks--I am completely addicted to it (as in, I have already eaten half a bag today in my office)!  Healthy and yummy, sweet and salty--works for me!

 

[Lolo22]

There were a few months where I started almost every conversation with "I found this thing on Pinterest..."

All my quotes.  All my decorating ideas.  All my crafts.  All my recipes.  It was bad.

Ha!  I am so obsessed with Pinterest.  I am always doing little projects/cooking/baking and the first question everyone always asks me is, 'Did you find this on Pinterest?' Well, yes I did :blush: lol.  I guess I'm just a visual person though so it's a time saver for me rather than Google-ing.  Plus, these days, Google makes no sense anyway.  I'm pretty sure there is not any other app that lets you browse/save recipes, organize looks, create wishlists, plan parties, learn how to do things, look at hilarious animal memes, etc, etc.  If there is, please don't tell me!  I'm 1 app away from becoming a hermit lol.

 

[tulosai]

There were a few months where I started almost every conversation with "I found this thing on Pinterest..."

All my quotes.  All my decorating ideas.  All my crafts.  All my recipes.  It was bad.

My problem with Pinterest actually is that I did SO MUCH PINNING and very little doing.  It was like WOAH AWESOME RECIPE!!! And then i'd pin20 other awesome recipes and be so busy pinning I didn't make the first awesome recipe.

Y'all are so crafty! I cannot DIY for the life of me, I made a wreath the other day for the first time and that went alright. I was thinking of making one for my FGC but I don't know if she would use it, or even like it.

I would LOVE a Wreath!

I am thinking of sending one of my favorite naturebox snacks--I am completely addicted to it (as in, I have already eaten half a bag today in my office)!  Healthy and yummy, sweet and salty--works for me!

This sounds great!

 

[SOSRedAlertSOS]

This was the wreath I made the other day. I was thinking of making one that is smaller and has a beach theme to go with the rest of her stuff... It's really between making a wreath or buying a couple more small local items.

 

[tulosai]

mmm yeah I am no use then... I love decorations... but I also love local items... so if I were your FGC... I'd be sitting there like 'arggggh what to pick?!?!?!' I do think hand made stuff adds a unique personal tough though... so probably I'd go with the wreath???

That is super cute BTW

 

[SOSRedAlertSOS]

mmm yeah I am no use then... I love decorations... but I also love local items... so if I were your FGC... I'd be sitting there like 'arggggh what to pick?!?!?!' I do think hand made stuff adds a unique personal tough though... so probably I'd go with the wreath???

That is super cute BTW

It really is hard to decide what to do, I think I might go with the local items so that when I go to ship it, I don't have to use some awkwardly shaped box.

 

[meaganola]

I am thinking of sending one of my favorite naturebox snacks--I am completely addicted to it (as in, I have already eaten half a bag today in my office)! Healthy and yummy, sweet and salty--works for me!

Which one? I'm in the middle of editing my next box, and I have a few I'm trying to decide between!

 

[puppymomofthree]

Which one? I'm in the middle of editing my next box, and I have a few I'm trying to decide between!

I was thinking the honey crunch crisps (honey coated sesame treats).  I am also  a fan of the masa crisps, cranberry almond bites, sriracha cashews, and the chipotle maple almonds.  Naturebox snacks are the only thing I eat in my office and I work straight through the day, so I always keep plenty of them around.