Table Napkins as Gift Wrappers

Through the years, I have accumulated these cute table napkins - three of which I bought, the rest are treats from family from their trips abroad. That's how much a sucker I am for paper!   I saved them for the purpose of using them as gift wrappers.  

The yellow flowery one (top left) is a supermarket find.

Second and fifth table napkins (from Left) are from the US.  Small, red polka dots is a purchase from 8 years ago!

The bottom three (from L to R) are from Ikea, Crate and Barrel and Hallmark.

So, yes, when I see cute table napkins, I don't think "Party!"  I think "Hey, gift wrap potential!"

I gathered these six itty bitty items to showcase the potential of these pretty table napkins. 

With just an added touch of a pretty ribbon, table napkins make for pretty gift wrappers, don't you think? 

And maybe next time, when you see the humble table napkins at the supermarket, you would give them a better chance at life and use them as pretty gift wrap for a special someone's gift! = )

Homemade Bag Tags

These homemade bag tags are super easy and fun to make!  I kinda got carried away with this project!   What was supposedly just a couple of foam bag tags became a fun experiment on trying to make bag tags with different kinds of media.  I tried regular foam sheets then board paper then corrugated paper then glitter foam and washi-embellished each one (except for the one made with glitter foam which was nice just as it was) .  It's the washi tape that got me going.  ( Side story: My hubby got me 24 pieces of washi tape on a trip to Tokyo.  I think it was his way of making me feel better for being unable to make the trip!  Hahaha!  Love every one of them and love him for his usual thoughtfulness!). 

After the first washi-embellished foam bag tag, I made another and another to see what each one would look like!  I'm not quite sure if I'm done yet!

Parents, you can do this as a fun summer activity with your children!  For your younger kids, you may prepare the bag tag beforehand and they can decorate/embellish it with foam cutouts (stuck with double-sided tape) or washi tape.  These bag tags may be done in preparation for school opening!  Your children will surely be proud of their own homemade bag tags!

Here's one I made with my four year old.  I prepared the board paper bag tag and she embellished it with washi tape.  I love the random design!

Each bag tag is 3"x 5" and can fit a calling-card-sized ID card.  If you wish to make one, here's what you need:

1. foam/board paper/corrugated paper

2. washi tape (optional but fun to use!  Get creative and use other embellishments like foam stickers, paper cut-outs or stickers of your favorite characters).

3. double-sided tape (you may use glue if you're using board paper)

4. OHP or transparency film (or you may forego this altogether.  I just used this as a protective cover for the ID card.) - cut to the size of a calling card which is 3.5"x 2"
5. Scotch/transparent tape - to tape the OHP or transparency film on the underside of the window.

6. post screws ( optional because you can permanently adhere the handle with double-sided tape.  Using post screws is the better option though as it will be more durable than the double-sided tape and you may unscrew it to slide the ID card out.)

 

Post screws.  I got these in National Bookstore.  They were the smallest ones available.

First, click on the template below and save it for printing.  Check if the dimensions of the printout are correct ( This is a 3"x5" bag tag). Cut out the template and trace unto a foam sheet, board or corrugated paper.

And this is what it would look like:

Cut around the lines, rounding the edges so they're cuter.  Washi-embellish at this point if you want to have extra loads of fun!

Tape the 3.5"x 2" OHP/transparency film on the underside of the window then put double-sided tape also on the underside, making sure there's at least half a centimeter of space from the window edges or your ID card will not slide in from the top of the card.

Look at my crooked double-sided tape.  Tsk. Tsk.  Martha Stewart will sack me.

Adhere the front side and back side of the tag and punch or poke a hole midway above the window of the tag.  This is where you'll insert the post screw.

Punch or poke a hole through the ends of the tag handle and insert the post screw through the holes of the tag handle and the tag.  Notice that I also washi-embellished the post screw!  Fun!

Attach the post screw and you've got yourself your own homemade/handmade bag tag!  Do a celebratory dance!

Here's what the yellow foam bag tag looks like on luggage.  Hey, not bad!

As I mentioned above, if you're having difficulty finding post screws, you may cut a slit through the tag (midway above tag window) where the handle can be inserted and secure the ends of the handle with double-sided tape.  The difference is that the handle is permanently adhered and you would have to cut it apart to remove or change the ID card.  It would look something like this:

 Below are all the tags I made!  Fun!

Homemade Montessori - Felt Moveable Alphabet

I made my own version of the Montessori moveable alphabet about a month or two ago to supplement my daughter's lessons in school.  I love that this moveable alphabet prepares children for reading, writing and spelling, and that they can touch and feel the letters with their fingers as they sound out the letters.

The letters of the Montessori moveable alphabet that they use at school are wooden and come in two colors - red for consonants and blue for vowels.  At first, I was thinking of using board paper but changed my mind as I imagined creases or tears on the paper letters after each use. Foam boards would have been another option but I did not have enough in two colors so I used felt fabric instead.  I did not have blue or red felt on-hand so I decided to use the purple and pink felt I had in storage. 

I just guesstimated the sizes of the letters, trying my best to make them identical to the actual moveable alphabet she works with at school.  The short lowercase letters (a, c, e, i, m, n, o, r, s, u, v, w, x, z) came out to be 1.5" tall.  Widths varied as there are wider letters ( like m and w) but the others are mostly 1.5" wide.  The tall/long lowercase letters (b, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, p, q, t, y) turned out to be 2.5" tall with varying widths as well. 

I made five (5) of each vowel and four (4) of each consonant.

I tried looking for plastic containers with 26 compartments but only found the one in photo below. This was actually my second purchase.  The first one was even smaller.  This worked better than the first since the compartments were 2.5" in height so the tall letters fit snugly into each compartment.  I just improvised on the lack of width space, squeezing in more than two letters in snug spaces (like i, j and k or the letters in the last two compartments) - this is not very ideal though as the letters get mixed up when the container is not upright (still best to find a container with 26 or more compartments).

For the CVCs, I drew some simple, cartoony things and animals on 4"x6" blank index cards which look like these:

Watch this video from a month ago of our little one working on the moveable alphabet ( I love the part where she giggles, realizing she mixed up the letters).

Some pointers if you do decide to make your own moveable alphabet out of felt:

- You may print out enlarged letters in a font similar to those of the moveable alphabet (Montessori D'Nelian-type font) to serve as your guide in cutting the lowercase letters.  Berlin sans is one font option.

- You may also print pictures of CVCs from the web instead of drawing your own.

- Lowercase letters b, d and p are identical so you can use one stencil or guide for cutting out these three letters.

- Lowercase letters u and n are identical in shape as well but note that letter u is a vowel and n, a consonant, so use the same stencil or guide but use different colored felt.

- Use a container with compartments that have ample space for all the letters.  

- Glue gun one of each letter into its compartment to encourage packing away after each spelling activitiy.

- Sneak in the uppercase letter of the first letter of your child's name for spelling practice (I snuck in a big letter T for our little girl)!  

- MontessoriMom has a very helpful step-by-step guide on how to best use the moveable alphabet!  Do check it out!

- Have fun!

Downsizing a Shirt

I’m not sure if “downsize” is the most appropriate term for this recent project.  But hey, humor me for now and let’s use “downsize” for this post, at least.  Haha!

This recent downsizing project was a result of reading about tons of DIY tutorials on T-shirt projects  from Pinterest ( I heart Pinterest!) and the need to re-size my daughter’s T-shirt  ASAP without cutting it to pieces and mangling it forever (as was advised by my dear hubby).

Not exactly my hubby’s words but the gist of what he said when I asked him if I can make the shirt smaller was – downsize but do not deform beyond recognition.   It was from grandpa so we want grandpa to recognize it when it’s worn!

The tag on the shirt says size 6-8 so this means it is meant for 6 to 8 year olds, right?  My daughter is probably two shirt-sizes smaller so that was my downsizing goal!

So again, with the sewing skillz I have to thank my Home Economics teachers for, I took to this sewing challenge.  Pros, I know this is quite amateur but it’s the best I can do with my bare hands and beginner skillz!

What I used:

Needle, thread, scissors (for cutting the thread), about 90 minutes.

First, I got one of my daughter’s shirts and put it against this yellow shirt to see how much smaller the shirt had to be.

After reversing the shirt, I laid it out flat on a surface and started sewing about half an inch from the sides using a backstitch.  I figured this would remove an inch from both sides right away (half inch from the front plus half inch from the back equals one inch less on each side).

I folded the sleeves inward by an inch and continued the side stitching.

I secured the opposite side of the folded sleeves with a knot and this is what it looked like.

To work on the shoulders, I tried to do my wabi-sabi way of ruching.  I folded the shoulder area about 2 cms apart and just knotted each fold, crossing my fingers that it would come out looking ruched when it’s turned inside-out. 

I don’t think it turned out bad at all and I was happy because at least I achieved decreasing the shoulder area by about an inch on both sides with wabi-sabi ruching!

After, I asked my daughter to try it on and hurray; she didn’t look swallowed by the shirt anymore! Here’s the finished product!

Hope this makes you brave enough to downsize shirts in the future!  I am sure you'll do a better job! ; )

An Upcycled T-shirt

My daughter got a nice pair of floral jeans from grandma lately and I wanted her to wear them right away. 

But when I was trying to find a shirt that matched these cute floral pants, only an old fuchsia shirt with this tiny discoloration was the best choice...and the tiny discoloration, though tiny, was right smack in the middle of it. 

Tiny but annoying discoloration.

What to do?!  Upcycle!

I had some felt fabric on-hand so I decided to make a flower cut-out out of the felt to sew it on, right where the discoloration was.

First, I had my daughter put on the shirt, got my sewing chalk and marked the center of the shirt  (that's when I realized the discoloration was slightly off-center. It pays to check and re-check!).

Then I snipped a 2”x 2” square out of purple felt fabric.  From the square, I drew a flower with a pen and cut it up.  I drew a circle onto the fuchsia felt fabric and stuck it onto the center of the purple flower cut-out. 

With my beginner skillz, I stitched up the circumference of the fuchsia circle to sew the whole flower onto the shirt.  Then I secured the tips of each purple petal with a knot. 

Here's a close-up of the stitching and knot on each petal:

 And this is what it looks like on the underside:

A bit sloppy but I'm glad it can't be seen when she's wearing it.

So tada, old fuchsia shirt looks brand new again! 

What about you - what would you do to upcycle a shirt? = )

Paper-hunting in Spain, Italy and France

Sometime in May of 2012, we were blessed to have gone on a Mediterranean cruise with the family.  We visited the beautiful and historic ports of Spain, Italy and France.

While enjoying the sights, I was on paper-hunt mode, keeping an eye out for shops that sold crafts and stationery.

In Barcelona, I found one (ONE!!!) pad of stationery with a print of Picasso’s paintings in Art Montfalcon, a century-old curio shop worth visiting for unique souvenir items mostly designed by local artists.  There were a couple of pretty notebooks with Gaudi artwork on their covers but I was on a hunt for notepads or notecards...I gave the note pad as a gift to a very close friend so I don’t have a photo of it.  Here’s an image of the Picasso painting though:

Really artsy and wanted to keep one for myself but it was the last piece.

In Florence, my sister-in-law pointed to the little souvenir kiosks that lined the piazzas and told me that it was where she found the exquisite, gold-lined notecards she had given to me a few years back.  I grabbed the chance to scour the kiosks and was ecstatic to find what I was looking for!

In France, one of our stops was a half-day bus tour around the city of Marseilles.  The whole city of Marseilles was under construction (as it was being groomed to be the next cultural capital of France).  Museums, sidewalks, roads were being fixed.  Here are a couple of photos: the magnificent Palaise Longchamp which was also under construction (No water running down from the center of this grand structure which would’ve been a breathtaking view) and Notre Dame de la Garde, a basilica with a golden statue of Mary towering over all of Marseilles as protectress of the city. 

Palaise Longchamp under renovation, May 2012

Notre Dame de la Garde, May 2012

After taking in the sights, we had a 15-minute pit stop at a mall - Galeries Lafayette in Centre Bourse. Since my daughter was asleep on my lap, I opted to stay and wait on the bus.  When my dear hubby returned, he was grinning from ear to ear, like he hit the jackpot!   He found what I had been looking for– a major craft shop named Loisirs et Creation. 

I cut out this portion of the paper bag as a souvenir!  Dorky, huh?  My friends would understand. 

The craft store carried embellishments, fabric, ribbons and scrapbooking materials but he made a run for the paper shelves and grabbed the ones with the best designs.  Really sweet of him, don’t you think?

These are some of the 12x12 papers he purchased in a jiffy (I photo-collaged them to show the coordinating patterns on the back):

I am certain there are more of these shops scattered around these major tourist destinations…and I hope to come back someday to conquer them!  Till the next Euro paper-hunt!