Valentine’s DIY

I keep seeing things that would be awesome to make for Valentine’s Day. Definitely more things than I have time to actually make, so I thought I’d share a few with you.

Most of these weren’t specifically made for Valentine’s Day. They’re all fairly simple ideas that you can adapt to be romantic – or not.

1. Tiny Travel Album in a Box: I’ve been wanting to make a version of this mini photo book by Camille Styles. It’s meant to be a travel memento, but I think it would make a great Valentine’s gift with photos of a trip you took together or just fun random shots.

2. Stenciled Valentine Gift Bags: Fun idea from Martha Stewart for adding a personal touch to a small gift! Choose a stencil to fit the occasion.

3. Little self-folding envelopes: I love these colorful envelopes I spotted on Ingthings! You can fold up origami paper or repurpose whatever paper’s on hand, cutting it to size.

4. DIY Satsuma Orange Candle: I’ve been seeing this around Pinterest, and I think I found the original source: HonestlyWTF. It’s an ingeniously simple DIY, and I bet it smells nice too.

5. Seven Days of Surprises: Tuck a week full of goodies into a pill container for someone to enjoy each day! The post on The Dating Divas has printable love notes, but you could write your own or use strategically-chosen conversation hearts.

6. DIY: Lacey Clay Containers: This is a tutorial on making dishes from clay and imprinting with lace. Design Mom used the pieces she made to organize her make-up drawer, but the cup would make a great vase and the plate would be so cute topped with strawberries or Nutella brownie bites!

7. Origami Ornaments: Anne-Solange of Cachemire & Soie saw a lamp shade she loved and figured out how to re-create the look. Several of these hanging up or in a centerpiece would make a room feel so festive!

– More ideas –

2014 Valentine’s DIY roundup
Follow our Facebook for more easy ideas every week on Try Today Friday.
Learn how to make fabric flowers at CraftHack 2/9.

Let me know if you give any of these a try!

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Photos from their respective sites. (See links.)

December 19, 2014

DIY Gift Bags

Does doing something 2 years in a row make it a tradition?

If so, then we continued our gift-bag making tradition at CraftHack this month.

You can make your own gift bags out of regular old paper lunch sacks and craft supplies you already have. Here are some tips…

Get your stuff together!

Lunch bags. If you have regular brown ones around, great! Otherwise, check out your color options – white, red, yellow, blue. I’ve seen a bunch at my local Target.
Scissors. Fancy-edge scissors, a small paper cutter, and/or a paper punch might also be useful if you have them.
Embellishments. Use what you’ve got – scrapbook paper, washi tape, old greeting cards, ribbon, glitter, stickers, that last little bit of wrapping paper on the roll, etc.

Customize!

Bag size. Take a bit off the top to break up the lunch baggy proportions. You can use your fancy scissors to create an interesting edge.

Handles. 3 ways to handle handles:

1. Cut out a shape an inch or so from the top of the bag. Straight sided shapes – like a long inverted triangle – work best.

2. Vertical handles. Use ribbon, two pieces of washi tape (sticky sides together), or scraps cut from the top of your paper bag to make a handle that goes over the top of the bag. You can staple it (use your embellishments to cover staples), or punch/cut holes to thread ribbon through and secure with tape or big knots.

3. Horizontal handles. Some of the CraftHackers came up with this one. It works best using fabric ribbon. You cut rectangles into thee bag that are as tall as the ribbon is wide and weave it through, maybe with help from a friend.

Decorate! Once you’ve sized your bag and made handles, get creative using supplies you have on hand. Cut shapes out of paper, add glitter, make a pattern from paper, create stripes from ribbon or washi tape, go a little crazy with stickers, have fun!

Check out my last-minute holiday guide for more gift, entertaining, and decorating ideas!

December 11, 2014January 5, 2023

December in Glendale for Fan Fest Goers

This weekend (12/12-14) is the first-ever Phoenix Comicon Fan Fest. Besides being held during a much cooler time of year than the main all-pop-culture-encompassing Phoenix Comicon event, Fan Fest is smaller and focused on just 4 categories: comics, actors, costuming, and activities for kids.

Instead of taking place in central Phoenix, it’ll be at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, where the Arizona Cardinals play.

So what is there to do in Glendale?

My top picks: downtown Glendale

Here are a few Glendale things I’ve checked out that you might also enjoy – whether you’re going to Fan Fest or not. They’re in the historic downtown about 10 minutes by car from the stadium (near 58th and Glendale avenues – PDF walking tour map).

Glendale Glitters – Tons of holiday lights (“the largest free holiday light display in Arizona”), fair-type food booths (fried things, things on sticks, beer beer beer, etc.) live performances by local choirs and dance studios, and interesting people-/possible-wolf-watching.
Unique Local Shops – Drawn to Comics has comics and comic paraphernalia. Pink House boutique focuses on stylish, hard-to-find clothing and is open until 10pm this Friday and Saturday. There are also several antique and vintage shops and other quirky local stores, right across the street from the Glendale Glitters action.
Kimberly Ann’s Tea Room – For those into the high tea experience*, it’s lovely without being stuffy. When I went I last year with my mom and aunt, there was a long list of teas available, and we had all the tea sandwiches and sweets we could handle.

Cerreta Candy Company

Located near downtown, Cerreta Candy Company gives free tours Monday through Friday at 10am and 1pm. During the holidays, you can go in and decorate chocolate wreaths or trees for $10.

Walking distance from University of Phoenix Stadium

I was wondering what there would be to do right around the stadium, and here’s what I found.

Sports stuff

If you’re around there right now or will still be around next week, there are University of Phoenix Stadium tours today (12/11), as well as 12/18-20. Tickets are $9.
Fan Fest attendees headed to the 12/13 Arizona Coyotes game can get a discount. I’m not sure what the discount is. You might wanna check out regular tickets too.

Shopping

In case you somehow don’t get your fill of shopping at the Exhibitor Hall, there is a lot more around the Stadium.

Westgate Entertainment District – stores, a movie theater, and holiday events, including free Carriage rides.
Tanger Outlets – apparently, Tanger rhymes with “hanger.” (Who knew?!)
Cabela’s – outdoor store focused on hunting and fishing (but also carrying equipment for camping and other outdoor activities). It includes a restaurant, aquariums, and an indoor archery range – if wanted to channel your inner Green Arrow or Katniss Everdeen. Just remember you can’t bring any actual weapons back to the Con with you.

Food

I had trouble finding locally-based options in the area. Here’s what I hunted down:

At the Stadium

There are supposed to be food trucks at Fan Fest, but staff doesn’t have confirmation on which ones yet.
Regular stadium concessions by Rojo Hospitality Group will be open.

Westgate – 2 out of 3 of these are for frozen desserts. Because what’s more Phoenix than eating ice cream in December?!

Mama Gina’s Pizzeria
RazzleberrieZ Frozen Yogurt
Cold Stone Creamery – Now they’re everywhere, but the chain was actually founded in and is based in Arizona.

Tanger outlets

Fired Pie – I’m intrigued by this place and hoping to make it over there this weekend! You can either order from their menu or customize your own pizza or salad for one price. (It’s not extra for each topping.) They are sustainability conscious and use local, organic ingredients.

*At the main Phoenix Comicon event over the summer, I wandered into the wrong room at one point and a panel was discussing tea and tea-drinking rituals. A friend later said “Oh, they must be fans of [name of something I’d never heard of and immediately forgot].” Fan Fest has a tea battle on the schedule. What does that mean? I don’t know. All I know is that there is some kind of fancy-tea-drinking contingent within the Comicon community. So I put a tea house on the list.

December 1, 2014November 30, 2014

Let’s talk about what we’re not doing for the holidays

I had had this idea of asking you all what you were making this year. But the danger in those kind of discussions is sometimes a comparisonfest can break out. I want to celebrate people doing what works for them rather than feeling like there’s something more they should be doing.

Instead, I’m asking a different question: how are you cutting yourself some slack this holiday season?

Please share in the comments!

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Microblog Mondays: Don’t overthink it. Just write something. And then read Stirrup Queens.

November 26, 2014October 17, 2024

Carving pumpkin into pie

As a kid, I didn’t understand where pumpkin pie came from. My best guess was that it was somehow made from the goopy insides we scooped out while getting ready to carve jack-o’-lanterns. I thought of the outside as kind of a hard shell and was surprised to learn that (minus the peel) is actually the edible part. It seemed like magic, and I knew I had to try it one day.

Fast forward to November a couple years ago when I finally gave it a try.

I started with the wrong kind of pumpkin. At least that’s what people kept telling me. This giant orange carving pumpkin came with our CSA box. Even though I knew it wasn’t a pie pumpkin, that’s what I had, and I wanted to make it work. A little internet research made me think it could be done, so I gave it a shot.

I scooped seeds, cut the squash into pieces, and baked it. Phillip helped me remove the peel.

One of the downsides of a carving/non-pie pumpkin is they tend to be more watery. The fix is letting the baked pumpkin set for awhile and then pouring off the excess water. Easy enough. I did this a couple times, then immersion blended it into a puree.

The taste seemed a little bland (another one of the potential side effects of carving pumpkins) until I added my homemade spice blend. All of the sudden it tasted like pumpkin pie.

I had decided not to do the crust from scratch – another project for another time. I made 3 pies and later pumpkin bread. I froze the extra pumpkin puree in large freezer bags.

The pies got rave reviews.

The process took way longer than I expected. Still, I enjoyed the magic of transforming a pumpkin into a pie. And watching the naysayers eat their words.