Craft A Week #28: A Week of Love for Easter

A few weeks ago our family welcomed it's newest addition: Marcus Robert.   I know I am biased but I think he's just adorable!

This brings the total of grandkids in our family to 8; four boys and four girls, ranging from 2 weeks to 10 years of age. I love them all and, as you can imagine, it can get quite pricey to buy gifts for each of them for every holiday.  In addition, most of the kids have other family who also buy for them so the kids just get an overabundance of stuff.

This year I decided to make my grandkid gifts. Based upon a pin I found that someone made to send to a family member who is serving in the military overseas, I modified the idea to fit my family.

I made each child (aside from newbie Marcus) A Week of Love From Gam gift. All I did was take 7 regular envelops and attached them all together in a line like this:

I labled each envelop with a day of the week, added stickers for decoration, and wrote "A Week of Love From Me To You" down the left side of the envelopes. 


I then gathered a bunch of little things from the Dollar Store (and other random places).  I didn't really have any plan; I just picked up things I thought would fit into the envelopes.

I used things like fruit snacks, candy bracelets and necklaces, animal crackers, pretzels, erasers, and microwave popcorn (that pops blue). I also had some cute little cards, chalk (for the younger kids) and packages of gum.

I then stuffed one goodie into each day, folded the package up, and tied a ribbon around it.

I love that each child will have little gift every day for a week from Gam.

It didn't cost much to make a bunch of these so it was really cost effective. So, to recap, here's the supply list:

• 7 envelopes
• Stickers and markers to decorate
• Small goodies to fit inside each envelop.  (Lesson learned: the flatter, the better! I got a little carried away and couldn't fit some of the treats into the envelopes.  Things like gum, gift cards, flat candy, etc. would be good).
• Ribbon to tie the package up

 I love this idea, especially for the grandkids who live far away. I think of this as a little emotional hug for them.  If I do this again though I would either use bigger, sturdier envelopes or make my own. I can see some of the kids opening this up on Sunday and having all the little things inside scatter across the room immediately. I also want to look at Target or Staples to see if I can find a 7 day file system that would work. That way the parents could easily refill the file and the gift can be extended. 

I hope you all have a wonderfully Happy Easter.  I wish blessings to you and your family.

Happy Crafting!

Craft A Week #17 Crocheted Easter Bunny

In my quest to actually do things I find on Pinterest, yesterday I made this cute little crocheted bunny. I had this soft, fuzzy, vintage white yarn and it seemed perfect for bunny. 

Isn't she cute?

 I like her pink nose and cheeks.

Because I used the vintage yarn, she will be an Easter decoration (as opposed to a kid's toy).

The instructions can be found here:  Sweetheart Bunny.  The instructions are pretty straightforward, however, I used a different size hook because my yarn was textured.

Happy Crafting!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  It seems like 2011 was a year that alot of people were ready to see end. I'm not sure why: We all had our own personal reasons and all I know can say is Good Riddance!.  Here's hoping that 2012 is filled with good things for all of us. We deserve that.

I don't like to make resolutions (way too easily broken) but I do have several things I'd like to work on this year. I want to continue to expand my creativity, both in crafting and writing. I plan to use this blog to share my amazingness (yes, I am confident)! I hope you enjoy this journey and I encourage you to share the wonderful things that you are doing. There's plenty of room here on Random Bits of Goodness for us all!

I am ready and open to new and exciting changes. We live our lives and have to decide how we want to do that. I'm a Sociologist and I've always seen change in that perspective. Change is not bad, it just means that something isn't working and alterations are necessary. That's where I'm at. I need to make alterations. Let the changes begin!

The picture below is of some paper cranes I made last year for the Paper Cranes for Japan Project. Mythology says if you make 1,000 paper cranes for someone they will have a wish granted. I'm not sure that I will make 1,000, but I've got a couple hundred so far and probably need another 200 hundred or so. I want to make an art installation in my craft room that has the cranes flying out of a hanging birdhouse. (Did you see the Next Great Artist? One of the contestents did this on that show). This will definately be a work in progress and I will post pictures.

Earth Day Freebies

Earth Day 2009 is April 22. In celebration of this day, numerous companies are giving away freebies. The following is what I've located so far:

• Reynold's Wrap has a new product that is made from 100% recycled aluminum. Go to http://www.reynoldsrecycled.com/index.html and sign up for an email reminder to go to their site on 4/22 for the rebate form. They say quantities are limited.
• Disney Store is offering a free gift (word is it's a water bottle). Bring 3 plastic bottles to a Disney Store on 4/22 and you will receive your gift. Details are here: http://disneyshopping.go.com/disney/store/Category_10002_10051_59503_-1_59503_____Disney-Store
• The Home Depot will be giving away 1 million CFL bulbs on April 19th. The offer is one per person. (http://www.buxr.com/deal/free-cfl-light-bulb-home-depot-april-19th_20505/type/freebie)
• Dunkin Donuts is offering small iced coffee for 50 cents on April 21. Portion of the proceeds to benefit Homes for Our Troops. The press release is located here (https://www.dunkindonuts.com/aboutus/press/PressRelease.aspx?viewtype=current&id=100139

Edible Arrangements

I got creative for Easter and made a fruit bouquet for dessert. These can be purchased already made, just like a floral arrangement. The Edible Arrangement website is http://www.ediblearrangements.com/. While they make beautiful arrangements, they are rather pricey for me.

Because I am rather thrifty, I set out to make my own. (Posted are pictures of my arrangements). Thanks to the people on this website: http://ediblecraftsonline.com/edible_creations/project_5/index.htm. They provide great directions! These instructions are clear and complete. I do, however, have some lessons learned:

• Make sure you use SHARP knives! The knives in my house are notably dull (I recieved a knife sharpener as a birthday gift)! It was very frustrating to do this project with unsharp knifes!


• If possible, buy your pineapple already peeled and cleaned. After the fact I did see the grocery store offers them, however, they were rather small and would not have worked with the cookie cutter I used. In the summer Walmart has large pineapple and the cost is minimally higher than the whole pineapple.


• Use fruit that is just ripe (as opposed to very ripe). My melon was very ripe and that made it more likely to droop.


• Next time I will make more kabobs and topping with strawberries. This fills the arrangement and you see less stick. I think I'll use grapes.