Keys to my Past

What was your favorite Christmas gift this year? (Okay, technically LAST year)  One of my favorites was this old snuff jar:

"What?!  A snuff jar?!" you say?  Yeah...well, my favorite part was what it was filled with...dozens of really awesome old keys.  The jar belonged to my great Grandma Brandt, and it was where she kept her keys.

Years ago I snapped this photo at the Minnesota State Fair of a wall that was covered with old keys:

I just love the texture and patterns in all of the keys, and wondering where they all came from.  I love the various colors they've taken on and bled onto the wood as they endure harsh Minnesota winters.  I printed the close-up photo and had it hanging in my cubicle for years.

Now that I freelance from home, and don't have to worry about my valuables being swiped from my desk (like my wedding ring was...but that's a whole other sad story), I thought I'd make my own real wall of keys.  That was a year or two ago, and I've been searching for cool old keys at garage sales ever since.  So far I have found a whopping two keys, for $1 each.  At this rate it would take me FOR-E-VER.

Well, when my mom caught word that I was keeping my eye out for keys, she remembered that they had a whole jar of them stored away somewhere from my Dad's Grandma, and they gave them to me alongside other fun Christmas gifts!

...And here they are (most of them) on display in my studio, along with my shiny letter "G" and my collection of fortune cookie fortunes that are tucked under the plastic corner guard. 

Keys are important.  You'll know that all too well if you've experienced the panic that sets in when you realize you've locked yourself out of your car or your house.  They protect the things that are of value to you.  They are a symbol of adulthood.  I so clearly remember being in high school when it was glaringly obvious who just got their driver's license because of the huge, clanking ring of keys they had swinging from their pocket for the world to see. They are symbols of independence.  Your first car.  Your first apartment.  Yours and only yours because you have the key.  They are a symbol of trust in whomever you may share them with.

I see bins and bins of old keys at the Junk Bonanza with my mom each year, yet I've never purchased any there.  Sure, I could have bought this whole wall from one antique seller, just for the look.  But now I have my own collection that has a lot more meaning behind it.  (Thanks Mom & Dad!)

There are big keys and teeny tiny little keys.  Black keys and silver keys and brass keys.  Every one has a different design and unlocks some unknown object or door from my  past. I look at the keys that are slightly twisted and distorted and wonder what that one got stuck in.  I left the little strings tied on some of the keys because that's the way Great Grandma had them.  I wonder what doors they unlocked, what clocks they wound up, what secrets they kept, and what treasures they may have secured...yet I find it delightfully ironic that in the end, the objects they unlocked are probably long gone, and the keys themselves are the treasures!



On a related note, here's a fun idea I came across on Pinterest via "Young House Love"...

A little shadow box displaying the keys to the places you've lived.  Makes me wish I had kept copies of my old keys!  After all, modern keys may look totally boring to me now, but who knows...my great grand kids may unlock everything with fingerprint recognition and may find my keys to be fascinating relics!

Homemade Teacher Gift Ideas

I had a friend ask me yesterday if I had any ideas for teacher gifts that she could make.  I'm still a year away from having teachers to get gifts for, but I can see how the cost can quickly add up when your child potentially has multiple teachers and teacher aids! So, what a great, timely idea for a blog post!  (thanks, Kim!)

I pulled several ideas together from my Pinterest boards and some of my previous blog posts.  Here's what I came up with so far!  I'd love to hear if you try any of these and if they go over well!  These are great ideas for ANYBODY, by the way, not JUST teachers, if you're looking for some fun homemade gift ideas!

Bake cookies and wrap them up in empty Pringles cans!

Make hot chocolate dipping spoons! This would be great paired with a couple packets of Swiss Miss!

Felt apple coasters!  So cute!

 

 

 

Fabric wrapped hangers!  Everyone has clothes to hang, right?  This is a great way to recycle fabric scraps from other projects too.

And speaking of hangers, this is posted as a wedding dress hanger, but I was thinking it could also make a cute teacher gift, whether it's hung on a wall as a decoration or actually used.

Framed initial made from crayons!  I've always loved this idea.  You can often find shadow boxes in thrift stores too or you can use a regular frame and skip the glass.  Here's another idea to use pencils!

Cookie cutter fudge!  A treat to enjoy now and a cookie cutter to use later!

Try blinging out a clipboard!

Peppermint bark always makes for a pretty presentation!  Try doing a search on Allrecipes for bark.  You can try peppermint, or maybe a chocolate mint, etc...maybe try a few and do a little sampler of a few kinds in a tin!  I also LOVE this nutter butter bark recipe.

This would be a fun twist on those jars of cookie mixes...make your own spice mixes!  These would make great teacher gifts, of course with a label that looks cuter than a piece of tape ("Seasonings Greetings?"), and maybe some cute fabric covers over the lids.  Take a trip to Whole Foods to buy spices WAY WAY cheaper by bulk.

Cute felt pencil toppers!  I'd love to post a link to this to give the creator credit, but it was shared on Pinterest with a link to a blog that is only shared with invited readers.  (If this is yours, let me know and I'll be glad to credit you!)

Another broken Pinterest link here, so I can't share a tutorial unfortunately.  But these are coasters made from cheap 4" tiles from Home Depot.  Cut scrapbook paper into squares to fit, adhere with mod podge, and put felt on the bottom! Sweet!

Apple cake pops!  Cake pops can get real time consuming, from what I hear.  But if you're up to the challenge, these are totally adorable!

I wish I could knit, then I might try this cute knit apple!  But you could do this with crochet too.  Cute to use as a pin cushion, or just a cute decoration!

What kind of business woman would I be if I didn't promote my own products?!  ;-) I've sold quite a few of my Junk Mail Gems letter magnets to people looking for teacher gifts.  For $1 per letter you can spell the teacher's last name, or choose words like "teach" or "learn," etc. 

 

I also sent out a Facebook message to my fellow teacher friends.  Suggestions included things that they can really use as opposed to gifts of the knick-knack variety.  Also, you can't go wrong with gift cards!  But don't sweat the expense...they seem to me to be just as happy to have a hand written note, a picture made by the kids, or just a heartfelt verbal "thank you!"

Are you a teacher?  I'd LOVE it if you would comment on this post with your favorites and least favorite gifts to receive! (And feel free to shoot down any of the ideas I've found!) I know it would help out a lot of moms!

For more ideas for teachers and other family and friends, be sure to check out one of my posts from last year which has more fun ideas for homemade gifts!

DIY Father's Day Gift Ideas

Father's day is coming!!  There are a zillion Father's day gift ideas out there, but here are a few that have recently caught my eye...

Got a coffee drinking dad? I love this "Manly Java Jacket" idea, made to look like muddy tire tracks.  Very cool and useful too!

I love the agate-like look of these keychains made of polymer clay. 

Got a dad who knows his way around the shop? I do, and one year I made him a sawblade clock similar to this one. I attached some nuts to the face as well to mark the hours. 

Got a dad who appreciates wine? Mine makes wine and one year for his birthday I made him a wine cork cork board similar to this one. You can Google more ideas for wine corks, which can be turned into trivets, keychains, name tag holders, etc!

Setting a special table for dad?  Try folding the napkins like shirts!  (See some previous posts to make some great cupcakes for Dad too...bbq grill cupcakes and cheeseburger cupcakes!)

My dad likes to joke about his gifts from me... "at least it's better than a ROCK!"  This is because I actually gave him a rock one year.  Not just your average rock, mind you, but a rock that I colored on with markers.  He still has it though, so I'm thinking hey, maybe a rock isn't half bad for a gift.  After all, he probably isn't still hanging on to the package of underwear that Mom picked up for me to give him for Christmas in 1987.   Here's something a little more "fancy" as far as rocks go.

You still have a few days to make something fun with the kids for Dad, so hopefully this helps give you a few ideas you may not have seen before! 

Homemade Holidays

Now that we just finished my family's Christmas celebration, it is safe for me to share all of the homemade gifts I gave this year without fear of spoiling any surprises!  I know this may be too little too late, for those of you who were looking for ideas to give this year...but if you like to make stuff, you may want to tuck this one away for next year!  (Or start now...why not?!)

First, a little background...spending 7 months trying to sell our house was incredibly stressful for me, and when I am under unusual amounts of stress, I have found that I turn into an uncontrollable art and design monster.  (Hand felting was one of my favorite new pastimes that came from those 7 months, due to the therapeutic benefits of repeatedly stabbing something with a barbed needle!)  The last time I had a big upset in my life, I started my business Junk Mail Gems, took on a 2 year volunteer role as the chair of the IDSA Minnesota chapter, left my corporate job and started a design firm with two partners.  So, as you can see, I try to channel my negative energy into something positive which is very healing AND rewarding in the end.  Anyway, during these past 7 months of house selling (or lack thereof) I tried to channel this unquenchable creative desire into making something useful: Christmas gifts!  And there you have it.

This first one sounds really ridiculous but looks cool, so I'm glad I tried it.  It really was an experiment that came out pretty sweet. If you have little kids who love Play-Doh like I do, you may recognize the little colored bits in this pendant as being those tiny pieces of dried up Play-Doh that get stuck in the perforated plastic heads of those barber shop guys. Yup, I was just nutty enough to see an art project in these little dried up Play-Doh scraps.  I filled a silicone mini muffin pan with the Play-Doh bits, poured in some resin, and out popped a cool, shiny disc.  I bent a loop with some jewelry wire, glued it to the back, attached a cord, and gave one to my sister.  Oh, and I have one in my jewelry box now too.  It's definitely a conversation piece!

This is NOT something that I made, but something that I bought from my dad to give to all of my in-laws.  My dad keeps bees and makes beautiful honey, and this year he sold quite a few jars to people thanks to my mom's email and Facebook marketing! He has his own labels and everything. 

I made some recycled record bowls for my sister and sisters-in-law, as well as my Grandma.   They really are not tough to make.  I picked up some records at the thrift store, and besides that, all you need are some mixing bowls.  I started with this video online.  I did have a little trial and error and in the end figured out that I get a lot more space inside the bowl to hold things, if I form the record between TWO bowls.  So, basically I set a record on an inverted bowl and put it in the oven just like the video shows, but then instead of smooshing it inside a bowl, I forced a slightly larger bowl over the top, sandwiching the record between two bowls, forming it from the inside AND outside.  They are very fun and quick to make and sure make a fun gift for a music lover! I have step by step pictures and will try to share that in the future.

In my needle felting frenzy I ended up with several things started and not quite finished yet, but I did manage to finish a few gift items. Above is a little felted cactus that I made for my mother-in-law who lives in Arizona.  I got one of those teeny tiny little clay pots for him to sit in.  The internal "structure" is made from some rolled up scraps of wool sweaters that I felted, and then I needle felted the pieces together and all of the colors on the surface.  I think he turned out pretty cute!

 I made needle felted pins for my Grandma (the daisy, as her middle name is Daisy), and for my mom (the paint palette, since she's an amazing artist).  They were some of my very early experiments with needle felting, and I have tons of pin backs for my Junk Mail Gems pins, so turned them into pins!  Come to think of it, they would have made great magnets as well, because they are so light weight.

 Next up are some sets of necklaces and earrings that I made for my mom and sister.  I hand made these little beads that look like Christmas cookies that my mom makes every year, out of Sculpey clay.  These were a lot of fun.  I sat down one night and baked up dozens of miniature cookies in my oven and later strung them into necklaces.

 Of course, it made way more little cookie beads than I think I'll ever be able to use, although I ended up making one for myself too, but they were really fun!  I also made a few magnets for my frig that were a little larger while I was at it.

I'm always looking for fun ways to preserve my kids' artwork, and have been continuously scanning and photographing Sammy's art as he does it, so that I have digital copies.  This year I made Sammy's own art calendar for each of his grandparents.  Each month showcases another work of art created by Sammy.  I included a page with his recycled magazine collage, as well as his nature collage.  Some months have a small photo in the corner of him actually making the art.  This works great for 3D art too...I set up all of his little painted wooden models and took a photo for one month as well!  This would be a fun way to preserve your kids' art, catalog it by year, and share it with others.

 This particular piece of Sammy art was called "Water and a Boat."  Since Sammy was drawing Grandpa's boat when he did this, I had it printed on a cap for Grandpa to wear.  (with a title along the bottom, just in case the average art aficionado couldn't tell it was water and a boat!)

I remembered my grandma mentioning on the phone to me recently that it's so hard to even find pretty stationery anymore in the stores, because people are doing so much email these days.  So, of course, the light turned on in my head.  I had some personalized stationery printed using another scanned piece of Sammy's artwork, along with a sheet of address labels and a pen with her name on it.  It turned out really cool!

 Also for my grandma, I made this Scrabble serving tray.  You may remember this from a previous post.  My favorite parts are the handles made from the wood trays! ;-)

 This one I made for my sister-in-law, who plays piano and is an elementary school music teacher.  I found some old sheet music (there are boxes and boxes at the thrift store) and decoupaged the tray.  I sprinkled a tiny bit of glitter in the varnish and then poured some clear resin over the top.  I also gave her an old magazine, maybe from the 20's or 30's, published for teachers...it was another thrift store find that I found really fun to read and thought she might as well!  I particularly loved all of the ads offering vacation packages and other side jobs to give teachers an escape from their crazy classrooms! ;-)

 

This is a wine bottle carrying case that I made for my dad, who happens to make his own wine.  The fun part about it is not just that it is made from recycled wool, but that this plaid wool came from an old pair of hunting pants that HIS dad (my grandpa) used to wear, which were passed down.  When my dad found out that I was felting old wool sweaters from thrift stores to make stuff, he gave me these hunting pants to turn into whatever I wanted.  They were getting pretty worn, but I still found them to be special since they were Grandpa's pants.  My grandpa made wine too, so I thought he too would approve of this fun way to repurpose his pants!  The metal eyelets and the lace were actually part of the pants...the bottoms, on each ankle, had laces.  I thought this was the most interesting part of the pants so I utilized that piece.  I would like to make him a couple more, but between my need to utilize my seam ripper more than 4 times, and my sewing machine needle breaking, I was uttering too many bad words to continue.  I think I'll take a step back and make more in the future!

There were a couple other gifts that I gave made from felted wool sweaters that I can't seem to find photos of...a stack of felt coasters for my sister, and some stacking baby blocks for my nephew.  I'll post 'em if I find the pics!

I received some other great homemade gifts as well, which I hope to share here soon...I hope this helps to inspire you to make some fun things for next year!  (or for other birthdays and holidays in 2011!)

Gifts: Does "Homemade" Equal "Cheap?"

How can you avoid the insanity of black Friday?  Make stuff!! I love to give homemade gifts.  I've been feverishly creating for the past month or so, and I'd love to show you what I'm giving this year!  But, many of my recipients are also followers so I can't spoil the surprise...you'll all have to wait until AFTER Christmas!

I don't give homemade gifts because I am too cheap to go buy something, although I always have this feeling in the back of my mind that that's what people are thinking when they receive a homemade gift.  Maybe it's my own insecurity about giving something I've made...wondering if the recipient is just being nice by saying they like it. After all, they can't add "something Gretchen made" to their Amazon wish list.  So, I always find myself accompanying my hand made gifts with something store bought as well, which leaves me feeling like I've just undermined the value of my own gift and added to the home-made stigma.  It's all a little ironic when I think about it, because I know people around the world are paying for the things that I make on my website and in retail stores to give as gifts to others!

While making gifts may very well be a way to save some money, I have found that many times it really costs me the same, if not more, than what I would have spent on a store bought gift.  Especially if it is something that I haven't made in the past, that might require some materials and/or equipment that I didn't already own from a previous project.  One year I tried making soaps...they turned out okay but I found it wasn't really my thing and now all the supplies sit unused. (Which brings up another good point...thrift stores are a great place to find craft supplies from people who have given up on it!)

I guess in my mind, a homemade gift says so much...it says that I thought about you not just in the instant that I grabbed something on a store shelf so I could cross you off my shopping list, but for the hours, days, and sometimes weeks it took me to create your one-of-a-kind gift.

These days, time is money.  Especially to me, a work-from-home mom, who could easily fill up all of my "me time" doing my freelance design work, for which I get paid by the minute.  Or a weekend doing a face painting gig...where I get $75 for one hour of work.  When you think of it in terms of how much money I could have made in the same amount of time spent working on a gift, suddenly the "value" really shoots up!  I mean, you can crochet an hour every night for a couple months to make an afghan!  Not to mention EASILY spend $30+ on the yarn alone.  I know certain color schemes go out of style, but I'm always so sad to see beautiful handmade afghans hanging in the thrift stores by the dozens for a couple bucks.  But I digress..

I'm not trying to bash store bought gifts.  It's really fun when you can find just the perfect thing that you know someone really wants or can really use, and like I said, I usually add something store bought with my homemade items. But, it does make me think, why couldn't I scrap the store bought item?  Or at least not complete some homemade gift and then rack my brain over what store bought item to "add to it" to make it a "better gift" that measures up to the dollar amount everyone else spent?  It would be really fun one year to just agree with the family to only give homemade gifts. You wouldn't even have to be artistic...think of the fun seeing everyone's creative sides come out!  Maybe you write a poem, or make up a song, bake something delicious, or make IOU's for an activity to do together!

I've always enjoyed giving photo gifts from sites like Shutterfly and Snapfish, and have even had a couple custom designed puzzles made for my grandparents.  These seem to be a nice blend of homemade and store bought...they carry the store bought price tag and perceived value but also the personal, one-of-a-kind touch of being homemade.  When I make something, I always like to add a little home-made tag to go on it as well.  It gives it that fancy gift feel like something from a store, and gives you a place to call out the fact that this was hand made by you and maybe even describe the process you go through to make it.

I guess my point is this: If you're a recipient of a homemade gift, don't assume the giver is just being cheap...take their investment of time as a great compliment.  And if you're giving homemade gifts, take pride in the fact that you are giving a gift that nobody else on the planet is getting from anyone else!  After all, years down the road, chances are these are the things that will really last and you'll want to hang on to for generations!

Home Made Father's Day Gift & Treat Ideas

When it comes to Father's day gifts, nothing says "I Love You" like a rock.  No, really...it's one of two gifts I've given my dad as a kid that he still has and talks about.  To be fair, I DID decorate it with my Crayola markers with the words "I love you," if I remember correctly. The other gift was a mug that I made in school when I was 12, that I shattered on the floor while attempting to wrap it (into 11 pieces, to be exact)...he pieced together his entire gift with super glue and still has it today! 

I am writing about my lame-o gift ideas to illustrate that in the end, it really IS the thought that counts.  So, here are a few things that you and your kids can make yourselves for Dad for his big day next weekend...and don't sweat it if things don't turn out as perfect as the pictures.  Heck, if I can  get away with a box of broken clay pieces, your gift will ROCK! (even if it IS a rock!)

Family Fun has some cute ideas for Father's day ideas, for gifts to make and food.  I like these little bbq grill themed cupcakes...they'd go great with my previous cheeseburger cupcake post!  They also have some adorable lawn mower cupcakes.

I've always liked their glasses case made from a recycled necktie.  You probably don't want to take a tie out of Dad's closet for this unless you know he doesn't want to wear it anymore, but it's a fun way to repurpose an old tie from a thrift store too.

Every year my husband gets a little photo book with pictures of him with his boy (boyS this year) that I've purchased on Shutterfly.  Unfortunately they quit making them...they had cute little hard cover books that were small enough to put in your pocket.  This year I've settled for a smaller, non-hard-cover version from Snapfish, and you can get 20% off with the coupon code DADSDAY2010 if you order before June 20th.  Both sites offer many fun gifts that you can personalize with photos.  My husband also travels a lot, so I've gotten him a couple photo luggage tags that he loves to use as well.

A trip to the craft store this time of year will help jog some ideas in your head as well.  There are tons of things that the kids can decorate for dad, from mugs to bbq aprons to picture frames...

If your dad likes to spend time in the yard and/or garden, these stepping stone kits are a great idea.  You can put the kids' hand prints or footprints in them and give one each year, showing how Dad's family is growing from year to year.



Kaboose has a nice collection of Father's Day card ideas, from the super basic little kid cards to this cool fish card:

Last year Sammy was finally able to hold crayons and markers, so I gave him some paper and crayons, traced one of his hands on the paper, and then let him go to town on the rest...scribbling on the page.  I took his picture while doing this, which was fun because he had marker all over his face.  I then trimmed the paper and glued it on the front of a folded piece of construction paper, added "Happy Father's Day Daddy," and put a photo of him making the card inside.  It was a great way to have a 1-yr-old "make" a card for Daddy, with a little help from Mommy.  Here he is with marker on his face:

There are billions of crafts you can find online, at any level of difficulty.  You may have noticed I have not posted anything involving popsicle sticks, as I know you can probably find more of those yourself than you can shake a popsicle stick at.  But, if you're looking for something REALLY unique and probably more advanced, check out my "Favorite Fun DIY and Craft Blogs" section of my Junk Mail Gems links page.  You'll find many great sites with tutorials for just about anything you can think of...which is a fun place to start if you're also in your 30's like me and can't get away with giving him a rock anymore.

Got any other ideas planned for Dad next weekend?  Do share!