DIY gifts

Interchangeable Emoji Bookmark

| mel@apeaceofcreativity.com

If you have been following along, you know I am a huge fan of thoughtful gift making. The challenge of thinking of the perfect gift can be really difficult but the reward of giving something meaningful makes it worth it.

This emoji bookmark was perfect for my brother-in-law, Cole. Not only does he still read actual books (which is rare in these e-reader times) but he is a master at figuring out the perfect emojis to go with his photography. Seriously, it is an art form on top of his art form. Just take a look here.

Without going into too much detail about how the actual emojis were made, I wanted to give you my patterns for the bases and the basic construction on how to make the bookmark interchangeable.

Get your free base patterns HERE. Print out, cut out and then use as a guide.

In each of these photos, you can see the different layers of each emoji to give you an idea on how to put them together. If there is an emoji you love that is not pictured here, all you need to do is print it out on at the size you want, cut it out and use it as a pattern and guide.

Don’t you hate when you forget to photograph something! I am sorry to leave this little lantern out but the pieces are pretty simple, with a middle, top and bottom on a square base.

When all of your emojis are completed, grab some elastic and hot glue a plain base in the middle. Hot glue the scratchy side of a small velcro circle to the middle of the base and the soft side of those same velcro circles to the backs of all of your emoji bases!

I know it’s hard to believe but that’s it! You can make your emojis as detailed or as simple as you want.

As someone who loves options this bookmark is the perfect way to express your vibe for the day without even having to say a word. And for someone like Cole, a photographer and arts educator, I hope this is just another way that he can visually express himself!

Firefighter Felt Board

| mel@apeaceofcreativity.com

The holidays are creeping up and if you are a fan of making your own gifts, this felt board is a great option for the little ones in your life. It can be as intricate or as simple as you have time for and provides hours of imaginative fun! These are my tips to help you along the way!

If you have been following along, you know how much of an IKEA fan I am.

TIP:  Fiskbo frames are perfect for kids in that they are lightweight and there is no glass involved, just a sheet of protective plastic.
This sheet of plastic was perfect to hot glue the felt backing on. Trim around the edges to take off the excess felt, put it back into the framing and secure down.

You’re left with a clean, flat and secured felt board!

My nephew LOVES firetrucks and I made this for his 3rd birthday! In this scene he can fight the fire in the building by knocking them out of the windows!

TIP: One of the best parts of a felt board is how interactive it can be. Make sure to give the props purpose to keep imaginations and attention spans running!

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation if you make a purchase using the Amazon links below.

Not only does the ladder come off the firetruck, but I included a moveable water hose to assist with those blazing flames!

TIP: The ladder is attached with small velcro dots. Although felt does stick to each other, it can be hard to play if they don’t stick well enough.  These velcro dots give a little bit more reinforcement which is probably needed when kids are playing anyways!

I had to include my nephew in a firefighter costume. And because I know that children change interests all the time, the velcro dots will come in handy making new outfits and new scenes for more fun in the future!

TIP: My last tip is to make sure all of the pieces have a place to be stored and protected. It is as easy as hot gluing some stiff felt pockets for the large and small pieces. Plastic bags don’t hurt too!

Although the pieces in this scene were rather intricate, they do not have to be! A simple house with doors that open and close or a couple roads with rectangular cars are just a couple of examples of scenes that are interactive and fun!



Monogram Flower Box

| mel@apeaceofcreativity.com

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Why is it so hard to find gifts for Mother’s Day? Maybe it is because our moms never ask for much and have almost everything they need. I know I am always caught in the last minute scramble and there isn’t much that I hate more than giving a gift without meaning or thought. Thankfully, inspiration struck just in time.

I always eye the artificial flowers in the dollar store but some don’t particularly look great, not a surprise being that they are $1.  On this trip, they had some really good ones and I immediately envisioned them filling a letter shaped box.  I didn’t have much time for shopping and in a quick detour to Target, I found a hexagon shaped box and the letter “G” for grandma. My vision had to be reworked a bit, but  I knew it would still be pretty and personal.

You will need:
  • Artificial flowers
  • Wood box in the shape you choose
  • Floral foam
  • Styrofoam
  • Wood letter to fit inside the box
  • Paint
  • Glue gun/E600 glue

 

Fill your wood box with the floral foam, cutting them into pieces and filling all available areas. To secure the pieces together, use a hot glue gun to fill in the cracks like a caulking gun.

For the wood letter, I let my daughter do the painting. She has a tendency to mix all colors together until they turn to brown, like all four year old kids do. 🙂

TIP: If you are having your young child help with the painting, pick out a palette of colors ahead of time and have them paint in layers so all of the colors will show through.

We started with ivory, added silver, gold and then pink. I asked her to add a little more pink but when I came back to the room it was all pink!  Luckily she was a good sport and was willing to add a few more gold and silver layers on there!

I love my glue gun, but it can dry super fast.

TIP: If I have to cover a large area with glue but still want the hot glue hold, use E6000 glue. It takes a little while longer to dry and I had more time and flexibility to place the letter.

After gluing to the foam, I used the glue gun like a caulking gun again and filled in the edges with hot glue.

Now it was time to add the flowers.  I cut all of the flowers with just a little bit of stem, enough to push into the foam.

TIP: For this type of floral arranging, start with the largest ones first and stick to the rule of three’s.  Similar to actual gardening!

After getting three different types of flowers in, I started to question my project.  Something didn’t look right and the letter looked lost in the flowers.  I ripped it all up and glued in some styrofoam to lift the letter up a bit.

TIP: Do not be afraid to start over if you are not satisfied with your project.

If you are anything like me, it would have driven me crazy to see it that way knowing that I could have made it better.

Ahhhh, much better!!! After making a complete mess, I continued adding flowers and making sure my pops of color were even spread out. It was difficult to push some of them into the foam with the letter raised higher, but some needle nose pliers helped.

We celebrated Mother’s Day a little early, so this post will not ruin the surprise!  It is sitting proudly on top of the buffet in her dining room right now! She loved it but I think it made it even more special to know that her daughter and granddaughter both put time and love into it. That is probably the most important thing to remember when looking for a gift idea for your mom!

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Scrabble Art

| A Peace of Creativity

Looking for a really simple, easy but meaningful gift for the grandparents? When my husband was a kid, his family used to play Scrabble all of the time. I had seen large scrabble tiles used for wall collages saying words like “FAMILY” or “HOME”. I wanted to do a pared down version using all of the grandkids’ names.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation if you make a purchase using the links below.

You will need:

  • Strong adhesive (glue gun, E6000, etc…)
  • Scrabble letters (Tally up how many of each letter you will need so you know how many sets to buy.)
  • Shadow box frame preferably with matting
  • Printed or colored paper for the background (enough sheets for a redo if needed, see below)

Lay out your “scrabble board” on your background paper with the mat board so you know where to center them. I took one of the letters I knew I probably would not use (Q) and drew a heart with a black sharpie on back.

One thing I always think about when using the grandkids or kids names is what happens when you know your family is still growing? That’s why this project is so perfect, because of how simple it is, it would be easy to pull off the letters and make a new one for additional names!

Edited:

We have a new addition to the family, my niece, Kelsie! We were able to find a spot for her without moving too many names around.

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GUEST PEACE: Cloud Quilt

| A Peace of Creativity

I find myself pinning a lot of cute quilts on Pinterest that I envision myself making. I have absolutely no idea how to quilt though and I’m not too keen on the idea of taking a quilting class or doing research. When I saw a cute cloud appliqué quilt that I really wanted to make for my friends baby, I decided to just give it a go by cheating.

I picked out some pretty material patterns that I thought were complimentary and white cotton with little white spots for the quilt. The pattern pieces were the little remnant samples form Joann’s so they were really cheap.

I printed a cloud template from the Internet and began cutting out clouds. I quickly realized however, that the material would fray. I went back to JoAnn’s and found some fusible fleece to iron on to the back of the material so it wouldn’t fray. I picked the fleece because it offered some padding to make the clouds stand out.

Once I cut out all the clouds I pinned them onto the white cotton material and hand sewed them in place.

Following that I cut out rain drops with the remaining material and sewed them on under a contrasting color cloud. I used an embroidery hoop to help with this. This hand sewing process took a lot of time and my poor fingers got tired. I know there’s a clever little trick with the sewing machine to sew on small appliqué like this, I just didn’t know what it was and additionally, doing it by hand meant I could park myself on the couch, in front of the TV while I did it. Once I finished sewing on the clouds and raindrops I matched up the batting and back piece of cotton for the quilt. Now here’s where all proficient quilters will shake their heads in disapproval. To create the “quilt” effect I just sewed across with the sewing machine and created squares. I started in the middle and worked out so that it would be even and it was definitely tricky to keep in a straight line. There were a few instances where the material got caught up as the machine met a section that had already been sewed in the opposite direction but all in all it turn out fine. Finally I added on the trim to finish it off.
With a couple of left over clouds, I embroidered “For Aria, with Love” and sewed them on the back of the quilt.

It didn’t turn out perfect but hopefully that adds to the charm of this homemade project. I shipped it off all the way to my good friend Melissa in Singapore for her beautiful baby girl, Aria. I hope Aria has hours of fun tummy-time on this fun little “quilt”.

IMG_7534Samantha is from England but has been in the U.S. for almost 8 years. She has been an amateur knitter most of her life after her grandmother taught her at an early age. She loves crafting but struggles to complete projects. She has recently started making what she calls “cheat-quilts” – sewing quilts without using any correct technique. Samantha loves making gifts for friends kids and any time she completes a project she is very happy. She says that the best part about crafting is the relaxation it provides so she never takes any project too seriously.

See Samantha’s other Guest Peace: A Fun Christmas Jumper!

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