#LIGHTtheWORLD Teacher Christmas Gift with Free Printables

I wanted a useful, inexpensive Christmas gift for my kids' teachers. So, I ordered some pretty lip balm. I thought it would be cute, along with some candy kisses with a "Merry 'Kiss'mas" tag.

I was getting ready to put the bags together tonight when I thought, wait a minute, why am I the one doing all this? Wouldn't a gift mean more if it actually came from my kids? Then, I remembered this adorable thank you card printable kit Melissa Esplin designed for the #LIGHTtheWORLD service initiative.

So, I printed out her cute little flat cards, gave my kids a pen and told them to write their teachers a note or draw a picture. She also has printable cards that fold in half, ones with lines for young kids, and coordinating envelopes... all free!

I think they turned out cute. My daughter had a lot of fun with it. The boys didn't have the best attitude. But, I think it's good for them to show their appreciation anyway. I hope their teachers enjoy their notes!

Since Melissa's design is so pretty, I wanted the "Merry 'Kiss'mas" tag to coordinate with the card. So, I designed one with a little bough to tie them together, even though they don't look so lovely with the bags I grabbed at Walmart. ;)

I decided to offer the FREE TAG DOWNLOAD for you, in case you decide to do the same thing. Just print it out, cut on the faint lines and attach to some kisses or lip balm for an inexpensive gift!

Download Melissa's lovely printables, including the thank you cards and this art piece, at melissaesplin.com or hop over to Lolly Jane to see her kit and two other free printable kits!

Free Christmas Subway Art Printable - Names of Christ 8x10

I have some special Christmas gifts for you this year! First, I designed this printable with names of Christ for my church group to do a simple Christmas decoration for their home or gift. Now, I'm giving it to you! It comes in gold or silver (gray) so you can pick which works best with your decor.

DOWNLOADS:

Free Names of Christ Subway Art - Gold PDF

Free Names of Christ Subway Art - Gold JPEG

Free Names of Christ Subway Art - Silver PDF

Free Names of Christ Subway Art - Silver JPEG

Click on one of the links above to download the file you want. Print out the pdf from your home printer or send the jpeg to your favorite photo lab. Then, place it in an 8x10 inch frame (you can even find them at the dollar store!). Voila! You've got a pretty reminder of the reason for the season. These also make great Christmas gifts.

The next Christmas gift I have for you is a special surprise I will share on black Friday. I'm really excited about this one!

Please remember my freebies are for personal use only. Do not share, sell, or distribute my files. I retain all copyright. If you would like to share these, please link to this post, not the downloads directly.

Free Home Decor or Gift Printable Download

Yay! I sold the 500th item in my Etsy shop this week! To celebrate I'm giving away a free printable. I designed this one to remind me of this fabulous talk by President Dieter Uchtdorf. He is one of the  leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Here is the download link. Please use and enjoy for your own personal use. Don't share sell or distribute my file. I retain all copyrights.

I hope you will use this design for your home, as a gift, scrapbook accent, or scale it down for a card. Don't forget, you are loved and God has not forgotten you! I promise. :)

Baby Girl Shower Party Favors

Inspired by the shower I threw for Sarah and Mandi, I designed this baby girl shower. One of my favorite elements is the party favors. I love how the paper doilies fit so perfectly around the baby food jars I've been saving.

If you would like to make your own, follow these steps:
1. Gather your supplies: Clean baby food jars, paper doilies, thin ribbon, tags, scissors, a glue gun, a hole punch, and optional decorative scissors.
2. Center your baby food jar lid over your paper doily. Place small dots of hot glue along the edge of your lid.
3. Attach the doily to the lid where the hot glue is. You may want to use a pencil or popsicle stick to press it on so you don't burn your fingers.
4. Place small dots of hot glue along the edge of your lid (on top of the doily) and attach your ribbon.
5. Thread your tag through the ribbon and tie a bow.
6. Put treats inside your jar!

Tutorial: How to Make a Corsage

A few years ago my parents celebrated their 50th anniversary. We really wanted to give them a corsage & boutonniere to wear but forgot to order them in time. So, I was lucky enough to get assigned to make them. My mom loved it and was so surprised when I told her I made it. Now every year I make one for her to wear on Mother's Day.

The first time I made a corsage, I had no idea what I was doing. I called my florist friend, looked some things up on the internet and figured it out. It took several hours. I think it would have gone faster if I could find a good tutorial so I made one for you. Hopefully, it will help if you decide to give it a try.

1. Gather your supplies: flowers, floral wire, floral tape, wire cutters, heavy-duty scissors (kitchen shears), ribbon, and a pin. I got my wire, tape & cutters from the dollar store.
2. Cut your flower stems short (mine are about 3 inches). I suggest you let them soak in water after they are cut for a little while so they stay fresh longer.
3. Wrap the stems in floral wire. If your stem is delicate (like my daisy) you may just have to place the wire next to the stem instead of wrapping.
4. Wrap the stems in floral tape. Stretch the tape as you go.
5. Make little flower clusters. I made one with more greenery and smaller flowers/buds for the top. For the middle I used less greens and medium-sized flowers. For the bottom I used my rose cluster.
6. Combine your clusters and wrap them with floral tape. Add a ribbon and pin.

FOR FRESHNESS: Spray flowers with a water bottle. Place your corsage in a plastic container from a florist or a loose-fitting zip-lock bag. Put a damp paper towel in the bottom. Store the corsage in your refrigerator's crisper.

This is the one I made for my mother-in-law. I just checked to see if there were any new corsage tutorials since I last checked. I really like this one. She wrapped her stems in ribbon. It turned out very pretty. Hope this helps! Let me know if there are any questions.

Free Printable Gift Tags or Banner

I wanted to create a fun Mother's Day printable for you. Gift tags are always useful, right? The awesome thing about these gift tags is they serve other purposes too... make a banner, party favor note... What will you use them for?

Click the image above or here to download. Aren't they pretty colors? I pulled my color inspiration from this lovely photo from Style Me Pretty that I shared here.

Valentine's Gift Garland

One thing I have been working on a lot lately is setting aside special time with the boys. Each day after lunch we do an activity. I will be posting some of our ideas soon.

First, here is a gift garland we made for my hubby. This would be a fun tradition for any holiday. Each bag has a Valentine and treat inside... one for each of us to spell LOVE.

Here's how we did it...

1. Gather your supplies. I used ribbon too.

2. Make and decorate some cards.

3. Decorate your paper bags

4. Place your treats and cards inside the bags.

5. Fold the tops down, place ribbon at the top, and sew.

Inexpensive Girl Gift

My little niece turned one! She is a sweetie and had an awesome party. We brought this little gift for her. It was really inexpensive but hopefully fun and useful. The little bows and flowers are pins I made for her to attach to the hat, shirt, sweater, or whatever.

Pencil Bag or Clutch

I made this little bag for my son's preschool teacher. I filled it with hugs, kisses, a note, and a teacher necklace. She loved it. It was inspired by the Make it and Love it Blog.

See, I have been doing projects. Ha! Check back tomorrow for another project by yours truly.

Flower Clips & Notebooks

A few years ago my in-laws started a fun tradition. The cousins draw names and exchange inexpensive or homemade gifts. This year I decided to make the gifts. I just used materials I had on had.

The flower clips were made with felt I cut by hand and added a little button and stitching. I attached the flowers to hair clips with a stitch and hot glue.

The notebook covers were made from scraps of scrapbook paper and stickers. I cut paper to go inside from notebook and copy paper. Then I folded the paper in half and punched holes through each sheet to tie the ribbon through.

I may still go to the dollar store and buy some pens to go with them. Other than that, they were free and simple to make. Success. Hopefully my nieces like them.

White Chocolate Dipped Oreos

I made these little goodie bags for my son's preschool teacher and aides. They were really fun and easy to make. I just dipped the oreos half way in white chocolate and topped them with crushed candy cane. I had planned on designing a cute header for them but... My son made cards to slip in the back of the bag.

Gifts from Paper Source

Lovely calendar designs and patterns from Paper Source.

Isn't this one fun and happy?

You really can't go wrong with a floral.

This July page is especially nice. The whole year is kind of a random pattern mix.

How about some mustache gifts?

Homemade Kid's Gifts

I hope you haven't procrastinated as much as I have this year. But, in case you're like me and still have a few gifts to get but no budget left, here are some easy homemade kid's gift ideas I created throughout the year.

1. Paper bi-plane     2. Matching game with bag     3. Sock puppets
4. File folder game with download     5. Play dough     6. Puzzle bag

White Chocolate Popcorn

Do you need an simple and easy neighbor, friend, or co-worker gift? Give this yummy popcorn a try. I was featured on Or so she says... this summer making it. With the dried cranberries, pecans, cinnamon... december is the perfect time to make it.

For complete instructions, go here. Here are the ingredients:
4 oz. bag of chopped pecans
12 oz. bag of white chocolate chips
1 1/2 bags of microwave popcorn
a little cinnamon (sorry I didn't measure)
6 oz. bag of dried cranberries

All you need to do is make popcorn (I used the very lightly buttered bags), melt the chocolate, and mix the ingredients together. Done!

Don't forget those adorable envelope bags! So simple to make from any size envelope! They would work great for a little gift. Here are the simple directions from How About Orange.

Paper Snowflakes

I feel like making paper snowflakes lately. So, when I saw this lovely garland and gift topper idea from How About Orange I thought "wow". Jessica is one smart gal.