Gift Wrap Ideas

I love putting a pretty present under the tree, don't you? The past couple of years I've gone out the morning after Christmas to buy wrapping paper and other Christmas stuff on sale so I've got a pretty big collection of wrapping paper on hand. If I didn't though, I'd be going crazy on some of these DIY wrapping ideas - aren't they all so gorgeous?! Oh, and check out how I wrapped my gifts a couple of years ago here. I swear I had another post dedicated to DIY present wrapping but for the life of me can't find it #struggs. (edit: FOUND IT!)

Going Home to Roost

The Pretty Blog

Odessa May Society

A Homemade Living

Saffron Avenue

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Groomsmen Gifts

I already shared the gift bags I gave my bridesmaids at our wedding, and now I want to share the boxes Jeff put together for his groomsmen. Someone let him on Pinterest (ahem) and he got really excited about the ideas he saw.

Photo by Cristina G Photography

He started with these fancy engraved humidors from Etsy. He got each guy's name and college logo engraved on the outside and then filled it up with goodies. 

Photo by Cristina G Photography

He added snacks, gum, some liquor, a 5 hour energy, groomsmen sunglasses to match our #teambride pairs, cigars, and matching socks & ties (not pictured). The guys seemed to like them ;)

Photo by Cristina G Photography

Of course I personally preferred the bridesmaid bags, because, you know, I'm a lady, but I think this idea was so fun for the guys! And of course, they enjoyed consuming and utilizing their gifts throughout the wedding day ;) I'd better watch out for Jeff, he seems like he might fit right in to this whole blog community haha. 

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The Friday of Halloweens Past

This weekend I had to finish my Halloween costume since I'm traveling the next two weekends for weddings, and while digging through my costume dresser (what, do other people not have an entire dresser devoted to costumes?) I was reminded of some of my favorite Halloween costumes of the past couple of years.  Here are some of my favorites:

Holly Golightly

Loofah

Tiger

Clue

Wendy from Peter Pan

Carebear

What's been your favorite Halloween costume?  Are you dressing up this year?

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Easy DIY Art

My little sister just bought a new house (she's more of a grownup than me) and after seeing the couple of pieces I made for my new gallery wall, she requested I make some things for her new place.

The first thing I wanted to make was this easy color-blocked painting, which literally took just 20 minutes.

First, I laid out a little grid with some washi tape.  I started by measuring out thing to make sure everything was straight, and then decided that was far too much work and just eyeballed things instead.

Next I mixed up a couple different shades of pink/red, making sure that I would have enough to cover the whole canvas so I wouldn't have to remix the colors halfway through and not get a perfect match.  I then randomly painted different squares, leaving a couple white.

After letting things dry for about 20 minutes, I peeled off the tape, and voila!  A painting!

I'm excited to have an excuse to make a few more things for her, I'll share them as I go!

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DIY Fall Candy Corn Candles

Remember my quest for candy corn a couple of weeks ago?  Well it wasn't for eating (I actually hate the stuff!), it was for decorating.  I'm not exactly where I got the idea, but I was browsing Pinterest and saw some decorations using candy corn, and thought it would look great as a candle holder.

I already had some mason jars in various sizes (I originally found them at Target), so I filled them about a quarter of the way full with candy corn, put the candles in, and then filled in with more candy corn around the sides.  I originally wanted real votives, but then I realized, duh, that real votives would melt the candy as well as the wax.  These are flameless candles (also from Target) that I'll be able to use all season.  You could also use real candles, but you would probably need to put them inside a little holder on top of the candy.

I made a bunch of them, so I have them scattered around the house, including in my dining room with my favorite little fox from last fall.

A fun little DIY that's less than 10 minutes of work?  Now that's definitely my style!

I hope you have a great weekend! 

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Gift Idea: Customized Cutting Board

Lately, my house has been filled with the smell of burning wood.  No, we haven't been starting fires or burning wood-scented candles.  I received a wood burning tool from Darby Smart and have been going a litttttlle crazy with it.  What's a wood burning tool?  It's basically a really hot pen that you can use to write or stamp on wood objects.  I'm totally addicted, it's fulfilling all of my childhood pyromaniac needs.

I was trying to think of a good gift for my dad's birthday and having some serious struggles.  Are all dads hard to buy for?  For Father's Day I gave him a bottle of some nice whiskey, and prior to that, most of his recent gifts have been giftcards or cash for him to go crazy in the hardware store.  Since he's always making things (check out this gorgeous huppah he made for my brother's wedding), I thought it would be fun to return the favor and make something for him.

To make this, you'll need a cutting board of your choice, a wood burning tool, and letter hot stamps.  I first lightly drew a line across the board to denote where the letters would go, and then laid out the stamps to get the spacing right.  Then I attached my first letter to the tool and got burning.  It takes a couple of minutes for the tool to heat up (you can tell it's ready because it starts to smell like hot metal).  Then I held the stamp on the board, tilting it to make sure I got all of the edges of the letter, until it started to smoke.  Next, I let the tool cool for a little bit, removed the letter, and started the process over again with the next letter stamp.  I then used the pen tool to draw a couple of decorative lines, and called it a day.  Add some cheese, sausage, and crackers, and you've got yourself a present!

I made another cutting board for my mom for Mother's Day just using the pen tool, and she lurrrrved it ;)

Do you still make gifts for your friends and family?

I received these tools c/o Darby Smart, but all thoughts and opinions are my own!

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DIY Polka-Dotted Wine Glasses

I may have a teensy bit of a Darby Smart problem.  If you haven't heard me mention it four thousand times before, Darby Smart is a DIY company that sends boxes filled with all of the supplies you need for one project.  I love doing crafts, but whenever I go to Michael's to buy supplies I end up buying four thousand things that don't go together and end up missing the things I actually need.  Getting everything in the mail all together is super helpful, and helps me to actually start and finish projects.  Darby Smart is seriously a brand that I love, which is why I'm excited to share another project with you.

I was browsing the site a couple of weeks ago and saw a project for decorating some wine glasses (which sadly is no longer available, but this is an easy enough project to recreate yourself) that included four stemless wine glasses and two Julep nail polishes.  After cleaning the glasses, I turned them upside down and dotted on red polish first, and then after letting it dry, added the pink.  After letting the polish dry completely, they were done!  Seriously, it was that quick, I was done in less than thirty minutes.

As an added bonus, since I didn't use all of the nail polish, I now have two new colors in my collection, as well as some super adorable wine glasses.  I love them so much that I've been using them nonstop.  You may have noticed me Instagramming my new fancy wine glass while listening to James Taylor at Ravinia.  I'm heading back to Ravinia tonight to celebrate my Dad's birthday, so I'll definitely break them out again!

Want to try out Darby Smart for yourself?  Just by signing up, you will receive $10 off your first order.

I hope you have a great weekend!

Linking up with Little Friday.

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DIY Moroccan Tile Coasters

So I have something slightly embarrassing to admit.  I moved in with Jeff over a year ago, but we never managed to get coasters.  We just have cups all over the house resting on scraps of paper.  Super classy, I know.  So when I saw this DIY from Darby Smart (and saw that it had the word "Morocco" in the name) I had to go for it.

The kit came with coasters, spray paint, and some cute stencils.  I maybe didn't read the instructions all the way so my spray paint smeared in a couple of places, but I still think they're pretty.

And now I have coasters in my house!  Kristina for the win :)

Interested in ordering from Darby Smart?  Use the code "howdydarby" to save $10 on your first order.

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How to clean Hunter Boots the DIY Way

Have your Hunter rain boots lost their original shine?  Hunters are made from real rubber, which goes through a process called "blooming" where the rubber expels certain particles, causing a white, powdery substance to appear on the surface of the boots.  The original boots I tried on in stores had already bloomed (which the sales person was highly embarrassed about, he made me buy a shinier pair instead) so I knew exactly what to expect, I just didn't realize they would get so dull so fast!  I was going to buy Hunter's boot cleaner, but then a quick Google search found a DIY way to get my boots clean.

Step One: Wipe down boots with a damp, soapy rag.  Let dry.  They got a little better, as you can see below:

Step two:  Pour a little olive oil onto a dry rag.  Rub boots, adding more olive oil as you go, until the whole boot is shiny again.  Wipe off any excess oil and let dry.  Rub any spots you may have missed with more olive oil.  I probably used 2 tablespoons total.  And boom!  Shiny as new: 

I was a little worried that I would get oil all over myself, but I was careful and just got a little on the floor.  Once they dried they didn't feel oily anymore.  Instead they were just super shiny and made me feel like a hundred bucks every time it rained in the last week.

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DIY Vases

You know what one of the fringe benefits of having a blog is?  Sometimes when you post about things you like, your friends read said posts and buy you amazing gifts.  One of my friends brought a Darby Smart box to my birthday, and I may have freaked out a little.  I may have also been two or three Moscow Mules deep when I opened said gift.  You know, things happen.

This particular box was for some adorable Textured Vases.  It was a fun and simple project that I probably should not have completed in an unventilated room (holy spraypaint) that I could do in one day.  We have surprisingly few vases in our place, so these were just what we needed.

I love the way they turned out, and I'm excited to use them for all of my spring flowers.  I also love that I ended up with some leftover supplies from the kit so I can add some texture to some other things around my house.

Interested in trying a Darby Smart kit for yourself?  They are generously offering $10 off any kit for all KDTI readers using the code CREATE14.  The code is valid until March 18th.

Oh, and a little tip to keep small bunches of flowers together in a vase like this?  Twist ties.  Just make sure the twist tie is above the water line.




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DIY Wrapping Paper

I may have a teensy online shopping problem.  I end up returning a lot of the things I buy, but it seems packages are constantly being delivered to my house.  Which means I have bubble wrap and tissue paper and empty boxes everywhere.

I love the look of kraft wrapping paper, but realized the packing materials I had laying around had the same look for free.  You could also do this for smaller gifts with paper bags (if you're also a Trader Joe's fan who frequently forgets reusable shopping bags, you likely have a lot of these too).  I cut the packing paper to size, trying to match the creases already folded into the paper to the corners of my boxes.  Then I drew on the paper using a metallic Sharpie and added some pretty string.

And done!  Pretty, personalized wrapping paper, all for zero dollars.




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