Mile High {Craft} Club

I'm back!!! Happy New Year!!  I know I said I'd post some pics of my trip, but work got the best of me and then Mr. Bean and the fam went to visit Billy Bean (my BIL), my amazing friend Sarah, and some cousins for Christmas and New Years.  So I took some time off of reality and pretended I was a Pacific Northwest-er for a week and a half.  Now that I am back and sweating it out in this southern winter weather, I figured I'd return to blogland.  It will still take me a few days to sift thru the pics of my trip that I wanted to share, so in the meantime I wanted to show you how I became apart of the Mile High Craft Club.

Mr. Bean and I were kind of stuck on what to give the cousins we would see for Christmas.  What do you buy for the people that have everything?  One thing we do know is they love music.  Which helps, because we are big believers that a mixed tape is the best way to show someone you love them.  Isn't it though?  

We attend the contemporary service at our church, and man, does that band rock it out.  So we downloaded a bunch of our favorite church jams from Amazon and created a playlist to burn on CDs for everyone.  But, you know me.  I had to craft it up a bit.  So I typed up a playlist that was a play off Beats by Dre.  And since I like to live on the crafty edge, I waited until the morning of our flight and got up only 30 minutes earlier to make some CD covers, cut everything and threw it all in my carry-on to work on the plane. 

  

The hardest part was figuring out how to cut the paper to fold to fit a CD.  Well, it wasn't hard, it was just time consuming when I only gave myself 30 minutes.  

Above was my workstation compliments of Continental Airlines.  It was a little cramped but I got it done.  

And the final product. I am a hoarder of scraps and leftovers - it is always a huge time saver when you already have something to work with - so you may remember the tag from Sharmee's shower.  I just cut a circle and covered the writing that was already on it.  I stuck the playlist on the back and the white cardstock is leftover from my Christmas cards last year.  

Mr. Bean was pretty impressed with my craft skillz.  He kept saying "you are crazy" over and over again.  He was expecting me to just print out the playlist and put it in a plastic sleeve.  I told him he doesn't know me well enough yet. :)  

Pretty Packages

The weather is playing tricks with my mind because the calendar clearly says it's almost November but the temperatures still feel like it's....well, not November.  But, I think we have a cold cool front coming this weekend and I hope it's here to stay for a few weeks so I can be all "Hello, Fall.  Why don't you stay a while?"  But, first things first..... 

Since I haven't made anything in the last couple of weeks, I figure I'd post some pretty packages since gift giving is a year around thing.  Some of these are old school, but I figured I'd post them anyway.  Because I'm WILD!!!!  Inside joke.  Sorry.   

I love cardboard boxes.  Actually, I hoard them. True story.  This one was really cute, but had lots of writing on it.  Instead of covering it with wrapping paper, I used some scraps to hide the writing.  Slapped on a tulle bow. Added a tag. And called it a day.  

My nephew Alex is 16 and not a fan of pretty packages.  He has an awesome, clever sense of humor, a taste in music that'd make an aunt like myself proud, and a style all his own.  He is quite the artist and appreciates design, but doesn't really care for bows and pretty tags.  So, for Christmas last year, I decided to make his Christmas present stand out from the others I've wrapped for him.  I basically wrapped his present and then beat it up and patched it up with duct tape.  It was honestly the first time he'd ever said anything about the wrapping on his Christmas presents.  He smiled and said in his low, raspy voice, "Sweeeeeet."

For any party I am attending, I like to wrap gifts according to the theme instead of sticking with traditional wrapping paper.  It just kind of starts the party early for me.

I am a big believer that the wrapping of a gift is as exciting as the gift itself.  So I treat my gifts almost like the cards I make and add and take away and add and take away until I feel like it's just as fun as what's in the box.

If you know me at all, you know that I am obsessed with four things:  1. doilies, 2. ribbon, 3. washi tape, and 4. anything that clips.....clothes pins, binder clips, paper clips....you name it.  This is what it looks like when I combine all of my obsessions on one gift.  Love.

I used to be really concerned with how difficult a gift I wrapped would be to open. But that's what scissors are for, isn't it?  At the end of the day, if it is going to look pretty, I just go with it.  And sometimes I spend too long figuring out how I want to wrap a gift and don't have time to make a card. But then I am left with a gift receipt.  My solution? Stick it inside a baby envelope.  It's the right thing to do.

Well, I think that's all for tonight!  I'm doing the unthinkable and busting out the Christmas decorations this weekend so I can start putting everything out.  I don't usually like to skip holidays, but I can't wait to get Christmas going at the Bean's since I will be missing 3 solid weeks out of my most favorite time of year.  Crazy?  Maybe.  But  it's going to be so.much.fun.  Maybe I'll throw a Christmas party.  In November. :) 

I like big books....

I love books and I love a cute bookmark.  I started a tradition with our book club back in 2007 when I brought back bookmarks from the Sydney Opera House for all my book club friends.  Since then, everyone has brought us bookmarks from all of their travels.  So, I've got a really cute collection of bookmarks from India, China, Turkey and even Marfa, Texas.  Since my book club was celebrating it's 6th anniversary, Anita and I wanted to do something small for everyone.  If you remember the totes we made for our 5th anniversary, you'll know Anita is a magician with the silkscreen.  Recently, she dug into her magic hat and pulled out a pretty awesome idea for our 6th anniversary gifts.

I saw a t-shirt online that I wanted to steal the quote from so I basically threatened to hold my breath until Anita came up with an idea on how to incorporate it in our gifts.  It's a good thing she's so crafty because I wouldn't have lasted long, but we'll just keep that between us.

She came up with the idea to make to make some button pins, but that didn't pan out because it required us to buy or rent a machine.  She then discovered that you can make fabric buttons with just a simple cover button kit and refills available at Hancock Fabrics. And suddenly all of my dreams were fulfilled.  Making fabric buttons has sort of been a dream of mine for a while now.  I have weird dreams, I know.  Then, I was stumped as to what we would do with these fabric buttons and she came up with the ingenious idea of a book band.  And that, my friends, is how the bookband was born.  

 

We decided to silkscreen the quote onto some fabric I have in my stash.  I designed the button with the quote and Anita worked her magic with the screen and got it ready for us. You can see the quote here.... "I like big books and I cannot lie."  In case you don't get it, it is a play on Sir Mix-a-lot's song "Baby Got Back."  Cracks. Me. Up.  Needless to say, I had this song in my head for a few weeks.....

 

We originally went with a yellow paint on linen so this pic is from our first couple of trials.  It didn't show up well on the fabric - and linen is not the best fabric to use when silkscreening such a small surface area because the weave is so large - so we ended up going with black ink and another fabric.  It actually looked better that way anyway. 

We cut up all the quotes according to the size specified on the cover button.  Our buttons were going to be 1 1/2", so it was maybe an additional 3/4" of fabric that is required to wrap around the button. 

Our first good button!!!   The kit was easy to use and push the back onto on the front but the "refills" aren't.  We had to coax them with a couple of taps of a hammer.  One thing: The "refills" aren't refills.  They don't require the kit.  I want to write Hancock a letter to tell them to get familiar with what they are selling but I'll let it go this time since the box on the "refills" say 'no extra tools required'. 

Our pile of buttons!!!!  We took those and strung 3/8" elastic thru the back and sewed the edges together to create a loop.  Then, we burned the edges to ensure they wouldn't fray. 

Our book bands!!  This is them in action on my Kindle.  Trust me.  The irony was not lost on us.....

 

And here they are all wrapped up!!  Our fellow book club members loved them.  We figure this will be the beginning of our bookband empire.  :)

Happily Ever crAfter

It is finished.  My friend Sharmee is married.  It was a long weekend, but a joyous one.  I was honored to be apart of it and to have had a role in her entire wedding weekend.   We started working on her wedding about 3 months ago, so it's been non-stop crafting since April.

Unfortunately, I didn't take many pics of the things I was in charge of.  Mostly because we were working quickly so I didn't have time to think about it.  But I did take a few pics of some of the stuff we made/decorated/wrapped with my iPhone. Our biggest issue was the sheer size of each of the events, so we had think of how to do things as cheap as possible but as pretty as possible. 

This was how we wrapped the favors for the mehndi night.   I used Sharmee's outfit as inspiration.  We used gold tissue and green satin ribbon, tied in a knot to minimize the amount of ribbon we'd need.  Since we couldn't afford to wrap the entire gift with cute paper, we cut up small squares of some mehndi inspired paper and taped it to the top.

The next major thing we had to put together was welcome baskets for the groom's side called the jaan.  These went inside their hotel rooms and included itineraries for the entire weekend.  We had to make 90 of these so, again, cost was a big factor.  Instead of going with baskets, we decided to use these gold colored gift boxes.  The guests were already getting reusable containers that we decorated filled with snacks (not pictured) so providing a basket as well just proved to be too much to me.  We filled them with crinkle and stuffed them with snacks and sweets.  Sharmee had some stickers left over from her invitations, so we attached the stickers to the boxes with ribbon and included an itinerary.  I will spare you of a pic of the itinerary I made, but we personalized the itineraries for the most important guests.  Simple, but thoughtful.

Another thing I was in charge of was decorating the sign that would be displayed in her house.  The original one that they had made in India got lost in the shuffle of all things they brought back, so they ordered a new one and asked me to decorate it.  Traditionally, it is decorated with a glitter pen, but I, of course, knew nothing else to do but to bring on the bling.  Glitter pens just seem so 80's to me.  So, we used some gold trim Sharmee purchased and attached it to the border.

Then I blinged it out with rhinestones and pearls.  Luckily, I had a bunch of rhinestones left over from the basket I just made that happened to match the colors in the sign.  It looked really good in the photographer's light, if I do say so myself.

 

One of the most important things I had to decorate was the basket that Sharmee's sisters would be using during her wedding ceremony.  The basket would contain rice for her sisters to toss periodically during the ceremony.  So, I did what I know best here and spray painted it gold.  I added some gold trim to it that followed the lines of the basket.  I like that the lines were at an angle and not completely straight.  Then I used some paisley elements that Sharmee bought in India that happened to match our bridesmaid saris perfectly.  Totally on my list of stores to visit when I go back. My friend Anita is the rhinestone queen, so she brought over her bin of rhinestones and I helped myself to her stash.  

Since we had plenty of supplies, I added a few elements to the side as well.  I was really proud to see it being used during the ceremony.  :)

That's about all I got snaps of.  If the photographer got pics of the other stuff I made, I will definitely post them!

This was an amazing process to be apart of.  It was really touching to see an entire community come together as a family to make sure this wedding ran as seamlessly as possible.  Congrats, Sharmee and Nikhil!  Here's to your happily ever after!

A Rhinestone a Day Takes the Blah Away

I am always down to do something out of my comfort zone.  When my friend gave me free reign to decorate a basket as a gift to her future sister-in-law, I ran to Hobby Lobby before she had a chance to finish asking.  The basket would be part of a Hindu ceremony known as a chandlo.  It is basically a short ceremony that announces that a couple can be wed.  The groom's side brings gifts for the bride -- which might include a sari and/or an outfit, jewelry and anything else they'd like to gift the bride-to-be -- as well as snacks for the bride-to-be's family.  I had to decorate a large basket for the bride and six small bins for the family. 

I wasn't going to write a blog post about the basket I made, but I searched the ends of the internet for some idea of what I was supposed to be doing exactly and it seems no one ever really posts pictures of the baskets they've been given or the baskets they've made.  How sad is that?  So today I am going to put an end to the silence that is these baskets.  Especially because I find that my Hindu friends require a lot of baskets for various ceremonies, events, gifts, etc.  And these baskets deserve to be seen! This is, of course, my version of a basket that could be used for these types of events.  At the end of the day, it's just a pretty basket.  IMO.  :)

The basket I was given to use was just a plain, flat basket, so I gussied it up with some gold spray paint.  I am a big believer in gold spray paint.  In fact, I always have a can on hand just in case I feel something needs some gold spray paint lovin'.  Hobby Lobby sells mini cans that are perfect for small craft projects.
 

I wanted to keep it within the same color scheme of the outfits that were going to be in the baskets:  red, blue and green.  So I basically blinged it out with red, blue, green and clear rhinestones.  I am of the mindset that the more rhinestones the better.  I think the world would be a better place if everyone would just use more rhinestones.  Am I right??  Am I right??  Inside joke.  Sorry.

And, of course, I added some ribbon. Because ribbon makes everything prettier. I ended up switching out the ribbon color at the last minute from the pic above so I don't have a pic of the 'before' with the color I used. I am never afraid to rip everything off and start over again if I feel like something isn't quite right.  And I did that quite a few times. 

Since I would have to wait until the day of the chandlo to assemble the baskets, I pre-cut the wrapping that would go around the basket.  I'll just say really quickly that I hate cellophane.  I try to avoid using it at all costs for no other reason except I cannot use it.  Every time I've tried making a basket, I end up ripping the cellophane or there is a big whole in it because my basket is too big and my cellophane is too small.  I hate cellophane.  Or cellophane hates me.  Either way, for the basket I used tulle.  Tulle is the greatest fabric ever invented.  I use it for everything I possibly can.  Tulle calls my name and I always answer.  Love it.

To save time, I decided to eliminate any potential problems by making my bows ahead of time.  I have been in love with fascinators lately, so I used that as my inspiration.  I simply made the bows and attached pins to them that would be attached to the outside once I assembled the baskets, then I added peacock feathers to the outside.  I scored some peacock feathers that had a red tint to them which fit my color scheme which made Pintobean a very happy crafter. 

The rest of the basket making process had to be finished the day off the chandlo, so I don't have pics of that process.  Actually, I forgot to take pictures of it until we were walking out the door with it, which is one reason why these pics are terrible.  But, what to do?  Here is the final product. 

And I love it.  Love the sheerness of the tulle.  Love the feathers.  Love the ribbon.  Love the rhinestone on the bow.  Love all the rhinestones. Love it. Here is a close up with the red sari.... I added a few more rhinestones at the last minute.

And here is another shot of it.  I couldn't stop taking pics because I knew I'd never see it again. 

And here is a pic of one of the snack bins from the back of my car.  Of course, it coordinated.  See the red-ish peacock feather?  So pretty!

And another shot. Last one, I promise. 

So, there it is.  Now I have to think of how I will decorate the baskets for the engagement ceremony.  That is, if I get the job.   

Wrapping Up the Holidays

Just thought I'd pop in for a few minutes.  I'm actually avoiding my craft room right now.   I really don't know how it got so filthy in there so quickly.  But it will undoubtedly take me longer to clean it than it did for to me to get it in the state it is in now.

Anyway, I figured I'd post a few pics of some presents I wrapped for anyone interested.  I probably enjoy wrapping gifts more than shopping for them.  Which, if you know me, says a lot because I love shopping.  It is kind of rush for me to find a gift for someone that I know they will love.  I often fail at finding that perfect gift, but when I succeed and the person loves it....that's really the best gift for me.  I think people often feel guilty about receiving a gift when they have nothing to give back. But that always leaves me feeling bad that they feel bad when I wish they'd just enjoy their gift and let me enjoy them enjoying it, you know? 

I have a couple of friends that are the best at wrapping gifts.  Every gift is such a treat to receive.  It made me realize that pretty wrapping makes the gift that much more special.  This year, I decided I wasn't going to buy anything new.  I'm trying to turn over a new leaf and start using all of the stuff I am hording saving not using.  I tell Mr. Bean it is because I have too much stuff, but it's really because I want to make room for new stuff. I am a horrible person. I know. I feel too guilty adding to my already full drawers.  Plus, I've discovered it feels pretty good to actually see my stuff in use. This is a new concept to me, so bear with me. I have not gotten to the point that I will use everything, but to avoid appearing on an episode of Hoarders, I am taking baby steps.  Baby steps, Anita!!!

Above is how I decorated for all of the lovely ladies that bless my life. I stamped kraft colored wrapping paper with gold ink then decorated with tulle, bits of gold paper, and gold ribbon. I included doilies when I could.  Love doilies.

On the soft gift, I just used tissue to wrap the gift. I try to avoid using boxes when possible so that I am not using a box and tissue for every gift.  It not only keeps my box storage down - I will admit I hoard boxes - but it also keeps my gift wrapping stash to a minimum - which is also why I like to stamp kraft colored wrapping paper instead of storing tons of rolls of wrapping paper. I stamped the gift tags with the same stamps I used on the paper and used some gift tags I brought back from India - which is big for me because I don't know that I will ever get any more of those tags ever again. Please hold all applause until the end of this post.  Thank you.   

Here is how I wrapped the gifts for the men in my life.  I used tissue paper on the wrapping and some fabric scraps instead of ribbon.  I love that the edges frayed as I tied it around.  I had some old felt poinsettias that I added to the gift tags with brads. 

Alright.  Enough rambling.  Time to get to bed.  I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays. I've been doing my best to stretch them out as long as possible. I even recorded a bunch of cheesy Christmas movies on Lifetime at the last minute so I could watch them after the holidays. I know. I'm crazy.  The holidays are flying by way too quickly for me. But, I suppose it's as to be expected. This year flew by faster than any year I can remember.  Goodnight!!