Quick tips and ideas

I've been experimenting... which has been complicating the blogging process. My kitchen is covered in scrap wood and things are a little out of control right now. So in the meantime I thought I'd share a few quick ideas to get your creative juices flowing while I get my new projects up to snuff. 

1. Personalized Spice Jars- My mom made me these for Christmas using magazine cutouts, paper labels, and tons of varnish. I asked for them because I buy a lot of spices in bulk bags, but I was blown away by how cute hers turned out.

  

I made some cylindrical jars a few years ago as a gift by decorating some paper labels, and using clear packing tape to laminate them. I think using tape is much simpler but you are much more limited in the shape of the jars.

Aww thanks mom!

She labeled these little guys with common measuring equivalents such as 4 cups= 1 Quart= 32 Ounces or 4 Tablespoons=1/4 cup

2. Clean up old coats and sweaters- Do your coats and sweaters get little balls all over them? I know mine do. Every year my coat is totally covered in little balls by spring and it looks ridiculous!

Simply take an old razor, making sure it's rinsed off, and scrape your coat or sweater. The sharper your razor the better, and it may take more than one if you don't want to go mad!

Choose sections to work on and shave from the top down Try going with the grain and alternating directions to sweep all the fluff into piles.

This is supposed to be a comparison between the top that's been done and the bottom which hasn't but it's a little hard to see since my camera is terrible. I'm working on that...

3. Make your own serving tray- I happened to find two wooden silverware organizers being thrown out, but this would work great with a deep picture frame and a piece of plywood if you are buying supplies. All you have to do is attach some handles and you can make all your meals portable.

I took out all the old dividers and got some cheap handles from Ace Hardware.

If you wanted to make this as a gift you could buy a 1-inch recessed picture frame and put a couple of photos, nice paper, or fabric on top of some plywood or something solid secured down, and then cover it with the glass.

 4. Lettuce- If you need to wash some lettuce, or you've had some hanging out in your fridge for a week and it's a little wilted, add a tablespoon of white vinegar per gallon of water and it will revive old lettuce or make fresh stay crisper longer.  

Have a crafty day, or a crafternoon!