Homemade Gifts!

This year my family is doing all homemade gifts. I feel like I'm normally good at this kinda stuff but I've felt really creatively stuck lately. Which means I've been terribly slow getting these done. The deadline approaching is really getting me to kick into gear. I wanted to share what I've gotten done so far! I still have to wrap and label all of them. Plus I've got a few more projects that still need to be finished up. PHEW not enough time! 

Tic Tac Toe games! I got this idea from Zoei and I love how they turned out! I got the pieces from HERE and the bags from THERE. I also found this additive from Martha Stewarts crafty line of stuff that you add to acrylic paint to make it fabric paint. I got it HERE and it worked really well. It thinned out the paint to make it easy to lay on the fabric and wasn't crunchy when it dried. Overall a pretty fun project! 

 I made some specialty sets by printing out mini photos! These were a bit more work with the printing, cutting, pasting then giving it a nice top coat. This set is Van Gogh verse Paul Gauguin! (I'm a art nerd I know! But I think my dad will like the cleverness!)

 This one is my sisters dogs! I made this for my brother in law, he loves both these puppies! These turned out hilariously cute! On these ones I also added some funky designs on the sides. It made them look more mismatched then I was hoping but oh well!

Lotion bars! I've been wanting to make these for myself for a while and I thought it would be a good gift for my sisters. I use THIS recipe and bought THIS amazing honey bee mold! They turned out really well and super cute. This recipe is super duper easy and these lotion bars are easy to use! I also used extra bags from the tic tac toe games to gift them in, I just added some polka dots!

 Last but not least I tried my hand at Shibori dying! I got THIS kit and dyed THESE tea towels. I have to admit these were a HUGE pain in the ass! Mostly (my fault) because I tried to do it all in my bathroom. I laid down a plastic table cloth so I didn't stain anything and mixed the dye in a plastic storage bucket that I put in the bathtub. Which sounded like a good idea but that meant I was bent over the bathtub for like 2 and a half hours. My body was killing me! Also the dye has a weird smell and this dying process has a LOT of steps. My advice if you're wanting to do this is do it outside and devote all day to it, not an evening after work in your jammies and socks so your feet don't sick to the plastic! Over all I love LOVE the way they turned out! I think my mom is going to love them!

I took photos of my favorite patterns! Here are the items and techniques used to bind them.

 Left: Accordion fold bound with rubber bands. Right: Accordion fold with wood blocks.

 Left: marbles and rubber bands. Right: clothes pins

There are a TON of resources on the internet for this kinda dying. I looked at serveral different blogs to find my folding and binding patterns.

Phew! All that is left is wrapping and giving! I really could use a few extra days. haha I hope you're all prepared for Christmas!!