Crafternoon Project #5: Confetti Gift Tags

"I craft so hard I sweat glitter."
-Dina Hafez-Suggs, deliciouslydarlingevents.com

This final Crafternoon project was these Confetti Gift Tags. Because the other projects took so long, some of the guests collected the supplies for this project to take home with them.

My original idea for this project was to use paper hole punches as the confetti, but when I found this shiny confetti with Christmas-themed shapes at Hobby Lobby, I knew it was meant to be.

Confetti Gift Tags
What you need:

• Cardstock or kraft paper
• 1.5" circle punch
• Transparent page projectors cut into 2" squares
• Double-sided tape
• Scissors
• Confetti
• Stamps/stamp pad
• Hole punch
• Twine

What you do:

1. Trace gift tag pattern onto kraft paper or white cardstock and cut out.  
2. Punch 1.5” circles in both ends of the tag, as shown in pattern. 
3. On one end, apply adhesive around the hole, and press transparency pocket on top.
4. Open the transparency pocket, and pile confetti on top of the hole. 
5. Use adhesive around the edges of the transparency, and fold shut, sealing the confetti inside. 
6. Apply adhesive to the other end of the tag, and fold in half, adhering the two sides together.  
7. Use stamps to decorate with holiday message. 
8. Punch hole in the top, and tie ribbon on. 

Crafternoon Project #4: Felt Giftcard Envelopes

"Is that a warm fuzzy, or just a piece of scrap felt?"
-Sara Lanan, CraftSnob.com

The only Crafternoon project that required sewing was the Felt Giftcard Envelopes. I figured that even the least crafty among us could probably handle hand-stitching two straight lines and sewing a button on.

Gift cards are such practical gifts (and usually well appreciated), but sometimes they feel a little bit lackluster. These cute envelopes spice things up a bit and could totally be used later as a little wallet.

Felt Giftcard Envelopes
What you need:

• Different colors of felt
• [Optional] Coordinating patterned fabric
• Embroidery thread
• Needle
• Straight pins
• Scissors
• Pinking shears
• Buttons or other embellishments
• Sticky-back Velcro

What you do:

1. Cut one piece of felt using the pattern for the envelope.
2. As shown, mark a dot where the strap will be sewn.
3. [Optional] Cut same size [maybe a tad smaller!] from patterned fabric to fit inside.
4. Cut contrasting felt 3” x 1” for the closure strap.
5. Line up strap with the dot on the felt rectangle, and stitch with a 1-inch “X”.
6. Stack patterned fabric on top of felt with wrong sides together.
7. Fold the long ends towards the middle so that they are equal with about an inch between them, and pin.
8. Fold in half, and pin.
9. With the envelope open like a book, stitch the sides. [It works best to use 1/2 a strand of embroidery thread.]
10. Use pinking shears to trim the sides.
11. Cut small embellishments from felt ... stack a circle on top of a flower shape, cut out a holly leaf & berries, cut out a triangle & a small rectangle for a Christmas tree.
12. Stitch embellishments to the end of the strap.
13. Place one half of sticky Velcro on the end of the strap, and then wrap around and stick the other half on the corresponding place on the envelope.

Crafternoon Project #3: No-sew T-shirt Scarf

"There's great satisfaction in seeing a thing take shape and form under one's hands, especially if they are made from oddments into something worthwhile."
-Nella Last, Nella Last's War

The Crafternoon project with the trickiest directions was the No-sew T-shirt Scarf. I positioned myself near this station throughout the afternoon, so that I could walk everybody through the steps and help them with the tedious cutting. If you find the written directions below confusing, check out this similar tutorial with photos from Max & Me Designs.

Even though the steps seem complicated at first, everybody was thrilled with how these scarves turned out. Many people mentioned that they were going to make more for teacher gifts and friend gifts. It's the perfect mindless activity to do with a football game or movie going on in the background.

No-sew T-shirt Scarf
What you need:

• Extra-large t-shirt with no words/graphics below the armpits
• Scissors
• Hot glue and glue sticks

What you do:

1. Cut T-shirt in a straight line, just below the sleeves.
2. Cut off the bottom hem.
3. Cut the remaining rectangle into 16 strips... I found it best to cut in half four times.
4. Set one of the loops aside.
5. Stretch the loops... they stretch better if you do them one-by-one, but make sure they stay about the same length.
6. Cut the loop you set aside into five equal pieces.
7. Tie one of the 5 pieces tightly around the15 loops.
8. Cut this bunch of15 loops close to the knot, leaving enough room so that the strands don’t come loose. [It should look like a long ponytail.]
9. Separate the 15 strands into three groups and braid down from the knot... Braid doesn’t have to be super tight. You probably want to braid almost halfway.
10. Tie another of the short pieces tightly at the end of the braid.
11. Untangle the strands and gather the ends... tie another of the short pieces around the loose ends.
12. Cover the ends with hot glue and then push them together.
13. Take a short wide strip and wrap it around one of the knots. Adhere with hot glue. Repeat for other knot.

Crafternoon Project #2: Dry Erase Frames

“The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul.”
-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

The Crafternoon project that surprisingly took the most time was the Dry Erase Frames. It was tough to find just the right color scheme and embellishments.

In the weeks before the party, I scoured thrift stores looking for cheap frames. One afternoon I hit the jackpot... and two coats of spray paint later, I had an assortment of different frames for my guests to choose from (and stayed within my budget!). I pulled out my scrapbooking paper stash, printed up some vellum templates [Menu, To-Do List, and Calendar], and let everybody have it.

Dry Erase Frames
What you need:

• Picture frames with glass and back
• Vellum templates
• Scrapbook paper and embellishments
• Scissors/paper cutter
• Double-sided tape
• Dry erase pen
• [Optional] Sticky back Velcro

What to do:

1. Pick a frame.
2. Pick a vellum template (or not!).
3. Trace the outline of glass onto the back of paper of your choice.
4. Cut out outline so that it will fit in your frame.
5. Use double-sided tape to attach other papers and embellishments, if you wish.
6. Fit in frame.
7. Draw on glass with the dry erase pen.
8. [Optional] Attach one side of sticky-back Velcro to the dry erase pen... and attach the other side of the Velcro to the side of the frame.

Crafternoon Project #1: Burlap Garlands

"Crafting your heart out makes room for your soul to grow."
-Sara Lanan, CraftSnob.com

For whatever reason, I've considered these burlap garlands to be the main event at my Crafternoon party. They didn't end up being the biggest or the most complex project of the afternoon, but I think these shabby chic garlands would look dandy in any home... as a festive Christmas banner or a year-round decoration.

To allow time for the paint and glue to dry, I suggested that my Crafternoon guests work on the burlap garland project early in the afternoon. We used long pieces of wax paper to keep the paint and glue from seeping through the fabric and to help transport the garland to the foyer or patio to dry.

Burlap Garlands
What you need:

• Burlap fabric cut into triangles... here's a trick for cutting burlap in straight lines
• Twine
• Scissors
• White fabric paint
• Foam brushes
• Letter stencils
• Wax paper
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• [Optional] scraps of fabric or ribbon

What you do:

1. Gather the correct number of burlap triangles, a sheet of wax paper long enough to stretch the length of the whole banner, and a length of twine long enough to extend past the ends of triangles.
2. Hot glue the twine to the top of the burlap triangles, folding over the edge to help keep it in place.
3. Place banner on a long sheet of wax paper before beginning to stencil. [The paper will catch the excess paint that goes through the holes in the burlap.]
4. Place letter stencil in the center of the triangle. You’ll want to be careful with the parts of the stencil that are hanging on, especially as they get wet.
5. Carefully dab (don’t rub) the paint around the stencil with a foam brush.
6. Carefully remove stencil, and use foam brush to tidy up any areas, make paint darker, etc.
7. [Optional] Tie scraps of fabric at each end.

**Suggested Words**
Family, Love, Joy, Be Merry, Last Name, Hope, Faith, Home, Mr & Mrs, J Loves R, Believe, Blessed, Rejoice, Welcome, Let’s Eat, Celebrate, Shine

Christmas in "July" Crafternoon Recap!!

"What you create doesn’t have to be perfect."
-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

For over a year now, I've been pinning ideas related to crafting parties on my Craft-ernoon board. Saving ideas until I had enough local friends to invite over for a similar shindig.

I've been so blessed this last year to become close to gals both at church and at work. So on a whim a couple of months ago, I decided just to bite the bullet and send out a Facebook invitation for a Christmas in July Crafternoon get-together two weeks later. The response was really positive, but the date didn't work out. So after comparing our calendars, we moved it back... to Saturday, September 7th.

Since then I've had to push away my doubts about whether I was up for hosting such a big endeavor, but I'm so glad I took the leap and put myself out there. [Momentum at work!]

I've been scouring sales, digging through thrift stores, and hoarding craft store coupons to buy all of the supplies. Since I asked my guests to bring $10 to help cover the cost of supplies, my budget was $2 per person per project, and I think I got pretty close to meeting that goal (although I stopped keeping track towards the end).

I planned five stations with Christmas-themed crafts: three that could be given as gifts and two that could be used as Christmas wrapping. I hope to share more details about each project in the next few days. The project list:

• Burlap garlands
• Dry erase frames
• No-sew t-shirt scarves
• Felt giftcard envelopes
• Confetti gift tags

Although I originally thought the party would last from 1-3pm... we ended up crafting for hours. The last guest left around 6!!

To keep us fueled for our crafting endeavor, I had a few snacks on hand, including turkey crescents, tortellini and pesto skewers, and yummy cupcakes. One of the highlights was the custom labels for the water bottles... what an easy way to take your party up a notch!

I think everyone had a great time. An afternoon away from husbands and kids to be crafty and creative. As I had hoped, some of the guests took the project ideas and made them their own. And, even the self-proclaimed "non-crafters" were super proud of their creations.

I hope that this becomes a tradition we want to continue... although maybe next time I can delegate the food prep and the hosting!!