Tutorial: Greeting Card Gift Box

This is an addictive, adorable, eco-friendly project passed down from my mother: Greeting Card Gift Boxes. These are a great size to put in a single homemade candy or chocolate, a piece of jewelry, or a small trinket.

The benefits of this project is that it requires zero math and only one measurement, plus, it uses up beautiful cards you've received but won't display anymore.  Easy, pretty, and green, how great is that?

Last Minute Gifts: Origami Gift Boxes

Most of us end up making lots of candy, cookies, or other little, edible goodies for the holidays (and some of us end up EATING lots of candy, cookies, and other edible goodies...), but giving them as a gift in a neat, home-made probably ups the coolness factor by 100%.

The Fitful Flog has great tutorials and printable diagrams for folding your own origami boxes.  The two shown, "the steamed bun box" and "the box of seven joys" are patterns that I have tried.  Be warned that some of the folding techniques here are not for the faint of heart! But stick with it, be patient, and you'll succeed! Even if you don't end up making these, go to the Fitful Flog and admire the AWESOME paper folding art!

Last Minute Gifts: CD Cases

Sometimes the holidays come around and you remain oblivious to the smell of evergreen tree and gingerbread cookies baking around you, or even the sugar plums dancing in your head, until you find an unexpected gift in your hands and nothing to give in return.  You need a gift and you need one fast.  For the next few days I'll be posting different homemade gift ideas that I've used in the past.  Most are quick (taking just a few minutes to a few hours) and are more impressive than any macaroni noodle picture frame you could do for the same time and cost.

Mix CDs are a great stand by gift for acquaintances or close-friends. I have quite a few audiophiles in my life and I love to swap favorite songs and new artists with them, the only catch is how to make a burned CD cute enough to be giftable. Answer: Fancy-Schmancy CD Cases.

This paper CD case uses plain, letter sized paper, but even so, the finished product will blow your mind (and the mind of who ever receives it)! It's definitely a little tricky, but be vigilant, it's definitely worth it! This tutorial by Fitful Flog explains how to create it better than I ever could, so check it out.

My tips are to fold one using the printable file Fitful Flog has available to download and then, once you understand how all the folds work, do one in a fancy paper.  That way if you mess up you aren't ruining expensive paper and the final product doesn't have the guidelines printed on it (it makes the whole thing a little less magical, in my opinion, if you can see how it was done).

Another option for those who feel a little less adventurous is this lovely flower shaped CD case.  The one drawback of this one is that you need a piece of paper at least 12x12 inches, scrapbook paper works great and looks nice too. Use this tutorial on Curbly.

My recommendation is, if you are making several of these, is to make a pattern out of cardboard or posterboard/tagboard to reuse as a template.  That way you don't have to measure each one.

Happy Crafting!

Recipe: Cerea-yums™

This is my patented, delicious recipe for Cerea-yums™, a low-cost, low-fat alternative to a yogurt parfait. It is perfect for breakfast, an afternoon snack, dessert... I eat it all the time!  I'm pretty much addicted!  It tastes great and because the ingredients are healthy, you don't have to worry about the guilt you feel after eating a yogurt parfait from the store that uses sweetened yogurt, sugary fruit, and fatty granola, plus it's so cheap!

Emily's famous Cerea-yums™

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fat-free, plain yogurt (not sweetened! trust me, you don't need any extra sugar here!)
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, unsweetened (no need to thaw, they're better straight from the freezer)
• 1/4 cup cereal (I recommend Raisin Bran Crunch, but have been known to substitute Corn Flakes in emergencies)

Optional:

• 1 tsp honey (only for "dessert" eatings...usually)

Gloop your yogurt in the bottom of your bowl.  Top with frozen blueberries. Drizzle with honey (optional). Top with cereal.  Enjoy!

Total calories (with honey): about 250 per serving.
Total fat (with honey): about 1g

It's sweet, creamy, and crunchy.  Who could ask for a better breakfast than that?!

Hello world!

This is my first post, so I guess I'll tell you a little bit about myself and what this blog is about!

I'm a creative/crafty type that just recently graduated college (History/Studio Art double-major, a.k.a. A "how-do-you-get-a job-with-that?" degree) and entered the workforce (almost-sort-of-kind-of doing something with that degree, almost).  I like cooking, baking, crafting, design, and fine art. I love to dabble, ramble, and doodle, and I hoping that by making this blog I can help share what inspires me, inspire you, and to be inspired!

Let's go make something!