Posted on Wednesday, December 3, 2014

12 Days DIY Christmas 2014: Day 3

Today’s project , I am inspired by the idea of gift in mason jar that I saw on Pinterest.

But I did not use mason jar. I recycled candle jars 🙂

To clean the left over candle wax in the jar, pour hot water in the candle jar and let it sit for few minutes until all wax come loose and they will float on the surface. DO NOT TOUCH the jar because it will be super hot! I learned that in a hard way.

When you see the wax floating and the jar is cool down, use your finger or plastic spoon to get them out of the jar. Then wash it clean with soap. I let it dry for over night or you can just wipe it dry with towel.

Once it is clean and dry, you cam decorate it or leave it clear, all up to you. I decorate it with Gold Polka Dot Washi Tape and Ruby Chevron Washi Tape.

Then I filled the jar with Kisses in Christmas colors. Then I added a tag that I cut a bunch of then with my Silhouette Cameo.

I stamped the sentiment from Made From Scratch stamp set with Topiary Exclusive Ink Stamp Pad and the heart with Cranberry Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad. I cut the heart and glued it on top of the other one. Then I cut the label shaped and added on the tag using 3D Foam Tape for some dimension. I added a little gold christmas tree using Liquid Glass. Because regular craft glue won’t work on gluing glittery shape.

Finally, I added the tag on the jar lid with Topiary Mini Chevron Ribbon.

I link up this project at Creative Spark Link Party #31

Hope you’ll like it and thank you for stopping by!

Posted on Monday, December 1, 2014

12 Days DIY Christmas 2014: Day 1

Welcome December! I love this month for so many reasons 😀 and I have been thinking and planning to do something different this year so I came up with this… I would love to share 12 DIY Christmas Projects with you all from December 1st through December 12th. I hope you will like this and inspire to create something special for your Christmas this year.

Kicking off this special series, I would love to share the first project is from my little sister, Gisella. A couple of days ago she shared this cute Christmas tree she made out of Starbucks coffee cup sleeves! So…. watch out Starbucks! Hopefully you’ll have enough supplies this year…LOL! 😀

My sister told me that she printed out some Christmas dingbats from internet that she liked on a printer paper, trimmed them and glued them on piece of cardboard. And added them on the tree as decorations.

How neat is that? I love her crafty idea of recycling Starbucks sleeves and cardboards she had around her. I tell ya, she has been drinking way too much Starbucks coffee!

I also link this card up at Inspire Me Monday Week 152.

I hope you like her project she shared with us today. Have a Merry December!

Do you recycle? How do you recycle them?

Posted on Saturday, October 4, 2014

DIY Quick Note Card Set

One of the things I am always thankful for our church is that they care so much for missionaries who come to visit and share with us what God has been doing through their lives on the field. There is a little closet we called it as Missionary Cupboard, where missionaries who visit our church can find supplies (school supplies, stationeries, note books, kids toys, craft supplies for kids, diapers, soaps, towels, hand sanitizer, toilet papers, etc.) if they need any.

This weekend is our Mission Focus. And there will be some missionaries visiting and sharing with us. And we need extra supplies for Mission Cupboard. I have been making note card sets for this cupboard 🙂

This is one of the sets I made. I made them quick and easy. I found a box of lace border cards at store and been sitting in my drawer for a while. I cut piece of ribbon as wide as the card, stapled it using Mini Stapler on both edge and then add the sentiment with 3D Foam Tape.

The frame is from one of the stamps from Holiday Tags set (D1560). The sentiments are from Give A Lift (D1581). I stamped them using Canary Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad (new color on the block!)

Posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Tuesday Thought: Our Care For Overseas Missionaries

Living overseas has special mark in my life. My life is changed. My perspective is changed.

This is not what I had in my mind when I was at school. My plan was to study hard, earned my bachelor and then went to overseas, well at least Singapore, to get better job. But then when I went back to finish my bachelor degree in 2004, God led me to different path. God changed my motivation. God changed my perspective of the idea of living overseas or cross-culturally.

We moved to Ohio since 2008 after we got married. For me, I am away from my home country, my parents and close families. But for my husband and daughters, here is their home country. For all of us, no matter where we will be living, wherever God will send us to go, we will make it home and serve Him as family.

Thinking of being away from home country, my thought goes to all missionaries who serve the Lord overseas. Those who live away from their home countries, away from their families. But they are there because of their obedience to the Lord’s calling. They are there because the people need to hear the Good News.

Our church, Grace Baptist Church Minford – Ohio, has a group of ladies who always get together every month to pray for the missionaries whom our church partner with. I am so thankful to this group of ladies! Knowing that they are thinking and praying for us and the missionaries is very encouraging.

They are not only getting together to pray, but in their act of love is real.

On last Friday, some of us get together to make Christmas cards for our missionaries. We would love to send them a note on Christmas day, sharing our hearts with them on the field. Especially for those who are away from their families on this special holiday.

That night, we made 17 Christmas cards! These ladies are amazing! We learned together to stamp and putting cards together. Most of all, we fellowshipped, shared stories, and had fun time 🙂

My oldest daughter came back from Great-grandma’s house, she joined us a little but before bed time. My friend helped her making this card. She is a blessing!

This is one of little thing we can do to show care with missionaries who serve overseas. If your church partner with missionaries overseas, you can try to do something special for them to show your care and love 🙂

Here are some cards we made that I would like to share with you today:

THANK YOU for your partnership with missionaries all over the world. THANK YOU for your love for the people who need to hear the love of God and His Good News. THANK YOU!

Posted on Saturday, September 27, 2014

DIY Felt Tablet Sleeve

I was looking for a pouch of case or sleeve for Nexus tablet and Pinterest, as my go-to-inspiration-source. I found few posts on tutorials how to make an iPhone and external hard drive sleeve/case out of felt & handstitching.

So I was wondering if I could try to make a tablet sleeve instead of buying it.

And I tried. Success! And I am super happy with the result 🙂

It didn’t take a long time to make this. Basic material you will meed are:
– Felt in your your favorite color
– Scissors or rotary cutter
– Pinking sheer
– Ruler
– Needle
– Thread in matching color with the felt
– Valcero or button

First, measure the tablet. My Nexus is about 5″ x 7″

Then I measure the felt I wanna use. I found this darker grey in my stash. Using rotary cutter and quilt ruler, I cut my felt into 12″ x 7.25″

Then I fold to make the sleeve at 5″ from the bottom. Hold it with needle so it will stay in place when you hand-stitch its sides.

This is what I love… Handstitching. I think this is what they call blanket handstitching. This blog post is an excellent tutorial with pictures.

Last step is adding the fastener. For mine, I use adhesive Valcero. You can pick what you want to use for the sleeve flap.

I am happy for the result 🙂 And I hope you can follow these simple steps. If you have any questions, feel free to leave it as comment and I will try my best to answer it.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!