We apologize for making you see red again this week, but it’s all in the spirit of St. Valentine — and we’ve sprinkled in some pinks, lavenders and sparkles for variety.
While our two offerings have a Valentine’s Day flavor, both are easily adaptable to any holiday or special occasion.
Let’s begin with a trio of little bottles containing supplies for the scrapbookers on your gift list.
An ad in a scrapbooking magazine inspired this gift. The company advertised lengths of decorative ribbon packaged in vintage or collectible jars, and since scrapbookers use a lot of little ribbon pieces in their creations, a variety of yard or half-yard lengths makes a great gift idea.
Why not take it one more step, we thought, and add several more bottles containing brads, buttons or other scrapbooking necessities, dressed up in gifty style and presented on a tray.
To make our sample, we selected several little green-toned bottles with stoppers (cost, between $1.50 and $3 each), and a terra cotta plant pot saucer for the base.
We cut a circle of glittery pink felt to line the bottom of the saucer, filled the bottles with an assortment of ribbon, buttons and brads, and added yarn bows to the bottles for extra pizzazz.
You can paint and decorate the saucer if desired, but we left ours plain in anticipation of using it for another craft in future.
Wrap the tray with bottles in tissue paper or cellophane, tied with ribbon or yarn, for presentation.
Of course, you can use larger bottles or jars, customized to suit the event or recipient, and it’s a great way to put ribbon scraps and odd buttons to good use.
Our second project this week is to make wooden Valentine’s Day tags that can be used as greeting cards or money/gift card holders — or both. If you follow our method of coloring the tags, the project will also introduce you to the quick and slick world of Woodcraft markers.
If you’re not already familiar with them, these markers come in several widths and contain water-based ink that covers wooden surfaces very well. They are easy to use and one coat was sufficient for the tags we made.
Prices range from $2.50 to about $6 per marker — we paid $3.29 each for the medium size at Michael’s in Smokey Point. One problem we’ve had with craft markers in the past is that they tend to run out of ink pretty quickly, but so far, the Woodcraft ink supply seems to be OK.
To make our tags, you’ll need lightweight wooden tags, available at craft stores separately (usually $1 or less each) or in packages of four ($1.50 to $2 per package); markers, paint or stain; Valentine-themed embellishments of choice; glitter glue (optional); felt or wrapping paper scraps, or tiny envelopes; ribbon or thread for a hanger; and a hot glue gun or quick-dry tacky glue.
Begin by painting or otherwise coloring the wooden tags and let dry. Next, attach the embellishments in a design of your choice, then, if desired, apply glitter glue to the edge of the tag and around the little hanger hole and let dry.
To make the tag into a money or gift-card holder, add a piece of felt to the back of the tag — glued around three edges — to form a pocket. Another option is to glue a tiny purchased envelope (or make one from wrapping paper) to the back of the tag.
Use the tag as a greeting card by writing a special message or poem on the back with a black or darker-ink marker.
Add a length of ribbon or decorative thread for a hanger, and surprise your Valentine by hanging the tag in a place where he or she is certain to find it.
Note: We used Valentine’s Day stickers and craft foam hearts to embellish our tags. If you use the same, remember that hot glue can melt some materials if it’s too hot. We had a little bit of puckering and bubbling with the foam at first, but the problem was resolved by using less glue and applying it in thin lines.
Next week in Craft Corner:
Meet Ardie McLean of Snohomish, who has found a crafty way to turn old jewelry into treasured heirlooms that are close to the heart.
Contact Jonetta Coffin at jrocoffin@aol.com.
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