Duck Tape Soap Dispenser

I always look forward to another Craft Lightning round to inspire me and get the old wheels turning to come up with a cute crafty creation in 15 minutes or less (minus drying time of course!).

The Holiday version is my favorite but seems to challenge me the most as I struggle to find something I can whip up in a jiffy but yet still make it somewhat unique.

I don't know how unique this one is...I'm sure someone, somewhere has thought of it...but I love to upcycle/recycle household items so I decided to go with it anyway...

I used an old plastic soap dispenser and decorated it with Duck Tape and ribbon to spruce it up for the Holidays!

I suffered a lot of indecision in deciding what embellishment to use on the front and made a big mess trying to figure it out...

Fortunately my sweet Granddaughter B was with me when I was finishing this up and after snapping a few photos of possibilities and then showing them to her, she decided the Gingerbread Man looked best!

Collage of Steps to make this project:

Materials/Tools Used in this Project:

List:

Empty/Used  Plastic Soap Dispenser Bottle (Different Size/Shaped Bottle shown here from what I used in project)

Razor Blade

Duck Brand Duct Tape, Red

Scissors

E6000 Glue

Craft Ribbon, Big Lots, Poinsetta Print, Gold Edged, 7/8", 100% Polyester

Craft Ribbon, Michaels, Green Glitter Stripe, Celebrate It, Holiday, 5/8", 100% Nylon

Wooden Embellishment, Small, Gingerbread Man, Mfr. Unknown, from Stock-on-Hand

Notes and Tips:

Because this finished project is subject to getting wet, you'll want to use a permanent type glue such as the E6000 I used, but be careful when using thin ribbon like I did...I didn't realize that if I put it on thick it would seep through and show a bit on the front (you can see my craft "mini-fail" if you look closely at the pictures! Yikes!) After gluing down the first piece of ribbon I was more careful with the second piece and put smaller amounts.
You might be able to use a glue gun on this if you use it at low temp, but I wouldn't recommend using one unless it's your only choice. There is always the possibility of melting the plastic and the resulting smell could be toxic as well.
Another nifty use for this container would be filling it with sanitizer!

This project was super easy and quick but still makes for a sweet little accent in your bathroom or kitchen to spread some Christmas Cheer for the Holiday Guests to enjoy!

Be sure to click on the graphic below and check out all the other great Christmas and Holiday Ideas at The Country Chic Cottage and 30 Minute Crafts!

Thank-you and Happy Holidays!

                                         

Ribbon Fan Ornament

Making Christmas Ornaments has always been a great way to get in the Holiday Spirit for me and I was pretty excited to be participating in this Handmade Christmas Ornament Blog Hop, hosted by Diana over at "The Girl Creative".

Just look at all the cute and creative ornaments that the participants have come up with!

This year I wanted to make something simple and fast since I am on a time crunch because of my crazy schedule.

I still wanted the ornaments to look somewhat elegant though, because I always dream of having one of those fancy designer trees where all the ornaments coordinate!

Of course purchasing ornaments for these type trees can be a huge financial hit to your pocket book especially if your tree is big...and who has tons of free cash hangin' around during the holidays??!!
(Not me, that's for sure!)

I thought about what craft materials that I already have on hand and that I would have a lot of and the first thing that came to my mind was ribbon.

I am swimming in a sea of ribbon!

I started playing around with some of my really wide fabric Christmas ribbon and this is what I came up with...a fan ornament!

I decided to make a few different one's for experimentation since I have no clue what kind of "theme" tree I might decide to do...

These were so fast to make, you could make a whole slew of them for your themed tree in no time at all!

I was pretty happy with the outcome considering it was so fast and easy.

I have been collecting lots of jewelry pieces, beads, buttons and nick-nacks over the last couple of years from all the yard sales and thrift stores hubby and I visit and what a perfect way to compliment these ornaments than with some pretty embelishments!

For one of the ornaments I actually used some lace ribbon that was not stiff enough to hold the fan shape, so I added a coat of fabric stiffener to it and wah-lah! I was able to make it stand up and the lace perfectly complimented my Mardi-Gras themed ornament.

There are so many possibilities of what you can make and so many cute ways to embellish them.

Here is one where I used a button from my stash for accent:

Here is a collage of the steps in making these ornaments:

(NOTE: If you click on the photo collage, you can see a larger version of the picture for clarity)

Here are the supplies and tools I used to make this project:

List of Tools/Materials used:

Ribbon (I used 81/2" - 9" of each for the fan base)
Ribbon, Offray Ribbon Treasures, Cloth, 2-5/8" wide, Christmas Pattern
Ribbon, Gold Braid (Brand unknown, scrap piece from stock on-hand)
Ribbon, Lace, Black, Yellow/Gold, 3-1/2" wide, (Brand unknown, scrap piece from stock on-hand)
Ribbon, Sheer, White, Gold Trim, Wired Edged, Gold Patterned Swirl, 2-1/2" (scrap, stock on-hand)
Ribbon, Nylon/Lace, Old Gold, Scalloped, 5/8"
Ribbon Trim, Beaded, Red Cord/Gold Beads (Brand Unknown, scrap piece from stock on-hand)
Trim, Gold Cord
Decorative Trim, Bead, Gold, Plastic
Jewelry Piece, Old Earring, Holly w/Bell and Gold Bow
Jewelry Piece, Jester Face from Mardi Gras Costume Jewelry
Button, Faux Gold w/Pearl Inset (from stock on hand)
Scissors, Heavy Duty, Cutco
Scissors, Med. Size, Westcott (from WalMart)
Glue Gun, Multi-Temp, Ad Tech
Jewelry Tools, Cutting Dikes & Pliers
Rubber Finger-Tip Protectors
Paper Clips (to hold fan bottom while glue dries)
Paper Weights (to assist with some gluing tasks)
Glitter Glue Pen, Gold, (from set), Advantus Corp, (from Ross)
Glue, Fabric, E6000 Fabri-Fuse
Glue Sticks, Multi-Temp, Full Size, Ad Tech
Fabric Stiffener & Draping Liquid, Aleene's
Foam Brush
Plastic Container (for ease in applying fabric stiffener)
Ruler
Toothpicks (for help in precise gluing)

I hope you liked my project and are inspired to create some ornaments of your own!

Be sure to check out all of the other great Christmas Ornaments in this blog hop by clicking on the link-up below!

Thank-you for visiting my blog!
Hope you'll stop by again soon!

An InLinkz Link-up

Upcycled/Recycled Gift for Teacher Appreciation

I have been volunteering in my Granddaughter "B's" class this year and when it came time for teacher appreciation week I knew I wanted to do something for B's teacher.

I've really loved being in her class and watching how she interacts with the children and helps them learn and grow.

She is just plain amazing in my book!

I really thought it was awesome how she dressed like a Dalmatian on the 101 st day of school!

The kids REALLY loved that!

I asked "B" what kind of things did her teacher like and she told me "Coffee, Monkey's and US!" (meaning the whole kindergarten class.) That really made me smile!

I decided to go with the coffee theme for a gift since I already had something in mind that would fit perfectly with coffee.

A few months earlier I had made some Green Bean Casserole and was pleasantly surprised to find that French's had a new container for their French Fried Onions.

When I saw it, I immediately started thinking of all the cool things I could make with it later on.

I have a bit of a confession to make here...I am a recycle junkie!

(And I don't mean the environmental kind who loves to "turn in" all her recycles to the local county recycle program...) I keep all kinds of "crap" as DH would call it because I am CERTAIN something can be made from it later! LOL!

The problem is...most of the time...LATER never comes and I am over-run with all kinds of glass, plastic and cardboard containers.

(Yes...I would be a perfect candidate for that reality show "Hoarder's"...
My husband is constantly reminding me of this. He isn't amused!)

I had saved a couple of those cool containers and thought one of them would be PERFECT for this project.

I loved the way the lid snapped on securely and knew it would work good for coffee.

The smooth plastic surface would be easy to cover with fabric or scrapbooking paper.

I decided to go with fabric because I thought it would hold up better with repeated use.

I bought some little coffee packets at the dollar store to store inside the container, knowing that B's teacher would probably want to eventually replace it with her own brand/taste in coffee when it needed to be refilled.

I had some jewelry findings that I had purchased at an Estate Sale and found the perfect embellishment to add to the container along with some coordinating ribbon.

I added black felt to the top of the lid and to the bottom of the container using a pattern I made from tracing the lid and bottom.

You can do this yourself or I created a PDF version of my pattern that you can download here for free to save you some time.

I wanted to personalize the container a little more, so that it would somehow hold a memory for the teacher of my sweet Granddaughter, so I took her kindergarten school picture and cut it to fit in a round frame (old earring from the jewelry findings) and attached it to the outside lid of the box.

I also wanted to let Mrs. R know how special she was to me and B and what a good teacher she is, so I included a quote about teaching on the inside of the lid, so she would see it whenever she opened the container.

I found this cute graphic/quote at a great website called Bitsy Creations. They have some really cute designs and many of them are offered as free printables.

If you'd like to download this particular graphic/quote please go here for the link.

As a final touch I purchased a small coffee themed kitchen towel and a gift card to Starbucks for when Ms. R wanted coffee on the go!

Little B was pretty excited when I told her that I had made something special for her teacher and she couldn't wait to give it to her!

Supplies and Tools used for this project:

Supplies/Tools List:

Re-useable/Re-sealable Plastic Container
Fabric Strip - 14" x 14" (approx.)
Black Felt - 5"x3" (approx.) (2 pieces)
Pattern for Felt Pieces - 2 pcs. (Traced from top and bottom of container onto paper) Download Here.
Glue Dots - Glue Lines, 1"
Ribbon, Sheer Organdy, Black, 7/8" (Ribbon Trends)
Ribbon, Grosgrain, Black, 1/4" (Essentials)
Aleene's Tacky Glue
E6000 Glue
Jewelry Findings/Embellishments - (Not shown in photo above) I used an old round earring and a cabochon
Scissors
Jewelry Pliers
Popsicle Stick (for use spreading glue)
Straight Pins (to pin pattern to felt pieces)
Printed Quote/Poem for Inside of Lid - (The one shown above can be downloaded here)
Gift Card
Small food/candy items to fill container (in this case coffee packets)

Thanks for stopping by!

This post/project is linked-up to the following sites/link parties: