Newnique News

Happy New Year everyone.  It has been awhile since I wrote.  I spent a lot of time making jewelry and enjoying the holidays.  And I’m not sure where a lot of the time was spent.

Today’s post is about gift tags.  I have never been a fan of most of the commercial tags.  There are usually pretty bland and I don’t like the idea of buying something just to have it go in the trash.  (Wrapping paper is OK for some reason.)  A few years ago I hit on the idea of recycling some of the cards I get.  I may have seen an article or thought of it myself, not sure.

I take greeting cards – the ones shows here are Christmas cards but I do this with all kinds of cards – look at them for attractive images within them, cut them up and use the results as gift tags.  All cards are viewed for their deconstructed potential except the hand made cards one talented friend sends.  Those are carefully preserved.

Here are a couple of cards I deconstructed this week.

Not a very good picture but you can see the cards I am working with.

The first step is to mark the cards with cut lines.  Not all of the card is always used – it all depends on the images.

This card was torn so I worked around that.  After marking I used a paper cutter to create the tags.

Here are both cards after cutting.

And some cards are naturals for this process.

Write your message on the back and tape to packages or use my favorite method — cut a hole in a corner and attach with narrow ribbon to the package ribbon.

These tags are unique, thrifty, environmentally friendly and you will find something in your stash to complement each package you wrap.  Having the perfect tag for each gift is as much fun as deciding how to divide the image.

Some tags are just solid colors or a glittered piece of card and they look great too.

I saw this post about remaking give away bags on Design Sponge this week and said – I have done that and I can post about it.  The bags in the post are a little too cute for me and a little too small for most things I carry when I need a tote.

A few years ago I attended a local conference where a very nice tote was given to the participants.  The tote is a heavy black vinyl about 15 X 18 X 5 – a good size for a day trip or packing notebooks, snacks, socks and shawls for an all day meeting in cold hotel conference rooms.

To cover the logo I used a large stamp to create a red polymer clay plate.   I ‘antiqued’ the image with dark acrylic paint and highlighted the butterfly with silver paint.  I added four polymer clay beads that I used to guide/hide the thread when I sewed on the plate.  (Originally I used dental floss because I thought I needed the strength.  After using the tote for a few years I know that regular thread will work just as well.)

The next step was to create a stable bottom in the tote.  Most giveaways do not have anything in the bottom to maintain the shape of the bag.  I measured the bag and cut a heavy piece of cardboard and placed it in the bottom.  If you want it to look very finished, create a cover for the cardboard like you would a pillow case.

There are many ways to personalize the give away bags in your closet.

Sew embellishments/pockets as in the Design Sponge post.

Create your own iron on appliques with your fabric, applique papers with adhesive on both sides and your iron.  Google ‘how to applique’ to find instructions.

Opaque Tshirt transfers you create with your printer.

Use fabric paints to paint over the logo and then create your own masterpiece on the front, back, handles – go wild

Create your own work of art using your preferred method and hand sew it over the logo like I did with my polymer plate.

The bags are plentiful and the possibilities are endless – be creative and have fun.

I love cheese but don’t eat a lot of it.  When I buy it, I always look for the smallest package in the store because I have had to throw away a lot of moldy cheese.  Even the smallest package lasts a long time if I am eating it all myself.  A few weeks ago a link to this Yahoo posting about uses for salt was in one of the blogs I read regularly.

When I saw the “Extend Cheese Life” hint I immediately tried it.  And it works!!!  I soaked a cutting from an old, soft white tshirt in salted water, wrapped the cheese with it and placed in a plastic bag.  The cheese stayed much fresher.  After a week, I changed the cloth and still have good results.

If you google ‘uses for salt’ there are several lists on the web.  It is a great way to save money on cleaning products.  You can also keep cut flowers fresh longer and make minor wall repairs.  Even if you are not going to use all the hints it is interesting reading.

Have a good weekend.

I have been looking at a wobbly indoor/outdoor thermometer for a few months.  I carefully balanced it on its broken stand and everything was okay until I bumped the table or a strong breeze hit it.  This weekend I decided to do something about it.

I made a stand from 16 gauge steel galvanized wire from Home Depot.  I considered making a polymer clay stand but decided I wanted functional not decorative.  The only tools I used were wire cutters and pliers from my tool box.

Here is the completed stand. 

Not really attractive but functional and you can’t see much of it when the thermometer is in place.

How I did it:
I roughly measured the width of the stand, the depth of the thermometer, how high it would reach on the back and the length of the supports.
I cut a wire that length plus a few inches for changes or mistakes.
Next step was to start at the front and using the pliers bend the wire around the thermometer.
When I was finished I made two beads from polymer clay, drilled them halfway through and glued them to the rough ends of the wire.

I am pleased with the result.   It has an easy reading angle again.

I am lazy today and reposting something from the Craftzine blog.  I am often amazed at the specialty adhesives that exist.  Here is a shout out to one that is readily available and can solve the problem of connecting two smooth objects.

This would probably work better than glass glue for repairs.