Hand-Made Christmas: Printed Candles

Hello my lovelies!

I'm so sorry my posting has been so sporadic as of late, life is marching on and I'm running behind it, out of breath yelling "waaaiiitttt!!"  After you finish giggling uncontrollably at that mental image, read on to learn how to create your very own stamped candles!

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I based my candles off of the tutorial above(Hint: clicking the picture will bring you to the tute) But, as with everything, i just HAD to make mine a bit differently (lol).

So here's the DIY Printed Candles: The Coupon Way:

What you will need:

• Candles (any size or color will work, just be sure to pick ink color and stamp size accordingly)
• Pigment Ink pad (the original tute will tell you to use the washable,non-pigment ink for health reasons, but i chose to use the pigment ink. It is your choice)
• Rubber or Acrylic Stamps

1. Pick out your candle color and size, your stamps and your inks

2. Lay stamp with rubber side up, and pat your ink pad onto the stamp until the whole stamp is covered in ink(you don't need a ton of ink, just enough to lightly cover the stamp)

3. With firm even pressure, carefully roll the candle across the inked stamp. Try to roll the candle in a even, straight line so that the image lines up on all sides.

4. Set your candles aside to cure for 24hrs.

5. Admire your handy work and give them to others to enjoy!

Price Break down:

Set of  6 votives : 2.49

Ink pad: 1.00

Stamps 2 @ .75 and one on hand : 1.50

 Total: 4.99 ( that's .83 a candle)

*These could be made for cheaper or for free if you have all of these supplies on hand

Did you decide to give these a try? How did they come out? Share your handy work! Comment below or email me at Sararwenzel@aim.com!

Dress-up for Less. A DIY Tiara and Wand Tute

My little girl is just barley 18 months old and already loving to dress up and pretend she's a princess.(groan) Along with this phase comes the need for a tiara and matching wand/scepter, of course! We had a cheapo set in the back of a closet somewhere that i had bought as a gift and had never given, so i gave them to her to play with and this was the result:

She LOVED them. So much so,in fact, that she wore them for an hour each time she played with them and would stop to admire the fluff on the crown. Unfortunately, because they were a dollar-store special, they broke after two days of toddler-love.  And so, that brings me to the subject of this post.

Since Baby Coupon loved these dress up items SO much, i decided to make her, her own, toddler-proof set. Luckily, everything i needed i had on hand and was able to create a matching tiara and wand set in the time it took her to take a nap :)

And since i believe sharing is caring, here's a tute(of sorts)

What you will need:

For the tiara/crown:

•  Headband that fits your child's head
• Ribbon
• Hot glue
• Jewels of your choice(i used clear rhinestones,because that is what i had on hand)

For the wand/scepter

• 10" long wooden dowel
• ribbon matching the ribbon you are using for the crown
• hot glue
• ribbon(coordinating colors)
• Jewels

To make the crown:

1. Cover your headband in the ribbon of your choice(if you already like the color of your headband, you can skip this step) For my headband, it was pink, so i covered it in a 1" wide green patterned ribbon.

2. Cut you accessory ribbon down into 6, 5" strips for the large loops, and into 6, 3" strips for the small loops.

3. Make a loop with a 5" strip of ribbon and glue onto your headband

4. Continue like this all the way around the front of the headband until you have used all of your 5" strips of ribbon.

5. Make a loop with your 3" strip of ribbon and glue into place in between the larger loops(see photo below)

6. Glue your jewels around the base of  the headband .









7.Put it on your princess and "ooh" and "aw" :)



To make the wand/scepter:(sorry, no step by step pics for the wand)

1. Measure out a piece of your 1" wide ribbon the length of your wooden dowel(mine was 10")
2. Place a thin line of glue along the length of the dowel on one side
3. Fold ribbon over, adhering it onto the dowel
4. Place another thin line of glue, this time on the opposite side of the last line of glue
5. Fold ribbon over so the the dowel is no longer visible
6. Gather your coordinating ribbons, cut at different lengths.
7. Place a dot of glue on the end of the dowel, and adhere a piece of ribbon to  the top of the dowel
8. Repeat , alternating directions of the ribbon, until finished
9. After you have adhered all of your ribbon pieces, put another dot of glue at the top of the dowel(now covered in ribbon) and adhere a jewel.
10. If you would like your wand to have a bit more sparkle, adhere different sizes and shapes

TADA!!

Now you have successfully made your little one a one-of-a kind tiara and wand set.

Did you decide to make your daughter one of these sets? Show and tell please!! Comment or shoot me an email at Sarawenzel59@gmail.com





I'm BAaAaAaAAAAAaaaaack!

Hello my loyal readers (I'm going to pretend that people actually missed me posting lol)

As you may have notice,i haven't posted in quite awhile. That is due to the fact that i got a job! Yep,that's right folks. . a real-life, out-of-the-house job! Its only a part-time retail position,but between that,Mr. Coupon and Baby coupon,i hardly have time to breath anymore, never mind blog.

But,i have missed blogging,and i have missed sharing my thrifty finds and simple crafts and meals with you; so i am going to try a bit harder to keep up with my posting. Can you believe its AUGUST already?? School's about to start up soon and Halloween,Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. With Christmas just a couple months away, and our wallet a whole lot tighter than usual, I have made the decision to do a "Home-made Christmas" this year. "What is a Home-made Christmas?" It is just what it sounds like (heheh) , i have decided to hand-make every one's gifts this year, in order to spend as little as possible on gifts while still showing my loved ones how much they mean to me. In order to give myself enough time to get everything together, I am starting on the projects now. As i complete the projects,i will make a post for each craft with either a tutorial or a link to the tutorial i used,plus a break down of prices. My budget goal is $250 or less  for everyone on my Christmas list. Are you planning on a "hand-made Christmas"? Comment and let me know!

Cardboard. . .not just for your shoes any more!

This is yet another re-purposing post. :)
If you are anything like me, you have stacks and stacks of cardboard boxes just collecting dust  and taking up space in your house. Where we live, it is difficult to recycle, so if I can, I reuse and re purpose as many things I can.
I LOVE to craft. Anything crafty, I'm right there. Unfortunately, because of that love of crafting, I have TONS of crafting supplies and fabric; not to mention all of the finished projects. So, as I was looking around my house today, I got the idea for the Cardboard Craft Organizer

Cardboard Craft Organizer
You will need:

3 large boxes
3-6 small trays/boxes (number depends on what you are storing)
wrapping paper or brightly colored fabric
packing tape
hot glue gun
thin wooden dowels

Gather your boxes

If your boxes have flaps, cut them off  to leave four clean edges .

Take two boxes that have similar depth/width and attach them ,long sides together,with hot glue

Take the two boxes you attached together, and glue them to your base box (i suggest using a sturdier weight box for the base, like a water case) Stabilize the two sets of boxes by taping the edges with packing tape.

Cut out a notch about 6" deep out of the top of the top boxes.



About 3" inches in, notch out 4 parallel, triangle notches that are 1" deep and 1" 1/2 wide

Cover your smaller boxes with the wrapping paper/ fabric  and packing tape and place your wooden dowels into the notches at the top.

Load your fabric and ribbon into the organizer and sit back and admire your green, crafty creation!





When neither coupons nor prayer is enough. . .

. . . . I do my best to earn money through my crafts. I make and (try to) sell my creations on Etsy.com. Check it out here.

But, business is dreadfully slow and Mr. Coupon and I are in desperate need of some funds. I need ideas, any and all. Right now i make burp cloths and bibs, tote-bags,hair/shoe clips,hand painted terracotta pots,wooden mobiles and clay ornaments. . . .and I am willing to try my hand at anything and everything, if it will get people to buy. :)
So, my dear readers. . all 3 of you . . that is where you come in! I need to know what you all are in the market for. What things do you love? What can you not resist that is hand-made?

Send me an email: sararwenzel@aim.com

Hit me up on my shop page on FB: http://www.facebook.com/index.php?eu=ifjbaMWHpQNsfBLn59RCrQ#!/pages/Slice-O-Heaven-Etsy-Shop/145431288839765

Comment Below.

Send me smoke signals or your favorite carrier pigeon. . . .the point is. . . LET ME HEAR YOU!

My Version of the T-shirt diaper: T-shirt Prefold

I got the idea of a T-shirt diaper from a friend and decided  to re-vamp it a little. Instead of re-folding every time, I tri-folded the the T-shirt and sewed a hem along the openings on the side, and either end.

See below for step-by-step directions complete with pictures :)

T-Shirt Pre-fold


If the shirt has a graphic on it (like the one pictured below)
Lay the shirt with the graphic facing up.

Next fold in each sleeve to meet the edge of the collar(as shown below )

Next, fold the right side into the middle, and fold the left side on top of the right(as shown below)

Next, sew around the open edges. . . .

After all of the open edges are hemmed,run a zigzag stich through the top where you folded under the sleeves, so that they dont bunch up when you wash them.

annnddd VOILA!!!

(don't mind the brown one, it was  my first attempt)