d.Sharp Journal

Bestow

This owl makes me happy.
And I think it would make a kid happy to receive this guy {with a present inside}.

It could even be fun to make one with your kid. Working off an idea for a paper bag owl puppet in one of my vintage child craft books, I made this bird into a gift bag. Want to know how?

{ instructions after the jump}

Bestow

Silver is my favorite color. For years, I was a strict Christmas ornament curator - only silver on the tree {some vintage pink ornaments even met a bath of acetone to become the desired color}. So, here is a small collection of gift toppers with sparkle.

With metal stamps, For You impressed onto aluminum plant labels you can find at the nursery  -  Vintage tin sample spoon,  can be had on Ebay -  Glitter star to adhere with spot of double stick tape - Monogram cut into one of my shield tags, crepe paper ruffle with square silver brad - Chipboard letter wrapped with silver thread - Vintage rhinestone buttons to thread onto ribbon -  One of my glitter trophy tags with ribbon - Monogram stamped onto my favorite silver ribbon, highlighted with embossing powder - One of my silver letterpress gift buckles with velvet ribbon - Tin number used to mark telephone poles, similar can be found here.

Bestow

Inspired by the colorful trends of pixels, {color} palettes, and{ombre} patterns that are cheering folks up these days. I made this pixel heart for someone special. It might look time-consuming, but it wasn't too bad and rather relaxing- I imagine that a craft project like this would be a perfect way to pass time at the sanitarium.

I started with a large paper heart box of chocolates. It is best if the heart doesn't have a lip around the edge and isn't too textured. First, I glued a piece of pink card stock to the top of the box, trimming edge with exacto when dry - the card stock smoothed out the slightly embossed pattern.
The squares are cut from a craft punch - which is a way for me to avoid human error with measuring/cutting up little tiny squares. I think the punch was 5/8 inch. I gathered up every scrap of pink and red paper I had from past projects as well as more paint chips from an old paint deck{but, I imagine you could 'liberate' a few from the Home Depot}. To start, I drew a horizontal guide line the width of one square down from the top and glued my first course. With the remainder of the courses, I applied glue to a small area at a time and made sure that the squares were tight and aligned to the first row. As I worked, I burnished the mosaic with the back of a spoon on top of scratch paper. I trimmed the edge with an exacto and then glued pink paper to the sides of the lid.

This gift is more about the box than the chocolates, it would be ideal to make my own treats for someone. The week after Valentine's Day, when stores are discounting the remainders, is a way to snap up boxes for future projects. Ditch the chocolates they include{ I swear I will make my husband take them to work} and you're set for next year.

For this year, have a happy Valentine's Day.
Best,
Denise

Bestow

Okay, all we had here were open bottles of wine - so please pretend this is a shiny new bottle of wine for your Valentine. Great. Now, if you would like you can Download Xoxo. Pick out some pretty paper and print it out - I chose some lace pattern paper.

Bestow

Wrapped in leftovers from the paint store - green wrap from a roll of paper masking and sample chip spots adhered with small glue dots.

Yeah, part 2

Today is about gift wrapping, have a look here.

Bestow

Picture yourself out of gift wrap.
Picture yourself scanning and printing out the pattern of  your favorite skirt {or another article of your clothing}.
Picture yourself in a coordinated ensemble with gift in hand.

Bestow

Here is another gift idea that uses magnets. Those ubiquitous, colorful magnetic letters can spell out the recipient's name.

Bestow

I have a thing for tin. Tin is kind of  humble, I like that.  I keep an eye out for old canisters at antique malls and estate sales, using most for storage in my studio. This gift presentation idea works with tins, either vintage or new, pairing a trio with wide, dual color satin ribbon. The ribbon itself won't work to secure the stack of  tins - but a couple of magnets placed between each layer does the trick.

Bestow

I have never been too up with wrapping paper that screams KID'S BIRTHDAY. This gift is wrapped in a  pattern-embossed, solid color paper and banded with the same color vellum, perfect to top with a paper sailboat for a child's gift. Using an old map, I followed these instructions for the origami boat. For the sail, I hot glued a wooden skewer to the boat and glued the sails on. The sailboat is kept in place by a bit of double stick tape. Ready to set sail.