DIY Mason Jar Flowers, aka what to do with the runaways.

I have these beautiful day lilies that grow in my garden. They’re a “set it and forget it” type plant. Lots of sunlight, little maintenance, self-propagating—they just grow. And bloom with these amazing orange flowers in the middle of summer.

Which brings me to the runaways.

Every spring, I have a dozen or so lilies that have decided to be born free fluffy, born free and escape the confines of their planters. (It’s that whole “self-propagating” part, you see).

So every spring I dig up the runaways and plant them someplace new, where they can grow and bloom and expand to their liking. But this year I decided to do something different.

I put the runaways up for adoption. Meaning, I made these cute mason jar flower holders, put two lily fans inside, and sent them home with some of my girl friends. To self-propagate in other peoples’ yards.

All you need is mason jars, some grosgrain ribbon, and cardstock. I used the jar lid to hold the flower tags on – which say “grow me!”  The tag pattern is available here – I just modified the text. Did I mention sharing flowers is way more eco-friendly than buying hot house bulbs? 

Add some special effects in a photo app, and you’re really fancy.

Doesn’t this just make you want to garden?

But only flowers folks, this girl doesn’t grow food.

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Quick Gifts: DIY Printed Notecards

Yesterday I had one of those “crap I need to bring a gift” moments. You see, I was invited to a graduation party for the sister of a friend. So, I didn’t want to show up empty-handed, but my willingness to pay for this type of gift was about $10 or less. And the moment this “you need to bring a gift” realization hit me was the moment I was leaving the house. And since giving booze to teenagers is frowned upon, I couldn’t do my standard grab a bottle of wine out of the rack and call it a day moves.

Which is why it’s handy to have blank stationary in my craft kit and notecard design pdfs saved on my computer. Open one of the card designs, load notecards into the printer, and hit print. Quick, easy, DIY notecards.

I have a variety of designs that are my “go-tos” for gifts. The ones above are my ‘hello cards.’ Hola, bonjour, ciao bella.

I also have thank-you cards like this.

I really like the old-fashioned type key font on this one. And the accent letter.

For notecards I use 4.5 x 5 inch folded cards, but you could easily use flat cards or a larger size as well. I like the folded notecards because they strike me as more formal.

Quick, easy, inexpensive to make but impressive to give. Which is the way I like it.

What is your go-to gift when you’re in a rush?

DIY Roundup: Triple Crown Onesie and Notecard

Okay, I know the Triple Crown didn’t happen this year.

And yes, technically this baby onesie was a christening gift, so technically a more appropriate title would be something like gifts of the magi.

But after carefully considering the fact that earlier this year someone told me that he “couldn’t go out with me because I was too religious,” I’ve decided to go with Triple Crown.

(When you’re done laughing over the fact that someone would EVER describe me as “too religious,” continue reading.)

As per usual, I DIY’d the stencil for this bit of baby onesie glory on my Cricut. The crowns are from the wall art cartridge, sized at one point five inches. If you want full instructions for fabric paint projects and stencils, click here.

The fabric paint is a pink pearl, which means pink glitter. Because pink glitter totally screams “Jesus,” don’t you think?

Normally I feel super-guilty when I cut out stencils for DIY projects, because a) I drive a Prius and b) what do I do with all the insides?

I can’t throw them away because I’m a paper hoarder I might need them in the future…so now I have a drawer full of mismatched letters and cutouts in various shapes and sizes. I CAN QUIT ANYTIME. I SWEAR.

Luckily, this time I around I “got smart” as they say. Being that I needed a card for one of my fav coworkers, I used the crown center cut-outs as the decoration on the card. FREAKING BRILLIANT.

Not to mention eco-Prius-friendly. And efficient. It’s like craft multi-tasking.

Freaking brilliant.

Does anyone else have a favorite way to craft multi-task?

L<3VE Onesies

Whenever I’m frustrated with people, I think about my niece. She is honest, reliable, and will always voice what’s on her mind. When she’s upset, you just know. And I don’t have to play it cool around her. I can tell her that I’m totally obsessed and that is totally normal.

Yeah, she pretty much just chills on the corner of awesome and bombdiggity. And she’s not even 7 months old.

Which, also means that I still have at least 7 years of being able to DIY and craft amazingly fun things for her to wear. Like this.

And, she still has a few more years of being obnoxious where she can get away with doing things like this. Hands off the tresses girlfriend.

I DIY’d this onesie for Mother’s Day—it took about 30 minutes to complete, start to finish. The trickiest part is sewing on the letters…and remembering to trace your design in reverse. Must remember to trace in reverse…

If you want to make your own felt applique onesie, you can find detailed directions and photos here. Or, if you’re not in the mood to click over, here’s the brief recap.

1. Trace design onto Heat n’ Bond or similar two-sided iron-on transfer paper. Be sure to trace your design IN REVERSE.
2. Iron first side of paper onto felt.
3. Cut out design.
4. Peel off paper backing and iron onto clothing.
5. Stitch design down with sewing machine.
6. Impress your friends with your mad crafting skills.

And seriously, how cute is this baby?

Gifting on a Budget: Customized Onesies

For me, it’s not the Year of the Dragon. It’s the “year of the shower.” As in, wedding and baby showers.

Last year, I had seven bridal showers and this year, I’m already locked into two baby showers. And it’s just the beginning of March.

So, I’m focused on finding thoughtful gifts that don’t break the bank. Which is what spurred me to make these onesies. I originally saw the idea here on Finley & Oliver, which has a ton of great DIY ideas for kids.

You don’t need to be a master seamstress to make these, as long as your design isn’t too complex.

Here’s what you need:

• Felt
• Heat n’ Bond or a similar iron-on transfer paper
• Onesies (duh)
• Sewing machine

You can stitch these by hand, but given how much wear and tear baby clothes get, machine-sewing makes them much more durable.

I used my Cricut Expression to cut out some of the shapes, which made tracing them super fast. Else there are lots of free downloadable shape templates for things like polygons or chevrons and a quick google search will find whatever you need.

When you’ve selected a design, it’s five quick steps to handcrafted onesie gold.

1. Trace your design
2. Iron onto felt
3. Cut out the shapes and layout your design
4. Iron the shapes onto onesies
5. Stitch down for added durability

You could easily use this technique to make a custom tee or bag too.

Happy crafting!