Coaster Tags

One little way to go green with your holiday gift-giving this year is to make quilted fabric gift tags that double as coasters, and today I'll show you how. For this project you'll need:

Print Fabric scraps
Muslin scraps (or a fabric light enough to write on)
Narrow ribbon
Fine-point indelible marker
Batting scraps or dryer sheets
Scissors
Wide masking tape
Sewing thread
Embroidery floss
Sewing and tapestry needles
White notepaper
Pins
Iron

Optional: Sewing machine, beads, other embellishments

Press all your cloth scraps, and cut the prints and muslin scraps into the size coaster tag you want plus one half inch (so to make a five inch square coaster tag, you'd cut your fabric into 5-1/2" squares.) Cut your batting or a stack of dryer sheets into the exact size of the coaster you want. Place a piece of masking tape across the center on the back of your muslin (like this), turn it over and write the name of your recipient on the front with your marker:



The masking tape is an old quilter's trick to temporarily stabilize the muslin so you can write on it like paper. Once you're finished writing, remove the tape, and stack a square of your print fabric on top of it so the name and the right side of the print are inside:



Place a square of muslin or a stacking of dryer sheets on top of your two squares and pin together:



Sew along the edge of the muslin square all the way around (like the black lines in this pic), leaving a 1-1/2" gap at the bottom. Clip your corners (like this), turn inside out, and press flat with your iron:



Sew closed the turning gap with a blind stitch, cut a heart shape to fit inside the coaster out of your notepaper, and pin the heart to the coaster:



The heart is your stitching guide. Stitch around it with your embroidery thread.



Thread your piece of narrow ribbon through the corner of your coaster:



Tie it to your gift with the ribbon:



Once they're done with their gift they can use the tag as a little coaster:



You can make these in all kinds of variations:



Some tips: Keep all your beading and raised embellishments on the outside edges of the tag so the center remains flat enough to place a cup on later. You don't have to write names on your tags, you can use an initial (like my K coaster above) or something else that identifies your recipient. One quilter I know makes fabric photo Christmas ornaments like this and uses them as gift tags first.

Swanning Around

I finished my latest crazy quilt tote yesterday, and I'm so happy with how it came out I'm going to make you all look at it:



I made every stitch by hand, which is why some of them are a bit uneven, but my stitching is slowly improving:



I've had this swan lace applique for a while, and couldn't figure out how to use it. Finally I just sat down and made it a center motif, and let the subtle colors in it inspire the embellishment beading:



Sometimes I think too much about how to do something, and the solution is always to just do it, trust myself, and see what happens. Even when something doesn't turn out perfect, it still gives me the opportunity to learn from my mistakes (and with this one, about a hundred stitches I had to pick out and do over.)

Working with materials I love also helps. All the backing fabric for this tote is thin, hand-dyed silk that feels like air when you stitch through it. I went crazy with the beading, which is always fun, and used holographic thread, which makes every inch of the tote sparkle. This will be part of a gift for a family friend who is going through a tough time right now, so I poured a lot of love into it, too. Hopefully it carries as many good thoughts and wishes as the beads and stitches.

All that's left is to fill the tote with goodies and make a gift tag. Tomorrow I'll show you how I make fabric gift tags that also work as a little extra gift.

Homemade Ten

I'm hand-making all my holiday gifts this year, and to encourage any you who want to do the same, here are:

Ten Things I Make as Gifts

Apple Basket: Organic green Granny Smith and Red Delicious apples piled in a nice basket are my default gift when I'm visiting someone I don't know for the holidays. Even if they don't want to eat the apples, it makes a pretty centerpiece for their table.

Book Loop: back in 2011 I reinvented the book mark by turning it into a necklace you can wear while you're reading; I also created some interesting variations here, here and here.

Character Cards: If you have a writer pal and want to make something really special for them, try creating a set of character cards based on their story crews. If they haven't yet published or finished writing anything, make up a deck of character idea cards.

Crazy Needlebook: For a friend who sews or quilts, make my Victorian-era needle keeper by following my step-by-step directions and photos here on the Disenchanted & Co. blog.

Framed Paper Roses: Watch this DIY video to learn the simplest way to make roses out of paper. Glue a piece of background paper to the backing of your frame. Glue your roses in rows on top of the paper-covered backing. The variations on this are fun, too -- if the gift is for a musician, make the roses out of old sheet music, book pages for a reader, or old handwritten notes for a writer, etc.

Holiday Story: Write a short story exclusively for your recipient, print it out and put it in a nice binder for presentation. If you're a journal maker you can also make it into book form for them.

Index Card Journal: This was probably my most unusual homemade small journal, and all you need to make your own is an inexpensive boxed pack of index cards, some old tea or coffee to stain the cards, some theme words, and some small bits to decorate the box base.

Natural Sachets: Learn about sachets and find out how to make a variety of floral, herb and spice sachets here, including a drawer sachet you can make from two old handkerchiefs.

Recycled Calendar Pocket Journal: Make a keepsake pocket journal from an old wall calendar by following the steps and photos in this post.

Toriana Market Bag: Another step-by-step post of mine here shows you how to make a strapped messenger-style bag in virtually any size.

What have you made for holiday gifts that your recipients loved? Let us know in comments.

Just So We're Clear Ten

Ten Things We Ladies Don't Want for Valentine's Day

Appliances, Any: If you can't remember this rule, a smack in the head with the mixer/vacuum cleaner/coffee maker you gave for Christmas might be a helpful prompt.

Big Heart o' Cheap Chocolates: It can be three feet in circumference and covered with fake roses and that still doesn't redeem the crappiness of the single layer of godawful candy inside. Don't believe it? Drop one on the floor; the dog won't even touch it. Look, if you intend to wreck our diets at least go for something decent that starts with G (Ghiradelli, Godiva.)

Cologne: Aside from the fact that your favorite scent is extra spicy buffalo wings, you always claim whatever you pick out smelled great on your secretary, your mother or that cute little blonde barista at Starbucks, at which point we're going to hard-pressed not to pour the contents of the entire bottle over your head or in your lap.

Cookbook: I'm sure that 1001 Ways with Buffalo Wings will mean as much to us as living on take-out for the next month will to you, Bub.

Flowers: Unless they're delivered we're going to know you bought them from the half-wilted bargain bucket at the grocery store on the way home from work on Valentine's Day. Also, forget the cutesy balloons. There's a helium shortage and we're not six years old anymore.

Gym Membership: Really? No, really?

Music: You're into Rhianna. We're into Adam Levine. Learn this, accept this, and then go CD shopping.

Sexy Lingerie: It's cut too small or too tight in absolutely the worst spots, all that black lace itches like crazy and no way will it make us look like those skinny angel chicks in the Victoria's Secret commercials. Ever.

Tattoo Gift Certificate: Can we use it to get something put on your forehead? Like our opinion of this gift? No? Bummer.

Vajazzling Kit: Aside from this being the most crass, tasteless, overpriced and utterly ridiculous product ever to be shilled on a 2 a.m. infomercial . . . tell you what, we'll stick a couple dozen self-adhesive crystals to the corresponding area of your anatomy, see how much is penazzles you.

Your turn, ladies: what don't you want for Valentine's Day? Let us know in comments.

Under Ten

This year my family and I decided to start a new holiday gift-giving tradition. Instead of spending money on lots of presents, we're buying just one gift for each other that costs no more than $10.00. The rest of the $$$ we normally spend will be donated to folks in need. For 2012 we're giving to the victims of Hurricane Sandy in Rockaway, which was my Dad's childhood home.

You'd think this one $10 gift rule would make shopping difficult, but I love bargain hunting so I'm actually having a blast with it. I'm also finding there are a lot of cool gifts out there for under ten bucks, so I thought I'd share some intel by putting together a list of:

Ten Gifts You Can Buy for Ten Bucks or Less

Kathy Iogo's All You Need is Love . . . and a Cat box sign is a great gift for your favorite feline lover; at $5.95 from B&N.com you'll have enough left over to buy a nice pack of kitty treats, too.

Sometimes you can find bargains even at pricey places like Levenger; they have this ruled ceramic pen/pencil cup for $10.00
which you can fill with something fun you make for your recipient (chocolate-dipped pretzel rods would look neat.)

Office Depot carries Lexar™ JumpDrive® TwistTurn USB 8G Flash Drives in a variety of colors for $9.99; to make it extra personal add some content on it for them, like family pics or some free stories from your favorite authors (I have a whole library of them available over there on the sidebar, not that I'm hinting.)

Target is another site where you can shop by price; they have lots of gift ideas for less than ten bucks including this cute set of Paul Frank Lip Smackers that inlcudes a neat little makeup bag for $9.99.

Writer's Bloc is the place I shop for interesting gifts for writers; they have a bunch of items for less than $10.00 like this Writersblok Woodpecker Notebook that looks like it's covered with white birch bark; at $8.55 you can add an inexpensive pen and still stay under ten bucks.

Pier 1 has 634 gifts under $10.00 on their website, including this cute Mini Desk Supply set for $4.78 (saves you enough to splurge on an inexpensive 2013 calendar, like this one from Office Depot for $4.99) and these adorable Chubby Cat Salt & Pepper shakers for $8.00.

Add some pics to this Vintage Camera Photo Album and you've got two gifts in one; $9.95 from B&N.com.

These Sakura Gelly Roll StarDust gel pens produce a lovely, sparkling ink, and for $1.00 each from Writer's Bloc you can buy a nice set of them and pair them with an inexpensive journal or sketchbook.

The Top Secret Lock & Key Diary is great for teens or anyone who wants to journal securely; $9.95 from B&N.com.

Give your favorite scribe this Writers Block memo pad; $10.00 from, where else, Writer's Bloc.

Finally, a great novel is always a welcome gift, and most paperbacks cost under $10.00. I happen to have one coming out on Tuesday that is $7.99 from B&N.com or at most bookstores.

Wishlist Ten

Dear Santa,

Normally I don't bother you, but I have some special requests this year that I believe only you can handle. Here then is my list of:

Ten Things I Would Like for Christmas

1. Every celebrity who agrees to sing The Star-Spangled Banner at special events to first take the time to actually learn all the words to the song. It's our national anthem, it's not that long or complicated, and hearing it being mangled by famous dimwits greatly annoys me.

2. The ability to open the end of a package of crackers without the cellophane tearing down to the middle or end of the package. This is so I don't have to put all the crackers I don't want in a ziploc bag that never fits back into the original box.

3. All these people in the industry who are constantly shrieking that "Print publishers suck" or "E-publishers suck" or "Self-publishing sucks" to be escorted to a deserted island without internet access or a way to escape, and left there to bitch at each other until next Christmas, as it will take at least that long for them to exhaust all their pointless whiny-ass arguments.

4. Hair coloring that doesn't burn my scalp, drip in my eyes or smell like Eau de Chernobyl. I'd also like it to come in shades that are not named after food but that are modelled on the packaging by real women who actually use the product versus these airbrushed emaciated teens who won't even see an authentic gray hair sprout from their scalp for another 25 years.

5. An e-reader that is actually handicapped-user friendly. Or a video that shows a handicapped person trying to use any of the existing e-readers on the market, so I can show it to all these Oh, you gotta have an e-reader they're so great I love mine you're really missing out people and get them off my back.

6. All candy, confections, pastries, puddings, cupcakes and pies to become 100% no-calorie, no-fat and no-cholesterol for Christmas Day. Or (if you accept my solemn promise in advance that I'll be a good girl in 2012) from Christmas Day through my birthday.

7. Goodwill toward women. I'm tired of the men hogging it every year.

8. The family member who is at this moment considering a pink bathrobe, pink satin PJs, pink slippers, pink purse, pink bath products and/or pink sneakers as a gift for me to decide that a bookstore gift card in any shade of pink would be a much more appropriate present.

9. All women who sleep with married politicians for any length of time to stop doing it and avoid all publicity while writing a sincere, anonymous letter of apology to said politicians' wives, in which they make a solemn vow to never do it again. Some therapy and community service would probably be a good idea, too.

10. Peace on Earth. Will take that over the other nine items any time.

Sincerely,
PBW

So what's on your wishlist to Santa? Let us know in comments.

Down to the Wire Ten

Ten Things You Can Make as Last Minute Gifts

Collaborative or Family Cookbook: My mom is making a family version of this for my nephew's new wife: ask your friends and/or family for their all-time favorite or most famous recipes, type them up or photocopy them, and put them into a booklet or binder divided into sections (appetizers, entrees, side dishes, etc.) Add your own recipes and hints about holiday celebrations, photos of past friend/family get-togethers, etc. To add a special note, present it in a basket with all the ingredients to make one of the recipes.

Cozy Evening Bag: In a large recyclable gift or shopping bag put a warm throw or lap quilt, fuzzy socks, a CD of holiday music, a book you love to curl up with, a coffee mug, something to make a hot drink (like tea bags, hot cocoa mix, small jar of instant decaf coffee) and some snacks (cookies, candy, nuts, etc.)

Custom CD mixes: Have fun with your music collection and create playlists with interesting themes, i.e. holiday classics, road trip tunes, music for a bubble bath, rock out blasters, romantic nights, etc. Burn your playlists onto CDs and design your own mix cover art for the cases spotlighting the theme (if you can use pictures of the recipient that relate to the theme, even better.)

DVD Exchange: This is a reciprocal gift I do with friends every year that is great fun because it is always a surprise. Agree to exchange DVDs of your favorite movie or TV show of the year, or if you prefer a particular genre use themes like "Best SyFy Channel Show" or "Must-See Mini-Series." Present yours in a bag with some microwave popcorn and classic theater treats (like Twizzlers, Raisinets, M&Ms.)

Freebie Reads Bundle: Download some e-books that are in public domain or that the authors have posted for free on the internet (links to all mine are here) and burn them on CD, or print them out and place them in a binder. This works well as another reciprocal gift.

Holiday Pomander Basket: A pomander is a natural air freshener, and for this gift you'll need fruit (oranges, apples and/or lemons work best) studded with whole cloves, a basket, fresh greens (twigs from a pine tree with green needles look nice, so do any small branches you've trimmed from your Christmas tree.) Line your basket with the greens and make the pomanders (that artist woman blog has good directions on how to insert the cloves here.) Place the pomanders on top of the greens. Add little touches like candles, cinnamon sticks or other fragrant bits to add to the aroma.

Memory Album: I'm doing this for several people on my list who don't realize how often I've photographed them (being sneaky with the camera helps.) Go through your photos for the year of your recipient, print out the best and put them in chronological order in a small brag book or photo album. Add funny captions along the top or bottom border, or note the time/event on the back side. My mom made one for my college kid that shows him at age three -- and has photos of everyone else in the family at the exact same age.

Sampler Stocking: Fill a stocking with samples of anything your recipient might enjoy: granola bars, diet drink mixes, 100 calorie packs, gum, mints, etc. It doesn't have to be food, either - I like to buy sample sizes of things like hand lotion, shower gel and body spray so I can use them on road trips and in my guest bathroom, so I always a bag of them in the closet. An assortment of these along with a bath sponge or scrunchie would be fun.

Scrumptious Shortbread -- Scottish shortbread is the simplest of all cookie recipes, as the usual formula is three parts flour, two parts butter and one part sugar (tip: I find unsalted butter works best.) Here's a simple recipe that you don't have to chill or form, just press in a pan, bake, cool and cut into wedges.

Snap Crackle & Pop: Requires a box of Rice Krispies, a bag of marshmallows and a couple tablespoons of butter or margarine; takes about 5 minutes to make them into Rice Krispie treats (recipe can be found here.) You can form the mixture while it's still warm into balls, snowmen or other holiday shapes, or cut and wrap squares after mixture cools in a brownie or cake pan (tip: make your squares bite-size, wrap in foil and present in a canister or candy jar.) I've never met a kid who didn't like them.

What are your favorite last minute gifts to make? Let us know in comments.

What to Give, the Biz Edition

Shopping for and selecting appropriate gifts for business associates during the holidays can be a challenge, especially when you're on a tight budget, which I think we all pretty much are these days. During the holidays you want to let the people you work with know that you do care about them, but you don't want to spend a fortune or send something that says you are completely clueless about their likes/dislikes.

I like to ask people what they don't want; that keeps me out of trouble and they almost always volunteer information on what they do like. First, here's a list I've compiled of gifts that my editor and agent friends and associates have told me that they get every year that they don't like, and why:

Chocolate. Every year the most popular gift authors send their editors and agents (particularly those who are female) is chocolate. One box is nice, an editor told me, but fifty tends to be overwhelming.

Homemade Baked Goods. No matter how well-wrapped they're sent, by the time they're delivered they're almost always on the stale side. Also, some people aren't crazy about eating personally-made baked goods because they generally don't come with a list of ingredients, which presents problems for recipients who have dire allergies to things like gluten or nuts.

Cheese and Sausage gifts. Weight- and health-conscious recipients generally avoid these food catalog gifts like the plague; these are also the gifts that are most frequently thrown away because no one wants them.

Alcohol. I was surprised to find out how much booze is still sent out during the holidays, particularly wine. It's not workplace-appropriate, and one wine-loving agent told me that most wines sold via catalogs is of questionable to poor quality.

Gag Gifts. What seems really cute and funny to you is probably going to annoy or embarrass the recipient. The gift you sabotaged to shower thousands of bits of confetti all over your editor, her work desk and her office rug will not be appreciated by her, her boss or housekeeping. Neither will the Playboy sex toy your agent unwittingly unwraps at home in front of his wife and their three preschoolers.

Religious Gifts. Putting more reason back into the season is a popular theme, but unless your faith is shared by your recipient these type of gifts can be as offensive and inappropriate as sex toys.

Some alternative gift ideas that will probably be more welcomed by your biz associates:

Business Card Case. Most professionals have cards and also hand them out frequently in the course of business, so a nice case is likely to be used a lot. For conference-going biz folks look for cases that can hold larger amounts of cards.

Charity Donation. Giving a cash gift to a charity your recipient supports is always a great thing (I recommend first checking out the charity over on Charity Navigator to make sure the donation is being used for the needy and not to line the pockets of a well-paid CEO.)

Desk Stuff. Workspace is always at a premium, so look for items that don't require a lot of surface, such as stacking or tall organizers for commonly-used office supplies (and stock them with some supplies to tempt your recipient into actually using them.) Perpetual calendars are also much appreciated because they can be used basically forever.

Fresh Fruit. Healthier than chocolate, cheese and sausage, and more apt to be actually consumed; look for fruits in reasonable quantities and interesting assortments. Any fruit that can be juiced was mentioned to me as especially nice because it can all be used before it spoils. Note: Grapefruit can be a problem for anyone who is on certain cholesterol meds that require them to avoid it.

Gadgets: If it's related to books or the industry, chances are the recipient owns one already, so you might check with them first. Also, look for devices that aren't as obvious and can be used at work or at home. A couple of things I saw in a gadget catalog that I thought were interesting: gloves that are techno-friendly (with fingertip pads so you don't have to take them off to use gadgets) and a handheld digital scale for luggage (handy for the frequent traveler.)

Personalized Memo Pads. One editor received a basket of different-size memos and sticky notes custom-printed with her name, and mentioned these to me as her #1 favorite gift of all time (make sure you know exactly how to spell your recipient's name, and choose colors and styles that are workplace-appropriate.)

Your Art. If you sew, knit, quilt or create any other kind of hand-crafted art, giving a one-of-a-kind item you took the time to make for your recipient is something that really comes from the heart. My advice is to keep it simple and useful, and avoid enormous-size projects or things that have to be dry-cleaned.

What sort of business gifts do you guys like to give and/or receive? Let us know in comments.