Gift ideas

With a little free time on my hands I wandered about the net looking for easy to make craft ideas for  birthdays and Christmas. Here are a three that I really liked and even I could make them (and they aren't very expensive either!!)

Gorgeous bookmarks

Aren't these bookmarks gorgeous - so pretty and feminine. They look really easy to make - cut a piece of velvet ribbon the length you want (e.g. 9 inches), using flat-nose jewellery pliers affix the ribbon clamps (make sure you buy the ones with loops to attach the trinket to, this isn't necessary for the clamp at the bottom of the ribbon) to both ends of the ribbon. Finish by attaching charms, trinkets or vintage earrings to the clamp with jump rings.  I'm not sure if you can by buy ribbon clamps in Australia - if not, they are sold here.  (instruction found here: gift idea)

Coaters

I love these coasters made from small tiles (easy to buy from the local hardware store) and some colour paper plus mod podge, acrylic spray and felt pads.  What a wonderful gift these would make and with the array of paper available you shouldn't have any trouble finding paper that matches the person you are giving these to. If you were clever (which I'm not when it comes to crafts) you could add bible verses, quotes, names etc to these tiles.  For the tutorial: Bluegrass Crafts.

Canvas photos

These can be very expensive, so why not make your own.  The instructions are here (they seem to very detailed and clear), and I think I might give it a go.  Just need to buy some mod podge from the craft store. What a great gift for grandparents or spouses.