Cristmas Treats with Essential Oils

Hello crafty reader!  It was in 2016 when I discovered essential oils.  This is not the type you see in your brick and mortar stores.  I'm talking about 100% pure, therapeutic grade essential oils.  I have been researching on the best way to minimize, if not eliminate the intake of harmful chemicals into our body, and I found that essential oils would be the best to try.  It has been 4 years since I incorporated them into our family life, and I haven't looked back.

This Christmas, I made some DIYs to give to some friends and co-workers.  For these projects, Christmas-themed washi papers did the trick.

The first project is a cute mask-freshener spray bottle.  It has Thieves, lavender and peppermint essential oils.  I have one in my purse all the time, and spray my handmade mask prior to use.  The scent perks me up and gets me ready to start the work day.

These inhalers hopefully can give comfort during times of headache or migraine.

And finally, I made lip balms with natural ingredients:  beeswax, coconut oil, lavender and peppermint essential oils.

I hope the recipients like them, as I enjoyed making them.  I sure love my essential oils, and how I can incorporate them with my crafting.

If you are curious about essential oils, I only use Young Living (Member Number:  10811270).  Do your research.  I did mine.

Hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday season.... Merry Christmas!

All Natural Christmas Wreath

I typically buy wreaths from school fundraisers, then spice them up with pine cones from our backyard, accents and embellishments.  Here are some of them:

• Tinker Christmas
• Wreath adorned with Origami Stars
• Wreath All My Love
• Christmas Wreath

This year, I didn't have access to any school organizations selling wreaths due to current restrictions.  So I just bought a couple of base wreaths made with twigs at Hobby Lobby.  As usual, I have a generous amount of pine cones from our back yard to use.

I had my niece paint the pine cones with Glistening Snow-Tex Glittering Snow by DecoArt,, which she enjoyed a lot!

Once dry, we have pine cones to adorn the wreaths.  For other accents, I used bling and whatever Christmas decoration I can snag from storage.  First, I adhered the bows, followed by the pine cones.  My niece adhered the bling.  

I really like this oval wreath - something different.

The bow here is from a broken Christmas candy cane I bought form a Christmas craft show sometime ago.  Who would know, right? 

My niece insisted to add this Santa ornament on the wreath.  I was hesitant at first, but then I thought this is her project too, and her input is also important.  Now looking at it, she was right.

  

The bow on this wreath was handmade by a long time crafty friend, attached to a present she sent me many years ago.  It's so pretty I couldn't get rid of it.  It's been hanging on our Christmas tree every year since then, but this year, it's the main attraction of this wreath.

I really love how the pine cones look like on the wreaths.  My niece did a mighty fine job!

The pandemic didn't stop us from creating a festive atmosphere here at home.  We may be limited to what we can do outside, but there sure are no limits behind our doors.  I hope it's the same for all of you.

Stay safe, everyone... 'til next blog!

Halloween Treat Bags 2020

Hello crafty reader!  I am excited about October 31st because this is my niece's first Halloween in the US.  But before tick-or-treating, we have to make Halloween goodie bags to give to her classmates.  She sure was excited to put this all together, and she was very involved from beginning to end.

I sure was glad to be able to use these wonderful Halloween 12x12 designer paper.  My niece picked the designer paper, and she gave me company as I make the treat bags.  

She put the candy in the treat bags, and also put the Halloween accents on them.

Aside from the treat bags to give to her classmates, we made more to give to trick-or-treaters on Halloween night.

Here's a vlog of us making the treat bags.  I sure had fun doing this very memorable activity with her, and we have a video to prove it.

Stay safe, especially this Halloween!

Thanksgiving Goodie Bottles

Hello crafty reader!  I still had leftover Starbucks bottles from our Halloween Treat Project last month.  So I decided to make some Thanksgiving Goodie Bottles to give to my co-workers.  I am a Starbucks junkie, and when these Starbucks Mocha in bottles are on special pricing at Costco, I buy a case.  I stopped saving these bottles after I've had so many.  I think this bunch is the last of them, unless I see more buried somewhere.  To make this a quick and easy project, I wrapped the bottles with Halloween and Thanksgiving themed washi and glitter tapes.

I love these die cut Fall leaves by Martha Stewart.  I'm not sure if they are still existing, but they have been in my Thanksgiving drawer for quite sometime.  Aren't those owls super duper cute???

I also unearthed some inchies I got from swaps many years ago.  I kind didn't want to part with them, but they needed to be appreciated by other people, so I used them in this project.

This year's Thanksgiving won't be the same, as we are celebrating from our own homes.  No big gatherings due to the pandemic.  But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.  That's why I made these treat bottles to give out to hopefully add a special memory this season.

Stay safe as you celebrate with your immediate families and super close friends.  'Til next blog!

Sweet Sister

Hello crafty reader!  I'd like to share this card I made for my DSIL.  A lot of the elements in this card are leftovers from previous projects.  I even used clear stickers, which you see in two corners of my card front.

I do want to point out my favorite part of this card, which is the birthday cake from a Unity Stamp Co. set, which I colored with Copics.  I like stamping images on the inside of my cards to break away from the typical.  It gives the recipient a little surprise when they open the card.  

 Stay safe everybody... 'til next blog!