photo copyright Catholic Icing

Chances are you have all sorts of toilet paper rolls somewhere in your craft room.  You know I do!

1. Gelly Roll Glitter Pens

What crafter wouldn't want to write (or embellish) with glitter?

2. Wintery Glitter from Martha Stewart

This might be a little big for a stocking stuffer, but any Martha Stewart glitter will do.  I'm starting to sense a theme here.  I better get off the glitter train for a moment because I know that it is not every crafter's cup of tea.

3. Fat Quarters

"Fat quarter" is a term that refers to a yard of fabric that has been cut into 1/4 sections across the crosswise grain.  So, instead of a 9" x 44" piece of fabric you get an 18" X 22" piece.  Most craft and fabric stores have fat quarters for sale for around $1.  They come rolled up or in little squares and make the perfect stocking stuffer!

4.  Ribbon

A spool or two of fun ribbon appeals to a lot of different types of crafters.  Can you ever really have enough?

5.  Adhesives

Most crafters have their favorites.  If you are stuffing a stocking for a specific crafter, go snoop and see which kind she prefers.  Having extra adhesive (or any consumable, really) is always a good thing.

BONUS:

Massage gift certificate--just saying.  I'm sure I any crafter would love one of these in their stocking.

photo copyright Craftsquatch

1.  Twitter Pillow from Craftsquatch.etsy.com

This first item is perfect for any crafty geek in your life.  You can purchase one of these on Etsy for $20 but I'm sure most of my readers (at least here at this site) could make their own version for less.

2.  Wi-Fi Detector Shirt from ThinkGeek

Words can not describe how badly I want this shirt.  Actually, I want the technology on this shirt to put on one of my own.  It totally detects the wi-fi and lights up accordingly!  It's only $20.  What a bargain!

3.  A Netbook

Any little netbook would probably do!  I've linked to this one pictured that I might purchase if I was shopping for myself.  My laptop is my primary computer but can sometimes be a bit cumbersome to lug around for meetings and conferences.  A netbook is a good bridge between my iPod Touch and laptop.  I think it would make a terrific gift for me any techie.

4. Flip Video Camera

This has been one of my favorite tech purchases ever.  It is so easy to use and so versatile.  This is not only a great gift for a techie (although, they probably already have one!) but it is a great overall gift for anyone...a new parent, a teenager, a blogger, a grandparent.  You don't have to be very computer savvy to use it, either.  It's got a flip out usb and built in software.  Easy peasy.

5. Notebook Cooling Pad

Sometimes you just need to use your laptop on the couch or in your bed.  Instead of burning up your legs and your computer, a cooling pad is the way to go.  This isn't the one I have, but it looks pretty darn good and got some great reviews on Amazon.  The one I have is a bit bulky.  This one is lighter and slimmer.  That's important.

Today we've got gifts for foodies.  Enjoy!

1.  Taste of Italy gift set from Vervacious: Voyage Inspired Fancy Foods

At $50 this is a little out of range for a hostess gift (at least for me!) but if you're shopping for an adventurous chef wanna-be, this could be a great option.  Vervacious has so many different blends and gift sets (another great one is the Spanish Favorites for only $25).   They also offer subscriptions where they send out something amazing once a month.

2. Homemade Spice Rubs from ChristyNelson.net

Okay, I'm adding something I've already featured on this site.  It makes such a great gift and is so quick and easy that I couldn't leave it off the list.

3. Kuhn Rikon Paring Knife

At $10, this knife could easily fit the hostess gift bill or be a great add-on to a fun food related gift.  There are many colors to choose from and did I mention that it's NON STICK?  I'm putting this on my Christmas wishlist.

4. The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten

Is this book really over 10 years old?  I love it.  Jeffrey Steingarten is now very well known, having been a judge on Iron Chef America since it premiered.  This book is full of short articles so it is a great read over a period of time.  I own this book and find myself grabbing it when I have a few moments and just want to read a chapter or two.  I'll warn you, though.  You might want to put his second book in your shopping cart as well.

5. Omaha Steaks Tasteful Gift Combo

I do live in Nebraska, you know.  This isn't just a gift for foodies.  This is a gift for anyone that eats.  Well, anyone that eats meat.  At under $70 and free shipping, the recipient (and their family) will be enjoying this gift for months.  It is full of great food!

You'll want a big bowl full of snow!  The rest of the recipe is pretty simple.

SNOW ICE CREAM RECIPE

1 big bowl of fresh snow

1 cup granulated sugar

2 cups milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

Mix everything together.

Serve and enjoy!

It doesn't look that great, but it tastes good!  I never realized how hard it is to photograph snow (and snow ice cream).

Any particular things you do on snow days?

When I was demoing the Cricut last week in Michigan, I made some Christmas cards for demos.  We had the Winter Woodland cartridge and it was the first time I had the chance to use it.   For the Warm Winter Wishes card I used the Winter Woodland cartridge exclusively.

This cards looks really cool in person.  I used Winter Woodland and Storybook.  I put glossy accents on the corner swirls.  You also can't really tell from the picture but the paper is sparkly.

This is an in-progress photo of my own personal Christmas cards.  I brought some paper from home (Stampin' UP's Kiwi Kiss and Riding Hood Red) to cut out with the Cricut.  SU paper in the Cricut?  Not that impressive.  It didn't cut out as nice as some of the other paper brands we had on hand.  Oh well.  I used Doodlecharms for the trees.  I can't remember where the Season's Greetings sentiment came from.  Maybe Wild Card?

Do you all make your own Christmas cards?  What is your opinion on Christmas letters?  Do you include them or not?

The first thing I made was a mini calendar advent.

How festive!  An advent calendar hanging on boxes and boxes of Cricut Expressions.  If I had made this at home, I would have hung them up on a ribbon using mini clothespins.  I didn't have access to those supplies so I made do.  I punched two holes in the envelopes and strung a ribbon through all of them.

I used two different cartridges for this project: Wild Card and Designer Calendar.  For the envelope I used the Doily Envelope from 'Wild Card (size 2") and the numbers were from the calendar cartridge (square numbers size 1/2").

It was as easy as that!

The Holly Holy Christmas Sweater

I used a GeMagic to do the "Holly Holy" rhinestones.  I added mirror ball ornaments around the neckline.  Christmas buttons sewn on.  A holly and poinsettia garland holds some Hanukkah ornaments (Neil is Jewish).

The fringe is my favorite part.

My intern, Kashoan, helped me with the silver ribbon around the cuffs.  What?  You don't have an intern*?   So sad.  Maybe you can ask Santa for one.  He said I must have been a very good girl this year.

I'll find out on December 7th if I win or not.  Wish me luck!

*intern= friend that comes over to craft with me and lets me call her my intern

]]> http://www.christynelson.net/2009/12/holly-holy-christmas-sweater/feed/ 3 http://www.christynelson.net/2009/11/metal-tin-advent-calendar/ http://www.christynelson.net/2009/11/metal-tin-advent-calendar/#comments Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:49:34 +0000 christy http://www.christynelson.net/?p=2631

I made this advent calendar last year before ChristyNelson.net was born.  It is going to be used again this year and I'm really proud of it, so I thought I would show it off.

First things first.  Grammar.  Yes, I know I don't have the other "l" on "til".  If i had another "l" sticker, I would put it on there.  Instead I'm going for the urban spelling.

Now onto the crafting.  I made this using the tutorial from Splitcoast Stampers (they also laugh in the face of correct grammar).

The velcro holding on the tins held up surprisingly well.  I could only put two pieces of candy in each tin, though.  Any more than that and it would be too heavy.  Although, I guess that depends on what kind of candy you use.  This year I think I'll just put a few M&Ms in each one and a verse of scripture.

My kids are old enough now that they appreciate the counting down to a holiday.  I appreciate not having to answer the question, "Is it Christmas yet?" over and over.

Do you have an advent calendar you use every year?  Do you make a new one each year?  Do you use one at all?

I'm trying really hard to have a handmade holiday this year. I decided to go with edibles for teacher/bus driver/neighbors this year. Almond Roca was my candy of choice.

Almond Roca Recipe

1 lb. butter
2 cups sugar
2 tbsp. corn syrup
6 tbsp. water
1 cup almonds (chopped finely)
1 bag milk chocolate chips

Using a large pot, melt butter. Add in sugar, corn syrup and water. Stir continuously for approximately 10-15 minutes. In this time the mixture will start to bubble and expand. This is why you want a large pot. When the mixture is at 290 degrees F (or is a caramel brown color and starting to thicken), take off the burner and mix in 1/2 cup of the almonds. Pour into a cookie sheet (lined with wax paper is best) and allow to cool for a few minutes. In the meantime, melt bag of chocolate chips. Pour melted chocolate on top of the butter/sugar mixture and sprinkle with remaining almonds. Allow to cool in refrigerator for an hour before attempting to break into small pieces.

I don't have a picture of any of the Almond Roca outside of the boxes. I thought it best to package it right away to keep me from wanting to eat it all! We did "test" it and it definitely has my seal of approval.

I compromised on the packaging. I could have made the boxes but I didn't. I know my limits. The boxes were purchased at Hobby Lobby (50% off this week, by the way). They are a piece of cake to assemble (just pop them open) and saved me a lot of time and money. I did punch out a scallop tag to place on the top. That's why this project gets the "semi-homemade" seal of approval.