Jasmine's Gift

September 21, 2010

This project was probably my most ambitious yet. I had originally intended to make a book, but seeing as how I had only really solidified the idea the morning I was supposed to give it to her, I was really pressed for time. So it turned out to be like a set of (post)cards.

My set of cards began with a "title page"


Had one card for each of the letter in her name with a little memory that was related to that letter.














And ended with a little birthday message.


I slipped them all into a clear envelope to make a nice, neat little package. (I LOVE those envelopes. You have got to check them out if you haven't already! They're so cute for packaging!)

I got all the harder parts (i.e., cutting the paper, stamping, some gluing) done at home and the rest of it (i.e., the rest of the gluing, most of the writing) was done in the car ride in to Waterloo! Talk about a rush job!

One good thing about a time crunch is that it forces you to use things without thinking twice. I didn't have time to be stingy with my supplies which pushed me to use more of it - a great way to use up some of your stash and any scraps you may have sitting around!

This is especially good for me right now since I'm slowly sifting through all my stuff, trying to get rid of as much as I can! I'd love to make more of those little cards if I had a reason to - they were so fun!

Noel

December 22, 2009

Every since Andrew and I got married, each Christmas, I have it upon my heart to choose someone (could be a person, a couple, a family, etc.) to bless. I'm not sure where this whole idea came from, but I was just moved to share some of our "wealth".

Now, I'm not saying we're well off, because we're by no means rich. In fact, we're living on a single income that isn't always so steady. But we still have more than we really need so sharing some of it is the least we can do.


Anyway, this year Andrew decided that instead of receiving a gift as part of my family's Secret Santa, he'd use the money that the person would have spent to buy grocery gift cards to give away. I had made a really simple card, but I didn't want to leave the gift cards in the sleeves they came in.


They were okay, but I didn't want it to look like we just threw it together in a hurry. So I made a little pocket to stick to the inside of the card. It makes the card a little bulkier but it does the trick!

Liz and Ingle

September 28, 2009

My good friend, Liz, got married this weekend. I met her during frosh week during our first year at university and I lived with her in second year.. until I got pregnant.

Anyway! We got to celebrate with her and her new hubby, Ingle, this weekend and they had a beautiful wedding. They're so cute together, so in love and the best part is that God's very evidently the centre of their marriage.

I wrapped up their gift the night before and since there were two pieces, I needed something to keep them together. Ribbon was all I had on hand (well, that an a LOT of scotch tape but I figure that might detract from the presentation...) so I tied them together.

I liked how the curls fell from the centre of the knot but I knew that wouldn't stay so here's trick I learned recently, from a florist's bouquet - tape down where the bottom of the curl sits on the surface! So simple but so genius!


Cheers to the newly weds :)

Special Project

August 4, 2009

I apologize for the lack of posts! But last week, I was secretly working on a special project. On Wednesday, I got this great idea and I was really driven to work on it, which got me really excited because that rarely happens. But of course, this great surge of creative energy has to come when I have the least amount of time to work on it. I'm nearing the end of my school term and exams are around the corner (... and the procrastinator award goes to ... me). But anyway, not important now.

I was secretly working on a present for Mr. Tsoi to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary (August 2)!

I found out after I was almost finished the project that the first anniversary is the paper anniversary, which was great news because I was making a book of 365 things I love about Mr. Tsoi.

I've never made a book before so I really had to improvise on this one. Here's how it ended up looking:





I'm so glad it held together, and I'm even more glad that Mr. Tsoi loved it. Happy anniversary!

Alana's Gift

July 20, 2009

A few of my friends are getting married soon! It's so exciting!

For my friend's bridal shower this past weekend, I didn't have a lot of time to come up with a gift idea so I headed to a store where she had a gift registry, got the ladies working there to pull out practically everything off her list and I picked and chose what to get her based on an idea I had in my head of how I'd wrap it.

Yeah, that's basically how my brain functions. I think of what I want the final product to look like and find things that'll fit into that idea. Sometimes it's restricting, but other times, it's a real time-saver.

A lot of her choices were packaged in boxes or oddly shaped so I avoided those ones. For her gift, I wanted to make a "gift basket" type thing so I ended up choosing 3 bowls (one large one, two smaller ones) as the "basket" and filled it with a few other goodies. This is how it ended up looking:



Not that professional-looking (my sister's gonna teach me how to do that next time - she's got all these tricks from working at Williams-Sonoma... fancy!) but it still looks presentable. I tucked the card inside so I wouldn't have to stick it on top and ruin the presentation. Looks pretty cute inside, I think.

Here's the card up-close:



And that's it!

Brownie Mix in a Jar

June 18, 2009



Here's my last-minute, don't-know-what-to-do gifts for Nathan's teachers. He's been home sick all week so I haven't had a chance to do anything but his school had a picnic for their students and their families today so last night, I stayed up til 2am making these brownie-mix-in-a-jars.

I spent about an hour looking for a decent cookie recipe that would fit in a pint-sized jar and ended up using this recipe for a brownie that filled 4 pint-sized jars:

Brownie Mix in a Jar #1
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups granulated white sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup vegetable shortening

Combine all of the dry ingredients with a whisk. Cut in the shortening thoroughly with a pastry blender. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. It will keep longer in the refrigerator. Makes 8 cups, or enough for 4 one-pint jars yielding 4 batches of brownies.

When giving as a gift, attach the following directions to the jar:

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan. In a medium bowl, combine 2 cups brownie mix with 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1/2 cup chopped nuts. Stir until just moistened. Spread in prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until center is set. Makes 16 brownies.

I was really lucky that the inks and the ribbon matched so well. I just hope the brownies turn out okay.