Tag Archives: Gifting

Gifted2Give: Duct Tape Belts

Creativity/Spirituality, , , , ,

Wearable gifts are always a hit at Gifted2Give, and who doesn’t love the incredible versatility of duct tape?  Add in all of the neat patterns you can find it in and we’re in gift-customizing heaven. 🙂

Here’s how to make a duct tape belt!

First, some tips:

  • It helps to have a long table for laying out the belts.
  • Also, keep fingernail polish on hand to clean the scissors, since the duct-tape glue gunks them up.

You’ll need:

  • Various cool patterns of duct tape (camo, sports teams, and animals prints always go over well)
  • 1 1/2″ D rings for the large belts (we get a variety of silver, gold, and nickel)
  • Binder rings for the small belts (these only come in silver, I think)
  • A long strip of posterboard 1 1/2″ wide, to act as a sizer
  • Scissors
  • Pens

Wrap the posterboard sizer around your waist to get a measure of how long to make the belt.

Keeping your finger on the right spot on the sizer, lay it out on the table.   Stretch a piece of duct tape to that length plus six inches.   Stretch out another piece the same length.

Carefully match up both pieces of tape, sticky-side to sticky-side, until you have one long piece of duct tape with the design on both sides and no sticky-side showing.

Since the duct tape is 2″ wide, and the D-rings are only 1 1/2″, you’ll need to cut the tape down to the narrower size.  Lay the sizer on top of the belt, and trace the edge with the pen.  Then use the scissors to cut the edges off the belt.

Now take two D rings and slide them over one of the ends of the belt.  Fold the end of the belt over the D rings and tape it to secure the rings in place.  You can use either the same pattern of duct tape for this, or a different color or pattern for a cool contrast effect.

**Want to make a thinner belt?  Using only one strip of tape, fold it length-wise in thirds, then use the binder rings instead of the D-rings.**

Now you can wear your belt!  What colors and patterns would you use for a duct tape belt?  Or what colors and patterns would you use for a duct tape belt gift?

 

Gifted2Give: Tape-Transfer Word Jars

Creativity/Spirituality, ,

Another fun gift-worthy craft!  We made this at last year’s Gifted2Give event with winter holiday gift-giving in mind, but as there’s always a fun holiday coming up they can really be a year-round activity.  Valentine’s gift, perhaps? 🙂

First, a few tips from Kaye!

  • To get the labels off of the glass jars, I discovered that soaking them in hot, soapy water for a day helped get off most of the labels. With the really stubborn ones, I followed up with a paste of baking soda and vinegar, and with even more stubborn ones I used fingernail polish remover.  Some just were too hard to remove, so don’t feel bad if you try and try and one or two still won’t fully come off!  Just use the other ones.
  • Rounded sides on jars made adhesion more difficult, because the transfer can’t lie flat.  If you can find more flat-sided jars, use those!
  • When making the transfers, soak, remove the paper, and let dry sticky-side-up for a few minutes. Once dry, the tape will become sticky again.
  • You’ll need to print your chosen words using a laser printer, as the inkjet printing process doesn’t allow the ink to be separated from the paper with this method.

Let’s get started!

  • Choose the word you would like to put on your jar.  We printed out words like Family, Love, Peace, and Gratitude.  You can go serious or funny with your words/phrases, or you could use the recipient’s name, too.
  • Print your words and phrases using a laser printer.
  • Cover your printed words with clear packing tape.  Try to cover each word with just one piece of tape so you don’t have any seams in your final label.
  • Using your thumbnail or the back of a spoon, burnish the tape firmly all over the word.  You want the tape to be as completely and firmly adhered to the paper as possible.

  • Cut out your word or words, leaving a border around the edges.  The shape of tape that you cut out in this step is the shape that the final label will be, so keep that in mind.

  • Choose the jar you’d like to label.  Make sure the word you chose fits on the jar!

  • Fill a small bowl or plastic container halfway with water.  Submerge your word fully in the water for 1.5-2 minutes.  The entire strip of paper needs to be fully submerged the whole time.

  • Remove the paper from the water and begin to rub the paper-backing off of the tape.  If it doesn’t all come off you can soak in the water again until you can rub all of the paper off.

  • Once all of the paper is removed, lay the label sticky-side-up on a paper towel.  Let dry three minutes so the tape will regain its tack.

  • Once its dry, apply your custom label to your jar!  Smooth out any bubbles with your finger.

  • For added decoration you can tie a ribbon around the neck of the jar, or glue some along the edge of the jar lid.  Now your jar is ready to gift!

These would be so fun to fill with homemade bath salts, or cookie mix, or a bunch of new colored pencils, or a bunch of fun notes to your giftee… Anything you think they would like!  What word would you put on a jar as a gift?  What would you put inside it?  It’s so fun brainstorming what your loved ones would like as a gift, isn’t it?

Gifted2Give: T-Shirt Headbands

Creativity/Spirituality, , , , ,

Another gift-able item we made at this year’s Gifted2Give was t-shirt headbands!  This was a new craft for 2016 and it was a HUGE hit.

Here are Kaye’s notes on prepping the materials for this craft:

  • From the t-shirts, cut strips at least 4 inches wide across the width of the shirt.
  • You can start at the hem, so you don’t need to cut that portion off.
  • I found that medium to large size shirts worked best.  Smalls were too tight unless paired with a strip from an extra-large shirt, and the extra large ones were too large, unless paired with a small.

And here’s how to put one together!

Take two t-shirt strips.  They can be the same color or different, coordinating colors.

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Form each into a “V” shape, then interlock those Vs.

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Bring the ends of one band together, and stitch an anchor stitch in each corner.  Repeat with the other band.

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Stretch the bands, if needed, to fit around the head.

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Line up the ends of the bands and whip-stitch all four layers together, first in one direction, then in the other.

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Then pop it on, your headband is ready to wear!

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This is another great gift that you can customize SO easily for your gift recipient.  Use their favorite color, or their favorite sport team colors, or make some in various holiday colors; there are just so many great options!

Did you make any gifts for the holidays this year?  Tell us about it in the comments!  We’re always looking for new ideas for the next Gifted2Give!

April 2011 Soul and Solace

Creativity/Spirituality, , , , ,

Getting Hit

Thanks to the ingenuity of a neighbor, at this time of the year our community receives “hits” from the Mafia Bunny. A few volunteers begin the “hits” by filling baskets with goodies and, when no one is looking, depositing them on the doorsteps of unsuspecting neighbors. Those neighbors tie yellow ribbons on their doors to signify that they’ve been hit, then refill the baskets with goodies of their choice, and “hit” other unsuspecting neighbors.

Two years ago, Easter was a hard season in our home: unemployment, illness, and broken hopes had pretty thoroughly vanquished us. We awoke one morning, opened our door, and found ourselves “hit.” I watched my husband’s eyes light up and I felt a resonant light in my own. That basket was much more than the trinkets nestled inside its cellophane grass. For us, it was a basket full of hope.

What if, as our spiritual practice this month, we “hit” some unsuspecting persons with gifts of hope? It could be a handmade card or some home-baked bread, or a bottle of water for a guy standing in the heat. And if we can do it on the sly—get away with our “hit” unseen and unsuspected—so much the better!

Have you experienced being “hit by hope?” We’d love to hear about it!