kattitudes

It is the end of summer and fall is finally on the way. The heat of summer finally broke here in the southern United States and we are actually almost thirty degrees cooler today than we have been for the last week. Unbelievable, but wonderful for those of us that prefer it cooler. However, we still have a need and a desire to see the beauty of the summer season and all the hard work of our garden season. If you have any wonderful rose blooms still available, or if you have dried blooms available, this might make a wonderful gift from your garden.

Materials Needed:

* 1 shadow box (purchased)
* Dried rose buds or dried rose blossoms (amount depending on size of purchased shadow box)
* Glue gun and sticks

To make assembly easier, keep the shadowbox flat on your workspace until ready to hang.

Prepare roses by cutting off entire stem. Starting on one side of the shadowbox, glue roses to backing. Working in rows, slowly fill shadowbox, taking care to fill as tightly together as possible.

If desired, alternate rows with alternative color roses or even alternative dried flowers.

We have done fabric covered boxes in the recent past, but there is just something about velvet that really spices up a project. The nap on the fabric catches the light just so and makes everything so beautiful that you just want to touch it.

The ribbon and trim on these boxes are simple to add, but really make the project pop in the details. And because of the relative size, it would not be that expensive to purchase additional trim to finish off boxes like this. In fact, you could most likely just keep the end pieces and scraps of ribbon trimmings from other projects and mix and match to make a fun and festive hodge podge of season appropriate colors and celebration.

Boxes like these could be done for any holiday, any birthday, event, occasion or everyday use under the sun. Autumn colors for Thanksgiving. Red white and blue for a patriotic theme. Pastels for some beautiful Easter basket replacements. They could be used for storage, for your jewelry, for your sewing kits, for your office supplies or for bathroom beauty works. Pack one with new baby supplies. As with so many ideas on Kattitudes, you are limited only by your imagination.

Are not these just too cute? This is a great time to use up those fabric scraps that keep accumulating in our craft closets.

While these particular examples of fabric covered boxes are Easter specific, the concept can be used for so many different occasions.

Just do a little planning ahead, you can sit in front of the telly with some plain brown boxes and your bag of fabric scraps that you have gathered from old clothes you love, leftover fabric from other crafts you’ve sewn and embellishments that you are tired of tracking.

Then, in cool comfort (or warm snugginess, depending on specifically from which side of the world you are reading), you can use your favorite glue and cover boxes for your office, filing, clutter (but we want to eliminate clutter, not find new ways to store it), accessories, adornments and other whatnots.

You can prepare wrapping in advance of the upcoming holidays - maybe make a few Christmas themed and put them with your Christmas storage when you are done.

Finish a few with birthday greetings and you have a prepared handmade presentation, which is so hot right now!

People are going wild for handmade items. Pieces are selling at unprecedented numbers. Putting your special touch on the gifts you make really seals the deal as far as how great your gift looks.

People are buying boxes like this just for decoration, but I always like to try to make everything multi task.

Handmade gifts are appropriate in any given holiday season or for any occasion under the sun. You’ll find all types of gifts to make here, including jams and jellies and other kitchen presents, gifts made with flowers, handmade jewelry and even just assembly line gift ideas (larger gifts assembled with different bits and pieces).

• Potpourri (explanation and instructions)
• Epsom bath salts and variations
• Herbal Bath sachet
• Bath bomb balls
• Smells of Christmas potpourri
• Blackberry jam
• Pumpkin Apple Butter
• Good morning basket with cinnamon oat pancake mix
• Oriental vinegar
• Raspberry (or Strawberry) Vinegar
• Jalapeño jelly
• Rosebud candleholder
• Peanut Brittle - Ole Fashioned recipe
• Microwave Oven Peanut Brittle
• chocolate covered spoons (with variations including butterscotch, white chocolate, and cinnamon)
• almond biscotti
• gingered biscotti (with white chocolate)
• cappucino biscotti
• biscotti with chocolate chips
• Rosebud basket
• Instant Russian tea
• Ginger scented pecans
• Rose Covered Frame
• Romantic Picnic Blanket
• Homemade Caramels
• Rose Tree Topiary
• Rose Covered Pillow
• Rose Petal Votive Candle Holder
• Rose Cologne
• Rose Wreath
• Rose Shadow Box
• Ribbon Roses
• Rose Pomander
• Moroccan Dry Rub for Meats
• All Purpose Dry Rub for Meats

These recipes are certainly fun and it is nice to know that you can take such good care of your own person. However, package these recipes in cute little bottles and jars and they would make a fantastic gift package! Don’t forget all those little bottles, boxes and bags available in almost every store for travel-they are the perfect size to store most of these items.

• Sea Salt and Rosemary Oil Body Scrub
• Oatmeal, Almond and Avocado Body Scrub
• Exfoliating Sea Salt and Apricot Kernel Oil Body Scrub
• Revitalizing Ginger, Lemon and Parsley Bath Combination
• Soothing Linden Bath Blend
• Tonic Lemon Orange Bath
• Lemon Mint Toner
• Cranberry and Savoury Acne Inhibitor
• Thyme and Fennel Seed Cleanser for Normal Skin
• Cleansing Oatmeal and Honey Paste
• Rose Petal Facial Steam for Normal Skin
• Carrot, Avocado and Cream Nourishing Mask
• Almond-Jojoba Nail and Cuticle Treatment
• Walnut Nail Hardening Oil and Hand & Foot Scrub
• Yogurt and Colourless Henna Conditioner for Brittle Hair
• Rosemary and Apple Cider Rinse
• Daily Castile and Roman Camomile Shampoo for Light Hair
• Daily Castile and Rosemary Shampoo for Dark Hair
• Hijiki Rinse
• Herbal Bath Sachets

After putting all that effort into making your gifts, you want a package that compliments your efforts as much as the gift itself.

I love the simplicity of these boxes. A nice decorated box, your favorite silk bloom hot glued to the top, and you have a lovely decorated gift that looks as good as what is inside.

Sachets smell so amazing sometimes, and others, they are simply overwhelming to the senses. This particular sachet pillow has the potential to be too much, so an easy way to limit the scent is to cut the filling lavender with rice.

In other words, sew your simple pillow (this is such an easy pattern that I really do not need to give specific instructions, unless really needed), and fill 2/3 with rice and 1/3 with lavender blooms. When you wish to refresh the lavender scent, toss it in the microwave for a very short period of time. Use care when heating.

This makes a fantastic gift for so many different occasions.

Another thought about these pillows: the scent does not need to be limited to lavender. I have made these with cloves, cinnamon sticks, rosemary and even sage (I love the smell of sage. It reminds me of thanksgiving dinners at Grandma’s house). Pick your favorite spice and use them in place of lavender.

One of the wildest scents I have used is lemon verbena and to this day, I still keep that pillow handy for my naps as I could not bring myself to give away such an incredible smell. Experiment a little and I guarantee that your recipient will love this pillow!

While this ribbon embellished example is from the children’s section of the sewing skills, the embellishment works for any items and any person you need to gift. I love that they took a simple plain sweater, and dressed it up by adding a single black ribbon around.

The single elegant black motif was repeated with a single black velvet ribbon in the skirt - again, simple pinned and stitched into place with a simple running stitch around the perimeter of the base of the skirt. So pretty!

As the final embellishment, a cluster of wrapped roses were added as if a corsage. Thus a very plain, simple outfit has been dressed. And what an easy way to dress a sweater/skirt/shirt as a gift to someone you love.

Is this not a fantastic table runner? A long piece of fabric, two tassels, and more wee little ghosties than you can shake a stick at. This year it is my turn to decorate the house while my husband makes the dinner for our annual dinner party. I think that this year - I’m going to whip out a few of these table linens and decorate with them. Little ghosts on the napkins and ghosts under the steaming skulls on the table - wonderful!

As I say so many other times (over and over and over) you are only limited by your imagination on this project. Easter - little eggs. Baby shower - little bunnies. 4th of July next year - small flags or firecrackers. Christmas - obvious. Weddings - rings or flower or hearts. Even St. Patricks Day - shamrocks. Go for it!

I loved this idea, especially in the summer time when nightfall always brings a chill. I love the idea of a nice chiffon scarf or shawl (and have about a kazillion myself!), but to add to the idea, this picture is definitely worth 1000 words.

Run to either your crafts storage or your nearest and dearest fabric supply store and purchase a least 2 contrasting ribbons. Then simply pin in place (so as to keep things nice and straight) and with a running stitch, put the ribbon in permanently in place. Sewing time on a machine would probably be 5 to 10 minutes.

Can you imagine making this with different designed ribbons for holiday treats? A black background with wee little ghosties for Halloween? And what a wonderful idea for a holiday throw. And don’t forget that there is little difference between a shawl and a table runner. You could make a two-fer as Christmas gifts. Hum - now my mind is running. I might be making a stopover at the fabric store this weekend.