Countdown to Christmas: The Most Unique Gifts for the Artist

I tried to post this yesterday but my internet was being all stupid and stuff.  As I myself am an artist, I can think of a million and one things that any artist would love.  These are some of the most unique gifts that I have found to give to the artist in your life!!






This coffee cup is hidden as a camera lens- ADORABLE!  What photographer wouldn't love carrying one of these around?!?!



Know a painter?  They would love this all in one brush care kit!




Almost any adult with stress in their life would love one of these expert level coloring books.  They're great for filling time and expressing your artistic innards.  :)









Everyone can use a little relaxation!






I know there's pinterest and a million other crafting sites, but sometimes there's nothing better than a book with glossy shiny pages and that lovely book smell to inspire the artist within.





How about some new brushes?  This is a great brush set, super high quality and lovely to behold!







How about a super glam camera?  This little Diana Holga camera would be the perfect unique toy for any photographer!



What other great ideas do you have to give to the artist in your life?  I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!!

Countdown to Christmas: Unique Gifts for the Gardener

I don't know about you, but now that Thanksgiving is past us, I'm so ready for Christmas!!!  The tree went up today along with all the decorations, I'm pretty much done Christmas shopping, but I have some crafting left to do!  Because I'm so excited, I've been gathering unique ideas of great gifts for different types of people, trying to think outside the box!!!  So today, I kick off the Countdown to Christmas posts, starting with unique gifts for the gardener in your life!!!

Click on the pictures to find out more about the item!!!





This solar powered light is the perfect addition to your deck, patio or garden area!!!




Gardeners never want to stop, even when there's snow on the ground-  one of these countertop greenhouses and some packets of herbs would be a great gift in the middle of the winter for gardeners itching to use their green thumb!!









This unique little contraption is actually a new kind of tiki torch, for the more modern minded gardener!




This little grow box is made of bamboo and comes with herbs for your favorite gardener to grow in the kitchen!




This book is eye candy for every gardener.  It includes pictures to make even the most experienced gardener drool!




The green gardener probably composts, and what better gift than this little countertop compost keeper to keep the compost smell in, out of their house!




Lets face it, weeding stinks.  This little tool is a great helper for popping out those difficult to remove weeds!  No more breaking off weeds just to grow back!




When you're gardening, you don't wear jewelry, including a watch (or at least I do)  This beautiful sundial will not only beautify your gardeners life, but provide them with accurate time.... unless there's no sun!




Who wouldn't love these glam pruning shears?  Bring a little beautiful joy to your gardener's life!!

Do you have any great ideas for gardeners?  Leave me a comment below!!!

Christmas Wax Ornaments

This was such a fun craft- albeit a little messy, but who doesn't love a little mess when you're crafting??  These are perfect gifts for your little ones to make and give out as gifts and you'll never end up with two that are the same!!!

Christmas Wax Ornaments

Materials needed:

Crayons (Crayola brand seem to melt the best)
Pencil sharpener  (most large crayon boxes have one built in)
Clear GLASS ornaments (They MUST be glass.  we found out the hard way that the plastic ones will warp)
Hair Dryer
Ribbons (for adding a little something "extra" to make your ornaments special)
Glitter (optional)
Newspaper or paper towel (to put down for easier cleanup afterward)


Instructions:

Start by choosing 2-3 colors of crayons.  I wouldn't recommend using many more colors than this as the colors can get kind of muddy if you mix too many.

Peel off the wrapper from the crayons and using the sharpener, create some crayon shavings.

Add the crayon shavings to the inside of the ornament.  (if you want to use glitter, add at this point)

Using the hair dryer, slowly heat and swirl the ornament to spread the shavings.  (We found it worked best if you did it slowly and didn't completely liquefy the shavings, but melted them enough that they stuck all over the inside of the ornament.  Completely melting them was cool, but it definitely mixed the colors more than we had wanted.)

If you don't have enough shavings to coat the inside, let the ornament cool and then add more, repeating the heating with the hair dryer.

Add a Christmas Ribbon if you want to fancy up your ornament!

If you make some, I would love to see them!!!! :)

Drippy Pumpkin Craft {Craft Project}

I have been crafting my whole life, and as much as I don't like to admit it, I sometimes have craft fails.  This craft project was one of them.  I decided to share it because I have come up with some solutions for the problems that we faced, and hope that you, my beloved reader, might be able to complete this project and make it look better than I managed to.

Drippy Pumpkin Craft:

Materials:

Fake pumpkin
Crayons (crayola brand seem to melt better)
Sandpaper
Hair Dryer
Tape

Instructions:


I started with a white fake pumpkin that I had bought at Michael's, some broken crayons, tape and a hair dryer.

I picked my crayons, laid them out on the top, taped them down and then started to melt them!

Whoa!  Slow down!!!!  Don't do what I did!  First, make sure you're using good crayons.  ie, Crayola.  They melt better!  In all of my experience with melty crayon crafts, they work much better.  Second, I would recommend sanding the pumpkin down just a little bit, especially in the tracks that you want to use for the drips, perhaps even all over it, with some fine paper.  It makes it easier for the crayon to stick to the surface, which was one of my downfalls (which you'll see later)

Also, use much smaller crayons.  And low heat.  High heat makes the crayon melt in funny ways, too drippy, too fast!  

As you can see from the pictures here, the crayons up top are hardly melted, but the drips have come down pretty far.

As you can see from the side, the pumpkin actually looks pretty cool.  The top, however, is a totally different story.

The top was a mess!!!!  In retrospect, I would have melted more crayons on the top, perhaps with shavings, to make it not look so thin and gross.

It was a fun craft, my kids enjoyed watching the crayons melt, but none of us were too appreciative of the final result.  I think that sanding, smaller crayons and lower heat would have been the solution to our crafting problems!  

Have you tried a drippy crayon craft?  If so, I would love to see how yours turned out!  If you have any secrets to share, please leave me a comment!!