Good Cheer to you

 

{image via the papertieaffair}

Merry Christmas my friends! I hope you're having a wonderful day and I'll talk to you soon!

Delightful DIY: Cute Coasters

I have really been getting my craft on lately and I must tell you - I've been loving it! Every year my office delivers Christmas gift baskets to our biggest clients and lately we've been filling them with handmade and locally bought goods (sense a theme here at Fusion??). This year, I'm contributing some of my very own Lather Creations. But not furniture silly! That's wouldn't fit in a gift basket...

I'm branching out and contributing some handmade housewares. The theme this year is 'staying cozy' so the baskets are a mix of hand thrown ceramic mugs, hand sewn cup cozies and a selection of teas and hot chocolates. I made handmade ceramic coasters! I've been hemming and hawing over how I can make some more portable/shippable Lather Creations items for my (yet to be opened) Etsy shop. So this was my first test product on something new...plus I was lucky enough to be able to put my business cards on them. Here's hoping the recipients love vintage furniture!

Now these are easy peasy to make so if you're looking for a fun DIY with the kids or even just on your own, these are very fun and simple to do!  They're not new to the craft world, but I thought I would share my personal spin on them! Sorry I didn't take step-by-step photos - I had a deadline to meet and totally forgot.  Bad blogger...

For the paper, I had some gorgeous red and white patterned scrapbook paper that was perfect for Chrismas, but would look great all year round. You can really have fun with your paper choice, look for everything from vintage maps to old family photographs to pages from garage sale books to pieces of wallpaper. Use your imagination and make it personal!

You'll need:
-a roll of thin cork
-simple white ceramic 12" x 12" tiles (get these in the tile section of your hardware store for pennies each!)
-scrapbook paper or other decorative paper
-spray adhesive
-Mod Podge and sponge brush
-Water-based Polyurethane and paint brush

1. Cut pieces of cork the same size as the tiles and glue them to the back using spray adhesive. Allow to dry under some heavy books! (I left mine overnight to make sure they were good and stuck together!)

2. Cut pieces of scrapbook paper or other decorative paper. Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to your tile and position the paper, smoothing out any air bubbles. Allow to dry for a few hours.

3. Apply 2-3 more coats of Mod Podge, allowing ample drying time in between. I like to also do a light wet sanding between layers for smoothness.

4. Apply 2-3 coats of Poly to your finished coaster, to make it more durable for mugs and glasses. Ta da! I also dressed up my sets with raffia ribbon and my business cards as pretty packaging.  If you're giving these as gifts you can add holiday tags.

Have fun crafting!

Being creative makes me feel so good. I'm definitely putting more crafting at the top of my New Year's resolution list! Are you a crafty gal?

For expanding Lather Creations, I've also thought about painted recycled wood signs, painted vintage mirrors and frames and even small wooden items like jewellery boxes and shelves.  Any thoughts on what Lather's smaller, less expensive line of goods could be? I want to keep with my business theme but have a little fun on the side next year!

Have a lovely day friends...only 11 more sleeps until Christmas!

Close to Home

Brrrrrrrrrr! Baby it's cold outside! On this fine Sunday afternoon, it's -28 degrees outside and -36 with the windchill. That's enough to make anyone want to hibernate, but J and I braved the cold for our warm holiday parties.  Last night my company celebrated with an intimate party at my owner's lovely home.

Every year, we at Fusion do a handmade and/or locally purchased Secret Santa gift exchange. Now let's be honest, the graphic designers at the agency are darn good at this task! In previous year's, I've bought my gift but they keep raising the bar, so I decided to make mine! I had seen something very cool on Etsy and decided to try my hand....here are the results.

It's a silhouette of my co-worker Flo's American Eskimo Max carved out of scrapbook paper (with an exacto knife) then paired with a map page from a vintage altlas behind it. I must say, I'm pretty pleased with myself and she seemed to like it too! I also present my very simple, very short (ran out of yarn at the last minute!) garter scarf I also gave her.  Good thing she's petite!

What did I get you ask? Well one of our designers Morris created me the most amazing original graphic print incorporating mine and Morris's favourite footwear - the Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars...how cool is that? It's going to look fabulous hanging in my office!

And as if that weren't enough, he threw in a gift card to my favourite local bake shop, Baked Expectations.  They make cheesecakes that are to die for! I can't wait to go for some sweet treats. Thanks Morris!!

Do you do any kind of fun, special gift exchange with your friends, family or co-workers? I'd love to hear about it!

Stay warm friends!

Party Girl

 {image via Foglio Press}

The countdown is on to Christmas! Are you feeling it? This weekend J and I have 2 Christmas parties, for each of our work. So we're going to be very busy eating, drinking, primping and crawling into bed late (which equals sleeping in the next day!). The days will be filled with crossing the last few people off our shopping list, refilling the Christmas baking tin I've been nibbling at (whoops!) and working on a furniture commission.

By the way - I love love loved hearing about all your collections! They all sounded so meaningful and gave me a little insight into each of your personalities. Thank you so much for taking the time to share them with me!

What are you up to this weekend my friends as the big day draws near? Happy Friday!

Etsy Love: Perideau Designs

Happy Tuesday friends! I hope you're all having a good week? I feel like the days leading up to Christmas are flying by in a blur...but I'm trying to savour every moment that I can. J surprised me with a gorgeous (and huge!) tree on the weekend and it's making me smile everytime I walk downstairs.  I've been shopping like a maniac and have almost everyone crossed off my list!

I'm sure I've told you before but I love personalized gifts.  I stumbled across Perideau Designs on Etsy recently and picked up some adorable presents for my neice and nephew.  How precious are these gift ideas?

 

{all images via Perideau Designs}

I can't wait to give them their presents on Christmas morning! (No Lindsay, I didn't include the specific ones I bought so it will be a surprise for you too!).  Lindsay is my sister...

How is your Christmas shopping going? Any great finds!