Stay Cool Gift Basket {with printable}

Lately it would seem that I am kind of obsessed with making themed gift "baskets". Just in the last couple months there has been a Strawberry Shortcake gift basket shared at Thirty Handmade Days and a Picnic themed gift I shared for a teacher gift idea. 

I can't seem to help myself. I love a good gift basket and I love it even more when there is a theme. Two things I obsess over, sticking to a theme and color coordinating things. I geek out just thinking about it.

So now Summer is in full swing, well most of the time anyway. If you follow me on Instagram (which heck, ya should @larissa_anotherday), you know that over here in these neck of the woods last week it was in the high 40's DURING THE DAY. I am trying to get over it. The weather is now appropriately summery.

Now that Summer is upon us I thought it would be fun to do a water themed gift for some special little boys I know.

A little "Stay Cool" gift you could say.

I gathered some supplies at The Mart. Read my Ten Craft Supplies to Buy at Walmart post to find out what I get at The Mart on a regular basis. As for this gift, can you beat those super cute towels for $5.88 a piece? I think not!

In this basket I put cute beach towels, water guns, a "Get Dad" water gun target t-shirt, water balloons, and Gatorade.

I also made this tag, in PicMonkey of course, because I LOVE that site. Like a lot, a lot.

I put everything in a plastic drink bucket and then attached the tag.

Now it is ready to give to some cute little boys. Just in time for a Summer scorcher.

Stay cool everyone.

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Picnic Teacher Gift

I can't get over this Picnic Themed Gift. Really I can't get over the picnic blanket itself. Way to go Target! You never disappoint.

I really wanted to do a Picnic Teacher Gift for one of our teachers. I originally was just going to look for a regular blanket, then I found these amazing picnic blankets while strolling the aisles of Target. I fell in love with the pattern and colors.

Once I had the blanket picked out I got to geek out with more color coordinating. Then the whole delightful Picnic Gift came together.

I made a giant tag using Picmonkey to attach to the gift. Making customized tags is really easy and I have a post coming up on Friday to show you how to make your own tags in PicMonkey.

This tag says, "It has been a PICNIC having you as a teacher!" A Picnic Themed gift would also make a great wedding present. You can make the say anything punny and picnicy.

Then just pack the gift with anything befitting a picnic. Making it coordinate is just a bonus.

Plate, napkins, straws, soda, a picnic basket, and even a gift card to a sandwich restaurant.

Tie it all together. There ya have it, the gift of Summer.

 

Have I mentioned how much I love this blanket? Have I mentioned I love these colors? Well, love AND love.

Double love. 

I also love how this Picnic Themed Present turned out. I think that it might turn into one of my go-to presents for weddings now.

What is your go-to wedding gift? Or your go-to Teacher gift for that matter?

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Thanks for reading!

Family Cookbook

This Family Cookbook has been a year in the making. Last year I thought it would be fun to make an actual bound real book full of our favorite recipes and give them out as presents to family members.

As happens most Christmases, I bit of a wee bit more than I could chew and my cookbook idea got moved to the back burner...the way back there back burner.

This year I started early, because I really, really wanted to make this cookbook.

I used Blurb to create my book. They are a great website that helps you format books of all kinds. Seriously, any book you want to make you can. You simply download the software onto your computer, pick the format you want, and start creating.

For our Family Cookbook, I was able to use photos I had taken for this here blog and then I just typed in the recipes in. The hardest part of the whole thing was compiling and then narrowing down.

I chose a hardback book with a book jacket, because I kind of wanted  to feel a little legit. Just for a bit.

I totally love how it turned out.

I named it Just Another Day in the Kitchen. I know I am a genius!! Hahaha!

When I was going through all the recipes to make this book, I realized all the yummy food we have eaten.

Then I saw the pictures, and I realized how much I love food.

A Family Cookbook is a really fun thing to compile. You could use your recipes, you could use your mothers recipes, or recipes from everyone in the family. With a little bit of organization, over a year you could make all your favorite family recipes and take pictures. Then around Christmas time you have enough to make a recipe book.

This was one of the most fun presents to make, and I happen to know that the recipients of these cookbooks thought they were fun too.

I enjoyed this project, and I know you will enjoy making your very own.

I was in no way compensated by Blurb for this post.

I am just delighted with my experience and feel like I should share the love.

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Project Homemade Christmas: Welcome Home Gift

Just over a week until Christmas. Eek. I promised myself I would wrap up all my Christmas projects by the 15th of December...

I am oh-so-close. I still have some super hero jammie pants to sew and my neighbor gifts to put together.

Are you guys all done with Christmas present getting/making? Do you need any last minute gifts? I am kind of loving this Welcome Home one.

I have a few brothers who just bought their first homes. So I thought it might be a good idea to give them a house related present.

Make a plain old wooden spoon and fork a little fancier with some paint.

I paired the new fancified serving utensils with some ever-so-lovely washrags from my very favorite store, Target. I can't handle how gorgeous their Threshold line is.

Then I went and swooned over this chunky knit pot holder. Sigh. Die. Love it.

Tied it all together with a scrap of lace and then added a hand-written tag. I wrote Wecome Home, but Merry Christmas would have worked too.

This doesn't have to be a gift just for a new home owner. This would be a lovely gift for any Goddess of the Kitchen...

...by the way, I totally think I should be called that from this day and all the days ever after (oh, oh name the movie...we haven't played that game in awhile).

Merry Christmas and happy present giving.

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How to Make Photo Recipe Card with PicMonkey

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful.

I am now officially in Christmas mode. Okay, so I was kind of in part Christmas mode working on Christmas gifts, but now I am in 100% Christmas music, tree trimming, present wrapping, cocoa sipping Christmas mode.

I am so happy about it. 

One of the gifts I am putting together is a Cookie Photo Recipe Card Book. I used photos I had taken of all my favorite cookie/bar recipes to make recipe cards. Once they are all created and printed off, they will go on a ring for easy access.

Making Photo Recipe cards is really easy to make using PicMonkey.

1. Open up your photo.

2. Change the size to 2100x1500

3. Add a geometric overlay. A rectangle.

4. Change the hex code, to make the rectangle white. True white is ffffff.

5. Click and drag the rectangle and make it larger.  Large enough to create a text box for your recipe, but not so large that it will cover you lovely photo.

6. Fade the text box to be about 25%. This way more of your photo will show more.

7. Start with the title. I used the font Geo Sans Light. Stretch it to fit across the top.

8. To make the line underneath, use a geometric overlay. Stretch the rectangle until it is a line.

9. Using the same font, start the first column of ingredients. The font size will be smaller than in the title. 

10. Split the ingredients up, by making a second column. Once all the ingredients are listed, line up the columns.

11. Start a column beneath the ingredient list. Stretch the text box to go almost the entire width of the text box. Write the instructions in this text box. Move or stretch the box to fit in the white box.

12. Save.

Now that you made one recipe card, you can make a few more.

These are just a few more recipe cards for me to make up. I can't wait to show you the finished Cookie Photo Recipe Card Book.

I also think it would be fun to give one of these Photo Recipe Cards along with a plate of the goodies from the recipe.

Go to PicMonkey, play around and make your own photo recipe cards.

Father's Day Gift: Master of the Grill

Hi friends! I feel like it has been while since I have shown my face around here.

Summer is in full swing and that means crazy, full-steam-ahead, jam-packed schedules. I basically don't know which way is up. By the end of the day (which of course is later during the Summer), I plop myself, exhausted, on the couch and I sit there pretending I am not asleep.

So that is why I am not around as much.

But I am here today to share number three of number four Father's Day Gifts idea. I already shared a World's Best Pop and a CAMP Be Beat gift idea.

Today I have a Master of the Grill Father's Day Gift idea for you.

I mean what dad doesn't love to cook raw meat over an open flame? It is kind of a tale as old as time.

Man. Meat. Flame.

For this Master of the Grill gift, first I made an apron.

I bought a simple apron from a craft store. I found a basic grill image and then traced it onto freezer paper. Then I cut the image out and used it as a stencil to paint on the image with black fabric paint. I used iron on adhesive and white jersey fabric for the letters. I figured the phrase I Turn Grills On  was very fitting for my oh-so-studly Hubby.

To the grilling apron I added a few new grilling utensils, some fancy BBQ sauces from a local specialty store,  a set of vintage looking condiment bottles and then I put them all in a Summery container.

I was planning on making a printable to attach to my gift, but then the heavens opened and the Grilling Gods led me to this very appropriate and quite manly meat DAD card.

Could you die? Seriously. I couldn't have found a more perfect card. I would have had to mold giant piles of raw beef to even come close.

Gratefully someone else handled the piles of beef for me.

Less than a week to Father's Day and I only have one more idea to share with you. So exciting!

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CAMP Be Beat: Father's Day Gift Idea

I am super excited about this Father's Day gift.

This year I am doing a couple of themed gifts for Hubby.  This is the second one. The first one was The World's Best Pop Father's Day gift.

For the second theme, I chose CAMPING. I gathered together a few fun and cheap camping items.

Then I made up this super cute...er...I mean...manly drawstring bag (which I am more than just a little in love with).

I put it together similar to how I made the Angry Birds Drawstring Bag...minus the Angry Bird face of course!

I cut the shirt so the buttons and the pocket would fit on the front of the bag. Then I used another old t-shirt to line the inside. The drawstring is some old rope I found laying around Hubby's tool bench.

I packed it full of the S'mores makings.

I printed off a tag I made in PicMonkey. I did a Google Image search for "Retro Camping" and picked an image to use for the background. I cropped it, added a border and my text.

My second favorite thing just after the flannel drawstring bag is the camping catch phrase I came up with to go on the tag. I still giggle when I say it out loud to myself...

"A Dad like you just CAMP be beat."

Hehehe...

I piled everything on top of my flannel treat bag and then secured it with more rope. I even tied it in a square knot, 'cause I am a legit woodsman like that.

Then I attached my tag to the rope with a cloths pin.

Second Father's Day gift done.

Perfect gift for the avid, recreational, or backyard camper.

Which category does your Dad/Husband fall into?

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