Canning and Crafting with Love

For me, canning and crafting are both creative activities. 

Canning

Canning is as much science as it is kitchen art.  I strongly believe that the act of preserving food at home and creating something in the kitchen that tastes good and extends the season is very satisfying.

Canned tomatoes and peppers

Pickled eggplants

Crafting

    When I'm focused on creating something beautiful, my mind has the opportunity to rest and relieves stress. Also, I feel a sense of accomplishment when I admire my creation and the hard work that went into it. 

 Not only I have fun making crafts but also serve a purpose like home decor or adorable homemade gifts.

Anything handmade these days is regarded as special.

“An artist is someone who produces things that people don't need to have but that he - 

for some reason - 

thinks it would be a good idea to give them.”

― Andy Warhol

EMBELLISHED PLACEMATS

We all know that placemats are not just a great way to protect our table, they can be a beautiful way to compliment home decor, and they can also help make a decorative statement at dinner parties. 

For me, embellishing placemats is easy and fun.  It's one way to make sure our table looks unique.

When making placemats sometimes I start from scratch using fabric and other times, I repurpose simple placemats by embellishing them and giving them a theme.

 

Whenever gifting placemats to a hostess or as a housewarming gift, I place them in a matching fabric bag in order to make them unique.

                             

Placemats within mesh gift bag

Round fruit placemats

 

It's Coffee Time!

Check out my it's coffee time selection for unique or custom, handmade 

kitchen towels and placemats.

Coffee themed placemats

Placemats in matching bag

Cotton bag

Coffee themed placemats

GIFTCARD PACKAGING FOR A FASHIONISTA

Choosing gifts for fashionistas can be hard as they have everything.  In case you're not sure what to buy, a gift  card for one of her favorite stores is a good choice.   

One way to make the gift card feel more personal, pick a unique way to wrap it.

      
                 
 

HANDMADE OUTDOOR CHAIR CUSHIONS

Having a bit more time on my hands now that the holidays are over, I decided to make new cushions for my patio chairs.

Found this colorful indoor-outdoor fabric on sale at Hobby Lobby for $5.00/yard.  It resists stains and fading. An outdoor cushion needs to be waterproof and durable, but being that the cushions are not frequently used, I also purchased a medium density foam.

  

Indoor/outdoor fabric

Making my own cushions enables me to personalize my home, save money and gives me complete control over the size, colors and patterns.  

Made six new cushions for a total cost of $50.00.

Looking forward to spring and summer.

Love for Wine, Wine Art and Gifts

Remember the line from Maya, the character from the film Sideways as she was describing why she loved wine to Miles:  "it tastes so f---ing good!"  

Like Maya, I love drinking wine.

Wine with peaches

Often, I imagine myself traveling along private vineyard lanes in a sidecar similar to this one mixing great wine, fantastic food and scenic locations.  

When I snap back to reality, I settle for wine décor and crafting wine themed gifts.

Wine Wall Art
This wall art in my kitchen brings warmth and magical memories....besides it makes a great conversation piece.

Home-cooked food and a glass of good wine seems to be more enjoyable when surrounded with great company and beautiful wall décor.   

Stuffed eggplants and wine

  Handmade Wine themed Gifts

Wine themed kitchen towels

Wine jute bags

Wine barrel kitchen towels with matching envelope

Gift card Presentation

More and more retailers offer their customers the option to use gift cards. The U.S. is a few years ahead of Europe in the growth of the gift card market with gift cards being fully established there. The packaging of the gift card plays an important role in the US. Packaging is also becoming more important in Europe.

Consumers think gift cards are often unoriginal, boring and impersonal. Research has shown that 34% of consumers claim that the gift cards have a lack of fantasy.

All these problems can be tackled with good gift card packaging. The packaging gives the gift card an attractive appearance.  

Year after year, gift cards are the most requested holiday present, and birthdays aren't much different.

I know...gift cards & money aren’t the most personal gifts, but sometimes it’s just the way to go.

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