Easy Personalized Holiday Cards

Who is sending holiday cards this year?  It's a tradition I have loved ever since I got married and if you share that tradition then let's make personalized holiday cards today!

TIP #1: Start now and you'll have more time for gift making later!

I'm working with Minted to create this year's holiday card.  Minted is a design marketplace of independent artists from around the globe and they offer a bazillion design options!  It feels great knowing I'm supporting the independent artist community.

Let's start:

Step One: Sign in to minted.com to create an account.  You'll want an account to save all your options and keep your uploaded photos for easy access.  Once signed in then select the category for your card  - I've selected Holiday: Christmas Cards.

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DIY Door Stop with Handle

Today Im over at Pretty Handy Girl with Brittany sharing how to make this super simple wood door stop.  Just a 4x4 wood scrap and a leather belt scrap for a handle.

To get the details and step by step instructions click here.

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My New Book Soldered Alchemy Now Available!

Im excited to announce that my new book,

Soldered Alchemy: 25 Jewelry Projects Using New 

Soft-Solder Techniques

is now available on Amazon.com for pre-order!

Inside this book, I take soldering in a completely new direction, and I am SO EXCITED 

to share these brand new techniques, designs, and creative projects with you! 

Each project is explained in detail from start to finish alongside of beautiful 

images to guide you through the projects every step of the way! There are projects 

from beginner to advanced, and I organized them with skill-building in mind, so

whether you are new to soft-soldering, or are an experienced solder artist, this book

has something for everyone and is sure to get your creative juices flowing!

Inside I share all of my techniques & secrets for creating unique soft-soldered 

jewelry, including  all of my soldering techniques, so that you can become a 

soldering pro too! 

Click here to check it out!

What do you think?

Check out my new DIY jewelry instruction books and DVDs!

   

Learn how to solder and make unique jewelry!


My broken china jewelry is always available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/shop/dishfunctionldesigns

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DIY Bucket Shelving

Hello buildy friends!  Things are getting serious now that we're past Thanksgiving and the countdown is really on.  Ana White and I have teamed up to bring you gift plans every Friday until Christmas as part of our Handbuilt Holiday series and today we have a fabulous bucket shelving system.

So far for this year's series we've shared 8 awesome gift builds with free plans and today is another gift idea that's sure to please.

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10 Holiday Gift Ideas for The DIYer

Here it is, my ultimate holiday gift guide for the DIY'er.  If you have a DIY'er on your gift list I guarantee any one of these tools will be greatly appreciated.  These are my top 10 must have tools, I have every single one of them (except the heated jacket (wink, wink)) and I use them on a regular basis.

 

Gorilla wood glue works like a charm and fits in a stocking too!  And The Home Depot travel mug, almost everyone needs coffee and most importantly this mug has a lid!  Any DIY'er will tell you drinking coffee with a thin layer of sawdust is not fun.

This candle!!!!  Technically I don't use this candle in my workshop but I do use it at my desk and the smell is amazing.  I highly recommend this candle and be sure to check out everything in their shop!

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Walk In Closet Makeover plus built in plans

Now that everyone is in full-on organizational mode, purging and cleaning all those closets, I thought it would be a great time to share my walk-in closet makeover.

Fair warning there are A LOT of photos in this post because frankly who doesn't love an organized closet ;)  But for real I tried my best to show you the before and after in all cases plus how I rebuilt, reconfigured and added-on to the existing built-ins.  In addition there are free plans down below to match these built-ins if you're feeling tempted.

This walk-in closet has 3 walls of built-ins and the fourth wall is a window.  Above is the long wall and below is the short wall:

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Life Isnt Happening To You Life Is Responding To You!

Life is not happening to you, but is responding to you.

What do you think?

Check out my new DIY jewelry instruction books and DVDs!

   

Learn how to solder and make unique jewelry!


My broken china jewelry is always available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/shop/dishfunctionldesigns

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Easy Homemade Holiday Thin Mint Cookies

These easy no-bake cookies are perfect for the holidays and are a homemade replica

of Girl Scout Thin Mints cookies! All you need are Ritz crackers, bittersweet chocolate
(or semi-sweet), peppermint extract (make sure you use peppermint extract and not 

peppermint oil), and vegetable oil. 

Ingredients

Ritz crackers 20-25

Bittersweet chocolate 6oz

Peppermint extract (not oil) 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon (per 6 oz of chocolate) 

1/4 teaspoon vegetable oil

Holiday cookie sprinkles (optional)

Other Supplies Needed

cookie sheet with lip on edge (such as jelly roll pan)

wax paper or parchment paper

double boiler

two forks

Directions

1. Line cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper.

2. Melt chocolate in double boiler, stirring until smooth.

3. Stir in vegetable oil and peppermint extract.

4. Place a Ritz cracker into the chocolate and use a fork to flip the cracker, coating it on 

both sides and on the edges with chocolate. This is easiest to do with two forks. 

5. Use a fork to lift the cookie out of the chocolate and while holding it above the chocolate, 

allow excess chocolate to drip from the cookie and back into the double boiler.

6. Carefully slide the cookie from the fork onto the wax paper covered pan.

7. Sprinkle with holiday cookie sprinkles (optional).

8. Place in refrigerator to set. 

Note: if you do not have a double boiler you can melt your chocolate in a microwave in a 

microwave safe bowl. Place chocolate in bowl and microwave for 20 seconds and then stop 

and stir. Repeat until chocolate is melted. Be careful not to overcook.

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Enjoy your day!

Love, 

Laura

Check out my new DIY jewelry instruction books and DVDs!

   

Learn how to solder and make unique jewelry!


My broken china jewelry is always available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/shop/dishfunctionldesigns

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Three Drawer Dresser Plans

Happy New Year everyone!  Lets get building for 2016.  First up I have the plans for this three drawer dresser:

Click here for the entire plan.

Tons of storage here with open cubbies and drawers.  To be honest I built this as a giant shared nightstand to go in between my girls beds however we couldnt get it up our super narrow stairwells. 

#palmtoface

Measure twice, build once.  Or something like that.  At any rate its still a great piece with lots of functionality perfect for our playroom area and now I get the chance to build different nightstands for my girls.

The instructions including all the steps, cut list and supplies are over at buildsomething.com here.

If youre curious about the finish on this piece the details are here.

Disclaimer:  I have partnered with Build Something to bring you these plans.  All thoughts, opinions and creative ideas are my own.

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Easy Frosted Ricotta Cookies

These frosted ricotta cookies are so easy to make and are one of my familys favorite cookies!
Cake-like yet dense and rich, they are a nice change from crumbly or crispy type cookies. 
Match your decorative sugar sprinkles to the holiday and you have a cookie for all seasons. 
You can also substitute flavored extract (try lemon, or almond) in place of the vanilla.  

Ingredients

Cookies
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 T. vanilla
2 c. ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 c. flour

Frosting
2 T. butter, softened
2 c. powered sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 T. milk
Decorative colored sugar sprinkles (optional)

Instructions for cookies

Preheat oven to 350 F. 
Grease cookie sheets (I use solid Crisco).
Cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until mixture is creamy and fluffy.
Add the egg and mix well.
Add the ricotta cheese and mix well.
Add the baking soda, salt and flour, mixing well.
Optional: refrigerating the dough for 1-2 hours will make it less sticky and easier to 
work with.
Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls (teaspoon or tablespoon depending on the size 
cookies you prefer) onto greased cookie sheet, about two inches apart. 
Bake cookies for 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. 
Tops of cookies do not brown so watch them closely while they are baking. 
Once finished baking, remove from cookie sheets and cool on a wire rack. 
Prepare frosting while cookies are cooling. 
Note: do not frost cookies until they are completely cooled! 

Instructions for frosting

In an electric mixer  or by hand, cream the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth and creamy. 
Add a little more milk or powdered sugar if necessary until your frosting is a spreadable.
Frost the cookies and then sprinkle with decorative sugar sprinkles. 
Store in an air tight container.  

Cool cookies completely before frosting

Prepare frosting while cookies are cooling

Add sprinkles immediately after frosting

What do you think? Whats your favorite cookie?

Check out my new DIY jewelry instruction books and DVDs!

   

Learn how to solder and make unique jewelry!


My broken china jewelry is always available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/shop/dishfunctionldesigns

Read More..