Crafty things I like...

(Image from here)

Old tires!

Crafty things I like...

Paper doll - image found here.

I think this could work with felt, too.

Crafty things I like...

(Image from here)

Crafty ideas I like...

(Both images from here)

Nice labels and wrapping for holiday gifts!

Crafty ideas I like...

And just how clever is this???

These are pillow boxes and they are made from toilet paper or paper towel rolls.

It's pure genius!

Perfect for small gifts - gift card, candy, earrings, etc.

And you get to decorate it exactly how you like.

You can find the directions and more photos by Scarlett Clay over here.

Furoshiki gift wrapping

I love to wrap packages and was delighted to find this and other clever ways to wrap them on the Care2 site.

Here are some of the ways I've wrapped gifts:

One of my favorite wrappers is a brown paper bag, turned inside out if it has a supermarket design on it and then embellished with anything - from fresh herbs to dried flowers to sea shells to feathers to raw wool.  I use stamp pads to provide color and individual stamps for more design.  I glue on handmade paper and have used African fabric and African buttons in the past.  I use interesting post cards, things from newspapers or magazines, funny sayings, etc.  The wrapping paper becomes a collage of sorts - primitive, childlike, but totally me.

All of my wrappings are 3 dimensional - flat designs are not my style as I don't actually understand 2 dimensional space.  

Wrapping gifts is very meditative and I'm always surprised at the final result.

I also love it because it's very ecological.

How do you wrap gifts?

Crafty ideas I like

Orange Peel Roses for potpourri
Simple, natural fragrance!

From: Live, Love Fruit

Crafty ideas I like

This idea was posted on FB by Better Gnomes and Gardens.

Herbal Fire Starter

Pinecones and dried herbs such as rosemary, sage leaves, and cinnamon sticks make fragrant kindling for a winter fire -- and, unlike composite firelogs and lighter fluid, don't rely on chemicals to ignite the flame. 

1. Bundle dried herbs and small pinecones in a sheet of newspaper and secure the ends with raffia or cotton twine. 

2. As you pile up logs for your fire, nestle the herb bundle underneath, with paper ends sticking out. 

3. To start the fire, light the newspaper ends. As the paper burns up, the herbs inside will ignite and incinerate, giving the logs a chance to catch fire. 

Cost: less than $10 to make.