Winter Decorating

School started back this week so I have been busy getting my kinders back into the routine. However, during the break I had some extra time for crafting. My mom had been wanting me to make something with these empty wine bottles and I love how they turned out! 

To clean them, I peeled the labels off and soaked the bottles in warm water for a couple of minutes. The sticky residue then came off easily. I just peeled it off and wiped the bottles down with a towel.

The letters and snowflakes are cut from white vinyl using my amazing Silhouette Portrait. Look for a tutorial on that in the near future! 

I added some $3 glittery branches from Walmart and set the bottles out as a table centerpiece. Overall, the whole project only took about 30 minutes. Plus, they would work for Christmas or Winter decorations. 

The snowflakes are definitely appropriate for our 12 degree high today! You can use this easy project to beat cabin fever and being a little glitter into your house this winter. 

Fundraising Raffle Baskets

My apartment is currently being taken over by raffle baskets! I am in an organization called Norse Leadership Society and this week we are selling raffle tickets to raise money for care packages for our military.

Everyone got donations and I put them together into baskets. We are selling tickets for $1 or 6 tickets for $5. People can buy tickets for three days and then we are having the drawing at our trivia night event. This is a great way to fund raise for your organization or philanthropy.

Here are some basket ideas that we are using:

 

Men's Basket: Bottle opener, body wash, shampoo, movie, shooter set, coozies, croakies, golf balls, and snacks

 

Women's Basket: hair products, scent set, movie, manicure set, lotion, id holder, loofah, picture frame, journal, notecards, picture album, make-up bag, etc.

 

Dorm Basket: Blanket, dish rags and towels, school supplies, bathroom set, air freshener, snacks

 

Chocolate and Coffee Lovers: Variety of chocolates including Esther Price box, Lindt truffles, and Godiva, coffee mug, Starbuck's instant coffee, coffee creamer, Starbuck's gift card

 

School Spirit Starter Kit: banner, pom-poms, car decal, lanyard, Tervis tumbler, traveling mug, folder

 

We also have a carpet cleaning gift certificate and a  "Night Out" basket with zoo tickets and gift certificates to the movies and various restaurants.

To make the baskets look really nice I got cellophane and ribbon from the dollar store to dress them up.

Hope you enjoy these ideas!

 

 

 

 





Sorority Little Gifts

Last night was our Big/Little Reveal and I got my perfect Little :) I will share more about our actual reveal later, but first I wanted to share the gifts I made throughout the week. I know people are always looking for gift ideas for their sisters.

We do three days where the Littles get a small gift and a clue. On reveal night we give them the rest of their gifts.

Here are some of the crafts and gifts that I gave my Little.

 

 

If some of you Delta Gamma's are confused about the giraffe stuff, that is unique to our DG chapter. Before our chapter officially became Delta Gamma they formed and chose the giraffe as their symbol.

 

Here are all of our gifts together on Day 1 and 3.

 





Handmade Cards

I love sending and receiving mail! Especially while I am away at college. It's nice to know that someone back home is thinking of you. I personally love homemade cards and think they show a little extra love.

 

 

You can buy everything you need to make a few cards at Walmart or a craft and hobby store. I usually just use extra scrapbooking supplies that I have on hand.

Here are a few simple designs that you can adapt and use.

 

 

These are a little more time consuming because of the shape.

 

 



SMASH Your College Memories

 



One of my hobbies is scrapbooking, but when I came to college I realized that I didn't have as much time and sometimes I didn't end up with pictures to scrapbook. My sophomore year of college SMASH books by K&Company came into the scrapbooking world and my mom gave me one. Now you can even find them at Walmart and Target!

I found that this was a fun and easy way to document my college memories, even if you have never scrapbooked before. I've been using this one since my sophomore

year and I already have another book ready to go when I fill this one up.

 

The books come in all different styles and colors with a pen that has a glue stick on the other side. You also get to choose from their large line of cute accessories. Here are some of the accessories that I have acquired over the past year:

 

These are just a few of the pages that I have Smashed!

 

 

 

You can put anything in the book! In the top picture I included part of a tshirt I wore during a paint wars activity. In the bottom picture I included a nametag, receipts, quote from a magazine, and a card that my mom sent me.

 

 

For December I completed a page dedicated to my favorite holiday foods and used a Starbucks pastry bag. I also did my version of a "December Daily" page and documented all the fun stuff I did throughout the month.

 

 

This is a page I did after I went to two concerts. I just printed out the pictures I took in wallet size and included the tickets from the events.

 

College goes very fast so find a way to preserve all those memories!

 

 

 

 



Having a Great Boss

This summer I had the pleasure of working with some really great staff at NKU in the New Student and Parent Programs Office. I have truly found that the people in this office genuinely care about NKU and its students. Working for them has helped me grow as a person since they are not only great bosses, but also great mentors.

I wanted to show my appreciation for all of their hard work. Here is a gift that you can adapt to use for your boss or a co-worker that you appreciate.

Supplies:

Container: tumbler, coffee mug, desk organizer

Various Office Supplies: I went with pens and post it notes. Other ideas: rubber band ball, paper clips, binder clips, labels, etc.

Candy:It's a bonus if you know their favorite type

A handwritten note of thanks

Notecards

I made this note cards and wrote a personal message on each one to stick in the cups. I trimmed two different colors of card stock to the sizes I wanted. Using a circle punch, I cut the apples out from a piece of patterned paper. I then inked around the edges of the smaller card stock and the circle before putting it all together.

This gift is super simple, useful, and a great way to show your appreciation for someone you work with. Give this gift just because, or adapt it for a special occasion like a promotion, beginning of the school year for a teacher, or welcoming someone new to your office.