crafty christmas

Hey yo! 

Yet another post about my awesome craftiness!!

I needed something super cute and fun for my employees and couldn't think of anything cheap! 

I finally found a great idea for some bottle cap magnets. 

And since we work at a coffee shop, I put little coffee type pictures in them! 

This was so easy and fun, you should totally try it! 

I basically had to wing it, with a few hundred calls to my friend Jess to get me through. 

Here's a step by step for you!

The best tip for this project is to get the right magnets. RARE EARTH magnets are amazing. 

SUPER STRONG and small.

 I found some at a local hardware store and they rock! 

You can also find them online too :)

Rare earth magnets... SUPER MAGNETS!

Screw top caps work best (they aren't bent from opening)

I got this Resin at Michael's with a 50% off coupon!

 There's a ton of kinds of resin you can get.

 I went to a few craft stores who had no idea what I was looking for. 

One lady even suggested Mod Podge. I laughed and said, uhhhhh no. 

Michael's was finally the winner. Again, anything is available online.

1" hole punch is a miracle!

 I used scrap book paper and a few photos I had developed of coffee beans.

 Set the magnets in the bottle caps. Be sure to give them some room cause those magnets are STRONG. They will find each other! Be careful!

From here I put resin in the caps up to the top of the magnets. 

Then I put the pictures in over the magnets and finished filling the caps with resin. 

Be sure to get them full, but not TOO full. Just up to the top. 

Full but not TOO full. Helpful, and incredibly specific, I know.

 

Bubbles will appear, and you can either blow on them, or if they're big, you can stick a tooth pick in them to pop them. Most of the small bubbles will rise to the top and then pop on their own.

 Then you just follow the directions on the resin box! The kind I got said to set up in a dust/hair free area for 24 hours. Then leave to completely harden for another 72 hours.

Super cute!

Plus I love this idea for vacation souveniers.

 I'm going to do some with the intention of showing the top of the cap as the front of the magnet. 

I have twenty or so from when we went to Florida from Florida Brewing Company. How fun!

Don't you just love them!?? I know I do.

It can be a little messy, put it was fun and loved how they turned out! :)

McGriddle Pants

Infuse this!

Woah. Seriously, I'm still alive! Life is busy, but it goes on, no?

I've been busy busy busy working working working. But I've been trying to be super crafty lately, inspired of course by Pinterest.

You can find me here

I attempt to actually recreate things I see on Pinterest to help justify all my time spent on the site...

So here's two recent adventures...

Home made Vanilla Extract

This was a super easy project, and smells so good!

I found these great little bottles at The Container Store for only $4 each!!

Then you just fill with Vodka (or Bourbon) and whole vanilla beans! I sliced the beans up the middle with some scissors and put them in the bottles! I used 3 beans per bottle. Some recipes online show way more vanilla beans per bottle of vodka, one even said SEVENTY for a half a gallon of vodka. Which seems a little steep! Especially considering vanilla beans are around $1.50 each.

I love how this turned out! I'm going to write a little note for each one letting the recipient know to wait 30 days before using it. The taste difference in your baking is outstanding! Plus most store bought vanilla extracts have a TON of added sugar. That's just bad news bears!

Infusion... commence!

Cranberry-Lime Infused Vodka

Secondly I found this awesome Cranberry-Lime infused vodka recipe, that also seemed like a great Christmas gift idea! It works out to be about $9 per bottle! Of course I found these awesome bottles at Grocery Outlet (a bargain grocery store) filled with some sort of fizzy pink lemonade for only #2.99, so I realize these bottles at this price may be difficult to find. Again, they sell 

something similar at The Container Store.

From there I just bought 2 pounds of whole cranberries, sat in front of the tv and proceeded to poke holes in all the cranberries and put them in the bottles. Around 2/3 of the way, I put the rind of one lime in each bottle. Then I put a few more berries on top! And of course, fill with vodka! yes! This smells SO GOOD! And I have more vodka left, so I'm going to make a few more bottles. I again bought a half of a gallon of Svedka, which is on sale for $20 in stores here, so I have enough left for about 2-3 more bottles of this goodness! I found this idea at The Fancy Napkin, and I'm also going to attach this recipe for Cran-tinis to the bottles when I gift them.

Hark! I bring tidings of great booze.

Crantini's

Ingredients:

1/2 oz. Triple Sec

1 1/2 oz. Cranberry-Lime Infused vodka

4 oz. Cranberry juice

Ice

Directions:

Shake with ice, and shake well. Strain and serve in a martini glass

Garnish with cranberries or a lime twist.

Hugs and kisses!

McGriddle Pants

resolute

Just a few resolutions for the new year!

1. Stop updating my status, and "checking-in" and uploading pictures while I'm in the moment. Stop and experience life. Step away from the Internet!
2. Find a way to save approximately 300 dollars and spend it on a flight to see a friend or family member who lives far away.
3. I will always "check for paper" when entering the restroom.
4. Stop watching the Kardashians, all of them. It’s not helping anyone, least of all the Kardashians.
5. Spend less than $1825 for coffee at Starbucks this year. 
6. Wear (and maybe buy) clothes that actually fit me.
7. Call someone on the phone at least once a week, and speak to him or her for at least ten minutes.
8. Spend less than or equal to the money I earn each month.
9. Start buying lottery tickets at a luckier store.
10. Wait 30 seconds before I look up a fact I can’t remember on my phone, and try to remember it using my brain. This is what the olden days were like.
11. Remember to brush teeth with bristly end of toothbrush.
12. Try that food I think I don’t like but have never actually tried, except for brussel sprouts. They really don’t need any more attention.
13. Watch more movie remakes. (HA!)
14. Cut one person out of my life who you truly do not like and add one person who you truly do. Note: not on Facebook, on Earth.
15. Claim all my pets as dependents on my taxes.
16. I will keep an extra safe distance when driving behind police cars.
17. Tell someone who I love that you love them on a more regular basis. To their face, not in a text.
18. Back up my entire online life onto an external hard drive, especially my photos.
19. Go back to school to avoid paying my student loans.
20. Always replace the gas nozzle before driving away from the pump.