Craftster's hand made gift ideas

I know the holiday season is over but there are more times in a year to make gifts than just Christmas.

Over the month of December Craftster.org compiled a list of some great gift tutorials and I'm passing that list on to you.

Tea Wallet

Patchwork Scarf
Photo Bookmark
Felt board
Personalized Coffee Mug
Water Bottle Carrier
Stenciled T-shirts
Fun Clock
Hooded Towel
Watercolor Portraits
Scrabble Tile Magnets
Candle with Wax Globe
Yarn Ball Ornament
Covered Switchplates
Infused Bath Salts
iPod Cozy
Hat from a Sweater
Little Notebooks
Cupcake Kit
Travel Sudoku Tin
Etched Bottle
Embellished Silverware
I Spy Bag
Pendant
NoSew Fingerless Gloves
Personalized Clue Game
Recycled Stationery
Photo Pillow
Lavender Sachet
Decopaged Spatula

Coffee and hot cocoa mixes

Coffee mix - One part instant coffee, two parts sugar, two parts coffee mate

To serve the flavoured coffee, add one tablespoon per cup of water to taste

Hot chocolate mix - One part cocoa one part sugar

To serve the hot cocoa add one tablespoon of mix to one cup of hot milk

Try to make one cup of mix AFTER the additives are included. An easy way to do this is to make a lot of the mix, put the additive in a measuring cup and then top it off with the mix until one cup is reached. Mix well, I suggest using a large measuring cup (like 4 cups) but only measuring up to one cup so you have room to stir. This can make a huge mess.

French vanilla = Coffee mix + a packet of instant vanilla pudding (I find that this one tastes best with two tablespoons of mix per cup of water)

Holiday spice = Coffee mix + 2 tablespoons all spice mix

Caramel = substitute the white sugar with brown sugar in the coffee mix

Almond = Coffee mix + one teaspoon almond extract (This comes out like an amaretto if 1/4 cup cocoa is added to the mix)

Mocha = This one is a little different. One part instant coffee, two parts sugar, two parts coffee mate and one part cocoa.

Peppermint Cocoa = Hot chocolate mix + one teaspoon peppermint or mint extract

Chocolate cherry cocoa = Hot chocolate mix + one packet of cherry Kool-aid

I then made labels that included serving directions with my basic home printer and some label paper then jarred the mixes in recycled baby food jars but you could package it however you like or keep it for yourself.

Try other flavours, this mix is very versatile and measurements also do not have to be exact. When making something new it is fun to make just a one cup or even half cup batch and taste test some too.

Try different spices, pudding mixes or extracts.

Draft stopping critters

Critters That Keep Out the Cold


Stationed in a window or up against a door this winter or fall, these charming homemade draft blockers will help keep indoor temperatures up and fuel bills down -- provided they don't get coaxed off the job for a playdate, that is. Both are simply fashioned from a pair of tights and filled with rice, which makes them posable enough to tuck tightly into nooks and corners.

Found on Disney family fun craft website (Where you can find the instructions too) for a perfect first day to autumn.

Home made pop tarts

Thanks to boo_zombie and ragdollpirate our mornings will now be filled with the evil goodness of toaster pastries, but they’ll be homemade. Personally, I’m thinking s’mores, but if you wanted to cross over to the salty side, you could fill them with bacon and cheese. Or how about scrambled eggs and cheese?

Grab the full recipe here (or just scroll down) and get baking!

nom nom nommmm lol

YOU SHOULD THANK RAGDOLLPIRATE SHE GAVE ME THE RECIPE COZ SHE IS TOTALLY AWESOME AND I <3>

Homemade Pop Tarts Recipe
23 min | 15 min prep
12 pop tarts
For Pie Crust
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons cold water
For Filling
• 1/2 cup jam (your choice)
For Glaze
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 ounces milk, to thin
• candy sprinkles
1. Preheat oven to 450°F
2. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Add shortening and butter and blend with a fork, pastry cutter, or your hands. Blend until mixture is fairly coarse. Add water, 1 tablespoons at a time, gently mixing dough after each addition until dough forms a ball.
3. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll into a square/rectangle. To about 1/8 thickness. Cut out long strips about 2 inches wide and 3 inches long. Repeat until dough runs out.
4. Take one pie crust rectangle and lace 1 teaspoons of jam on top. Cover with another piece of pie crust and crimp all four edges. Repeat with the rest of dough. Place Pop-tarts on a baking sheet with parchment paper, and bake for 7-8 minutes.
5. While pop-tarts are baking, make glaze. Place powdered sugar in a bowl. Pour milk slowing until it has a consistency of really thick syrup. 1/2 a tablespoons to 1 tablespoons might be enough.
6. Once pop-tarts are done and cooled, top with glaze. Sprinkle and decorate with colorful sprinkle.
For cherry filling just whiz some cherry pie filling until smooth.

For Chocolate add coco powder to the dough and just add bits of chocolate into the middle.

Free Coldplay album, Left right left right left.

Coldplay is offering a free album for their fans at http://www.coldplay.com/lrlrl/lr.html

Download it and enjoy!