Quick Gift Idea: Turn Your Favorite Book Into a Holiday Gift Kit!

Quick Gift Idea: Turn Your Favorite Book Into a Holiday Gift Kit!

Books are one of my favorite gifts to give (and receive!). If I want to make the gift of a book more personal/unique/custom, I’ll assemble a kit or a themed group of gifts inspired by it, and wrap it up together. Whether you are stuck for a gift idea...or want to give a special, not right-off-the-shelves gift but don't have time to hand-make something, it is super helpful to use a great book as a jumping off point! The gift kit idea works particularly well, as you can imagine, with a DIY book, like a cook or craft book since you can pair it with tools, materials, or ingredients but it can work with just about any book!Click here and here for previous posts with more of these ideas...as well as packaging suggestions!

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Fun Gingerbread House Kit Hack Videos!

Fun Gingerbread House Kit Hack Videos!

I recently worked with Bed, Bath & Beyond to make a series of gingerbread house kit hacks. We had so much fun coming up with different themes using the candy decorations from the kit and some easy-to-find extras like candy canes, pretzel rods, and marshmallows. I will update this post soon with the third video, a snowy palace!

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Easy Activity Advent Calendar For The Most Fun Holiday Ever!

Easy Activity Advent Calendar For The Most Fun Holiday Ever!

Christmas is quickly approaching! What a better way to celebrate each day of Advent than with a fun handmade countdown. These paper bags double as cute decor and a functional Advent calendar. You could fill them with treats, small toys, or slips of paper with quotes, or fun family activity ideas! 

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Something to Make, Something to Bring, Something to Give...on Dinner: A Love Story

Something to Make, Something to Bring, Something to Give...on Dinner: A Love Story

I am thrilled to have contributed a few crafty holiday food ideas to one of my favorite blogs, Jenny Rosenstratch's Dinner: A Love Story ! I'm a longtime fan of both her blog and books. Have you seen her newest, How to Celebrate Everything? If I hadn't bought it the minute it came out it would be at the top of my holiday wish list! Anyway, these marshmallow tree-topped cupcakes, above, are "something to bring to a holiday party" and you can find instructions for them on DALS here.

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Gumdrop Nutcracker Ladies to Top Your Cupcakes

Gumdrop Nutcracker Ladies to Top Your Cupcakes

These fancy lady cupcakes from our book, Candy Aisle Crafts, would be perfect for a Nutcracker party! I dip-dyed white cupcake papers into food coloring for skirts, but any solid or patterned cupcake paper would work (gold would be pretty too). There are so many fun prints available now online and in party stores—and yes, even at supermarkets!

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Easiest Coffee Filter and Cupcake Paper Paper Snowflakes

Easiest Coffee Filter and Cupcake Paper Paper Snowflakes

We LOVE making paper snowflakes, lots and lots of them. Thin square paper, like origami paper, works best for folding and snipping but I don't like using up my stash. Printer paper is great, but I don't like having to precut the paper into squares. Coffee filters and cupcake papers, inexpensive, thin and easy to cut, are the perfect material for this fun craft!

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Quickest DIY Cards for Father's Day and More!

Quickest DIY Cards for Father's Day and More!

This group of cards was made using leftover cupcake papers. With their ruffled texture and fun colors, they make a cool (and cheap) craft material. Also, after baking I'm often left with a few from each pack and I've started collecting them for just these kinds of projects. 

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Pretty and Easy-to-Make Valentines Treats (using leftover Christmas candy!)

Pretty and Easy-to-Make Valentines Treats (using leftover Christmas candy!)

Have any extra candy canes or peppermint candies leftover from Christmas? Use them to make homemade Valentine treats! Here in New York I find that I am permanently cold so any excuse to huddle around the oven is a good one! These DIY treats are from our book, Candy Aisle Crafts.
Give these candy cane hearts (above) to your Valentine in a little cellophane baggy or use them to top cupcakes.

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Last-Minute Christmas Candy Crafts

Last-Minute Christmas Candy Crafts

Just a few days until Christmas! I'm sharing some quick ideas from our book, Candy Aisle Crafts, that utilize the candy canes and peppermint candy that we have around at this time of year. This HO HO HO cake topper can also be used on top of frosted brownies or cupcakes. 

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DIY Lollipop Ideas...for Celebrating National Lollipop Day!

DIY Lollipop Ideas...for Celebrating National Lollipop Day!

This Monday, July 20th, is National Lollipop Day! Yeah! To celebrate, we are sharing a roundup of our easy-to-make lollipops. They all involve melting store-bought candy which means they are easier than "from-scratch" candy-making. 

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Cookie Snow Globes in Martha Stewart Living

Cookie Snow Globes in Martha Stewart Living

We are thrilled that our friends over at Martha Stewart Living featured our cookie snow globes in their December issue in the gorgeous "Partners in Craft" story. 
Click 
here for the how-to!

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Parents Magazine Christmas Candy Craft Story

Parents Magazine Christmas Candy Craft Story

For some fun do-together Christmas candy craft ideas, pick up the December issue of Parents Magazine. I crafted and wrote the story "A Candy Christmas". Above are starlight mint garlands, shot in my studio while I was developing the story. They're super easy to make. Click here for the how-to on the Parents website.

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