DIY Gift Idea: Chamomile Mint Tea

Hi guys! Today I'm sharing a super quick and easy gift idea: Chamomile Mint Tea!

You may have picked up on it by now, but the bulk section at the grocery store is one of my very favorite things. Not only can you find super cheap grains, but you can also find spices and tea for a fraction of the cost you would pay for the pre-packaged versions.

I had been toying with the idea of making my own tea blend recently, and had been brainstorming lots of ideas. While rooibos chai is still in the back of my mind, I decided to whip up some Chamomile Mint tea. It's such a tasty tea that's perfect to curl up and relax with. I had fun blending it myself, partially because the ingredients are so lovely, but also because I could really fine tune the flavor to my liking!

I make it sound complicated, but it's the easiest thing in the world. The best part is, once you pack it up in cute little jars and tie it up with a bow, you've got a darling, inexpensive gift!

Here's how to make it!

Ingredients/Supplies:
- Dried Chamomile
- Dried Peppermint
- Small Jars
- Ribbon/Yarn

To get started, I made a couple of test batches to get the ratios right. I found that if I did two parts chamomile to one part peppermint, I got a great balance. Not so much mint that it overpowered the chamomile, but not so little that you couldn't taste it.

Once I got the flavor to my liking, I filled up a jar 3/4 of the way full with two parts chamomile and one part peppermint. I then closed up the jar, and gave it a few shakes to combine. The picture above shows the blend. Seriously, how pretty is that?

Next, pack the blend up into some cute little jars! I ended up filling 6 with the amount of ingredients that I bought.

Last, just tie on a little bow and you've got an adorable gift! If you wanted to really take it home, you could pair this gift with a super cute tea ball and you'd have an amazing stocking stuffer!

I hope you enjoyed this lovely, easy gift idea!

Til next time!

-Becca

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Homemade Gift Guide

Well, guys, it's official. I've gone completely nuts. I've decided to make all of my Christmas presents this year.

Yep. I'll be working overtime all month, posting here 4-5 days a week, and yet have somehow decided I can totally find time to make all of my presents. Well, while it may be a little over-ambitious, I really love the idea of giving my friends and family handmade gifts and love knowing that I'll put extra love into each and every one.

Today, I'm sharing some of my favorite, gift-worthy projects that I've put together on Ladyface Blog! Hopefully some of these ideas will inspire you to do some homemade and handmade gifting this year!

First on the list, are these pretty color-blocked Painted Cork Coasters. 

These cute coasters are super simple to make, and can be easily customized to feature the recipient's favorite colors. How cute would these look stacked up and wrapped with a little bow?

Next up, is one of my favorite projects I've ever done: String Art Portrait Plaques.

These are super fun, and relatively simple to put together. The ones I created are portraits of my cats, Buddy and Hank, and myself. Using side-view silhouette portraits, you could make one for anyone you know! You could also take the idea and run with it to create a set of initials, a home state, or the image of your choosing. String art is super fun!

Both these Crocheted Bow Hair Pins and these Fabric Bow Hair Pins would make great stocking stuffers! It only takes a few minutes to make each one, so you could make up a whole slew of these to give to  all of the adorable ladies in your life!

If you're still on the hunt for great hair accessories for gifting, this Wire Headband would be a great choice! You can whip them up in no time in all sorts of different colors and patterns, and they look great!

An Embroidered Pendant Necklace would also make a lovely little stocking stuffer. This is actually the first project I ever did on Ladyface Blog and remains one of my favorites. The tutorial shows how to make a gingham embroidered pendant, but I've also whipped them up with a chevron pattern, a honeycomb pattern, or initials. If you've got a knack for embroidery, the possibilities are endless!

You could also whip up a Wire Word Necklace! If you know a lady who can rock a good statement piece, this would make  perfect gift. It's also totally customizable and could easily be made as another word or as the name of the recipient!

And hey! If you're looking for a less time-consuming jewelry option, these Clip-On Earring Pendant Necklaces come together in no time. Since clip-on earrings come in sets of two (duh), it would be darling to give these as a pair of friendship necklaces!

Last, but certainly not least, these Printable Canning Jar Labels are the perfect way to get your home-canned goods ready for gift giving! Print them out on pretty paper, cut them out, add them to your jars and you're ready to go! You could even tie a pretty ribbon around the jar ring to make them really special.

Well, I hope these projects have helped inspire you to do some homemade gift giving this year!

I'm certainly excited to get my homemade gifts together! Wish me luck!

Til next time!

-Becca

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DIY Gem Pocket Sweatshirt with Nicole of Writes Like a Girl

Hello everyone! Today, one of my favorite bloggers, Nicole from Writes Like a Girl, is here to get her craft on with a cute DIY project that's perfect to jazz up your wardrobe for the holiday season! Nicole inspires me daily with her honest writing, adorable personal style, and her support of women everywhere. If you like adorable clothes, feminism, and super awesome people, I know you'll love Nicole and her blog as much as I do. Check out her super cute project here, and then be sure to stop by Writes Like a Girl for more!

Hello lovely ladyfaces! I'm not usually a craft-inclined kind of gal, but Becca's blog inspires me so much. I saw this super cute gem pocket sweatshirt on ASOS the other day and thought, "Hey, I think I could make that!" So here we are...let's get started!

And now, you've got a fantastically sparkly sweatshirt. Get on with ya bad self!

Flavored Salt

Hey guys!

Today I'm excited to talk about Flavored Salt! I know, leave it to me to want to make salt all fancy. Well, making flavored salt is SO easy, that I'm going to share three different versions with you today: Sriracha Salt, Lemon Salt, and Balsamic Salt.

Any of these can be used in many different applications. You could toss them on homemade popcorn, use them as a finishing salt, or straight up cook with them! I'm imagining Sriracha Salt popcorn, truffles finished with Balsmaic Salt, and some tasty chicken seasoned with Lemon Salt. So good, right?

I'm not just excited about sharing this recipe/tutorial because it's delicious, I'm also excited because these flavored salts would make a really lovely homemade gift for the holidays! You could package up one flavor, or you could make people really swoon by giving all three as a set. Put these up in tiny little jars wrapped in ribbon, and boy have you got a gift!

Ok! Let's get started, shall we?

First up, Ingredients! Now, I made small batches of each of these, but it's super easy to scale up if you are making more.

Ingredients:

For Sriracha Salt:
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 3 tsp Sriracha

For Lemon Salt:
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 1 tsp fresh lemon zest
- 2 tsp lemon juice

For Balsamic Salt:
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.

2. Add the flavor to the salt and mix until well combined.

3. Spread the salt mixture out on your baking sheet. If you're making all three flavors in the amounts specified, you should be able to fit all three flavors on one sheet. If you're making a ton of each flavor, I would definitely recommend separate baking sheets.

4. Put the baking sheets in the oven, close the door immediately, and turn off the heat. Let sit in the oven for 2-3 hours, or until the salt is dry.

5. Once the salt is removed from the oven, use your hands (or a mortar and pestle if you're fancy!) to separate the clumps, and then put into small jars or airtight containers for storage.

Ta-da!!!! With approximately no effort, you've got yourself a set of delicious flavored salts! Seriously, how pretty do these look in these cute little glass containers?

Whether you're looking for a great homemade gift option, or just a tasty addition to your spice cabinet, I hope you get to try out some Flavored Salt soon!

Til next time!

-Becca

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DIY Round-up with Whimsy Darling!

Today, Alex and Paige of Whimsy Darling are back to share some of their amazing DIY projects! I hope their pretty projects will bring you some weekend inspiration! As always, be sure to stop by and check out their blog for more amazing Whimsy Darling goodness!

Hello again, Ladyface Blog readers!

We're Alex and Paige of Whimsy Darling and you may remember us from a previous guest post in early November. We're back for another round to share some of our latest DIY projects with all of you!

Thanksgiving Place Settings While American Thanksgiving is right around the corner, us Canadians had ours a while ago now. Around that time we shared this tutorial for a simple last minute thanksgiving place setting. It's always nice to make your guests feel welcome and appreciated but sometimes you don't have enough time to put together an elaborate place setting for every single person. All you need for these ones are some toothpicks, card stock and a miniature pumpkin or gourd. Easy Peasy!

Embroidery Wall Art Being students on a budget, we also like creating a lot of our own wall art! We love the look of embroidery art but have yet to acquire the skill it takes to create a real embroidery piece. We decided to recreate the look with a small canvas and paint and love the way it turned out!

Storage Box Makeover I'm always looking for new ways to find storage in my small apartment but like to do it as cheaply as possible. I found these white storage boxes at Ikea one afternoon and decided to spruce them up a little bit to make them a little more interesting. It was a super easy project that only took one afternoon and it made my craft shelf look very organized and put together. Much better then the mess it previously was!

Wood Slice Wall Art Once again, we love creating our own wall art! This is one of our most common types of projects over at Whimsy Darling because it is normally very simple to make but adds a touch of uniqueness and personality to your home. We found these wood slices at Michael's for a good price and painted some of our favourite quotes on them.

Anthro-Inspired Bedroom Makeover While this project is definitely my favourite thus far, it was also the most tedious. It took a few weeks of sporadical work to complete but I managed to recreate a $500 Anthropologie bedding look for only $50! It was just the update my bedroom was needing.

DIY Umbrella Update Paige bought this umbrella for her Mary Poppins Halloween costume this year and since has decided it needs an update. She painted little white hearts all over the inside of it to give it a little more cheer and personality. It is so cute and such a pleasant surprise whenever she opens it up. 

We hope you have managed to find a little big of inspiration from some of these DIY tutorials to start something new this weekend! Thanks again Becca for hosting us on your blog!

 Alex (& Paige) xo

Quick and Easy Thanksgiving Centerpiece

Hey guys! With Thanksgiving next week, I thought it was due time for me to share a pretty centerpiece idea with you!

This one is super inexpensive to put together, and easy as can be!

To get started, you'll need some supplies!

- 1 thin, somewhat shallow glass or plastic container
- Gold (or color of your choice) ribbon (optional)
- 3 apples in the variety of your choosing
- 3 candles
- 1 12oz bag of cranberries
- Scissors (not pictured)
- A small knife (not pictured)

If you're using ribbon, being by tying that around your container. I did mine in a nice square knot with the ends cut on a diagonal.

Use your knife to cut a small cone shape out of your apple on the stem side. You'll want this to be approximately the same size as your candle. Tapering the cut in towards the center of the apple will help ensure a snug fit for your candle.

Place the candle in the hole you cut in your apple and repeat with the other apples!

Next, get your apples all situated in your container.

And then, pour in the cranberries, making sure to evenly distribute them around the apples.

And, voila! A quick, easy, and beautiful Thanksgiving centerpiece done in no time!

I hope you enjoyed checking out this tutorial!

Til next time!

-Becca

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DIY Fabric Bow Hairpin

Hey guys! Today I'll be sharing a tutorial on how to make a cute little Fabric Bow Hairpin! I seem to really have a thing for tiny little bows I can wear in my hair lately! A little while ago, I shared a tutorial for Crocheted Bow Hairpins, but I also wanted to share a tutorial for these Fabric Bow Hairpins!

They're super cute, can be made in any fabric you like, and take ten minutes tops to put together. Let's have at it, shall we?

You'll need some super basic supplies:
- A needle
- Thread
- Scissors
- A bobby pin
- A piece of fabric cut into a 2.5"x4" rectangle
- Another piece of fabric cut into a 1"x4" (honestly 2" long would probably be plenty)rectangle.

First up, fold the long edges of the larger rectangle towards the center of the piece of the rectangle. You'll want the edges to overlap slightly, like you can see above.

Also, please note my sparkly gold nails. Please also note that I have not painted my nails in at least 6 years. This information is relevant.

Now, thread your needle, knot the ends, and whip stitch the two long edges together. You'll basically be stitching your larger rectangle into a long tube.

When you're done, you should have something that looks like this.

Ok, this stitching is real messy. Not a big deal for the project, but it does hurt my pride a little! This is why the sparkly nails are relevant. Nail polish feels weird! I felt a good 75% less dextrous than usual. That's right, ya'll. I'm blaming my messy stitching on sparkly gold nail polish. I stand by my defense!

Ok! Now take the two short ends of your tube and bring them together in the middle so they overlap slightly. Whip stitch them together! When you're done, you'll have something that looks like the above picture. It'll be like a tiny little fabric doughnut!

Next you're going to knot the end of your thread and run your needle and thread through the center of your soon-to-be-bow, being sure to catch both sides.

Once you're through, pull your thread tight, and knot the end so you've got yourself a nice little bow shape.

Ok! Now take the skinny piece of fabric and fold the long edges toward the middle. Then, fold the fabric in half hot dog style to encase the edges. You can press the fabric here, or you can be super slick and use the edge of your CLOSED scissors to press your fabric. This works. Promise. It's kind of like curling ribbon, just with the scissors closed. Are you guys picking up what I'm putting down? I hope so!

Now, Take your long skinny rectangle and wrap it around the middle of your bow, bringing the ends to the back. Once you've got the piece nice and tight, you can trim the ends down so they're easier to work with.

So, as you can see above, while you have the skinny piece of fabric held tight around the bow, put one end over the other, being sure to fold the top end under for a clean edge.

Then, stitch the ends together. Please ignore my garbage stitching. Stupid gold sparkly fingernails...

Ok, the last thing to do is to slide your bobby pin through the back of the loop you just made, and...

Voila! Adorable Fabric Bow Hairpin complete! Now just style up your hair, add your cute hairpin and you'll be cute as cute as can be!

Til next time!

-Becca

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