DIY Appliqued Gift Card

Hey guys!

Today I'm going to show you how to make this super cute appliqued gift card!

Now, I'd love to tell you that this was the exact idea from the beginning and it turned out exactly how I wanted it to, but that would be a big ol' lie!

When I dreamt up this project I was looking to make a lovely homemade gift card for my mama for Mothers Day. I had originally planned to do a card that said "I <3 You Mom!" on the front, and was going to cut the letters out of fabric and sew them on with embroidery floss. And I started it, and it seemed ok at first, but then I realized I'd made the letters too big, and only had room for "I <3 You" and decided, eh, what the heck, I'll just go with it. 

Not too shabby!

Not bad, right? Well, THEN I started stitching the letters on, and boyyyyyyyy what a mess:

Hot Mess.

Alright, so maybe it wasn't quite that bad (those scraps came when I needed something to test adhesives on), but I didn't like it. So, like any determined crafter, I started over!

Here's how to make that cute card pictured up top!

Supplies:

• Blank gift card and envelope
• Fabric scraps (or paper!)
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Brush-on Tacky Glue
• Washi tape

Ok! To get started, draw shapes on your fabric scraps and cut them out.

If you are doing hearts, like I did, I would recommend making an assortment of sizes with a variety of fabrics. That way you have more to play with when it's time to work on the layout. As luck would have it, that's the next step!

Take your time on the layout. Really. I futzed around for so long that I think my friend Sarah thought I was crazy, but I'm a stickler for a good layout and am glad I took my time because I loved the result! Once you get a layout you like, take a picture of it. If you don't have a camera handy, make some very faint pencil marks so you can know where everything was. That's going to be important, because the next step is to take everything off of the card.

Then, using your Brush-on Tacky Glue, apply a thin layer of adhesive to the back of your fabric shapes. I did mine one at a time, but you could probably take care of a few at once.

Once the glue is applied, let it dry for a few seconds (this will help avoid the card paper curling), and apply to the gift card.

Once all the hearts have been applied, you're in the home stretch!

The last thing to do is to apply the washi tape to the edges. You'll begin by sticking it to the the face of the card one edge at a time. Start by completing the 2 long edges, then move on to the 2 short edges. It's good to start with the face of the card so you can make sure you're getting an even line. You may want to check your work with a clear ruler as you are sticking it down, but since mine had a pattern that made a nice make-shift guideline, I used that.

Once you have it applied to the front, snip the tape squarely at the corner. Then turn the card over, fold the washi tape and press into place. Snip the ends to make them even with the card.

 

Once the washi tape is applied to all sides, all that's left to do is to let everything dry completely. That, and to write a lovely message for the recipient, seal it up, and give it to them!

And voila! A lovely gift card to give to someone you love!

Til next time!

-Becca

P.S. My mom LOVED the card!

Weekly Wishlist

1. Sweater: J Crew; 2. Belt: Anthropologie; 3. T-shirt: Anthropologie; 4. Shoes: ModCloth (Swedish Hasbeens!); 5. Skirt: ModCloth; 6. Necklace: ModCloth.

Lately I'm loving mixing prints, like the cute little birdies on this skirt from ModCloth mixed with this simple, subtly striped t-shirt from Anthropologie. Since it's springtime, I'm also loving pieces that can be worn in warm or cool weather (how cute would this outfit be with tights on a cooler day?).

I'm wishing real hard for this outfit right now! What are you wishing for?

Til next time!

-Becca

Weekend Wardrobe

 Friday:

Tiger dress: homemade by yours truly; Belt: thrifted; Shoes: J.Crew.

Saturday:

Dress: Anthropologie (gift from my mama!); Necklace: DIY/vintage; Belt: Anthropologie; Shoes: Swedish Hasbeens.

Sunday: 

T-shirt: Nordstrom (ages ago); Necklace: DIY; Belt: Anthropologie; Skirt: thrifted; Shoes: J.Crew.

This weekend was ALL ABOUT the summer clothes. I love when the weather gets nice because I can pull out all my vintage clothes, and all the clothes I've made from vintage fabric! Here's hoping for some more beautiful days.

Til next time!

-Becca

Sunday Brunch: Coffee Cake

My friend Elle and I are big fans of breakfast food. For the duration of our friendship we've been meeting up regularly for breakfast and brunch. It's even become a bit of a tradition at this point! The trouble is, we both have some dietary restrictions, so we have to choose our breakfast recipes and restaurants carefully to make sure that we'll both be happy. So when we cook together, it has to be gluten free, dairy free, and vegetarian.

So today, we decided to make coffee cake! Look how good it looks!

 

Elle heartily approves this coffee cake!

Since it was such a beautiful morning, we decided to eat outdoors. It ended up being a wonderful morning of baking, chatting, soaking up the sun, and, of course, eating this super tasty coffee cake!

Wanna make it yourself? You should! It was super delicious! Here's how:

Ingredients

Now just as a note, in the past when I was able to bake with wheat flour I would have never dreamed of using a cake mix, but if you've done any amount of gluten free baking, you know that baking from scratch can be a bit of a gamble and it can cost a fair amount of money to gather up all the different flours. That's why when I find something that works well, it becomes a staple in my pantry. My recent revelation has been Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Vanilla Cake Mix. Guys, it's cheap, consistent, delicious, and easily customized. Bonus points: my friends who eat gluten think it's great, too!

Ingredients:

For the cake:

- 1 package Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Vanilla Cake Mix

- 3 large eggs at room temperature

- 1/2 cup vegetable oil

- 1/2 cup water at room temperature

- 6oz blueberries (optional, but HIGHLY recommended)

For the topping:

- 10 tbs brown sugar

- 4 tbs gluten free flour (use whatever you have on hand)

- 4 tbs Earth Balance (or butter. You do you!)

- 1 tsp cinammon

- Pinch of salt

1. Preheat your over to 325°F and grease a 9x13" non-stick pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs for 30 seconds on medium-low speed.
3. Add the mix, then the oil, then the water and beat on medium-low speed for 60 seconds. Be sure to scrape the bowl with a spatula at least once during the mixing process. If you wanted to add a bit of vanilla extract this would be when to do so.
4. If you are using blueberries (do it, seriously), now is the time to add them! Use your spatula to fold them into the cake batter.
5. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth with a spatula. We made our coffee cake half with blueberries and half without to see which we liked better, so we added them in at this point and mixed them in right in the pan!
6. In a small bowl, measure out the topping ingredients and combine until crumbly. I like to use a fork for this.
7. Sprinkle topping over cake batter and put in the oven to bake for 30-35 minutes. It will be done when the cake is slightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Cool until it's not so hot that it will burn your mouth and devour! I heartily recommend serving it with some fresh berries.

I hope you enjoy it!

Til next time!

-Becca

Saturday Snapshots

Don't you just love the weekend? It's two whole days to spend however you like! I got mine off to a great start with a day of exploring and relaxing with amazing weather and good company.

Old maps, wrought-iron fence salvaged from the King Street Station restoration, white heating grate with aqua highlights, and so many windows.

My day started off with a relaxing yoga class, followed by a trip to The RE-Store with my friend Hollis. They're a non-profit store in Seattle that sells reclaimed materials from buildings of all eras. That means it's full of gorgeous old windows, beautiful doors, ornate heating grates, and awesome light fixtures. 

Old sewing machine table, awesome hanging lamp, small chandelier.

The Re-Store is one of my favorite places to comb through in Seattle and I find that I always leave feeling inspired. Admittedly that inspiration is usually to do many projects using many doors that would never fit anywhere in my house, but today I left with some more tangible ideas. I'm now planning to go check out the King Street Station restoration after seeing the old wrought iron gates salvaged from the project and I'm going to keep checking back at The Re-Store to try to find the perfect light fixture for my kitchen!

Did I mention that they have a shop cat?

Globes at Ludlow Home, Doves at Terra Bella Flowers.

We headed to Phinney Ridge next to look through the cute shops up there. Hollis and I both initially mistook the doves above for taxidermy until we noticed them moving. So pretty!

Running errands in Ballard, pretty flowers by my house, amazingly manicured tree at the Woodland Park Rose Garden.

Buddy and Hank!

The rest of the afternoon was spent eating ice cream in the Woodland Park Rose Garden, running errands, having a nice walk home, and snuggling up with Buddy and Hank! What a lovely, lovely day.

Hope you all had a wonderful Saturday!

Til next time!

-Becca