{inspire} Ring in the New Year

December 26, 2011

Handmade Cocktail Rings on Etsy

Hello lovelies! I hope you had a positively fabulous holiday weekend and enjoyed time with loved ones! I certainly did. Plus, in two days, I’ll be celebrating my five-year anniversary with my husband, followed by the new year ~ lots of excitement!

Anyhow, following last year’s tradition, I wanted to share some of my favorite cocktail rings from Etsy sellers to “ring in” 2012! I have a bit of a thing for really striking, unique rings, so I hope you’ll enjoy.

Spotted & Loved

Sterling Silver Custom Cosmic Ring with Lemon Quartz | $245 | {shop now at Chic Metal Jewelry}
Gold Aura Quartz Cluster Ring | $65 | {shop now at Nina Mantra}
Clock Ring Ceramic | $34 | {shop now at StudioLeanne}
Pyrite Rock Ring Sterling Silver – Retro Cocktail Ring | $95 | {shop now at Swank Metalsmithing}

Sponsor Shoutout: ButtonTHIS

December 21, 2011

Sponsor Shoutout: ButtonTHIS

Buttons are everywhere you look, but do you ever really take the time to notice them? By far, buttons are the most versatile embellishments in the crafting world; they can be used for more traditional sewing and fabric crafts, or they can add color and whimsy to paper crafts and scrapbook pages. Kai Cole is the owner and designer behind ButtonTHIS, and these are not your grandma’s buttons!

ButtonTHIS buttons are handmade using resin, creative molds and funky graphic designs. Kai is always adding new buttons to the shop, so be sure to check back frequently for the latest whimsical selection.

If you’re looking for a bargain, you’ll definitely find one at ButtonTHIS, whether it’s a $1 sale, a discounted button grab bag, or the free shipping on every button in the shop.

Thank you for supporting IndieSpotting, ButtonTHIS! {shop now}

{make} DIY Snow Globe

December 19, 2011

Make Your Own Snow Globe

I know DIY mason jar snow globes are all the rage this holiday season, and I love them, but I wanted to do a snow globe project that was a little more traditional and less breakable in case you have kids. I found plastic snow globe kits at Michael’s, and they’re pretty sturdy, so you don’t have to worry about letting little ones play with it. I hope you enjoy!

What you’ll need ~

  • Plastic snow globe kit
  • Glitter and/or pearl beads
  • Hot glue gun
  • Plastic toy
  • Distilled water
  • Glycerin
  • Ribbon
  • Felt
  • Pom poms

Make Your Own Snow Globe

How to make it ~

Start by heating up your glue gun and glueing your plastic toy (in my case, a polar bear) to the inner seal of the snow globe kit. Allow to dry thoroughly.

Fill up the globe almost all the way (leave a little room for displacement once you add the toy) with the water and add a few drops of glycerin. The glycerin isn’t necessary, but it does slow down the fall of glitter.

Next, add in some glitter. I had some faux pearl beads laying around, so I tossed in a few to look like snowballs.

Carefully place the seal on the bottom of the globe, being careful not to dislodge your toy. Press down firmly to make sure it’s in place. Screw on the bottom cap and give the snow globe a shake to make sure you’re not leaking!

Now, you can glue ribbon around the bottom of the globe with your glue gun. You can stop here, or if you want to make the little Santa hat, keep reading!

For the hat, cut out a triangle from the felt. Fold the triangle in half lengthwise and trim the bottom edges into a slight curve. At this point, you should be able to form this into a little cone. You can either quickly stitch the two edges together, or you can glue it. I stitched them with a blanket stitch and then flipped the hat inside out to hide the seam.

Now, just glue your pom poms on. Add one to the top, then glue the hat to the top of the snow globe. Surround the bottom of the hat with additional pom poms, and you’re all set to let it snow!

Homemade Christmas Gifts: Make Your Own Bath Salts

Treat the special ladies in your life to an at-home spa treatment with this simple recipe for natural bath salts. You only need a few ingredients to make up batches of scented bath salts, which you can then package and give as gifts for the holidays!

These directions make enough bath salts to fill up a 6.25 ounce glass bottle.

What you’ll need ~

  • 1/2 cup coarse sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons Epsom salts
  • 2 tablespoons baking soda
  • 1 to 2 drops premium fragrance oil
  • Red and/or yellow food coloring, if desired
  • 4″ Cork Top Round Glass Bottle 6.25 oz

Naturally, you can choose any fragrance you’d like for the bath salts (I just chose cinnamon and pumpkin for the holiday season) ~ just be sure the oils you choose are safe for bath products. I purchased mine from Save-On-Crafts.com, and they had a great selection of other scents.

Homemade Christmas Gifts: Make Your Own Bath Salts

How to make them ~

Combine all your dry ingredients in a plastic container with a lid on it (I recommend an old plastic food storage container you won’t miss). Add the essential oil and food coloring (if you want the salts to have color), place the lid securely on top and shake, shake, shake!

If the essential oil and food coloring cause little lumps to form, just use a fork to break them up. Shake and stir the salts until you feel the color and fragrance is distributed thoroughly. Remove the lid from the container and let the salts air dry for an hour or so before transferring them to the glass bottle.

Use a funnel to transfer the salts to the glass bottle, pop in the cork, and you’re done!

If you’re going to make both fragrances, I would recommend using a different plastic container for each because the fragrance oils are quite strong and can leach into the plastic. Also, don’t use these containers for food afterwards ~ set them aside for other non-edible craft projects or recycle!

Your last step is to add some cute gift tags, and we have some freebies below!

Homemade Christmas Gifts: Make Your Own Bath Salts

Spread holiday cheer ~

Feel free to download our holiday gift tags to dress up your bath salts before giving them to the lucky recipient.

The tags are 2″ by 2-1/2″ and can be printed on quality cardstock, hole punched and tied to the bottles with twine or ribbon.

Homemade Christmas Gifts: Free Printable Round Holiday Gift Tags

Enjoy by pouring a few tablespoons of the salts into a warm bath for a soothing, cleansing experience ~ and don’t forget to mix up a batch for yourself!