Once upon a time, I was a serious crafter. I was up to my elbows in ribbons, papers, stamps, and ink. I was mostly a papercrafter, but I dabbled in lots of other areas too. One of the things I loved best was making gifts for friends and family. Over the past couple of years, TpT and digital design has edged out my actual real-life crafting, so sadly much of craft stash goes unused most of the time. This is the workspace we put together when we moved into this house. The opposite wall is my hubby's side and has a desk and bookshelves, & stuff. Once in a while, I do venture inside to do some crafting as I did this week for some gifts for my teammates.

Even when I'm not full-on crafting there are two trusty tools I still use quite a lot. Those would be my Xryon Machine (see it here) and paper cutter, and I used both to create these little gifts for my team.

I got a great deal on these little candles from Bath & Body Works on Black Friday (or Cyber Monday maybe?) So I ordered 12 of them. Then I wanted some kind of quote to go along with it and found this one by Buddha ( or at least the internet says is was Buddha...) Either way, seemed like a nice reminder. I found a wintery background, added the text and printed them out on card stock. Then I decided I wanted it to be more than a business-cardish type of thing. So, my trusty Xyron came to the rescue and turned them into magnets. {This is not a Xyron commercial, I swear. I just love this thing so freakin much I think everyone should have one. I actually contacted the company a few times about doing a review/giveaway, but they haven't really jumped on board. yet.}

I popped in the cartridge that has a sheet of magnet on one side and laminate on the other. You can also buy cartridges that have laminate on both sides, permanent or removable adhesive with or without laminate on the other side. Amazing, right? I use it ALL the time. Ok, so after I cranked it through the wonder machine, I cut them into magnet sized pieces with my paper slicer and I had my gifts all ready in a matter of minutes.

I packaged them up in cute little bags from Hobby Lobby and done!

This would also make a nice little hostess gift, maybe with a larger candle, or a cute little something to have on hand for people who stop by to visit over the holidays. If you would like the quote all formatted on the background, just click here.

Ok, believe it or not, I have two ornaments hanging on my tree and still need to do some shopping, so I guess I better get my rear in gear! Merry Christmas, my friends!

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I work with an amazing team of teachers. We've been together for a long time and seen each other through celebrations, births, marriages, divorces, happy times, and heartache. We've become more like family than just friends or co-workers. And we're kind of breaking up. It's sad. So sad, that I have a lump in my throat as I type this. There are 11 teachers on our second grade team, one is moving to a new school and three are being switched to other grade levels. None of the three wanted to go and none of the remaining 8 wanted them to leave. We begged, we cried, we presented our case, we begged some more, we spent a good amount of time in denial, and now we've come to accept it. It's not going to change. Our little team is being shaken up and we just have to make the best of it. Sounds dramatic, I know. But it's really been hard on us. My new principal is awesome and we love him (albeit maybe we loved him a little more before the shake-up) and we're trusting that there's a good reason and this somehow fits into his vision for the school as a whole, but it still blows to be completely honest.

I always give my team a little end of the year gift and this year I wanted it to be really special. After being the team leader for 12+ years, it's hard to come up with new ideas, but I think this one is pretty cute! 

I filled Mason jars with all things orange and added the tag "Orange you glad it's summer?" I thought it was better than a jar full of blue stuff and an "I'll be so Blue without You" tag.

What's inside you ask? Well, every random orange thing I could find 10 of that would fit in a Mason jar. Easier said than done, by the way.

Some of the items in the picture didn't make the cut. The straws were too long, so I trimmed them. And then they looked wonky at the end, so they were out. In real life, next to all of the other orange stuff, the Kit Kats looked more red than orange, so I ate them. The Burt's Bees looked more yellow when I got them home, but they were too good not to throw in the jar. 

Now packing the jars was a feat in itself. In the end, I found it easier to put in the tall things, then layer the short things, and then stuff the scrubbie in last. I used a pair of closed scissors to push the scrubbie in and fill all the gaps. I had to really push down on the top and screw on the lid fast to get it all in there.  You've all seen that fake can of nuts that has springy snakes fly out  when you open it? Well, that's pretty much what it was like to open these. I warned my team to be careful opening them because nothing spoils a moment like a pack of Tic Tacs rocketing towards your eyeball.

It did get rather pricey to make these for 10 people, so I have some tips to cut costs. Try to find things that come in packs and break them up - like the small colored clothespins, Kit Kats, Tic Tacs, Crystal Light and Post-its. Nail polish can be really expensive or really cheap. I found that out the hard way. I found 6 of the same nail polishes that were pretty reasonable and then I needed 4 more, so I threw them in the cart. When I got home I realized that those extra 4 bottles were almost $6 each! So, pay attention to that for sure. The candy sticks were about 20 cents at Cracker Barrel and the orange foot file and scrubbie were $1 each at WalMart. Really though, there's no reason you can't fill a smaller mason jar with orange fruit candies, orange gumballs, or even just tie the tag to a real orange wrapped in cellophane, a bottle of orange soda, or just the orange scrubbie. It's the thought that counts, right? 

Click here to get the tag. 

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With Secretary's Day coming up on Wednesday, I was going to share the post I wrote last year about how to decorate Altoid tins for gift giving, like the ones below.

But then it occurred to me, that: 1. It's kind of short notice to make those today and 2. Maybe not everyone has the craft stash that I happen to have hoarded collected over the years. Never fear, my friends! I have come up with a crafty shortcut for you! I created these cut and stick printables that will do the job quite nicely in half the time with a quarter of the work. Sound good? These would also make a nice small token for volunteers.

I happen to have family members that eat Altoids like they were candy (hey, wait...) and they save the tins for me. This explains my obsessive need to make stuff out of them. I'm currently working on plans for an outdoor fire pit...surely I have enough, right?

However, if you don't happen to have Altoid-aholics living among you, these labels are perfect for an actual full tin of mints. Just a little something from you to the ladies in the office who make our lives so much easier. Here's a little glimpse of the finished product.

All you have to do is cut them out and glue them on. I highly recommend running them through a Xyron machine (my loyal readers will remember that I have a serious craft crush on that thing) but if you don't have a Xyron, try a tape runner like this that you can pick up in any craft store or double sided tape. I haven't tried glue stick, but in my experience, it's not the best. You can also try to print them on self adhesive paper like this. I'm not a mod podge chick, but you can certainly give that a whirl if you are so inclined.

Another tip: Print them on regular copy paper, not card stock. The heavier the paper, the harder it will be to get the edges to stick down. I made labels to match the spearmint and wintergreen flavors. The traditional red just wasn't doing it for me.

Click on the picture above to get your copy. Happy Crafting, peeps!

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Big, Big News!! Congrats to Manakans!

 (Mankans please email me at ShopSunnyDays@me.com!)

Thank you so much to everyone who entered and for the truly lovely comments. I big {super, puffy, pink heart} all of you!!  Now before I get my mushy on again, I'll forge ahead with another great craft/gift idea. With the holidays approaching I'm sure we're all looking for thoughtful inexpensive gifts for the many people at school who make life a little easier, a little more fun or just a little bit brighter. I think I've already make everything I know how to make so I've been hitting up Pinterest pretty hard for this year's gift!  I've made tons of these both as gifts and for my own personal use and they are as useful as they are cute.

Back in September I wrote about how I use these plastic envelopes as my weekly work folders:

But there's actually another way I use them that is so much more fun and so pretty! These are amazing gifts for your other teacher friends. These are dressed up with rub-on transfers and paper flowers from the scrapbook section of the craft store. The transfers in these pictures are from Stampin' Up, but I'm pretty sure these exact ones are discontinued. Click {HERE} to see some from EKSuccess on Amazon that would work nicely. You can also find them at most craft stores mixed in with the stickers, just look carefully for rub-on transfers. Sometimes they're over by the wood crafts for some reason. Just lay the rub-on where you want it to go, rub it with your fingernail or a popsicle stick (don't bother with the fancy tool they sell, your fingernail will be fine). Then attach the flowers with colored or rhinestone brads. I usually use an exacto blade to make a tiny slice to stick the brad through so I don't mutilate the folder in the process. You would think that the rub-ons would rub off, but really they hold up well! You can also use the colored plastic folders, especially if you can find some light rub-ons - look how pretty these are:

This next one is actually a 12x12 scrapbook paper holder:

And this one is a small one they called a "bank wallet".  I used some extra rub-ons from the same set to decorate a few notecards and a matching notepad. I also added a little keychain with a charm to fancy it up a bit.  I real life all the purples are the same. I need some photography lessons...
This would make a great room -mom gift, right?

I've been having a crazy few days (looong days, a broken tooth, field day, field trip) but the highlight of each of the last few days has been checking in here and sharing new ideas with you. Thanks again for hanging out with me!

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     If you've been following me for a few posts, you already know some things about me. I'm a part-time neat freak, I love to write and in the words of  Doug Heffernan, I likes me cookies. <--I actually need to do something about that last one. I'm also a serious crafter. Take a peek at my craft room here.
     I have collected more crafting supplies and materials than I know what to do with. It's a little embarrassing, really. So, when there's an opportunity to use up some of my stash for a good cause, I'm all about it. In this case the cause is honoring our school secretaries and the stash is a slew of empty Altoids tins. My in-laws and my niece go through Altoids like no people I've ever seen and they save the tins for me. I bet if you put a box in the office to collect them, you'd have a bounty in no time as well.
     Here's another little tid-bit you can add to the list of things you know about me: I have a bad habit of raising my hand when someone asks "Would anyone be willing to...fill-in-the-blank?" That explains why out of a staff of 75, I'm the one organizing the gifts for Secretary's Week. It's all good though, I love those ladies (and one guy) and they deserve something nice. Here's what I came up with:

They're pretty AND they smell nice!

  

I collected $5 from each staff member and then divided the booty equally among the 9 clerical staff. I'm not quite sure what to do with the other stuff that also ended up in the collection basket. I must remember to ask who is missing a gold Lincoln $1 coin, a taped together bill that's about a quarter of an inch shorter than most and a Santa Dollar. Too bad it wasn't a Bunny Buck, that would have been good timing, dang it!

If you Google "altered Altoid tins" you will find some amazing stuff. There are crafters who turn those little minty metal boxes into serious works of art. I haven't taken to baking on clay toppers or hand painting them, but I think they look pretty nifty when I'm done with them. 

So, whaddya say? Feeling crafty? If you want to give it a try, here's the way I do it:

First, cut coordinating scrapbook paper to 2 1/8 inch by 3 1/2 inches. I round the edges with a corner rounder punch available for a few dollars at any craft store. Then, I run them through my Xryon machine which basically turns the paper into a sticker. If you do not have one of these magnificent machines, you are going to want to put one on your wish list. They are freakin awesome! I use it for so many things. You can alternate the cartridge inside from permanent to temporary adhesive, laminating film, magnet or laminated magnets. I could do an entire post on my Xy. I will eventually. Lots of bang for your buck with this baby.

Once you have one, you'll wonder  how you lived without it! In the interest of full disclosure, I do not work for the company (but if you are reading this and happen to be the CEO of Xryon, I'm available!)
If you don't have one, you can use spray adhesive or double stick tape. You can use mod-podge too, as recommended by many online, but I have no patience for that. 

Sometimes I use a fine sandpaper block to rough up the edges of the colored part of the tin. It lightens up the color of the band and makes it easier to match a scrapbook paper. You can even completely remove the color all together by sanding it away, which you can see in the masculine one that looks like metal above. Below you can see the difference between the sanded and non-sanded versions. Sanding brings out the shabby chic look:

Stick the scrapbook paper on top and really press down around the edges. Thinner paper sticks better because there is a bit of a ridge on the top of the tin and thicker paper, like card stock, sometimes won't bend enough. It's a little trial and error, but to me that's part of the fun. I also add a little piece of paper to the inside cover just to hide the indented Altoid's title:

You can add little embellishments to the top to brighten them up.  For many of these, I used some rhinestone stickers I picked up from the clearance bin. Bling on the cheap! One package can be cut apart to cover 2-3 tins. I've also made them with initials and ribbon. This is the Creme de Menthe Altoids tin. It's my favorite color to work with, but unfortunately my family's least favorite flavor:

Fun Fact: Reusing something like this in a whole new way is called up-cycling.

     If you're the least bit craft-inclined, you can do this. If you have any questions, I'm happy to help. If you are a crafty teacher like me and would like to see more tutorials like this in the future, leave me a comment and let me know. I've got lots more ideas I'd be happy to share if you'll get some use from them. Stay crafty, my friends! 

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