Handmade Christmas Gifts

Using plain black frames with openings for three photos, I made the CHESTER and EMMA FRAMES. I scrapbooked “pages” incorporating the dogs’ names. On Emma’s frame, I used a punch to make the paw prints and bones, then taped black cardstock to the back. On Chester’s frame, I cut out a photo of him and glued it to the page. I added a background border to Emma’s photo and put it in the large opening of her frame, and used two close-up photos of Chester for the smaller openings of his frame. On the outside of the frames, I added embellishments using a hot glue gun. The project took about 10 minutes per frame. If you don’t have photos, just leave the photo slots empty and let the recipients add their favorite photos. 

Trivets and Tiles

You can turn plain, old or not-so-pretty trivets and tiles into beautiful works of art. Look for these items at garage sales or flea markets, where you can usually pick them up for next to nothing. They make great, inexpensive gifts. 

I made the MILITARY TRIVET with a friend (whose son is in the Army) in mind. I couldn’t find stickers and embellishments I really liked, so I decided to make my own by digitally scrapbooking a design. Once the design was complete, I printed it, cut it to the right size, and adhered it to the trivet with decoupage medium. After it was dry, I added a coat of decoupage medium to the entire front surface, and let it dry overnight. Not counting drying times, this project took about 15 minutes.  

For the LAB TILE, I used a small tile left from a remodeling project. I cut a piece of green cardstock a tiny bit smaller than the tile, and used decoupage medium to adhere the cardstock to the tile, leaving a small border of tile showing. Then I applied a coat of decoupage medium to the top surface to seal it, and let it dry completely. I cut the photo a bit smaller than the cardstock and adhered it so there was a small border of green behind the photo. To seal it entirely and to give the project a shiny appearance, I applied a thin layer of decoupage medium and let it dry. When everything was completely dry, I attached a clothespin to the back of the tile with a hot glue gun so the tile will stand and can be displayed on a table, shelf, bookcase or hutch. Because of the drying times, this project took a little longer, about 1 hour, but you can work on other projects while this one is drying.