Felt Christmas Present Envelopes! $1 Gift!

Recently I was thinking of ways to give people presents. 

Envelopes are a great way to give someone a special gift, and what better envelope than one you hand-made that will last forever?

For this project I used:

• One half sheet of red felt - Michael's - 33¢
• One strip of green felt - Michael's - 33¢
• Fabric glue or Tacky glue
• Scissors
• *Optional*: Craft Iron or Regular Iron

 The first thing I did was decide how big of a box/envelope I wanted.  I practiced folding over my felt until I decided on a size and cut it out.

 Then I cut out a straight green strip of felt.  This needs to be as straight as possible, but can be any thickness you see fit.  Take your fabric/tacky glue and run it down the entire strip.  I wanted mine in the middle so I set the strip down in as close to the middle as I could get.  

 I flattened it out with my hands for some time, just because I wasn't sure this glue would work and I wanted it to have good contact.

 Then I folded the bottom up to see how long I wanted the top and sides to be.

 I ran glue along one half of what was going to fold up.  This way I knew how far to fold it as well.

 I pressed it down to make sure the glue was contacting well.

 I decided to use my miniature craft iron my Grandma got me to make the lines crisp.  I folded the top over too and ironed all of the creases.

 I don't know how to describe this shape but it makes an excellent bow.

 Fold in one side to the middle.

 Fold in the other side.

 Better view.

 Place a dab of glue on all of the pieces. But don't use as much as I did or it will show through. Oops!

 Then take a strip of felt and glue it in the back of the bow where you cannot see it.

 I tried the bow a couple places before I decided on a location.

 I liked it right above the opening, and glued it down there. 

 This is what it looks like open.

I cut a piece of paper to fit in it, as that was what described the Christmas present to the recipient! 

Please let me know if you try this craft and if you made any changes to it! :] I'd love to see yours!  

♥ Riley

P.S. What did you put in yours/what would you want to receive in one of these cute and festive envelopes? :)

More to Come Soon!

Hello my beautiful readers!!!

I am so sorry for my absence online.  I have been crafting like crazy and documenting it but have not actually posted any tutorials lately.  It's finals season and flu  season and they both seem to have struck me very hard.  

I have quite a few tutorials coming up though! Phone cases, decoden, a way of making cards with felt, and Christmas decorations/accessories!!!

These will all be up so my dears.  Hold tight!

♥Riley 

P.S. In the meantime, here are some pictures of Jasper and I!

He's the most adorable dog in the world, I swear!!♥

Influenster's Varsity Vox Box: NYC New York Color's Big Bold Gloss

Me wearing the NYC New York Color Lip Gloss over an orange lipstick

I was lucky enough to be chosen to receive one of Influenster's latest VoxBoxes: The Varsity VoxBox.  I love this box.  It has products that are aimed towards college students, which is perfect for me!  It contains NYC New York Color's Big Bold Plumping and Shine Lip Gloss, Kiss's Nail Dress Nail Adhesives, Clearasil Daily Clear Refreshing Superfruit Wash, Airheads Xtreme Bites, and Tide PODS.  

 As you can see, all of the products are very reasonably priced, which is great for college students!!

One of my favorite products in this box was the NYC lip gloss.  It is very sheer in color, but still adds a little pigment, which is great for people like me who are very pale.  It adds some color to me so that I look healthy, instead of dead.  It goes on with a slight tingle, but it isn't uncomfortable like some plumping lipglosses.  

  It really is a gorgeous color.  It isn't too big or too small of a tube.  You definitely have a lot of product in there, but you can put it in your pocket.  I have worn it on its own, as well as over lipsticks and I love it for both! For being a pretty thick [but comfortable] lipgloss, it really isn't sticky like you might imagine it to be.  

 Here is a picture of the applicator, which I think is quite nice.  It's soft but effective.

 Another angle of the applicator.  It really is huge compared to other lip glosses.  This makes it very quick to apply, another appealing factor to college students!

& here is the tube once more.  

If I would have to rate it I would definitely give it 5/5, or in Influenster terms, an A.  It's easy to apply and really spruces up any looks.  I am definitely going to buy this lipgloss in other shades.  

I recently wore it to a family party and found the color to be very complimentary with my skin color and very comfortable as well.  In this picture I am wearing it over an orangey lipstick.  

Ignore my kind of odd expression here.  The lipgloss is quite long lasting!  It held through my lunch and apple juice!

 Here my lipgloss is still on after eating cheese and crackers with my cousin.

 Seen here is my apple juice, and rather odd tights. 

Thank you to my boyfriend Dave for taking my phone and snapping at least 150 pictures of our family get together! Without that I would not have any of these pictures.  

& Thank you to you, too, reader! 

♥Riley

P.S. Have you tried this lipgloss? Which shades do you have it in? What is your favorite way to wear it? :] ♥

Halloween Crafts for Dogs: ty Beanie Baby Tags!

Halloween is quickly approaching, and for many that means finding, picking out, and/or making Halloween costumes.  Here's a quick craft that costs less than $1 and an hour of your time.  I chose to make one for my dog!!

Here is my chihuahua-yorkie mix Jasper in his beanie baby costume! I know if he had been a beanie baby he would've been my favorite!

Here's what you'll need:

• scrap of red felt
• scrap of white felt
• white thread
• needle
• scissors

Optional:

• leather punch
• white puff paint

First thing's first, make a pattern! I folded a piece of paper in half and cut out a perfectly symmetrical heart.  Then I opened up the heart and folded a separate piece of paper in half.  Then I put the open heart over the folded paper, leaving a little of the heart over the side of the fold.  

 Here's what the paper pattern ends up looking like.  You'll need to trace and cut out one in red and one in white, the same size.

 Tracing and cutting out the white, and a better picture of the heart stencil.

Then pin the two together and blanket stitch them together, the whole way around!  I realized I didn't have a picture of me sewing the "ty" on.  To do this, I traced the letters t and y into a piece of white felt, and cut them out. Then I stitched them on to the red part.  I highly recommend you do this before sewing the red and white together.  Hindsight.

Then you'll need to poke a hole to be able to attach it to things.  I used my leather punch [which was actually kinda difficult] because I have one and never really get to use it.  I bought it from Michael's when I was making my purse, so that I could attach the chain.  It was somewhere between $10-15 before my 40% off coupon.  Pretty good deal! I really recommend getting one that has metal tips though.  The plastic ended ones won't cut through ANYTHING.

Just look at his creepy little smile!

Then just attach the tag to yourself or your dog or cat or anything else you can imagine! I used a hair tie to attach it to my dog's collar.  He hated it. But he gets really worried when we do anything to his collar.  I think other dogs, especially those who like dressing up, won't mind it.  

Here are some more pictures of my hunny bunny in his tag.

 He's so adorable,  how could I not take a million pictures? :)

Another way I mentioned is to puff paint on the letters, instead of cutting them out and sewing them on.  I prefer this method, but don't have pictures. The "ty" turns out much brighter if puff painted and is somewhat shiny.  It takes a lot less time than sewing, but it's totally up to you! 

You can also write their name and info inside! Jasper's will say "Jasper Q!" and his birthday :)


Thank you so much for reading my blog post! See you all soon!
♥ Riley

P.S., if you like this blog post and would like to see more, please subscribe :) If you try this or any of my other tutorials, please send me your work, I'd love to see it!