Create : DIY Outdoor Tic Tac Toe

This has to be my most creative handmade Christmas gift this year. Early in the year I saw a picture in a magazine with an outdoor tic tac toe set and immediately thought - "I could make that!"

I love the idea of it being "portable" and a game you could put out in your living room or your backyard - hey maybe you even take it to a tailgate. 

Christmas morning my dad opened a box that looked like this:

Not quite what anyone would expect. Under the rope and pvc joints I had the X's and O's stacked.

After laying it out - everyone really got on board.

I think this was my most expensive handmade Christmas gift simply because of the X's and O's. If I could have cut them myself it would have been the cheapest but alas Michaels puts a pretty penny on their wood letters. 

To make the base I used:

- 4 elbow joints

- 8 "T" joints

- 4 cross joints

- (1)16ft rope

- (2) 4ft rope

- (6) 1ft 4in rope

All joints were 1/2 inch and the rope was 3/8 in thick

The 16 ft rope will be your border - make sure you lace all outside joints on in the order they will lay. Measure the rope in 4ft increments and secure your elbow joints with gorilla glue. Clamp with a clothespin until dry. Once dry measure 1ft 4in from your elbow to the middle of your T joint and secure with gorilla glue and clothespin. Continue doing this until all T joints are glued and dried. Next you will add your two 4ft pieces to the T joint stringing on your cross joints first. Glue and let dry. Measure 1ft 4in for your cross joints and glue/let dry. Add your smallest rope pieces to your cross/remaining t joint. 

wallah! 

I used craft paint and painters tape to get the stripes on the letters. This was probably the most time consuming part as the paint needed at least two coats to darken up. Once dried I removed the painters tape and sprayed them down good with a polyurethane clear finish in glossy.

I think I might be making one of these for my backyard also :)

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Create : Oversized Pom Pom Blanket

My mom has a specific chair she sits in every night while she knits. She is usually covered up with a blanket, turns on her reading light, and has an animal or two cuddled up as she commences her scarf/hat/blanket/shawl making. 

For handmade Christmas this year I decided to replace my moms blanket with this new one from Target. Don't get ahead of yourselves - by no chance did I make the blanket, just the pompoms.

I got the idea from Mandi, over at Vintage Revivals

Pom Poms take some time to make but just turn on a good show and get to making!

For these over-sized pom poms I did not use the heavier weight yarn like Mandi, instead I used a normal weight and just wrapped it a million times.

To keep the pom poms from unraveling or shedding I would wrap the yarn 25 times and cinch it / wrap another 50 times and cinch / wrap another 50 and cinch / wrap another 25 cinch. 

Sounds like a lot more than it really it - one pom pom took me about 10 minutes start to finish. 

Enjoy!

                 

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Create : Table Top S'mores

Now that all Christmas gifts have been opened I can finally tell you all about the gifts I made this year.

First up - a table top s'mores maker for my brother.

I saw a picture online of one of these but came with no directions or how to. Like any true DIY-er I used the picture as inspiration and made my own variation.

For this I used :

CorningWare Ramekin from Target

Remnant wood

4 - 1/4" machine screws with accompanying nuts (these were 6" long)

Sterno "cooking fuel" - aka the thing you put under a chafing dish

To make the hole in my remnant piece of wood I used a jig saw. Since a jig saw cuts solely based on the user I needed to draw my circle that the corningware would fit into. This was a bit tricky seeing as the ramekin slowly got wider from bottom to rim. My dad had the brilliant idea of finding a cup the ramekin sat in and use that for a "template"

After my circle was drawn it was time to bring out the power tools. 

I started by drilling a hole so that the jig saw blade had an entry point and then slooooowly cut my hole.

With a jig saw the hole/cut will never be perfect - but thankfully I had a ramekin to cover up my imperfections.

To place the screws I had to make sure an measure equal distance on all for corners. I simply measured in 1/2 in and then over 1/2 in using my tape measure as my guide.

Once I had my markings all made I drilled four holes and added the screws/washers/nuts.

In total I think this project (I made two) took about 30 minutes. So simple and easy!

These would be great at a dinner party for s'mores desert or a fondue night!

If we are being honest, once the weather warms up I plan on making myself a set too 

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Handmade Christmas : For the Party People

According to Pinterest, this post has gotten a lot of love. What is funny and sad all rolled into one is how last minute and terrible that post was. Since I decided to make some more painted glasses this Christmas, I thought why not give you guys a better tutorial of how to make hand painted glassware.

 This go around I wanted to use martini glasses and instead of pencil erasers decided to go with q-tips.

Lets look at this easy DIY in a step by step fashion:

1. wash and dry your glasses

2. set out your paint (I used a paper bag) and Q-Tips. For ease of use I used a Q-tip for each color

3. Start at the base of your glass and make your dots with the first color. I like the look of the dots becoming less clustered as they reach the rim. To do this make all your dots around the glass at the base and then spread them out as you work your way down the glass. 

4. After adding your first color around the entire glass start at the base again with your second color. 

5. Acrylic paint dries rather quickly so you should not have issues with paint colors bleeding

6. Once finished with your second (or third or forth) color set your glass out to dry

7. After the paint is completed dry bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 min to set the paint. (if you bake before the paint is dry it will bubble)

There you have it - toss in a tumbler set and you have yourself a fabulous handmade Christmas gift! You could even add a fun Peppermint Vodka or Chocolate wine. 

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