Homemade FE Gifts Photo Thread

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

Whew... I have sat religiously at my computer for the last several days trying to get through this awesome thread, and I finally made it!!!! I have been making my list of ideas and copying pictures so I don't forget... I will ask permission before using anything, I promise!
Our cruise isn't until the end of August, next year, and I have already been on some of the magnet threads accumulating cool things to decorate our door! I haven't seen anyone on the Aug. 30th Alaska cruise, so I think I am pretty safe so far...
You guys are amazing, I do a bit of scrapbooking, but nothing compared to all this!
My question is for ColoradoDisneyFreaks, what kind of template did you use for the pillowcases? I know you mentioned that the backpacks were iron on transfers, but these are stitched, right? I just haven't seen one that big before and was wondering...

I know that feeling, I sat over a weekend and went through this whole thread when I was planning possible FE gifts, it is awesome! Yes, the pillow cases are stitched, I do quilting so just made crazy quilt squares for the mickey heads (I did one for the "head" part, and two for the "ears" parts, and then sewed them on). I had downloaded the mickeyhead sillouette from the web, and then traced it onto quilters template plastic, and used that as an outline.

The pillowcases themselves are just one 13" square, with 2 13"x8" rectangles on the back, I hemmed the inside seam for the rectangles, and then overlapped them and sewed all 4 sides together and turned it right side out. I used a zig-zag stitch to sew the mickey head to the pillowcase front before I put them together. I ended up making 32 of them total for the exchange, so really got it down to a science!

 

[BetsyRNBSN]

Wow, and I just thought you stitched it onto the pillowcase, I never imagined you actually made the pillowcase too! I guess after creating the mickey head, making the pillowcase was probably easy... lol
THey were lucky folks on that cruise, I am still not sure what I want to do yet... too many options! . Every time I think I know I see something new on this thread that makes me re-think my choices...

 

[lundve]

Sheesh - finally done - can not believe what everyone has done. Wish I had more time.

 

[Hedy]

Can I get people's thoughts on this: There's a local kind of pottery where I live. I was thinking of doing a picture of the local pottery, a blurb about it and putting it on either a magnet or postcard (to be used as a bookmark). Is it too cheap?

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

Can I get people's thoughts on this: There's a local kind of pottery where I live. I was thinking of doing a picture of the local pottery, a blurb about it and putting it on either a magnet or postcard (to be used as a bookmark). Is it too cheap?

Not at all, local flavor is always cool! One thing that most folks loved was the bottlecap magnets that I made, those were really easy too, I just bought a kit on E-Bay, which included the bottlecap and seal, and then got the pictures from one of the DISigners here on the boards, they were in her library, and punched them out with a 1" hole punch. Magnet strip on the back and easy as pie!

 

[Conservative Hippie]

I saw on here that someone did personalized drawstring backpacks for FE. I would like to make some for my family when we go on our first cruise. Only problem is I am the least artsy-craftsy person ever! So I know nothing about how to do iron-ons or anything like that. Help!

First question, does it matter what material the backpacks are? I was looking at canvas because they would hold up better, but would you suggest cotton, nylon, or something else?

Second, how do you make an iron-on????

 

[MarkRG]

I saw on here that someone did personalized drawstring backpacks for FE. I would like to make some for my family when we go on our first cruise. Only problem is I am the least artsy-craftsy person ever! So I know nothing about how to do iron-ons or anything like that. Help!

First question, does it matter what material the backpacks are? I was looking at canvas because they would hold up better, but would you suggest cotton, nylon, or something else?

Second, how do you make an iron-on????

First q: Material is pretty much your choice as long as it won't fall apart when others put stuff in it. And by stuff, I've been given and gave interesting stuff over the years, including getting a miniature Louisville slugger one year, and a bottle of Buffalo wing sauce from Buffalo, Ny!

Second q: Well, if you have an inkjet printer, you can make an iron-on. They have kits at most stores that sell printer supplies also most craft stores. You just have to put something together with one of those printing programs that do signs/greeting cards and such, that you can print onto the special paper they provide, then iron transfer it following the instructions in the kit.

 

[Buckeye Gal]

I just got off the Magic on Saturday from the WB transatlantic voyage. Several of us participated in a scrapbook embellishment exchange. Here are two of the main items that I gifted.

Photo Frame

This frame was created using the Life's A Beach cartridge for the Cricut. There's a feature for window cards, which has this two funnel ship design...perfect wouldn't you say?!!

The base of the frame is black, then the pieces and parts are glued onto the base to give the ship and frame their design and dimension.

Medallion

A previous post in this thread introduced me to an application called "Make the Cut!" to use with your Cricut, which is what I used to make the following embellishment.

I created the word "Eurolanticbbean" to combine the various areas of the world that we experienced on the transatlantic cruise...Europe, Atlantic Ocean, and the Caribbean. Make the Cut! took my text and put it in a circular form a well as laser cut the waves of the DCL logo and the Mickey head. The cut piece is white, then everything else is layered behind it with the exception of the red Mickey head being on top of the white.

I made an extra one of these into a magnet for the stateroom door as well.

 

[Buckeye Gal]

I promised to post my primary FE gift after my cruise, and sadly yet happily, that time has arrived.

Beach brushes to help get the sand off were my crafty gift this time. Being I was gone 2.5 weeks for the WBTA, I didn't have the luggage room to include a small container of baby powder, but if we were embarking from Port Canaveral, I would have shipped the baby powder in advance as part of the gift. (If you didn't know, baby powder helps the sand to easily come off.)

Supplies and instructions are noted below if you would like to make them as well!

Beach Brush

Supplies and Directions

• Soft Bristled Paint Brush (3” shown): remember SOFT is a key word here because someone may have a sunburn when they use it; I bought these at www.hardwareandtools.com
• Mini Mickey Parts Rubber Stamps: these stamps are included in the Disney Alphabet set from EK Success (although these Mickey parts could be free-handed rather easily)
• Acrylic Paints: black, white, red, and goldenrod yellow
• Small Paint Brushes: use to fill in the shapes from the rubber stamps with the paint
• DCL Logo: print in color on standard paper and cut into small pieces
• Mod Podge: used to affix and seal DCL logo to brush handle
• Grosgrain Ribbon: I sewed the end that was going to be lying on top to get a clean edge. This was placed on the metal band below the handle.
• Dritz Fray-Check: use to eliminate the fray of the cut ribbon; clear nail polish could be used in a pinch
• Avery 18665 8.5”x11” Clear Label: print words for handle and cut to size
• Strong Glue: This is needed to hold ribbon in place, and you have to make sure you don’t use a kind that would come off with water. Velco Glue worked great by dabbing only on the ends of the ribbon and the sides of the brush. I do recommend you test whatever you use first to ensure it won’t leave a wet-looking spot on the ribbon after it dries.
• EK Success Jolee's Disney Mickey Head Dimensional Stickers: found in the scrapbooking section of your craft store
• Krylon Satin Finish Sealer: use 2-3 coats on both sides of handle after it’s decorated
• Rope Trim: Having something to hang the brush by is nice so you can tie it to a beach bag, stroller, or elsewhere. A large loose-leaf book ring would work great, too. Of course in this case, it also worked to attach the romance card I made.
• Romance Card: I wanted to ensure the intended use of the brush was known, so I wrote a poem and printed it off on cardstock paper with a Castaway Cay picture in the background. On the back side, I used a self-inking stamp I purchased that states the cruise and its voyage dates as well as a sentiment with my DISboard name. I then rubber stamped Tink beside it and colored it in with wet chalks. Finally, I laminated the romance card so it could go to the beach or be repurposed on luggage, a bag, or a scrapbook album.

POEM

Here is the poem I wrote for the romance card:

We sail from sea to shining sea,
To see the sun rise at Castaway Cay.
You feel the sand embrace your feet,
Which is a marvelous, warm treat!

As the day comes to a close,
The sand is tickling your little toes.
Just feel the bristles between your fingers,
Then the sand no longer lingers!​

 

[TorontoGirl]

Beach Brush

Best gift idea EVER! I wish I had been on your cruise!

 

[wcw57]

you guys spend A LOT on your FE gifts, I think.......

if there are only 20 people in the FE exchange, it must run you a fortune for the supplies....the time and the talent you have to have are blessings, no?

I am impressed and humbled by all of the talent displayed here but, seriously, how do you afford such nice gifts?

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

you guys spend A LOT on your FE gifts, I think.......

if there are only 20 people in the FE exchange, it must run you a fortune for the supplies....the time and the talent you have to have are blessings, no?

I am impressed and humbled by all of the talent displayed here but, seriously, how do you afford such nice gifts?

For me, the highlighters, post-it's and backpacks were the most expensive parts, the pillow cases I made from my stash (so I already had the fabric) and I already had levt-over ink-jet iron-on paper too so that was easy! I liked making the gifts, they were lots of fun!

I think the most fun were the bottlecap magnets. I bought a kit for $20 off of E-Bay for 100, and went to town! They were new to me, but I'll definitely make something like them again!

All total, I think I spent about $100 on gift stuff...

 

[Conservative Hippie]

All total, I think I spent about $100 on gift stuff...

That's why I am skipping FE this time! This is our first cruise and I would rather splurge on stuff for our family. That, and I am so horribly bad at arts and crafts, sewing, that sort of thing that I could never make anything anywhere near as nice as all of you!

 

[ilovedevin]

I am giving out one gift per stateroom, one per person and one per kid and I did it all for under 100. I made a couple of items with stuff I already had, other stuff I bought in bulk. Spread over 13 month's of planning so less than $10.00 a month.

 

[Hmorale]

How does the FE system work. There are over 50 families on the Holiday Cruise we are taking. Will they be divided into smaller groups? Otherwise it can get too expensive.

 

[PizzieDuster]

I collect magnets. I would love any kind of magnet or anything from a fellow cruiser from their state. Even if it's just a post card, I would love it!

 

[ForTheLoveOfDCL]

If the thread splits the families to make smaller FE groups is totally up to all involved to agree upon. We had 40+ staterooms last Oct and I did same as poster above...1 per stateroom, 1 per kid, and some joint trinkets. I did spend lots cause I made personal jewelry for the kids and made door hangers for the staterooms as well as other things. Even printing all the door hangers(double sided) and lamination gets costly but I wouldn't change a thing cause it was a blast!!

 

[Buckeye Gal]

Best gift idea EVER! I wish I had been on your cruise!

Thanks!

 

[morgansmom2000]

Great stuff, Buckeye Gal! I have SCAL and used it and my Cricut to make a marker for our countdown calendar, top right here.

 

[KrisannB]

Best gift idea EVER! I wish I had been on your cruise!

I was on her cruise! I wish I had been in her FE group


Krisann