Travelcraft Journal

December 23, 2013December 23, 2013

Last-minute Christmas guide

If you’re still checking items off your Christmas to do list (no judgment!), here’s a list of quick links from here and around the internetz to help you get it all done – whether you DIY or not!

For those of you who are completely and totally done with your Christmas stuff, consider this a head start on next year. For those of you who don’t celebrate Christmas, you have plenty of time to pour yourself a hot beverage and read through my entertaining past blog posts on travel and/or crafting.

Wrapping and cards

Make gift bags from brown paper sacks
Creative gift wrapping with materials you have around the house
Gift tags upcycled from holiday greeting cards
Washi tape cards

Last-minute gifts: super-quick DIY gift ideas

Make a set of blank gift tags and tie together with ribbon
Jam jar snow globes
Personalized Sharpie mugs
8 Ornaments in 8 Minutes

Last-minute gifts: where to shop

Arizona gift guide
Find an independant bookstore near you.
When all else fails, send an electronic giftcard. (Amazon will let you schedule the delivery date.)

Decorating

8 Ornaments in 8 Minutes
Use tree trimmings to spruce up your place
Wreaths you can make

Entertaining

Holiday finger food ideas
How much food and drinks to serve at a party
Specifically, how much wine to serve
And for dessert, Nutella cheesecake dip (!)

Cleaning up

How to clean your kitchen in 15 minutes
Speed clean your bathroom

Travel and packing

Have fun and happy holidays!

December 17, 2013

DIY upcycled gift tags

I tend to forget about gift tags. At any given time, I probably have a decent stash of wrapping paper, gift bags, tissue, and ribbon. But somehow, I never think to buy gift tags. And then I’m wrapping Christmas presents and think “hmm…everyone would probably like to know whose gift is whose.”

The good news is there’s a really simple fix for this. You can easily upcycle holiday cards or envelopes with festive stamps into gift tags!

Here’s what you need…

Holiday cards (or other festive paper)
Paper cutter or scissors
Pen and/or letter stamps or stickers to say who it’s to and from
A way to attach your tags to your gifts (any of these will work):

Tape
Stick-on bow
Hole puncher plus ribbon or twine

Optional:
Deckle-edge or scalloped scissors
Corner rounder

1. Cut the front off the card.

2. Cut the front into thirds for nice, big tags. This is great if you write big (like me), need to fit lots of names on a tag, or need the space for stamping. You can always cut it into smaller pieces if that works for you.

3. Optional: Do any corner-rounding or edge cutting before you go any further. In case something gets wonky or uneven, you can still cut off the edge of the tag with the mistake and try again without messing anything else up.

4. If you’re going to attach your tag with ribbon, punch a hole near one of the sides or corner.

5. Write who the gift is to and from on the back of the card. If you have time to stamp to and from, that looks great and still very personal. If the back of your upcycled card isn’t blank, you can use letter stickers to label it.

6. Tie or stick it on to your gift. Slip it into the gift’s ribbon or under a stick-on bow, or use a little ribbon or twine to tie it to the handle of a gift bag.

And that’s it! I’ve also made gift tags from parts of envelopes with festive holiday stamps, event programs, and fliers.

This is a craft you can pull together at the last minute. Or, take a stack of last year’s holiday cards and make a bunch assembly-line style while you watch your favorite Christmas movie or chat with a friend.

December 14, 2013

Glendale Glitters

Last weekend Phillip and I decided to check out the lights at Glendale Glitters, the annual holiday celebration in the antiquey downtown of Glendale, Arizona (just west of Phoenix). On Friday and Saturday nights, there are also local dance troupes and singers performing at a main stage, food vendors, booths for local charities and retailers, and lots of activities for kids. Several of the retailers and restaurants stay open late (including a couple of the shops I’d discovered researching how to shop Arizona).

The closest parking costs $10. There are also some nearby side streets without houses or no parking signs, if you’re up for a little extra walking.

It’s an outside event. So, obviously, if you’re from Phoenix, bundle up. If you’ve travelled here from elsewhere, yes, you can laugh at the Phoenicians bundled up – as long as you come back to hike when it’s 93 degrees in May.

We didn’t know about the food vendors, so we had stopped for pho on the way over. Probably a healthier choice than we would’ve made if we had arrived hungry. (Hellooo, garlic cheese fries!)

And, in case you were wondering, yes, there’s beer. (Or, if you believe the signs, there’s beer beer beer. Beer.)

We also saw these two guys with rope leashes around massive animals, which the crowd gathering around them decided were wolves. They did not appear to be an official exhibit and aren’t mentioned on the event website. I guess if you had a pet wolf, what would you do? Take him to hang out at Glendale Glitters! (Wolves dig pretty lights. And small children.)

Glendale Glitters happens tonight (December 14) and next Friday and Saturday nights (December 20-21). I can’t guarantee there will be wolves when you go (I’m not even sure there were wolves when I went), but it’s a pretty safe bet that there will be lots of pretty lights, fried food, and small children. Oh and beer beer beer.

December 5, 2013October 27, 2014

Stop DIY Guilt!

Here we are: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Or is it the Most Complicated Time of the Year? Most hectic? Most filled-with-impossibly-high-expectations? All of the above?

This year, our family decided to focus on simplicity. There’s a lot we’re not doing this year. And part of me wants to feel guilty about that.

As we’ve worked to scale back, I’ve realized that simple is relative.

What you just whip up might be a challenge for me (and vice versa). What was no problem last year might be hard to work in this year.

As much as I believe in homemade goodness and love sharing ways to be creative and add a personal touch (there’s a reason I started a craft blog – even if it’s a travel blog too), it’s okay to not make something from scratch. It makes me sad how much we beat ourselves up when we don’t go the 100% DIY route. And judge others when they do.

Here’s the thing: make the cake yourself or use the cake mix or buy the cake or skip the cake. This is not a moral issue. Go with what works for you. Make what makes you smile. Try not to stress and not to judge.

Still feeling guilty? I’ll write you a permission slip. Just write your name in the blank.

You’re welcome. Have a simply wonderful holiday season!

November 29, 2013November 29, 2013

How to shop Arizona

Looking to get some holiday shopping done and support independent businesses? There are some fabulous local vendors and products here in Arizona. Here’s how to hunt them down.

Mega List (Start Here): A great place to begin is Local First Arizona’s Business Directory. Local businesses are listed by category and geographical area. There is also a subcategory of retailers with online stores for shoppers who are out of state or just want to shop from their living rooms. During Buy Local Month (November 29-December 24), they’re posting daily deals.

Top 12: If Local First’s directory seems a bit overwhelming, check out the Arizona Holiday Gift Guide by The Wilderness Girls. Their 12 local picks include succulent gardens, jewelry, food and wine.

Phoenix newbies: For someone who has recently relocated to the Valley of the Sun, check out my Gifts for Phoenix Newcomers board, inspired by a Pinterest challenge. Several of the items are locally made, and they are all sold by Arizona-based businesses/organizations. They’re all also available online.

Foodie Heaven: The Queen Creek Olive Mill has both an online store and a really nice marketplace on their grounds. (They’ve also opened a new location at the Biltmore.) In addition to olive oil, they sell other gourmet food items, pet treats, and bath products. We’ve purchased client gifts, as well as hospitality gifts there – and tried lots of delicious samples in the process – and everything has been tasty and really good quality.

Artisan Products: Practical Art exclusively sells drool-worthy items handcrafted in Arizona, such as houseware and accessories, online and in their Central Phoenix location.

Artist Marless Fellows painting in Cave Creek, AZ. — Artist Marless Fellows painting “Saddle Up” during the Hidden in the Hills Studio Tour. Photo taken with permission.

Open Artist Studios: You can tour artist studios and purchase art (and prints) this weekend (November 29-December 1) at the Hidden in the Hills Studio Tour in the Cave Creek/North Scottsdale area. You can browse participating artists via the HITH directory or search by medium on their site.

Local-to-you Clothing and Decor: Scott’s Marketplace is an online portal for local businesses across the country, including several Arizona retailers selling apparel, accessories, home decor, and other gift items.

How do you find fabulous local products where you are?

Local First Arizona logo, Queen Creek Extra Virgin Olive Oil photo, and Queen Creek Olive Mill logo images via their respective websites. Landscape photo of Queen Creek Olive Mill from our visit there. This is not a sponsored post. I just wanted to write something in support of local businesses, so I did.