Blog - Gluesticks Blog

Painting Laminate Furniture

January 18, 2013 By Brandy 18 Comments

Today I'd like to share how I re-purposedÂ two pieces of furniture for my office space. Two cheapy laminate stands that were going to be kicked to the curb. Literally. I figured I had nothing to lose, and so I decided to do something with them.

This was my first time painting furniture or finishing furniture of any kind. I was a bit hesitant since I wasn't sure if the paint would stick on top of laminate, but I found a wonderful step by step tutorial to help me along the way andÂ in the end I was able to save money by giving these stands a new life.

Here is what my sewing machine storage stand looked like before. It was a wooden file cabinet, but the bottom drawer was broken. The hardware for the file folders was un-repairable so I took it out and got rid of the drawer front.

The beauty of the type of primer that I used is that I didn't have to SAND before priming! I applied two coats of primer and followed it up with 2 coats of paint and a coat of clear spray paint.

I added a wire basket to hold some fabric and my new storage stand was done! I keep my sewing machine on top and use the drawers for my pressure foot, user manuals, and other supplies.

We recently bought a new entertainment stand for our great room and didn't need this anymore. It worked out great since I needed a printer stand for the office. So I gave it the same treatment as the sewing machine stand and voila!

If you are like us you probably have some laminate furniture that could use some sprucing up. And it really is easier than you might think. I swear we have a piece in every room of the house and now I know what I am going to do with it when it starts looking a bit drab.

Our Favorite Chinese Food Recipes To Make At Home

December 27, 2012 By Brandy 4 Comments

Enjoy your favorite Chinese food dishes at home with a collection of our FAVORITE Chinese food recipes! Egg Rolls, Chow Mein, Stir Fry and more!

When I was a teenager I was invited to an awesome New Year's Eve party at a friend's house. They served homemade Chinese food and it was amazing! I love Chinese food in general so figuring out how to make it at home is a fun challenge for me. Here are some of the Chinese food recipes we've tried and enjoyed in our home. Perfect dinner party food.

Our Favorite Chinese Food Recipes To Make At Home

Homemade Egg Rolls

Crispy wrappers filled with ground turkey or pork with fresh shredded veggies, and an amazing sauce. Deep fried to perfection. Don't be intimidated. They aren't hard toÂ make!

Steak & Vegetable Stir Fry

The key to a good stir fry isn't necessarily a wok. You just need heat. And lots of it. Don't be afraid to crank the burner to HIGH. Searing the steak makes it moist on the inside and cook fast. Same with the veggies. And always serve it with yum yum sauce! (see recipe below).

Homemade Yum Yum Sauce

This sauce is simply amazing. Dip shrimp in it, drizzle it across your stir fry or steamed rice. It's always a good idea to double the batch so that you have it on hand for leftovers. Two tips: ALWAYS use real mayonnaise (not light) and let it sit for at least 6 hours to let the flavors meld. You won't be sorry!

Homemade Fortune Cookies

Homemade fortune cookies are absolutely delicious! Fill them with your own fortunes for a wonderful new year. Dip them in chocolate for even more fun.

Homemade Chow Mein

This chow main comes together quickly, making it the perfect week night meal. It's delicious too!

If you liked these Chinese food recipes you might also like one of my favorite weeknight meals from Damn Delicious. These Korean beef bowls are legit! I always make them with ground turkey. A family favorite!

60+ FREE Printable Christmas Gift Tags

December 21, 2012 By Brandy 2 Comments

Over 60 free printable Christmas gift tags to make holiday gift giving easier this year! Cute, colorful, and creative. Just print and cut.

I went online this morning to find some printable gift tags for some treat boxes that I'm putting togetherÂ and couldn't believe how many darling ones were out there! So I thought I'd do a quick round-up of FREE printable gift tags that you can download.Â So quick, so easy, and so pretty! Just what I was looking for (since I have no design skills of my own)! Some of the gals have created a dozen to print at once. Awesome.

Last year Mac and I made this cute thumbprint ornament. Wouldn't this be a cute gift for a grandparent? You can even use it as a gift tag, tied to a present! Just hand write your message next to the reindeer!

The kids and I also made these Santa Suit Gift Tags out of soda bottle tabs! You can get all of the details here to make your own.

5 Creative Holiday Gifts and Gift Wrapping Ideas

Creative Ways To Package Holiday Treats

Christmas Donut Treat Cups

Reindeer Snack Cups With Printable Template

Reindeer Candy Tins

Holiday Hostess Gift Basket

Okay, okay. I know you came here for PRINTABLE gift tags, not ones you have to create yourself, but I just couldn't help myself! We had so much fun making those that I decided to give you options. Without further adieu, here are over sixty free printable Christmas gift tags.

60+ FREE Printable Christmas Gift Tags

Say what you're really thinking with this funny Christmas gift tags! These printable gift tags will make the recipient laugh out loud and probably score you some points before the gift is even opened!

6 Totally Honest Gift Tags from Hey Let's Make Stuff

These totally honest gift tags make me laugh. They are probably my favorite out of all of the free printable Christmas gift tags! "This took me forever to make" Accurate.

9 Printable Tags from Skip to My Lou

Such a gorgeous color combination of printable gift tags that will coordinate with a variety of wrapping papers.

4 Printable Gift Tags from The Idea Room

Isn't that penguin cute? I love these modern printable gift tags from The Idea Room!

12 Printable Gift Tags from Shanty 2 Chic

12 classic tags from Shanty 2 Chic to print and attach to gifts this year. I love their use of brown paper to wrap the presents.

Ornament Gift Tags Designed by: Martha Stewart {download here}

Â Love these ornament tags from Martha Stewart. Would be perfect to tie onto red and white wrapping paper.

5 Holiday Christmas Tags Designed by: Bora {download here}

Wouldn't these free gift tags from Bora be cute tied onto a baking gift?

9 Darling Winter Gift Tags From: Lemon Squeezy {download here}

Another bright and refreshing color combination for the holidays from Lemon Squeezy. I especially like the snowman!

12 Gift Tags Designed by: Love vs. Design {download here}

Pretty and feminine. These would be beautiful tied to a package wrapped in gold paper.

Christmas Spritz Butter Cookies

December 20, 2012 By Brandy 12 Comments

Â My cookie press broke after last year so I purchased a new one and WOAH. A good cookie press makes such a difference! The other one I had worked ok and lasted 8 years, butÂ I seemed to have more issues with mis-shaped cookies and theÂ trigger sticking.Â Not anymore. We pressed out 10 dozen cookies in less than 10 minutes.

This was Ruby's first time making Christmas cookies! If you think her cookies look good, you should see her booster seat and the kitchen floor!

Kaylee is a pro at these things and loaded up her cookies with sprinkles and pearls, galore!

I hope you enjoy these fun little treats as much as we do!

SpritzÂ Butter Cookies

{Our Version}

1 cup butter, softened

½ cup sugar

2 ½ cups flour

1 egg

2 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. butter flavoring

2 tsp. almond extract

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and flavorings. If you want to color your dough, you can add the coloring now as well. I like Wilton's concentrated paste because it doesn't water down the recipe.

(Or if you want several colors, just wait until you've made your dough and separate it into sections and mix it in then.)

If you are using salted butter, you don't need to add salt in your recipe. If you are using unsalted, add ¼ tsp.

Add flour (and salt if needed) to butter/sugar and mix until dough forms.

Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet using a cookie press. Add sprinkles. Bake @ 400 degrees for 7 minutes.

Store in air tight container. These cookies freeze really well.

Yield: 4-5 dozen cookies.

Hand and Footprint Reindeer Craft for Kids

December 18, 2012 By Brandy 1 Comment

This darling little footprint reindeer craft is such a fun way to document those little hands and feet! The perfect preschool craft for kids!

Kaylee is here today to share her hand/footprint reindeer craft that she made all by herself 🙂 I love when I have an idea and see in my mind how it will turn out, and then one of my kids takes it in a completely different direction. This goofy little reindeer happened that way, and he makes me laugh every time I see him. He is just perfect! If you like this little handprint craft be sure to check out our thumbprint reindeer ornaments!

Hand and Footprint Reindeer Craft for Kids

This darling little reindeer is such a fun way to document those little hands and feet! The perfect preschool reindeer craft for kids!

Supplies

Kids craft paint
Sponge brushes
Permanent Market
Cardstock paper

Kaylee loves having her hands painted. When she was 2, I'd sit at the table and paint her hands in different colors and she'd stamp them against a piece of paper over and over and over...she said it tickled.

We simply painted her hand with kids craft paint and pressed it against the paper to create an antler. Then we did it with her other hand!

We love washable kids craft paint (you can get big bottles at Joann's or Hobby Lobby for about $2/bottle). I love this stuff. We used her foot for the reindeer face and her hands for the antlers.

Then it was time to pull out the sponge brushes!

I figured we could stamp the nose towards the bottom of the footprint to make the whole thing a reindeer head/face, but this is where the plan changed.

She had different ideas and automatically put it in the center of the page.

We added the final details with a permanent marker.

Then she asked for a Sharpie pen so that she could add some feet and hands. Haha, of course. Knock yourself out.

I love how it turned out. It is an abstract little reindeer. Her abstract little reindeer and she couldn't wait to tell daddy all about it.

If you liked this reindeer craft you might also be interested in these!

Reindeer Snack Cups These Rudolph snack cups come together easily with our printable template! Make a small herd of these this holiday season!

Reindeer Gift Ornaments These DIY Rudolph ornament gifts are the perfect holiday party favor! Fill them with darling finger puppets, shredded paper, and seasonal candy and hang them on the tree. A great kids craft to make at school Christmas parties!

Reindeer Candy Tins Darling reindeer candy tins that come together quickly for the perfect holiday party favors! You can also add numbers and use as a fun advent activity!

Reindeer Rootbeer Gift Idea: Looking for a cute Christmas gift idea for Dad? How about a pack of his favorite sodas—reindeer themed! These reindeer root beer bottles come together in a matter of minutes and are sure to be a hit this year!

And be sure to check out this fun collection of Christmas crafts from Happiness is Homemade!

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Snowflakes

December 13, 2012 By Brandy 3 Comments

Are you ready for an incredible addicting treat? Like...you go for 2 of them and end up eating 6? Yeah, they are that good! And SO easy to make.

Make a Ritz sandwich (I used their holiday snowflake ones this time) with peanut butter. Dip in white melting chocolate (I like the melting chocolate bars from Ghirardelli that you can buy at Sam's), place on wax paper and add sprinkles. Let sit until chocolate has hardened.

ritz crackers with peanut butter dipped in white chocolate

Make them with colored chocolates, milk chocolate, chocolate drizzled with white chocolate....the list goes on. They are the perfect mix of sweet & salty!

Homemade Nativity Scenes for Children

December 6, 2012 By Brandy 2 Comments

construction paper nativity scene cutouts

Some friends and I do a preschool co-op together. I teach twice a week every 4 weeks. The kids love the social interaction and it is so fun to plan activities for them! I recently did a "Nativity" theme. The highlight for the kids seemed to be playing with all of the different nativity sets that we have. And we have a lot of them! Some homemade, some not.

We even made a little Nativity for them to each bring home. It was so easy to do! If you have a cricut, just cut everything out from the Paperdoll cartridge. If you don't have a cricut, you can buy nativity stickers from Oriental trading (by the dozen) or the craft store and have the children arrange them on a piece of brown cardstock that has been cut into a stable type shape.

child gluing nativity scene characters onto manger with glue stick

back of manger glued to block as a stand

For stability and to allow it to stand, I hot glued each nativity to a wooden block that was leftover from a previous craft project.

They loved them and their moms did too. It was a fun little activity.

My ALL TIME FAVORITE nativity scene of ours is this little ceramic one that the kids made 2 years ago. It just makes me smile. I purchased the set from Oriental Trading several years ago.

ceramic nativity scene for kids to paint

Another favorite nativity set that we have was a gift from my Mom. She made it by painting wooden blocks, adhering nativity stickers to each block and then varnishing them. The kids love stacking them up and there is no porno izle fear of breaking it!

Date Night Kit, Spy Kit and Memory Stars {Homemade Gift Ideas}

December 3, 2012 By Brandy 3 Comments

I feel as though I need to give a bit of an intro to our guest blogger this week! Stacy is the most creative person that I know. If you don't follow her blog yet, you should. She doesn't disappoint with her creative gift ideas and kids crafts. We both have 4 kids and almost identical tastes and interests. It is almost as though we were cut from the same mold...oh wait, we were! So without further adieu...

******

Hi! My name is Stacy and I am author of the blog: Piles of Projects. I am so excited to be featured on Gluesticks! It just happens to be my amazing sister's blog.

My goal is to create fun, but relatively inexpensive crafts, and Christmas is the perfect excuse to come up with fun, new ideas.

Today I am going to be sharing three of my favorite homemade Christmas gifts: Date Night Kits, Spy Kits, and Memory Stars.

1. Date Night Kits

red bucket with popcorn red vines and chocolate inside

I love this ideas because it is cheap, easy, and useful. It's the perfect gift for a couple. The date night kit is filled with popcorn, treats, and redbox codes. Perfect for a cozy movie date night at home. To see a more details, go here.

red vines popcorn chocolate bar and Reeses cups on table

2. The Spy Kit

kids spy gear with white draw string bag

The Spy Kit is another inexpensive but fun gift. It encourages imagination and creativity. My kids love anything spy-related thanks to Inspector Gadget and Spy Kids. So, I put together this spy kit complete with magnifying glasses, new identities, and disguises. For more info and links to templates, go here.

child holding up pretend mustache photo prop

3. Memory Stars

wooden star ornament painted yellow with date

These Memory Stars are ornaments that represent each year of our marriage. I give my husband each Christmas as a way of remembering all the special things that have happened over the year. Our kids love to look at them and see which one represents their birth or other fun milestones. For more info, go here.

Thanks again for the opportunity to guest blog, Brandy. I hope these ideas give some inspiration for this upcoming holiday season!

Duck Tape® Bunting

November 29, 2012 By Brandy 6 Comments

These Christmas rolls of DuckÂ® BrandÂ duct tape are so much fun!Â They come in so many styles and for a few bucks a roll you can grab a couple of rolls and get started crafting. Whether it is cutting thin stripsÂ to add to greeting cards, packaging up presents, or making holiday decor, the possibilities are endless!

I decided to make THE EASIEST bunting EVER with Holiday Duck TapeÂ®. No sewing, no gluing. Just tape and cut. Grab you favorite colors and a few supplies, sit yourself down in front of a good movie and in no time you'll have some festive strands of bunting to add to presents, frames, doorways, your Christmas tree and anything else you can think of! How fun would this be for a birthday party!

Since Duck TapeÂ® is only a few inches wide, your bunting will be small. I made mine even smaller because I wanted to use it on Ruby's Christmas littleÂ tree. We helped her decorate this to keep her from playing with the big tree. She loves it, but is still tempted by the other tree on occasion.

mini Christmas tree with duct tape bunting wrapped around

Here is how to make your own Duck TapeÂ® bunting!

Supplies:

Duck TapeÂ® in your favorite colors

String, twine or yarn

Scissors

small triangles of tape wrapped around baker's twine

For a mini bunting (about 1.5" wide) cut your Duck TapeÂ® in half. For a regular bunting (3") leave as is. Place your Duck Tape Â® on your work surface (sticky side up)Â and lay your string across the center. Fold in half. You can leave it in a rectangle, cut a v up the center, or cut angles up the side to create a triangle like I did here.

Continue until your bunting is as long as you need and THAT IS IT!

This was such a fun project! I added some in my kitchen as well as Ruby's tree and just love how it turned out!

duct tape bunting draped on kitchen wall

For more fun ideas be sure to follow DuckÂ® BrandÂ on Facebook!

Happy Holidays!

This post brought to you by Duck BrandÂ®. All opinions are 100% mine.