Blog - Gluesticks Blog

Personalized Soap/Sanitizer Bottle

September 14, 2010 By Brandy 11 Comments

clear soap in bottle with personalized front

I LOVE The Idea Room. LOVE LOVE LOVE her blog. I went on there today to look for her embossed candle tutorial, and came across this in the craft section! I've seen these before, but didn't know how to make one. I thought it was a sticker or something on the front. I had everything I needed already on hand.

Laser Jet printer

Transparency (leftover from these)

Clear Soap Bottle

That's it! Our laser jet printer has issues right now. It prints a long black line down the front of each page. Usually we use our ink jet printer, but for this project it worked great since the area being printed was only 3"x4". If you don't have a laser printer, you can go to Kinkos and they'll print out your page on a transparency for usually under $1.

I added our names onto our bottle and love how it turned out. You can create your own template using a document program, or use the one that Amy has on her blog. Full instructions for making one of these can be found on her blog as well.

I think I will make one of these for each of the boy's teachers this year to go with their Christmas gifts. The dollar store has little bottles of soap, so it's a practical, inexpensive and personal gift.

Make a Super Cape Birthday Gift for a Girl or Boy!

August 23, 2010 By Brandy 11 Comments

Every child wants to feel super on their birthday! Make a super cape birthday gift for any boy or girl and be sure to include a few other goodies like their favorite candy, some silly string, and an awesome birthday card! This post contains affiliate links.

collage with black and pink cape and gift ideas to go with cape

This little cape was sent to my sweet little niece. A super big sister with a big heart and a infectious smile. I just love that girl! Normally, I send a gift card to my nieces and nephews, but I wanted to do a little more for her this year. If you don't have time to make a super cape you can definitely order one. I'll share both options!

If you are looking for an entire collection of projects to make with kids check out my book! It has 60 step by step projects with hand stitching and machine stitching techniques!

How to Make a Super Cape

I've made capes for several little friends recently and the process is the same for boys or girls.

Step 1: Cut a rectangle of cotton fabric (the length of their shoulder to knees) and trim it on an angle on the top corners so that it is slightly narrower on the top.

Step 2: Hem around the edges by folding it over ¼", ironing it, then folding it over another ¼" and sewing all the way around.

Step 3: Attach a piece of black elastic by stitching one end to each top corner and you have a basic cape!

Personalize the Super Cape

Monogram/Super LogoÂ

1. Pin fabric to cape and zig zag around the edges to encase any raw edges.*

2. Use felt for the applique and stitch close to the edge. Felt doesn't fray.

3. Purchase iron-on letters or designs from your local craft store and attach them to the cape. Vinyl is a great option.

*I kept the edges raw with the applique on this cape.

Ruffle

Here is a tutorial for how to make a ruffle 4 ways from I Heart Naptime.

For this one I cut a two strips of fabric twice as wide as the cape, hemmed the bottom and side edges, then stacked them, and gathered the fabric by folding it over and pinning it every couple of inches.

Other Items to Include for a Super Cape Birthday Gift

I also enclosed a few "necessities" for any super girl.

Silly string (it had a fun super/spy aspect), lip gloss, and some sour gummy candies. Nothing extravagant and I hardly spent a thing. Other ideas of things to include might be a matching mask, sunglasses, or tiara.

I had so much fun making this! I think every girl needs one of these...heck, I'd probably be more productive with my housework if I ran around in a cape too!

Other Creative Gift Ideas for Boys and Girls

Marvel Avengers Survival Kit

Adventure Gifts for Boys

Gifts that Kids Can Make For Each Other

Gift Ideas for Teen and Tween Boys

Creative Gift Ideas for Girls

Don't Have Time to Make a Super Cape? No Problem!

Here are a couple of fun options from Amazon. First up! A double sided 2-colored cape with mask. You can even stock up and buy a 6-pack of super hero capes (not personalized, but with super emblems already on them) and use them for birthday gifts all year long!Â And last, but not least, a cute pink lightning cape for a little girl that comes with a mask.

Quick Warm Blueberry Pancake Sauce

July 17, 2010 By Brandy 8 Comments

I love when blueberries go on sale! I buy a ton of little cartons and freeze them. Here is my favorite blueberry recipe. So quick and easy, you don't have to make it ahead of time. Just put it together while you are cooking your pancakes! It would be delicious on pound cake as well.

We had breakfast for dinner tonight as requested by Aaron 🙂

Quick Warm Blueberry Pancake Sauce

from Family Fun

2 ½ cups fresh or individually frozen blueberries (not in juice)
⅓ cup sugar
½ cup orange juice (apple juice works great too)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Combine the blueberries, sugar, and ¼ cup of the orange juice in a medium-size saucepan. Warm the mixture over moderate heat, stirring it occasionally.
While the berries heat, blend the cornstarch into the remaining orange juice, using the back of a spoon to dissolve any lumps.

Increase the heat under the pan and bring the sauce to a boil. Stir the cornstarch mixture again and then stir it into the fruit. Cook the sauce at a low boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Cool the sauce for 5 to 10 minutes before serving (it will thicken as it cools). Makes about 2 cups.

Barn Star Paper Wreath Tutorial

July 2, 2010 By Brandy 59 Comments

Can you believe that this wreath is made out of paper? I'll show you how to make you own 3-d barn stars to create a darling paper wreath for any holiday or occasion. EASY!

Aaron and I made this fun cardstock wreath for our front door. Nice and bright with summer colors and easy to customize for any season. How cute would it be in red, white and blue for the 4th of July, or made with fun Christmas paper?

Here is how to make your own Barn Star Paper Wreath

Using your scissors/cutting tool/machine, cut out 12 {5"} stars. The number of stars you will need can vary, but for a 10" wreath, 12 stars is a nice amount to start with. You can layer it more or less from there.

{We use the Plantin Schoolbook cricut cartridge. We made them using the "roly poly" feature so that they would be wide. Sturdy cardstock works best for making these.}

Now we'll show you how to make your stars 3-D!

Below is one all ready to be scored. The white cardstock is under the bright paper.

Score your star 5 times. Once for each point. Start at the point and score directly across to the center between the two bottom points. Rotate star and score again until each point has been scored.

Fold each scored line and crease firmly.

There is your 3-D star! Now finish up the rest of them and you'll be ready to assemble your paper wreath or use them for any number of fun little projects.

Cut out a 10" ring for your wreath base using thin cardboard.

Hot glue the stars to the ring and eachother. Since they stick out, you can't glue them flat, so just apply a small amount of glue to the points where the stars overlap eachother. Don't skimp on the glue.

Attach a ribbon for hanging.

That's it! Perfect for summer. I just love free projects! If you liked this paper wreath you might like...

Spring Hydrangea Wreath

Patriotic Wreath Tutorial

Be sure to check out my wreath tutorial pinterest board for even more ideas!

Decorate and Jazz Up Flip Flops with These Creative Ideas

June 24, 2010 By Brandy 18 Comments

Â Beads, charms, buttons, fabric or glitter. The ways to jazz up flip flops are endless! Here's a collection of creative ways to add a bit of flair to a pair of flip flops. Get the girls together and make some today!

Kaylee LOVES flip flops. She is always wearing a pair of them...usually her own, but not always. I went to Target to get her another pair and they didn't have anymore in her size that were girlie colors. I love brown, so I went to the boy's section and got her a pair of brown ones and figured we jazz them up a bit.

I cut the back strap off because she likes to put the flip flops on herself. The back strap just gets in her way.

My friend, Lisa, gave me a bag of these fun little embellishments a few years ago. I'm not sure what they are called, but they are great! I've used them for cards, church handouts, a couple of scrapbooking pages, and I still have a TON left. They were perfect for these little flip flops.

I covered the strap with some permanent bond glue. It takes about 8 hours to dry, but those little pretties are not going to come off. Ever. Then I randomly stuck the embellishments on and let them dry.

How easy is that? I think I need a pair for myself. My brown ones have seen better days. I don't know why I hang onto them so long, they are cheap!

Here are more ways to decorate flip flops!

Fluffy Flip Flops

Decorate flip flopsÂ with scrap fabric to make these fun and funky â€œFluffy Flip Flopsâ€. A quick and easy summer camp project for girls and a great way to use up fabric scraps. Create patterns or tie the strips on randomly, the choice is yours!

Button Flip Flops from Buttons Galore and More

Buttons are hand stitched on to flip flops for a fun and colorful addition! I love that they are stitched instead of glued. They'll definitely last longer this way!

Water Balloon Flip Flops from a Mom's Take

You can tie water balloons onto flip flops, who knew! So fun, waterproof, and colorful.

Decorated Tape Flip Flops from Momtastic

Decorate flip flops with washy or duct tape for a simple craft activity for teens and tweens.

12 more ways to decorate flip flops from P&G Everyday!

Faux flowers, thread, handkerchiefs, balloons, duct tape, glitter and more. 12 more ways to jazz up flip flops for the summer!

Chocolate Cream Angel Food Cake (Fat Free!)

June 8, 2010 By Brandy 15 Comments

Chocolate + cake + fat-free = a guilt free Chocolate Cream Angel Food Cake. Make it quick and easy with a cake mix and Cool Whip.

You might also like my angel food berry trifle or my strawberry banana trifle dessert!

Here is a decadent, guilt-free dessert. It's one of my favorites. Go ahead and enjoy a slice or two. I've been making this for a few years, and it is always a hit. My version is fat-free. If you don't feel like heating up the oven to bake an angel food cake, just use a store-bought one. Just as delicious. You can also get ambitious and make your own cake from scratch. Here is a recipe for homemade angel food cake from Sally's Baking Addiction.

The key is using fat-free whipped topping and an angel food cake. To make it even more delicious, go ahead and add fresh sliced strawberries or bananas. I like adding chocolate curls, which makes it a bit less guilt-free, but beautiful nonetheless.

Chocolate Cream Angel Food Cake Printable Recipe

Chocolate Cream Angel Food Cake

Chocolate + cake + fat-free = a guilt free Chocolate Cream Angel Food Cake that will soon become a favorite.

1 angel food cake (I made mine from a boxed mix)
12 ounces fat free Cool Whip
½ cup baking cocoa (SIFTED)

Gently fold baking cocoa into Cool Whip until it is completely incorporated.
Frost angel food cake with cream and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Chocolate curls are optional and will of course make it less guilt-free, but they are just fun! Simply peel a Hershey's bar with a vegetable peeler. I think I only used ⅓ of a chocolate bar for the cake.

How many people will this chocolate cream angel food recipe serve?

You can easily get up to 12 slices from one angel food cake.

What other recipes can you use the chocolate cream with?

The chocolate cream itself is to die for. I sometimes use it when I make cream puffs, too! It is also a delicious frosting for regular cakes like this chocolate cream cake.

Can you make angel food cake ahead of time?

Yes, you can make the cake a day before. You can also frost it ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator overnight.

More Dessert Recipes That You Will Want to Try!

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

This ice cream sandwich cake is SO easy to make! Chocolate ice cream sandwiches stacked, frosted in whipped topping, and drizzled with hot fudge.

Mini Cream Pie Cups

A mini cream pie in a cup that comes together in just minutes! A layer of graham crackers, a layer of Greek yogurt, and whipped cream! Perfect for parties.

Lemon Curd Hand Pies

Delicious homemade lemon curd sandwiched between flaky pie crust. These lemon curd hand pies are the perfect combination of sweet and tangy!

Buckeye Chocolate Peanut Butter Sheet Cake

A classic Texas sheet cake spread with whipped peanut butter frosting and topped with mini buckeye candies. Chocolate peanut butter sheet cake is dessert perfection!

DIY Wall Decals Made out of Scrapbook Paper (They're Removable!)

May 20, 2010 By Brandy 65 Comments

DIY wall decals made from scrapbook paper and contact paper. Peel and stick, removable, and perfect for kids rooms! Create any phrase or shapes you'd like!

We have a lot of empty wall space in the basement, so I decided to create yet another space to display my children's artwork (they already have one in their bedroom that is completely full....all the time).

I simply strung up some ribbon with tacks and hung their artwork with tiny clothespins. It looked cute, but I thought it needed some sort of lettering above the display. Vinyl is great, but pricey and mostly comes in solid colors. I wanted to do something with some fun and colorful paper so I created these DIY wall decals!

How To Make Your Own DIY Wall Decals

DIY Wall Decals Made From Scrapbook Paper

DIY wall decalsÂ made from scrapbook paper and contact paper. Peel and stick, removable, and perfect for kids rooms! Create any phrase or shapes youâ€™d like!

Scrapbooking Paper
Contact Paper
Mod Podge (or spray adhesive)
Foam Brush

Brush a layer of mod podge onto the top of a piece of contact paper, then place a sheet of paper on top of that.
Press down firmly and get rid of the air bubbles. Place under a board or something heavy to keep it flat while drying.
Once the sheets have dried, they are ready to be cut!
You can use a cricut or stencils to cut into desired shapes.

Note: I haven't tried spray adhesive, but would imagine that it would work just fine as an alternative method. Just spray and place a board over until set.

I noticed a few of my corners and edges coming off of the contact paper when I went to peel the backings off. I guess the mod podge wasn't thick enough in those areas. I just added a little tacky glue to fix the small spots and they were good to go.

Custom peel and stick letters that are nice and sturdy, easy to place onto a wall, reposition-able, and inexpensive!

And these aren't limited to lettering! The possibilities are endless especially with the huge variety of cricut cartridges. You can make all sorts of custom scenes for your wall.

Our basement is brighter lit than most basements, but it is still hard to take a good picture down there. You get the idea.

Â If you liked these DIY wall decals you might also like...

Personalized Alphabet Book

Barn Star Paper WreathÂ

DIY Pocket Fan

Chocolate Strawberries Teacher Gift Idea is Berry Sweet!

May 9, 2010 By Brandy 9 Comments

This chocolate strawberries teacher gift is simple and sweet. Use the strawberry basket that the berries came in and wrap with a piece of decorative paper and ribbon.

I kept things simple for Teacher's Appreciation Day this year. NICE AND SIMPLE. I've had teachers say that their favorite gifts are cards from their students, and I totally get that! My favorite gifts are homemade cards from my kids. The boys each made a card for their teacher in their cute little handwriting and I made them each a basket of chocolate covered strawberries.

Chocolate Strawberries Teacher Gift Idea

I was trying to think of a cute and creative way to package them when it dawned on me to just use the basket that they came in! Usually strawberry baskets are 1 lb. sized, but these one were smaller so they worked our great! Each teacher received 8 berries. I had some extra bulletin border from teaching preschool to Aaron last year and wrapped each basket in that and tied a ribbon around it. A piece of scrapbook paper would have worked out just fine if I didn't have the bulletin border.

Here is a cute printable tag from Sweet Rose Studio that would be darling attached to this chocolate strawberries teacher gift. Looking for creative gift wrapping ideas for the holidays? I had so much fun making these Christmas inspired gifts using jars, ornaments, and to-go cups as my packaging!

5 More Simple Gift Ideas for Teachers

Apple with Packaged Caramel Sauce Gift Idea

Hand Sanitizer Teacher Gift Idea

Fruit and Chocolate Gift Basket Teacher Gift

Double Sided Tissue Pouch Gift Idea

I Carrot Lot About You Gift Idea

How to Make Chocolate Strawberries

Making chocolate strawberries seems pretty self explanatory, but there are a few tips that I think would come in handy for first-timers.

Use dry strawberries.

This doesn't mean that you can't wash the berries. By all means, wash them! Just make sure they have a chance to dry completely so that the chocolate sticks to them better.

Use room temperature strawberries.

Cold strawberries will begin to sweat after they've been dipped in chocolate and will leak juice faster than room temperature strawberries.

Use melting chocolate.

I've made strawberries with both melted chocolate chips and melting chocolate and prefer melting chocolate. Ghirardelli meting wafers are my favorite and are delicious! Much better than chocolate flavored almond bark. You can also buy melting chocolate cups like I did in this post which are super easy to use. When you are done, just toss the cup. No clean up involved.

Eat within a day or 2.

Using room temperature strawberries only helps so much. After a day, the berries will begin to get juicy so make these the day you'd like to eat them, or the night before.

Steps for Making Chocolate Strawberries

Melt Chocolate
Dip each strawberry into chocolate, letting excess drip off.
Place each strawberry on to a wax paper or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Allow to set until chocolate has hardened. On the counter is best, but the refrigerator works in a pinch.

Silver Leaf Transparency Photos

May 3, 2010 By Brandy 10 Comments

Transform any photo into a vintage looking print with gold or silver leaf transparency photos! These make great wedding gifts and are a fun project to make at craft afternoons with friends. This post contains affiliate links.

black frame with black and white temple image inside

I am making these temple photos with the young women at church this week. I taught a class several years ago in Kodiak for the women and it was a lot of fun. I had some supplies left over so I thought the girls would like to each have a temple photo in their room!

These are very simple to make.

Silver Leaf Transparency Photos

First you'll need to decide on a photo that you'd like to use. If you are LDS and looking for a temple image you can print them for free on the church website.

Note: If your printer is like mine and doesn't print on transparencies, you can take your photo that has been printed on plain copy paper and have Fed Ex/Kinkos print it onto a transparency for about .75.

Then, lightly spray the back side of the transparency with spray adhesive (found at Walmart).

Now comes the fun and messy part. Take sheets of imitation gold or silver leaf and gently lay them on the back of the photo. They don't have to fall perfectly or line up with each other. The messier the better because it gives it a cool vintage look. Keep laying the silver leaf sheets on until the entire surface is covered. Use a tissue/kleenex to dab the back to smooth out the silver leaf. If you use your fingers, it'll just stick to your fingers.

Silver Leaf Transparency Photos

Transform any photo into a vintage looking print with gold orÂ silver leaf transparency photos! These make great wedding gifts and are a fun project to make at craft afternoons with friends.

transparency page
spray craft adhesive
silver leaf sheets
kleenex
scissors

Print out black and white photo onto a clear transparency page.
Then, lightly spray the back side of the transparency with spray adhesive.
Now comes the fun and messy part. Take sheets of imitation gold or silver leaf and gently lay them on the back of the photo.
Keep laying the silver leaf sheets on until the entire surface is covered. Use a tissue/kleenex to dab the back to smooth out the silver leaf. If you use your fingers, it'll just stick to your fingers.
Turn your transparency over and you will see your black and white image with a beautiful silver background. Trim it down to fit into your frame.

The image shown here is a 3.5"x5". It only took 1 ½ sheets of silver leaf.

5 more activities to make with Young Women:

Prayer Bracelets

Scripture Cookies

Fluffy Flip Flops

Double Sided Tissue Pouch

Bottle Cap Key Chains