Coordinates and Longitude/Latitude Art - Valentines Day Gift for my Husband

Long time, no post! I know I have been absent for a long time. I would like to apologize and give you a valid reason but I can't. Life has been busy, so my blog has been ignored but not forgotten.

I have not stopped doing the things I love, I just haven't had time to share them with you. I will stop by Full of Great Ideas every once and a while to share things. I won't promise I will be consistent and I will say you will see more 'art' style of pieces, since I make loads of them for gifts.  I hope you can understand and stop by every once and a while to see if there is anything new.

For those of you know have followed me for a few years, you might remember my $0 spending months (if you want to see how previous years went, check it out here) Well we are officially 19 days into our third spend free month and it has been going well. My pantry is not overflowing anymore, I have purged three rooms and we have saved loads of money. I will admit it is very difficult to do this in January when you find all Christmas stuff on clearance for 90% off, but we are staying tough and sticking to it.

Valentines day is quickly approaching, so I thought I would work on something for my husband. We don't normally buy each other gifts but I thought it would be nice to make him something using a frame I had kicking around the house.

I had seen on Etsy various coordinates art and immediately knew I had to have one and thought they wouldn't be difficult to make.

I designed my version of the coordinates art using my personal favorite tool, Microsoft Publisher, but you can use almost any other program. It is really just a box in background filled with a solid color and a text box over it with the coordinates. The entire thing will only take you 10 minutes to design! Honestly, it is that simple.

Start by determining what size frame you want to use. I used an old IKEA Ribba frame I had laying around the house. I will explain how I altered the mat later in this post, but I knew my image had to be 6.5x17.  Since Costco will not print that size, I designed my image as 12x18 and cut away the excess. You can see in the image below the inner box (it doesn't show when printed) is what I needed for the frame but the entire image is much larger.

Important: Photo developers will only print standard size images (for example - 8x10, 12x18 etc.). What will happen is if I design my image to my frame size and it will be stretched or shrunk to fit within a standard photo size. So, I will be stuck with a image that won't fit into the frame. What you need to do is find the a standard size that is larger than the size you need and use that for your design. Therefore, if you have a frame opening that is 6x7 and you create the image as that size, when you print it, it will be stretched to 8x10. Instead if you design your image as an 8x10 and make the text fit within a 6x7 box, then when you print, you can cut off the excess and your finished product will fit in your frame. Confusing I know...but I hope you understand what I am saying :)

Once you get your design to be the correct size, Insert a box for the background. You can fill that box with whatever color you like.

Then Insert a Text box to the size you want your image to be. Set the background color for this box as Transparent and make sure there is no boarder. You can center that box in the middle of the overall design size by moving the box around.

If you have issue with wrapping, select the text box and select no wrapping and bring to front.

The fonts I used are Euphemia (coordinates) and Jayne Print (saying).

I found a website that gives you the exact coordinates location. Simply visit the iTouch website, enter the street address and the site will automatically generate the longitude and latitude for you. If you don't have an exact address (i.e. the middle of a park, lake etc.), enter an address that is close and then move the marker on the map to get the exact coordinates.

For this example, I entered New York City. To get the coordinates numbers, you will use the digits on the right side of the image above. The coordinates would be 43 degrees 18' 76" N and 79 degrees 38' 04' W. If you have a negative in the first number, you would switch the N (North) to S (South) and a positive in the second number, you would switch the W (West) to E (East). In order to get the degrees symbol, you will have to select "Insert" and then "Symbol" and find it within the library of symbols.

Once you are happy with the design, save the image as a high resolution JPEG (to do this in Publisher follow theses steps: 'Save As', 'Save as type', 'JPEG', 'Change...' (Resolution), 'High quality printing or commercial printing (300dpi)') .   Then upload the image to your favorite photo developer and you have a beautiful but very cheap reasonable Valentine's Day gift!

I thinks this would make a great wedding gift, anniversary gift, birth announcement...the options are really endless.


This image has a digital frame added to my final image since I can't print my creation until February 1st (when my spend free month is over).  But you get the idea how it will look! AMAZING!

For how I addressed the mat issue:

I knew the frame I had from IKEA Ribba had 3 5x7 openings in the mat but I wanted a long image.

Source Ikea

 So I trimmed the mat using an exacto knife and metal ruler.

Since the mat is cut on an angle, I scored the mat in two places (for each cut). The first score was inline with the outside of the mat angle and the other is inline with the inner side of the mat angle.

 

 I then cut through the mat on the inner most line.

Once the inner divider is removed, you can cut with a sharp exacto knife to follow the angle of the mat.

I will say if you look really, really close you can see where I altered the mat, but it does look good. If people want to look at anything in my house from a few inches away...well they are no friends of mine :)

Do you have any DIY Valentine's Day gifts planned?

Do you think you can use this for a gift idea? Let me know what you think!
Stephanie

DIY Sugar Scrub - Easy Gifts on a Budget (Part 2)

As I mentioned in the last post, I am working towards making 80% of all my Christmas gifts this year. I am well on my way and enjoying every second of it!

Here is my list of spa related items I making (and sharing with you):

• Lavender bath salt ($2) DONE
• Lavender sugar scrub ($2.50)
• Lavender scented wickless candle pucks ($0.50) 
• Spa towel ($7)
• Lavender scented Catalytic Lamp oil (you know like Lampe Berget oil) ($2.50)
• Lavender linen water ($1.50)
• Lavender reed diffuser (Not done yet do I don't have an approximate cost)

To continue with the spa basket gift idea, I made a wonderful Lavender scented sugar scrub. It was a little more work (took maybe 1 minute more) and cost a smidge more than the bath salts, but this stuff is amazing! I have always purchased the sugar scrub from Bath and Body Works but have you looked at the ingredients on those things? It has more chemicals in it than I am happy to admit I put on my body. So for all of you looking for a great DIY frugal gift or for those of you avoiding artificial bath and body products, this will be a great post for you!

Materials:

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 10-20 drops essential oil (or however many you feel gives you a nice scent) I used Lavender Essential Oil but you can use any essential oil scent you like
• Dried lavender liberated from your mother's garden ( this is completely optional)
• Jar with a tight fitting lid

Method:

Add the 3 cups of sugar into a mixing bowl. I used plain old white sugar but if you want to use coarse or brown sugar, both would work great too. 

Slowly add the 1 cup plus 2 tbsp of olive oil to the sugar. Carefully mix with a spoon until well blended. I used the cheapest olive oil I could find, so we got a light yellow ting to the scrub. If you prefer a more neutral color you can spend more and get a coconut oil or a lighter colored olive oil. I was being frugal and decided to go this way. Some people add a drop of food coloring but to be honest with you I wouldn't do it. I see how food coloring stains my counters and hands when I use it so why add it to something you are putting on your body. Your call though.

Slowly add the essential oils. I used approximately 20 drops but my olive oil had a stronger smell. So start with 10 drops and see if you like the scent. If you want a stronger smell, add a few more drops of essential oil at a time.

Since I am doing a lavender themed spa basket, I added some dried lavender petals/flowers to the mix.

 

I then transferred the mixture to a tight sealing container.

NOTE: If you would like your mix to be a little coarser for tougher skin or the men in your life, you can add some Epson salt. However, if you want it a little softer for more sensitive skin, you can add a bit more oil. 

To decorate the container, I added a band of brown paper secured with double sided tape.

I made a label with a paper punch I had, added a few sprigs of lavender and tied it all together with some raffia.

It was really that simple! Since I made extra for myself, I have been using this for the past week and my hands and legs have never felt so nice. My mother in law was over when I made my last batch, so I gave her some and she has been using it on her face. Not sure I am willing to try that but she loves it!

Have any of you ever made your own sugar scrub? Have you tried it on your face?

What do you think? Anyone else thinking of making a spa gift package now that you have one place to get easy and frugal methods of making them?

Have a great week!
Stephanie

DIY Lavender Bath Salt - Easy Gifts on a Budget

So I am officially into my Christmas countdown! I realize most of you are getting ready for Thanksgiving, but I have been working on reaching my goal of an 80% homemade Christmas for some time.

I apologize for the minimal posts lately, but I have been trying to get most of my gifts finished before I start posting.

I have decided for all the women I give gifts for, I was going to create a spa themed basket. I plan to make the following for each person:

• Lavender bath salt ($2)
• Lavender sugar scrub ($2.50)
• Spa towel ($7)
• Lavender scented Catalytic Lamp oil (you know like Lampe Berget oil) ($2.50)
• Lavender linen water ($1.50)
• Lavender reed diffuser (Not done yet do I don't have an approximate cost)

I have made almost all of these items and provided the approximate costs to create them. Obviously you can make them for less or more depending on the products you buy. If you reuse jars you have on hand, you will save $1 on all the costs. It adds up!

I plan to purchase a few accessories (i.e. cozy socks, sponges, etc) to add to all the baskets.

I will start by sharing the easiest gift to make, Lavender Bath Salts. This smells amazing! I have always used Epson Salts for my bath but never thought that it was this easy to make them scented. I will never buy full price bath salts again!

Materials:

• 1 1/8 cup Epson Salt
• 24 drops of Lavender Essential Oils (you can use any essential oil scent you like)
• Dried lavender liberated from your mother's garden (Shhh don't tell her)
• Container that seals tight

This is the essential oil that I used and loved!

Method:

Start by adding 1 1/8 cup of Epson salt to a bowl. If you are wondering why my salt looks like more than 1 1/8 cup, it is because I quadrupled the recipe.

Add 24 drops of essential oil to the Epson Salt

Stir, stir, stir. Once the oil was mixed into the Epson Salt, I added a handful of dried lavender flowers. You don't have to do this, I just thought it was a nice touch.

Transfer the scented salt to your container. I thought it was funny that for the first container I actually used a funnel. You can easily just spoon it into the container without having to use a funnel.

 Seal the containers and decorate them as you like.

I used a strip of brown paper, raffia and a few lavender sprigs to dress my containers up.

Using double sided tape, I stuck the brown paper to the container.

Wrapped some raffia around it. It would also look nice with some Christmas ribbon or twine.

 I added a tag identifying what was in the jar and a little extra lavender and I was finished.

I figure this probably cost $2 total to make. I think the most expensive item for this was the container which I got at the Dollar Store for $1. The huge jug of Epson salt was $7 at Costco and the large bottle Lavender oil was $20 but I have used next to nothing from either of them so I think I used probably $0.50 of these materials.

I will share the Lavender Sugar Scrub very soon.

Remember, you can use any scent you like. I have done this with orange (my favorite scent) and also have a great recipe for all those athletes out there. I will share the runner's scrub and soak soon.

Wouldn't this make an amazing gift for everyone attending a wedding? The hall would smell great and you have a reasonably priced but beautiful gift for everyone. You could easily make hundreds of these in an afternoon!

What do you think? Anyone else working towards making almost all their Christmas gifts this year?

Enjoy!
Stephanie

Decorating for a Party on a Dime - Personalized Name Crosses -DIY

When I was planning our daughter's first communion party, I knew I wanted some photos and art on the table as decorations. So, I frames some of her baptism photos from when she was a baby and made this beautiful cross out of her name. I found the idea on Pinterest and knew it would take no time to make. If you are not interested in making it yourself, you can buy these from many different Etsy shops. But if you are like me and want to save the $15 plus shipping they are sold for, here is how I did it.

I started with a blank 8x10 Publisher file. Insert a text box and type the first name, middle name and phrase.  When I was making this I used 'In God We Trust' but changed it to 'God's Precious Gift' right before I printed it. So you will see both phrases alternating on this tutorial. 

Select the font and size you like.

 Then save the text box as an image. To do this select File, Save As

 Enter a file name and then change the "Save as Type" to JPEG File.

 Click on the 'Change' box and select 'High Quality Printing'

 Back to your Publisher file, delete the original text box and insert the picture of the text box. This way you can mirror, flip and manipulate the text without Publisher doing funny formatting things.

You will need to insert the image three times and then crop each of the three so that you have each row of text by itself.

 Once you have all three lines, you need to rotate the first name and the phrase. You can do this by clicking on the little green circle on the box surrounding the text and dragging it around.

 

 If you would like to have the middle name mirrored, select the middle name image and copy and paste it. Then select 'Rotate' and 'Flip Horizontally'. Line everything up.

Save the image again as a JPEG using the same method as earlier.

 Insert the new jpeg and Flip it vertically.

You will notice the new half is smaller than the original, so what I do to get them perfectly matched is insert the image twice and delete the original.

Save the image as a new JPEG and test print it. I printed mine on canvas paper I purchased at the Dollar Store so it had texture. I used a cheap frame also from the Dollar Store and I think it looked amazing. You could also print it on scrapbook paper for a patterned background. Really this could be made for almost any occasion, so the possibilities are really unlimited.

My daughter loved this and has requested we have hang it in her bedroom.

The total for this decoration, if I had to go out and buy the materials right now, would be $4. $2 for the frame and $2 for the canvas paper (really only $0.25 because there were 4 sheets in the package).
That fit into my very frugal budget for the First Communion.

What do you think? Can you use this idea for gifts or for decoration in your own home?

Stephanie