Creations of a Country-Farm Girl

Once again, it’s that time of the year again… Time to make a homemade Christmas gift for our annual exchange! My family is ‘outdoorsy’ and the gift needs to remain gender neutral. After looking through the internet for ideas, I decided on two things I could pair together. Today I decided to tackle the first project… Bottle cap coasters. Materials (for one coaster): 9 Bottle Caps 6 Eye pins Hammer Nail Board Black Felt             I purchased a package of 315 eye pins from Wal-Mart for $4 and 9”x12” sheet of black felt from Michaels for 30 cents. One sheet fit 6 coasters with a little left over.                                Directions: 1.        Collect 9 bottle caps you want to use in your coaster. And arrange as you like 2.        Use hammer and nail to carefully poke small holes in the cap so they may be strung together. This is pretty tedious in making sure all holes line up together. If they don’t your coaster will have trouble laying flat

This is what I decided to pair with my bottle cap coasters. It fit the theme and seemed simple to make. Materials: Empty whiskey bottle (I used the smallest half-pint size) Soap dispenser                                  Liquid yellow soap            Clear spray paint Double sided tape Scrap paper     I’m not a whiskey drinker and don’t know anyone who is… So I bought the whiskey, emptied it into another container so others could enjoy it on Christmas day! But if you know someone who has the bottle already, it will help save on cost. The dispenser is actually a shampoo dispenser that I got from Sally Beauty Supply for $2.00.   I bought the big 40oz bottle of soap for $3.00 so I could use the left over in my soap dispensers at home. And the spray paint was $3.79. So the total was $8.79 plus whiskey bottle cost if needed and you don’t use all the spray paint or soap! Still cheaper than a lot of store-bought dispensers! Directions: 1.        I di

This year the other side of my family also decided to do a gender neutral homemade gift exchange. The pressure is on!! I was unable to make it to the Christmas celebration last year, so this would be my first year participating. This side of the family made a lot of baked goods and smaller type gift items, so it’s not quite as high pressure as the other side of my family. I decide to make these glitter covered clothes pins that could be used as chip clips. Materials: Clothes pins                                        $1.00 Glitter                                                    $1.00 White glue                                           $1.00 for 3 bottles Small paint brush Clear spray paint                               $3.79   I purchased all items from the local dollar store, except the spray paint. The paint brush I had on hand, but you can get cheap ones, about 30 for $2.00 at Wal-Mart.     Directions: 1.        Use paint brush to put a thin

Every Christmas I get numerous Christmas cards from family and friends. They are nice and thoughtful, but every year I don’t know what to do with them. It is impossible to save them all, but it is also such a waste to throw them away. So I give them new life by creating them into gift tags! They are very simple or you can make them more detailed, depending on how crafty you want to get! It’s a good project for the kids too.   Materials:   Old Christmas cards Scissors Stencils (I use cookie cutters) Glue stick (Optional) Colored paper (Optional) Ribbon (Optional) Hole punch (Optional) Directions: 1.        Start by spitting the cards in half. Remove the part with the writing and throw away (or recycle!) 2.        Choose what design you want from the picture of the card. Some cards have definite pictures with lines you can simply cut and follow and others may have options for more than one picture tag.   3.        Decide of what shape you want