Crafts - 8/34 - The Idea Room

DIY Christmas gift

Need a last minute DIY Christmas gift? Today you can print out this already made template for either soap or sanitizer bottles. This is one of my very favorite gifts to give. This gift is perfect for when you have to give out gifts to teachers, neighbors and friends. They are pretty easy to make and inexpensive. And I love that they are totally practical especially in this season of germs.

The other thing I love about these is that you can totally customize them in any way, shape or form and for any season.

Instructions:

1. Remove the label(s) from your bottle.

2. If there is any sticky residue left, you can easily remove it using some Goo Gone.

(I picked mine up from Home Depot)

3. If your bottle has an insert inside you can remove it with some tweezers.

4. Print out the Christmas Soap insert here.

5. Print it using a laser printer onto your transparency film.

If you do not have a laser printer you will need to print it out and then copy it onto your transparency film. If you do not do this your ink will end up running and falling off into the soap or the hand sanitizer. You can take it and have it printed at your local copy store as well.

6. Measure your bottle and cut your transparency so that it will fit into the bottle. Be sure to measure it on the top and bottom so that it sits where you would like it to…INSIDE THE BOTTLE!

7. Roll your transparency backwards and slide it into the top of the bottle. Push it into place so that it sits right against the front wall of the bottle. You can use the soap dispenser pump to push it into place.

Christmas Soap Bottles Download

Such an easy gift that people can really use. I love to make these up and give them to my kid’s teachers along with a gift card, but I use Hand Sanitizer instead of liquid Hand Soap. The teachers always seem to enjoy them as they go through a lot of hand sanitizer in their classrooms. Here are the links to the other versions of them that I have previously shared.

Thanksgiving Soap/Sanitizer Bottles

Monogrammed Hand Sanitizer

Hand in Hand Sanitizer

I also wanted to take a minute and wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Chanukah, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, Holiday, etc. Only 2 more sleeps till Christmas!! I wish all of you a happy and safe holiday with family, friends and loved ones! I feel so grateful everyday for this blog and for each of you who follow along! I am truly blessed!

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December 22, 2011 · Filed under: Christmas, Christmas Decor, Christmas Gifts, Crafts, Free Downloads, Gifts, Teacher Gifts, Tutorials Tagged with decorative soap bottle, DIY Christmas gift, hand sanitizer, handmade gifts, homemade gifts

How To Make Play Dough—Peppermint

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Sorry about not getting this up sooner. Things have been crazy around here with that wind storm. I just finally found some time to sit down and get this typed up. Have you ever wondered how to make Play Dough? It could not be simpler. I have shared how to make some fun Kool-Aid Flavored Play Dough and Pumpkin Spice Play Dough. Well, since it is Christmas time, I decided we needed to make some Peppermint Play Dough. So I fiddled with the recipe a bit and came up with a recipe for some yummy smelling Peppermint Play Dough.

Peppermint Play Dough Recipe

1 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 Tablespoon Peppermint Oil Extract
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup water

1. Mix flour, salt, & cream of tartar in a medium cooking pot.
2. Add water, peppermint extract and oil.
3. Stir over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes stirring constantly.
4. When mixture forms a ball in pot, remove.
5. Knead until smooth.
6. Play and explore with this fragrant, brightly colored dough as you would any play dough.
7. Put in a plastic bag and refrigerate to store.

A great way to entertain the kids during Christmas break. Or a great gift for a neighbor, classmates or friends. It is so easy to make and is the softest (non sticky) Play Dough recipe I have ever used. I like it better than the store bought stuff…plus…it smells amazing!! And if you are feeling extra festive…throw in a handful of red glitter to give it some fun sparkle!

And, in the spirit of giving, I have provided you with a free printable Peppermint Play Dough label for the tops of your jars or Tupperware containers to label it for a gift. The labels are 3 inch circles. If you need them smaller you can simply print the label smaller than 100% to get the size you need.

{Download Peppermint Play Dough Label}

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. I would love to hear from those of you who are planning on making some for yourself or who plan on gifting it. 19 more sleeps till Christmas…but who’s counting!!

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December 6, 2011 · Filed under: Activities, Christmas Gifts, Christmas Recipes, Crafts, Kids, Recipes, Winter Tagged with homemade play dough, How to make Play Do, Make Play Dough, Peppermint Play Do, Play do recipes, play dough

Thanksgiving Game—Turkey Feathers

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Entertaining the kids on Thanksgiving morning while preparing for your feast can be challenging. Why not let them entertain themselves with this fun Thanksgiving Game?

The premise of the game is fairly simple. Simple enough that even the youngest kids can play. Each player takes a turkey card and gets 6 clothes pins or…Turkey Feathers. Each player takes turns rolling once dice. Then you simply put a feather on the number that you rolled. If you roll a number you already have a feather on, then your turn is over. First person to get all the feathers on their turkey wins. Pretty simple right? As I am typing this, I realized it might be fun to actually write some of the things you are thankful for on the turkey feathers themselves to help your little ones to be thinking of them while they are playing the game. It would add a little more meaning to the game as well.

As far as making the game all you will need to do is paint some clothes pins in some fun colors. Each player will need 6 clothes pins, so depending on how many players you have (this game can have lots so it is perfect for big family get togethers). Then since I had some fun Martha Stewart Glitter Paint (which is sold exclusively at Michael’s), I painted a layer of glitter over the regular paint colors to give the Turkey Feathers some pizazz!

You will also need to print a card for each player. You can find the free download for the game board here:

Thanksgiving Game Turkey Feathers Printable

Then to make them sturdy, I glued them onto some thin cardboard (or you could use some chipboard) with some Mod Podge on the front and back. This will help them to last through multiple games with little hands and allow them to be strong enough to hold up the turkey feathers.

Hope you enjoy them. I would love to hear from you if you download the games and plan on using them for Thanksgiving this year. This helps me to gage the kind of projects I share with you and the things that you would maybe like to see more of!

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