A Crafty Christmas: Decorative Letters

Decorating is on fleek! I'm pretty sure I used that phrase correctly. Right? I'm a middle school teacher, I don't actually know I just pretend I do. Regardless, decorating is the "in" thing to do now. Gone are the days where you have to own a large, swanky house in order to show off your home decor. The rise in popularity of blogs like Shabby Chic, discount stores like TJ MAXX and Marshall's, and countless shows on HGTV have finally gotten through to the public- "You, too, can have a beautiful place to live, no matter where that place is or it's size!"

One easy craft (even for kiddos!) to add some trendy pizzazz to any space are decorative letters. I'm making a few of these to give as gifts this Christmas, and personalizing the colors and accessories to fit the recipient.

Photos

Products
 
~ 3-D craft letters (this is a far less complicated craft if you use 2-D letters!)
~ colorful yarn or thick string
~ beads, buttons, jewels, or other adornments (check the button aisle)
~ matching felt (if using 2D letters, you probably don't need this!)
~ Hot glue gun

I purchased all of my supplies at Michael's and used a 40% off coupon, so the total cost was under $10 per letter. I got my hot glue gun a long time ago at JoAnn Fabrics; they have these low heat mini glue guns which cost $2.99 and the accompanying pack of gluesticks (~$5) has lasted me a few years! Definitely a bargain if you do not have a glue gun.





Process

1. Warm up the hot glue gun. Don't start until it is good and ready! Have more glue sticks on hand for easy resupply.

2. Start by wrapping the yarn around the letter; secure the end of the string with hot glue and let it cool before wrapping any more.
                 Pro tip: Designate one side to be the "back" and one the "front" of the letter; make sure the front is clean of any overlapping yarn or see-through spots where hot glue peeks through. If you stop to change yarns, for example, or if you're using a 3-D letter and have to stop to wrap around a different part of the letter (the middle of the A, in my case), you'll need a side where you can start and stop the yarn by gluing and it will look a little patchy. See below.

Front: All lines are pretty straight! No hot glue in sight!

Back: Note there are some wonky overlaps and
see-through spots. 

3. Wrap as tightly as you can. As you wrap, push up the already-wrapped yarn to make it a little tighter. This will prevent any see-through spots. As you go along, on the designated "back," put some hot glue every few rows of yarn, to keep it secure in case you need to stop and use the bathroom, rescue a pet or baby from eating something they shouldn't, or click "play next" on Netflix. Totally plausible situations there.
                 Pro tip: I found it helpful to make "strips" of hot glue on which to place the yarn, instead of blobs. I'd place the glue gun on the letter and drag it, so it left a strip of hot glue behind. Also, wait until your hot glue has cooled before continuing to wrap. No one likes burned fingers or hot glue tattoos.

There's a LOT of hot glue behind
that button, so I wrapped it in
felt and secured the felt with
 hot glue.

4. When you've finished wrapping, secure the end with more dots of hot glue. If you're using a 3-D letter, cut felt to fit any bottom/top spots, unless you want to get crazy and try to wrap that with yarn as well. Hot glue the felt in the center first, and then around the edges after you place it so that the felt strips are very secure.

5. Add something to either hang or rest the letter upon. No one likes a gift they have to do work in order to display! Give your giftee a way to hang it, if it's meant to be hung, or give it a little resting perch (dowel rod, for example) if it's meant to rest atop furniture or on a mantle. I cut a strip of felt and looped it, then glued it on the back of the letter so it can be easily hung.

5. Add your adornments and decorations. Make sure they are secure with the hot glue, gluing in multiple rounds if needed (let each round cool before continuing). If it sticks out from the letter, wrap some matching felt around it and secure it so that you don't see a pile of hot glue under the button (or whatever) or to help it stay in place. (See buttons secured with glue and felt to the right and below)

I placed this button on the side, and wrapped the edges like a rose
in order to hide the absolute mound of hot glue holding it to the side
of this 3D letter. Looks so much prettier now!

That's all! These are very simple, super easy to personalize, and this whole process took me maybe one episode of the West Wing. Possibly longer because I stopped to make popcorn, but that time doesn't really count against me. The point really is, under an hour to make this cute little letter!


Happy crafting! 

A Crafty Christmas: The Overview

I'm terrible at picking out presents. Terrible, I tell you! I always think that it's good fun to go and buy presents, but I am LAME at picking out good ones. Don't believe me? I'll put some embarrassing examples after the DIY list I'm sharing.

In the next few weeks I'll update this post to include some DIY gifts I'm doing that are a) not sugar scrubs, b) not junk food, and c) fairly simple to make (hopefully). I've got a few started, and one post ready to write, so here's the list.
(If the tutorial is another blog post, I'll link it as "tutorial." The project title will be my outcomes as they are completed.)

~ Birthday Calendars (Tutorial is already made but I'll link the new one I'm making)
~ Decorative Letters
~ Make-up Bags
~ Pencil Holder
~ Kid's Felt Wall Christmas Tree
~ Reversible Shoulder Bag
* edit: The strikethroughs are projects I had planned but just didn't have time for this year. Reminder: Start earlier next year!

And now, let me prove how embarrassingly bad I am at this gift giving game:

Example 1: When I was a kid, we used to pick names of our immediate family members at Christmas, and whoever you picked, you got a nice gift for them, so you didn't have to pick out something good for everyone. One year, when I was around 15, my giftee was my older brother. Slogan t-shirts were in, and claiming your inner video game nerd was starting to become popular, so I went to the nearest Hot Topic store and bought him a bunch of video game t-shirts I thought were cool. I specifically picked out this Mario shirt, with him hitting the mushroom (to grow, in case you don't know what I mean by "hitting the mushroom," obviously), and a caption that said "Size DOES matter." I thought it was a great Mario shirt! I was SO proud of choosing this shirt because you could dominate on the game when you were big Mario. I'm serious, I thought "Jackpot! I am going to win the gift giver of the year award for this." When he opened the shirt on Christmas day he kind of laughed and looked at my mom and was like "I'm NEVER going to wear this...who would even pick this out? I can't believe how awful this shirt is." I was horrified. Mortified. The innuendo of the slogan did not even occur to me in the slightest until he opened it. I had gotten my older brother a t-shirt with a penis joke adorning the front. I probably cried, I don't remember. It was terrible. (I most likely cried. Did I say that already?)

Example 2: One month into being married was my husband's birthday. I thought I was SO smart for having remembered something he liked and getting it for him. It was this Star Wars comic book. At least, that's how I thought of it. It's about what life would have been like for Luke and Leia if Darth Vader had been a real dad. I didn't know there were two of them, I just thought it was the one book. He had pointed it out months earlier and when I was thinking of what to get him, I thought, Oh! That book! What a great idea. He'll be so surprised that I remembered. The name of the book? "Darth Vader and Son." He opened it and looked at me- his face turned white- and he said "Uh..thanks. But you're not trying to tell me anything, right?" Once I realized that he thought I was trying to tell him I was pregnant, I was, again, mortified, and tried to defend it being a good gift still, even though I knew I had lost.

I know it's trendy to "DIY" your Christmas gifts, but making gifts has always been a much better option for me than choosing crappy gifts. It just feels better all around. Here's to the next several weeks being full of crafting while watching Christmas classics, or the West Wing (our current Monogamous Netflix relationship).

Polymathic gone social!

I'm branching out in the blog world and goin' social. I figure people don't always subscribe to updates from a blog, myself included. If they see an update on social media, however, they subscribe to those much more easily (myself included, again). So here it is, the link to my Polymathic Journey Facebook page! It's not much for now, but it's great to be able to post a quick pic related to the blog that I might not otherwise post to the blog or a witty update. There's really not any of those right now either. I'll get there...

Signature Baking

      One of the tasks that's kept me busy this fall was preparing an entry for the NC State Fair's Peanut Grower's Association baking contest. The theme this year was "Peanut Butter and Jelly" and the goal was to put a twist on the classic PB&J. I won't save it until the end, because it's not really a spoiler, but I didn't win anything at this contest. Apparently "everything submitted was amazing" and "there were a record number of entries this year" and also you could probably get a bit more creative with the PB&J idea (the winner made PB&J wontons...), however, these are my signature baking item. Every single time I've made them, people tell me how much they love them! So I wanted to share with the world, my PB&J cupcake recipe.

 The secret ingredient I use is my mom's homemade jam in the center.
There is nothin' like homemade jam. 

Sarah’s Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes

Yield/Servings: 15 cupcakes

Prep Time:15-20 mins  

Cook Time: 20-25 mins

Ingredients

Cupcakes: Filling:

1 ½ Cups unbleached, all-purpose flour      strawberry, blackberry, or grape jelly or jam           

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder     

¼ teaspoon baking soda Frosting:

¼ teaspoon salt  1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened (should not be “mushy” to the touch)     

¾ cup granulated sugar    ½ cup peanut butter

2 large eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg white      1 ½  pounds powdered sugar (+ ½ cup extra to thicken)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract       milk, as needed if frosting is too stiff

1 teaspoon vegetable oil    

⅓ cup almond milk

Directions

Cupcake Instructions:

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Place cupcake liners in muffin pans.

In a medium sized bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl or bowl of stand mixer, add butter and sugar and mix on medium speed until light and fluffy (using a paddle attachment if using stand mixer). On low speed, add the eggs and egg white, one at a time, until completely mixed. Add the vanilla extract and vegetable oil and mix. Continuing to mix on low speed, add the dry ingredients mixture a ½ cup scoop at a time until all is incorporated. Do not overmix. Add the milk and mix on medium speed for 20-30 seconds, or until just mixed and batter is smooth.

Scoop into cupcake liners, filling liners just over ½ full. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from the pan and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely.

Frosting Instructions:

While cupcakes are cooling, mix butter and peanut butter until creamed together smoothly. Add powdered sugar ½ cup at a time. Add the vanilla and mix. If frosting mixture is too thin, add more powdered sugar until desired texture is reached. It should be stiff, but not heavy or thick in texture. Add milk 1 Tablespoon at a time if texture is too thick to pipe.

Assembly:

Take each cupcake and, using a small knife, cut a cone shaped hole in the center of each cupcake. Drop a small amount of jelly/jam into each cupcake, filling the hole to be level with the cupcake top. Pipe frosting on top of cupcakes, making sure to cover the jelly securely (I used a large Star tip to pipe the frosting on the pictured cupcake, but round tips look good too!). Garnish with a small berry if desired.