DIY gifts and a Pinterest fail

I realized that it's been forever since I've written a post about crafting-even though I am still doing it because like I've mentioned, it's what keeps me sane!

I figured I'd write a little post about some of the Christmas gifts I made and of course I'll write about my Pinterest fail also!

First up, for both of my brothers, I wanted to give them a couple of their favorite beers, but that's so impersonal so I made them "etched" beer mugs also! I bought the etching paint from my local craft store:


Along with some stencils and this glue that helps the stencil stick so that you can reuse it over and over. Honestly, the stencils were a pain though, and so after I did their initials, instead of stenciling nicely the little phrases I wanted, I free handed it. Here's a picture of one of the monogrammed mugs:


And the final product...which cost less than $10 for each brother!
Gotta love finding those beer mugs at the dollar tree(the picture is crummy but I promise all four are "etched!"):


Another DIY gift was that aside from buying my sweet niece a new outfit, I made a bow to go with it. Felt+elastic+hot glue gun=cheap and cute accessory:


One night I was watching both my niece (2 months) and nephew (22 months) so that my brother and SIL could finish up their shopping, so I decided it was the perfect time to make those super cute salt dough ornaments that I had seen all over Pinterest. First things first, salt+flour+water and then baking and painting it...easiest thing ever. However, getting a newborn to not grasp the dough upon lifting her hand off it, nearly impossible! It took too many times to count, but thankfully I got a good one! My nephew was pretty easy to do, I just bribed him with M&Ms! ;)


I left a note in the bag so that it was from them and that I only "helped"....both my brother and SIL loved it!

And just for good measure, here's my wreath I made for our front door! I had all the supplies so all I did was spray paint the wreath, cover the letter with scrap book paper and then add the flowers. Granted this wasn't for Christmas but rather after, I still wanted to throw it in before I showed my Pinterest fail:


And finally, what was my Pinterest fail you ask? Well, I had seen and pinned probably more than once the brilliant idea of simply writing on dishes (plates, coffee mugs etc...) with a sharpie, baking at 350 for 30 mins and then BAM, permanent. I was so excited to do this for my in-laws because of a silly video that they quote all the time. I had keurig coffee for them and thought cute, funny mugs I made would be the perfect touch:


The thing is...water washed the marker away! I tried different temperatures and time using different directions that other craft blogs said would work but nothing worked! I think I tried 3 different ways and this is what would happen after I gently washed it with water:


So, if you see those silly pins going around Pinterest about simply using a sharpie and baking...don't believe it! You need a special paint pen!!!

Aaaand....that's a wrap for now! I've got other craft projects I've been working on (hello baby girl's nursery!!) but I'll stop for now because if not this would be a ridiculously long post.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.