Stash Busting

Painted Gift Bags

Remember that time when you had nothing else to do two weeks before Christmas and spent hours lovingly painting gift wrap for your friends and family?

No?

Hmmm….well, remember that time you freaked out because you were leaving town and instead of doing your work you went into a manic surge of creative energy and stayed up half the night painting gift wrap for friends and family?

WELL I DO.

Truth is, I don’t even have all that many gifts to wrap, I’m stockpiling in general. I keep my paper shopping bags under the sink (in a paper sorter, fyi) and then every time I’m about to rinse off a paint brush, which is more often that you’d think, (occupational hazard), I swipe the leftover paint over a bag or two. Then months later, when inspiration strikes, there is already a base for adding more color and pattern.

Most of the bags started out as paper shopping bags, but a couple are actual gift bags from the dollars store. This is how they start out…

This is how they finish…

The one on the left is called Christmas Leopard. I’m shocked they aren’t selling this pattern by the bolt. Someone, please, let’s get on this! Holiday animal prints could really be a thing. I have it on good authority that Santa loves leopard print. Also, Santa loves glitter. So you know we had to hit that.

Here is the process in action. If you follow me on Instagram you might have seen this one already…

These @crateandbarrel shopping bags never saw it coming.

A video posted by Peaches (@aunt_peaches) on Dec 12, 2014 at 10:14am PST

I also made some boxes, but boxes are bad for traveling, so these will be staying home. ‘Til next year little boxes!

And the bonus is, THEY LOOKS REALZ GOOD UNDER MY FLAMINGO TREE.

Stay tuned. More on the flamingo front later!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

by PEACHES 6 Comments

Thank you to everyone who signed up for one of my Boxes O’ Fun. Between the comments, facebook and twitter, over 300 people signed up! Dang, I have to try spring cleaning more often!

Selected at random, the winners are….

QC Kelsey (comments)
Sunshine and Sippy Cups (facebook)
Sparrow Morgan (twitter)

AND GET THIS! One lovely reader, JJ, was kind enough to offer up three more boxes from her own personal stash. I can hardly tell you how this makes me smile 🙂

Mary Bennett (comments)
Jenni (comments, 4.26.11 5:15 pm)
Courtney C. (comments, 4.26.11 3:35 pm)

Jenni and Courtney, I am not able to track back to your email, so please contact me so I can put you in touch with JJ (emailauntpeaches@gmail.com). To everyone else who won, check your email, I’ll contact you today.

In the off chance I don’t hear from someone by May 8, I’ll choose an alternate at random.

Thank you to everyone who entered!

Stashbusting: Painted Party Favors

by PEACHES 6 Comments

Here is the thing: Usually, I am not big on party favors.

Usually, I said.

As a guest, I never know what to do with them. Do you leave them on the table? What do you do with the packaging? Is it rude to stuff it under your chair? Is it rude to leave it behind if it doesn’t fit in my purse? Is it rude to leave it behind because I don’t want to stuff a wet wine glass in my purse?

These are the things that keep me up at night. Can you tell?

As a host, I just don’t like a lot of crap on the table. Show me sturdy plates, solid cups and a spill-proof table cloth, and I’ll show you a good time. Show me cut crystal and tulle pom-poms, and I’ll show you a table full of uncomfortable guests who are wondering, Where the hell am I supposed to put this napkin ring?

Don’t get me wrong, a little foof can lend a lot of atmosphere, but if something takes up space on my table the table, I want it to be edible or disposable. I don’t want my guests to feel bad because they spill wine, or lose a napkin, or nudge a votive candle in the wrong direction and set the whole table on fire.

I speak from experience on that one. Don’t I, JOANNA?

None the less, sometimes it’s nice to leave a little something for your guests. It makes them feel special and appreciated. It also looks wicked cute on the plate! Just be sure they know it isn’t precious and for all you care, sit on it. Or for that matter, set it on fire. Right, JOANNA?

Enter: Painted Party Favors

This is another project born from the Box O’Fun, courtesy of Heather at Dollar Store Crafts and their April Stash busting project.

PS: Anyone interested in helping me unload my own stash, click here.

This project started with a pack of baby shower boxes from the dollar store. I have passed these at the dollar store and the party favor section a billion times and never picked them up. Until now!

Then I painted them and slapped on a little tissue. Nothing fancy. Just smoosh on some paint.

After it dries, trim off the inner foldy bits. Technical term, foldy bits, that is.

Then punch some holes, stuff it and fold it up. Donzo!

And look! You can thread a feather through the holes and give them cute little hats.

Don’t your party favors deserve feathers in their cap?

A friend suggested they would also make excellent packaging for jewelry and baubles and such –good thinking. I’ll bet there are a lot of nifty things to be done with these little boxes. Ideas anyone? Chime in! I want to revisit these bad boys sometime soon.

Who wants some stash?

by PEACHES 139 Comments

Snapshot of Heather’s box.

A couple weeks ago, I lucked out and received a box of arts/crafts goodies from Heather at Dollar Store Crafts. Then Lola decapitated one of the items inside and I have been on the hunt for headless crow crafts ever since.

I can only imagine these items came from Heather’s cupboards, waiting for a rainy day when they can come out and play.

I have rainy day cupboards too. In fact, I have a whole rainy day room.

Despite my own extensive goody stash, receiving Heather’s box got me thinking about new projects and ways to approach materials. With that in mind, it’s only right I pay it forward and send out some stash busting boxes of my own…

At the end of this week I’ll send out three boxes chalk full of creative materials. Some are new, some are old, some are vintage, some are funky. Not funky as in smelly, I mean funky as in, What am I supposed to make from plastic alligators?

These are the challenges of our times.

Want a box? Its easy. Leave comment below, on Twitter, or on Facebook, in regards to this post with the words “send me a box!”

Winners will be chosen at random, Sunday May 1st, 9pm CST.

Update 5/2/11: Winners have been chosen. Thank you for everyone who entered!

Can I really call people winners? You’re not so much winning as helping me.

You win stuff. I win cupboard space. We are both winners.

So, you are probably wondering what sort of goodies are in store. Good question. Let me take you on a tour…

Everyone has a shoebox with old beads and junky costume jewelry. Its not my fault that mine grew out of its shoebox ten years ago. Don’t look at me. It was hungry!

Seriously y’all, what am I going to do with seven shades of blue ric-rack trim? Help me.

You need mermaid rhinestones. I know you do.

A whole rainbow assortment of bias tape. And this is just the stuff still in packages!


I have three drawers laebled “TOYS. NOT FOR KIDS.” That says about about me.

There is a tupperware container the size of a small child filled with nothing but paper lanterns. Why?

Who buys rainbow sponges in Chinatown thinking “These will look great as gift wrap. I’ll take ten.”

Feathers. Gobs of them. Every size an color. Kitty not included.


Button, button, who got the button? I do!

Keep in mind, this is just the stuff I am tossing. One day I’ll get up the courage to take you on a tour of the rainy day room, aka, The Lion’s Den.

Until then, let me know if you are ineterested in getting abox of your own. No obligations or strings attached. I hope the recipients will pay it forward and make something, or maybe use this as an excsue to purge some stuff of their own, but I leave that part up to you.

Sign up by leaving a message below, on facebook, or on twitter with the words “send me a box.”

I’ll chose one “winner” from each source, so you can triple your chances and sign up in all three places if you really want a box that bad. No restrictions on location, just make sure you let me know you are interested before Sunday, May 1, 9pm CST.

Stashbusting: Pee Wee’s Playhouse Pendant Lamp

by PEACHES 10 Comments

There are few things in life that make me happier than Diet Coke–one of them is world peace, the other one is craft foam.

I can’t get enough of it.

No idea why they didn’t have this stuff when I was a kid, but it’s probably a good thing since I would have spent my childhood locked in a room making King Arthur style craft foam costumes for the cat.

You think I’m kidding.

Lucky for Lola, I am now a mature adult (questionable) and enough to resist making costumes for my cat (that’s a lie); however, I cannot resist buying the dollar packets of foam “fun shapes” whenever I see them. I have built up quite a collection. Looks like Heather has this same problem because the stash buster box she sent me was full of foam.

!!!JACKPOT!!!

Craft foam has a million different uses, but I had been thinking about using it to make a lamp for a friend’s munchkin for sometime now….and since I am an official participant (fancy!) in the Dollar Store Craft’s April stash busting challenge, no time like the present, right? Right.

Let’s get started.

Materials

2 plastic strawberry baskets (if your market no longer uses plastic baskets you can also purchase a construction site light cage at most hardware stores)
Foam shapes or scraps cut down to random 2” pieces (make it educational for the kids and play “Spot the Rhombus”)
Pipe cleaners
Plastic straws cut into 1-2” pieces
Chord light kit with 20watt light bulb (Totally optional. This bad boy looks good without the light too.)

Process is super simple but highly repetitive. Approach this the same way as you would string a necklace.

String = pipe cleaners.

Beads = foam shapes

Spacers = plastic straws

Try to use your largest shape at the bottom –this will eventually help to conceal the strawberry basket.

Make sure to leave the bottom 1” of the pipe cleaner exposed.

After loading 40 or so pipe cleaners, twist and attach the bottom inch on to the strawberry cage.

Complete by using a piece of pipe cleaner to hinge together the two cages. Ta Da, that’s it!

Sort of looks like the introduction to Pee Wee’s Playhouse, no?

Suppose it also sort of looks like a Hebrew Dinosaur explosion. With polka dots. And hearts.

Yeah, I think I’ll stick to calling it the Pee Wee’s Playhouse Pendant Lamp.

It’s easier that way.

Note: If you’re keen on doing some stash busting of your own, check back on Monday, April 25. I have something you might be interested in….

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