Chantel Simmons » Crafts

Giving a gift card is not a cop-out.

Chantel — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:31:32 +0000

Not when you wrap it in a pretty way!

Admit it. You love gift cards! The ability to get cash in a tiny card that slips in your wallet and lets you shop guilt-free? If you feel badly giving gift cards, though, because you think they’re not thoughtful, I’ve thought a few ways to wrap your gift card with thoughtfulness and prettiness.

Here are my ideas, this week on SweetHome.

It’s a wrap

Chantel — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 02:45:05 +0000

I love Christmas gift wrap as much as the next girl. OK maybe more. Every year I buy rolls of wrap only to go into my storage locker and find brand new rolls that I bought last year, in the post-Christmas crazy sales, because I was excited to have new wrap for the following year.

And I may have a slight obsession with the gift wrap from Target, but it is so pretty and so inexpensive. It also comes in like Great Wall of China length, so unless you have 83 relatives to buy gifts for you will never finish a roll in one year.

Anyway, if you`re not like me and don`t have an obsession with gift wrap and have finished allyour shopping only to discover you`re out of gift wrap and cannot bear to enter another store and stand in another line, well then, I have the perfect solution on how to wrap your gifts so they look festive and pretty. And all you need is white paper.

Get all the easy-to-follow instructions right here.

Chop talk

Chantel — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:57:05 +0000

When I get press releases at work, they often come with some sort of accoutrement — and this week was no exception, when I received a bag full of smooth black rocks, I think, to illustrate that a new spa was now offering hot stone massages. Instead of simply tossing the stones in the trash (what else could I do with them — perform my own hot stone massage at home?), I decided to upcycle them into this project for my blog on SweetHome! For a sushi soiree or Thai-inspired dinner party, these stones are not only chopsticks rests, but unique place cards — and they’re reusable, too!

I’m not implying that you need to then make your own sushi. I don’t. (Oh big surprise, I know!). Instead, I spread the love by ordering from the cute little place across the street, which delivers. I’m so lazy! Whatever.

What You’ll Need

Smooth black rocks (available at a craft store or dollar store, in the floral department)
Letter stickers or rub-on transfers (available at a craft or dollar store)

Directions
1. Make sure stones are clean and dry.
2. Using a penny or pencil, apply rub-on transfer letter or letter sticker to stone in the name of each guest.
3. Position the letter slightly off-centre so it’s visible when you rest the chopsticks on top.
4. Place stone on a bamboo placemat and add an Asian-style napkin to complete the look.

Tip: To reuse stones, use an erase to remove the rub-on transfer or gently peel off sticker, being careful not to scratch the stone. Wash, dry, and it’s ready for your next party!

Make-it Session: Cupcake Magnet

Chantel — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:53:16 +0000

Because really, you can never have too many blogs… today on SweetHome I launched another blog called “Make-it Session”. Get it? Har har. For my debut post, I decided to make something oh-so-Sweetspotty: a cupcake magnet.

Each week I’ll be making or baking a craft you can give to a friend or keep for yourself. But I need more ideas! Let me know what you want me to make and I’ll put my glue-gun to the test!

Happy long weekend!

Burger Delights

Chantel — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:52:24 +0000

On the weekend we were invited to a family reunion picnic. Which meant one thing: potluck! I love a good outdoor potluck, as long as no one asks me to make something boring. Like meat. Or salad.

The organizers knew me too well, and told me to bring dessert.

But why bring one dessert when you can bring one for the adults and one for the kids…especially when you’re dying to bring this: Mini-Burgers!

Don’t you just want to eat them up? Me too.

I can’t take all the credit for concocting this dessert. A girl at my work gave me the idea a few weeks ago, and I’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity to make them ever since. It’s really, the easiest and most fun dessert ever, and takes about 5 minutes to make. Here’s how.

Collect the following ingredients:

1 box of Turtles

1 box of Nilla wafers

Maple syrup

3 tubes of icing: red, yellow and green

sesame seeds

Step 1: Line your buns (Nilla wafers) on a cookie sheet.

Step 2: Put dollop of icing on each bun, then stick your patty (Turtle) on top.

Step 3: Dress your patty with ketchup, mustard and relish (icing).

Step 4: Dip top bun of burger in maple syrup and then in sesame seeds.

Step 5: Place sesame bun on top of patty!

Step 6: Yum.