Tutorial - Toilet Paper Roll Gift Box

Hold on a sec! This empty toilet paper roll that you just threw away? Take it out!

I love recycling and empty toilet paper rolls are a great source for me. You won't believe some of the amazing stuff that you can make from empty toilet paper rolls. Just search it on Pinterest and you'll be amazed, guaranteed!

So today I'm going to show you how to make an adorable gift box from empty toilet paper rolls.

You'll need - 

empty toilet paper rools (Duh!)

decorative paper (I used old newspapers, magazines and books)

gluestick

ribbon
scissors

Use the gluestick to glue the paper around the toilet paper roll.

Leave 0.5" (1.3 cm) of paper on each end.

Add some glue on the inside edge as well and fold the paper inside.

Now comes the tricky part -  press the toilet paper roll in the middle of one end to create a curved crease.

Repeat through all.

Insert your gift, then wrap with ribbon.

This is addictive, folks, I'm warning you. Once you make one, you feel the need to make hundreds more.

So enjoy and don't forget to show me your boxes on The Crafeteria FB page or tag me on Instagram (@thecrafeteria)!

Guest Post - The Paper Vine. DIY Key Chain Tutorial

Hello, The Crafeteria Readers! My name is Michelle, and I write a DIY/Memory Keeping Blog over at The Paper Vine. I'm excited to start the weekend by sharing a fun, quick, and easy project with you all! Today we are going to be creating a DIY Key Chain. The process is very simple and doesn't take much time at all - perfect for a rainy afternoon or last minute gift! Let's get to it, shall we?

 
Here are all the materials you will need: - Thin Chipboard - Mod Podge - Sponge Brush - Key Ring - Two Designs (2" square) - Scissors - 3 hole punch
1. Size, Cut, Decorate Decide the size of your key chain. A typical size is 2"x2", but you can make it any size you'd like. Measure and cut the chipboard and pictures or paper. I was making several, so I used pictures for some, bible verses for some, and decorative paper for the rest! Scrapbook paper as well as wrapping paper are great items to use! The pictures and verses didn't need any extra decoration. However, on the scrapbook paper I added a monogram in the middle.

 
 2. Glue Glue your design to the chipboard. After it dries, paint a thin layer of Mod Podge on top of your picture. Make sure the coat is even! This top layer acts as a protectant to the design, and helps the key chain to last longer. Let dry for 15 minutes. Use your second design and repeat the process on the back of the chipboard.


  3. Punch Holes Using a 3 hole punch, punch one hole along the top and in the center. Be careful to make sure your hole is far enough down that it doesn't get cut off by the edge of the chipboard!


4. Attach & Share Attach your key ring to your new key chain! Wasn't that easy? You now have an adorable, personalized key chain for you or for someone you love!


These Key Chains would make precious gifts for family members or even a perfect addition to care packages and gift baskets! If you're already thinking about Christmas, these would make great stocking stuffers! My favorite use is to add the key chain as a decoration to a gift package! Thanks for reading, and I've enjoy spending my Saturday morning with you! Michelle

Gifts for Rosh Hashana

I'm not a big fan of the Jewish holidays. Not very politically correct, I know, but I'm trying to be honest. The only Jewish holiday I really like is Purim, which is kind of like a Jewish Halloween. Other than that, well... Not for me. And I feel the same also about Rosh Hashana, Jewish New Year. The biggest downside of Rosh Hashana, by the way, is the fact that it usually comes a couple of weeks after school year starts. This year it was even worse - only a week after the kids went back to school, they had 4 days off AGAIN.
There are also 2 things I do like about Rosh Hashana - we traditionally give gifts to our loved ones and we also send or give greeting cards.

This year we celebrated Rosh Hashana Eve at my mother in law's. A couple of months ago she asked me to sew her a beach bag similar to the one I sewed for us 2 years ago.

That's our old beach bag

Well, Rosh Hashana seemed like a great timing to make one for her. So I did, but I added some extra features, like lining, inner pockets, water bottle pocket, key holder and Velcro. I love it so much, that it was really hard to give it away. Luckily it was given to a loving home :). And... I also prepared a tutorial for this bag, which you'll be able to enjoy very soon!

That's the new one, the one my mother-in-law got from us

My sister in law was also with us for the dinner, so I made her a necklace and a ring. These fabric necklaces are oh-so-trendy these days. They're cheap and easy to make, and although it takes some time to make one, they're so pretty and attractive, so I think it's worthwhile.

And another one... 

Soon you'll be able to find them also on my Etsy shop.

It was also hard to say goodbye to this ring that I made her...

To friends and other family members, I made honey cookies, then we packed and wrapped them nicely and added a Shana Tova (Happy Jewish New Year card) which is actually a refrigirator magnet. Did you know you can buy magnet "paper" and just print on it in your home printer?!?!? I love the 21th century!!!

Shana Tova! Happy Jewish New Year!

Pacifier Clip Tutorial

Here's another quick gift for a baby shower. It's perfect with the diaper cake I showed you before, but also as an extra gift or when you just need a small attention gift. To me the pacifier clip is one of the most useful items I could get. The first 18 months are full of pacifier dropping. I keep mine in my diaper bag and whenever the pacifier goes in the mouth, the clip comes out of the bag :)

If you have a sewing machine - good for you, it's a 10 minutes job (and you'll spend most of the time on choosing the right combination of ribbons). If you don't have access to a sewing machine, no worries, you can definitely sew it by hand.

Shall we begin?

What you need:Sewing machine (or not...)
Scissors
Ribbon - 2.5 cm (1") wide and 30 cm (12") long
Ribbon - 0.5 cm (1/4") wide and 25 cm (10") long
Clip
Thread

It's so hard to choose the combination of the ribbons!

Slip one end of the wide ribbon through the clip from front side of the clip to back side of it. Fold edge twice and secure with a pin.

Moving to the other end. Fold the narrow ribbon in half to form a loop. Fold the edge of the wide ribbon twice and insert narrow ribbon under.

While still holding the edge, move the loop over the fold and secure with a pin.

Sew on both sides. I like to either use a zigzag stitch or a double straight one.

That's it. Told you it was quick :)

Now make ten more, because it's so much fun and it's always good to have some at home, just in case...

My First (and probably last) Quilt

Three years ago, when a friend of mine was pregnant and about to give birth, I decided for some reason to sew her a quilt. Luckily (and surprisingly) I didn't choose one of those crazy quilts with trillions of little pieces, but a quite simple one. I quickly finished buying the fabric and even cutting all the squares, but then I had a few other projects I just had to make, and before I even finished 2 rows, her baby was already three months old and we bought another gift for her. Then I just left it aside for a few months.
Then another friend was about to give birth and I took the quilt out and decided to finish it and give it to her as a gift, and this time I almost finished sewing all the squares together. But somehow I didn't finish it, again, and again the baby was three months old and again we bought another gift and again I left the quilt aside and forgot about it.
Then, a year and a half ago, when I was pregnant with the baby, I saw it sitting there and decided to finish it this time, no matter what. Miraculously, I did. A month before giving birth it was already washed, waiting for the baby.
And I have a feeling that somewhere inside, I just knew that this quilt, my first quilt (and let's face it, most probably my last quilt as well), should stay with me.

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The Ultimate Baby Shower Gift - Diaper Cake (Tutorial)

I've already told you how much I like to give handmade gifts. When the gift is for a friend who gave birth, it's even better. My optional gifts list includes nursing cover, onesies "cupcake", hand-painted onesies and appliqued onsies. But the best, ultimate gift, I think, is a diaper cake. It's practical, pretty and has the Wow-Affect.
Two weeks ago another friend had given birth and I immediately began rolling diapers and making the cake. This time I also took photos of all steps, so now I can show you exactly how to do it.

You'll need -40-50 diapers (I use no.1. That's not the smallest, NB size, but one size bigger)
Round cardboard base
Empty paper towel roll
Pretty paper to cover the base
Your favorite kind of adhesive
Rubber bands
Small gifts - soap for the baby, ointments, clothes, blankies, toys etc.
Ribbons - paper or fabric

Begin by rolling the diaper

Secure with rubber band

Keep rolling until you think you have enough

Prepare the base - take a round cardboard and an empty paper towel roll

Attach them together using tape

If you want the base to look pretty, take a piece of nice paper and cut a hole, the size of the empty roll diameter,  in the middle

Glue it to the base

Place the rolled diapers standing on the base, around the empty roll. Do it slowly & carefully. When done,  secure with a rubber band.

Continue the same way on the second floor

Now it's time to add the little gifts in between

And move on to the third floor

To hide all the ugly rubber bands, we're going to use ribbons that we place around and then glue ends together

This time, to make it girly, I added lace

And a pink ribbon

I also like to add on top a "cupcake" made of an onesie, a burp cloth or a blankie. This time I used a light blankie.

Fold the blankie to make a narrow strip

You can add socks to be the cherry on top

Roll it all the way, beginning with the side with the socks. Secure with a rubber band

This time I also added a "lollipop" made of a hand painted onesie, rolled and taped to a baby teaspoon.

That's it. Just wrap it all nicely, add a home-baked pie, and go visit that new (exhausted...) momma!

And if you'd like to make something similar, I found this great tutorial for a diaper bouquet by Addi from Frugal Fanatic.

She has lots of other cute ideas, stop by her blog and say hi.

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And now for something completely different... I want to start featuring you and your creations once a week. So I created a new group board on Pinterest, and you all can join in and add your pins. You don't even need to have a blog. As long as you have a host for your photos (like Flickr or Picasaweb), you can jump in.
To join the board you'll need to do two things (Pinterest rules...):
(1) Follow me on Pinterest
(2) Comment here or on any of my pins on Pinterest, with your Pinterest name, so that I can send you an invite to join the board.

That's it for now, have a great weekend (what's left of it...), don't forget to join the fantastic water slide giveaway!

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