Ode to Stamps!

Geek Confession: I love Postage Stamps. When I was in fifth grade I started collecting them. My Dad collects stamps too and started me out with a children's stamp collecting book. He taught me the basics about how to soak them to remove the paper envelope. I love stamps so naturally I strike up conversations about them at Pink Olive. I mainly struck up a conversation about these stamps:

 These are the exact stamps I would've LOVED to have used for my wedding! I thought about using Vintage Postage Stamps but didn't know where to get them (Psst-Etsy). Instead I used many current stamps from the Post Office... and they were beautiful.

  I'm stocking up on the Herb stamps above and will probably use them on my holiday postcards (since there isn't a .29 cent holiday stamp).  Here are a few more current stamps I'm loving!

Anytime Stamp

 
Stamps for Save the Dates or Wedding Invitations:

Stamps for Holiday Cards:

All stamps and Images belong to the USPS https://www.usps.com/

PS. USPS....I could use a Holiday Post Card Stamp..for next year...

Bea's Christmas Gift

I had a little help making Bea's Christmas gift back in November. And I have to say that crafting with loved ones and friends is much more fun than crafting alone!

I knew that she was going to send out Holiday Cards to a long list of friends and family...so I made her return address labels. I didn't post because they have Bea's address on them, but I will tell you how I made them. I used Avery Return Address Labels to post Bea's address on each label. I centered her address all the way to the left, leaving room for decoration. We stamped her initials on some, Santa on others and we also used Christmas stickers! They turned out really cute (you'll have to trust me).

As a bonus, I used larger Avery labels to make Book Plates! Printed them up with this:

And them stamped them to look like this:

Spoiler Alert: DIY Candles

Spoiler Alert: I'm giving these out to a couple people tomorrow! They aren't involved in the Secret Santa and I'm pretty sure they don't follow Cozy Rustic... so, it is safe to post....


About a year ago, I spied (with my little crafty eyes) tea cup candles in Martha Stewart Living and all over crafting blogs. They are so adorable! I mainly saw them with cups minus a saucer... and really...isn't it usually the tea cup that breaks first??? Anyway, as you may or may not know... I'm kinda crazy about recycling. So this craft seemed amazing to me! Because you could use leftover wax from old candles around the house and you use other things besides tea cups.. let your imagination run wild!

I did some research about the most Eco and easy ways to make candles. Soy Wax was the best way to go. This way there is no paraffin involved and the bees can take a break! The large box of wax was not that cheap... but I think it will make a lot of candles! And there are directions on the box!

What you'll need:

Two vintage bowls with saucers from Fishs Eddy
Wicks
Soy Wax

Bunny's Simplified Directions:

1) Clean bowls and let dry.

2) Fill the bowl with wax. Put in the microwave. Test in 30 Sec increments.

I eliminated pouring the wax into the bowls b/c the bowls were microwave safe. I had to guess about how much wax but I added more when I was off. It melted in my microwave in 1-2 mins.


3) Insert the wick right away.

Normally, you would pour in the wax to a container with the wick already in the container. But this was so easy and there were no air bubbles, wells or holes in the middle of the candle.

4) Let dry. This will take an hour or two.

5) Cut wick to desired length.

I recommend browsing other directions online or the box of wax. The wax should reach a certain temperature but my thermometer broke mid-craft so I didn't pay attention to temp at all. Hopefully... that doesn't make a difference!

Cork Wreath

Bunny here. Remember when Bea made that adorable cork wreath? Well, we both put the word out looking for corks and I got a bunch from Madame Marble... who then sent me an amazing picture of a cork wreath at Curbly. Thus I found Curbly (amazing blog!) and the inspiration to make this wreath! The tutorial on Curbly doesn't direct you to make the wreath they have pictured. So, I googled directions and found some amazing directions from Lolly Chops.

Bunny Tip 1: I highly recommend reading ALL the directions before you start! She has a tip at the end about saving corks with pretty designs for the last layer! And I wish I had done this.. but I made mine as I got corks in batches.

Bunny Tip 2: It does use a lot of glue in the glue gun... so make sure you are stocked up!

I gifted my wreath to Madame Marble for Christmas yesterday! I gave a gold ribbon with the wreath for hanging or decorating. And I can't wait to see where she hangs it in her home! The wreath drew some attention from shoppers in Despana's where we had lunch! And it seems impressive.. like it took a long time to make...but it didn't take long... and it was fun!

This wreath could not have been made without the generous cork donations of Bea, Madame Marble, Bea's bartender friend, AND Scott and Sarah.... I met Scott and Sarah at a party and after hearing about my wreath came back to the party with a bag of corks! Luckily, they lived down the hall! So, thank you!

Paper Wreath! A Monday Share

So, Bea and I are kind of obsessed with crafting blogs lately! And it is nice to see what others are making, up-cycling and crafting. I've been loving the cork wreath that Bea made and had been wanting to make a wreath for myself. And I sure did get inspired to make this wreath!

I first saw this wreath over at Curbly, which led me to the directions by Jeffery Rudell over at Craft Stylish where you can see all the directions. I followed them and made a wreath! My color scheme is very bright and I love it! I think it will work for Christmas and New Years and all winter long. I was tempted to hang it inside my apartment so I can look at while I'm home...but now I have something bright to see when I come home.

A couple tips:

1) I used scrap booking paper and come of it didn't hold up to well to the glue gun. So, heavier paper or painting tiles are good ideas. Though I was able to cover up the areas quite nicely with other circles.

2) I like to keep my crafts as Eco as possible. So, i used a bunch of scraps from my scrap booking paper for the circles. I was reluctant to buy a Styrofoam form... but I caved in and did. I bought a "weathered" green form at Michael's that was sturdier and less expensive than the white. And I plan to reuse it over and over again!


3) It got a little tricky to keep all the circles lined up to be the same length because they start to bend... I would just take breaks and wait for the circles to dry. Then I would bend all the circles so they would be flat! I think thicker paper would help with this too. Mine was thick enough that I could bend it pack into place and crease it so it wouldn't bend again.

Here is the finished product before I hung it on my door with red yarn!

Weekend Fun.

As I mentioned in Sunday's post. I got a tad bit carried away this weekend with projects. Here are a few photos of my crafty fun. I'll put up a delicious gingerbread recipe later this week and add a photo of the stockings hung with care once their loops have been added and they are up and ready for Santa. And speaking of Santa, somebody met him this weekend!!

How lovely are your branches!

We put up our tree too! Here is a picture of my Dear Fiance carrying our tree home that we bought off the street in Queens. It is from a farm on the West Coast.

This is my third New York City Tree and it always feels like something out of When Harry Met Sally. We did check out the trees outside our supermarket and at the Home Depot. The Home Depot's Christmas tree selection is the saddest thing.... It was filled with sad corralled trees, tons of families with small children, the scary sounds of chainsaws and a woman literally grabbing a tree away from others....

Thankfully, we hightailed it out of there! And found this wonderful little tree. We put it up on a table and we decorated it! I'm hoping to mix in a few of my family ornaments with my Dear Fiance's family ornaments next year.

Merry Christmas!

O Christmas Tree

Happy Holidays, Cozy Rustic-ers!

I'm happy to say I made it past Thanksgiving before putting up the tree this year, and I wanted to share said tree with you. We went with silver and candy canes this year to keep it simple, and our real tree was also a modest height. Based on comparing it with myself, I'd say 5'6". Anyway, Gregory, as I've been calling him, is all set up and sparkly, and I've tossed in a few photos of for you.

Merry Christmas,

Bea

Gregory prior to being unwrapped.
The tree stand, that for some reason was next to impossible to construct. I thought I would go on a killing spree.
Our tree all finished with silver balls, mirrored balls, clear lights, sliver tinsel, and classic candy canes.

The feller with the tree. You can see me in the window taking the photo. And our other family member, Aloe Ginsberg is sitting on the sill.

Bunny's Christmas Gift - A notebook of her own

This year, since we're getting into crafting, Bunny and I decided to make each other our gifts. I wanted to give her something practical, since she is planning her wedding for this summer, but I also wanted her gift to be attractive. Again, I wanted it to be budget friendly, too. I'm not ashamed to state on the blog that I was cheap with gifts this year. Bunny is well-aware that I'm frugal, and I think she's a wise enough gal to bee cool with it.

I wound up "making" Bunny a notebook for collecting thoughts and ideas relevant to her wedding and life in general, a journal, I suppose. Here's what I did.

Start with your basic run of the mill marble composition journal. They're around $1.50 pretty much everywhere, and are bound prettily (though you can't easily tear out the papers should you choose to do so).

Gather some beautiful paper. My go to store for this is Paper Presentation on W. 18th St in Manhattan.

Mod Podge. 'Nuff said.

Scissors.

I folded a piece of paper over the front and back covers of the notebook, covering about 2/3's of the outer surface. Then I Mod Podged this down. I cut a length of a different paper to cover the remaining 1/3 of the outer cover and Mod Podged it as well, being sure the edges met up evenly and that I was still able to open and close the notebook.

I found these awesome envelopes at Paper Presentation as well, and I placed one on the inside cover in the front and in the back, so Bunny can store coupons or tear-outs from magazines that she finds inspiring.

Finally, I found a nice letter "G" (you didn't really think her name was Bunny, did you?) in an old issue of Self and slapped it onto the cover.

I ran some embroidery floss around the loop ties of the front and back envelopes (see photos) so it wrapped around the whole cover of the notebook, and I slipped in a purple pen for notetaking.

Ta dah!

-Bea

Wine-ter Wonderland

Hello, Cozy Rustic-ers!

It's the holidays, the greatest DIY time of the year, so of course I needed to make a wreath for my door! I reviewed different options (paper, coffee filters, yarn) and I opted for corks, so I've had friends save any corks from their libations for the past month, and I finally saved up enough to create my wreath.

Like most good things, this started with a drill. I put on my tiniest bit and drilled little holes in the tops and bottoms of all my corks. Just a note, I needed to go back and re-drill with the next size up bit, so plan ahead!

See the tiny hole? It was just a itsy bit too tiny.

So here's what happened next. I ran floral wire through the top holes of all my corks. Then I tied the wire in the middle and ran another wire through the bottom holes of all my corks. The two wires help everything stay in shape better, though it was still pretty wobbly.

This is what it looks like now, but it will hang on my door once it has a big red bow on it.

Cheers!

Bea

Martha Stewart Craft Fair Tomorrow!

Advent

Happy December 1st, everyone! To celebrate the countdown to Christmas, let me share my homemade advent calendar with you all! Each day has a surprise treat or activity for me and the feller to enjoy together. Some naughty, some nice, as these things go. Enjoy!