Swaps & Exchanges

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you guys had a fun Saturday and Sunday. This week on blah to Tada! we'll look at some cute gift ideas that won't break the bank, are earth-friendly and always come with a personal signature.

Let me begin the week by telling you about a package I sent to a lady I have never met. Why on earth did I do that and if I didn't know her, how would the gift be "personal", you ask? Well, I joined a SWAP hosted by the Gypsy Mermaid. A SWAP is exactly that: goodies are swapped with an assigned partner. The participants in this swap have something in common -- we are all crafters & bloggers. The items swapped can be old and new, don't necessarily fit a budget but follow a given theme. Our theme: "pink and green".

Here's what I sent to my partner Becky:

A "green" box

Remember this box? I talked about it two Fridays ago where I recycled an old but sturdy mailing box by turning it inside out. It's a good way to reuse a box and save some bucks. I filled it was festive paper and the gifts I picked for Becky.

A personalized note

Even if we never met, we got acquainted thorugh e-mail exchanges and checking out each other's blogs. A little research is key to personalize presents. Her blog's name is Heart in my Hand so I made her this card and wrote her a note inside.

Pink and Green snacks

There's a Japanese supermarket near where I live. I picked up these strawberry-filled cookies for afternoon snacking and Genmai-cha green tea to keep her in the "pink" of health.

Be green and plant a tree today

More green things in the form of a pop-up vase for freshly-picked flowers and little pots containing basil seeds and flower seeds...just add water and watch them grow. This will be an exciting spring project!

An egg-stra special surprise

I painted an empty egg carton and decorated it with pink and green stick-on flowers. Here's what I put inside:

Pink and green materials for crafting

Buttons and beads

Sequins, stickers and patches

Reuse & reduce for a greener earth

I also included a bag made from recycled plastic that she can use for storing her current craft projects that can be taken from room to room or when traveling. There's also a tumbler for her morning coffee or tea. It has a detachable inner sleeve which she can make her own by adding family photos.

What fun I had putting this together and what's more Becky got the package and she said I "nailed it"!

Tomorrow, I'll show you what she sent me!

A Special Souvenir

Yay, it's Friday! We end the week with a final post on soda cans that went from blah to Tada!

This week I showed you how other people, specifically local folk from South Africa, blah to Tada! I think it's awesome to make (and receive) treasure from trash! During this same trip in Durban, South Africa, I met a fellow named Sylvester. He was peddling his wares to gift shops. He was like Santa Claus carrying a big sack of products, all made from soda cans. I chatted him up and through our conversation, I discovered the fire of his entrepreneurial spirit. He didn't have a job, he didn't have much and to build a better future for himself, he decided to be a businessman. He did everything himself -- sourcing his materials, crafting, marketing and door-to-door sales. Sylvester was kind enough to show me how he made his products:

He starts with collecting soda cans from garbage bins. The cans are grouped together by brand, cleaned and are cut using a pair of scissors (a precise skill!).

With the top & bottom off, the soda can now looks like a sheet. These are measured and cut using a pattern. Then holes are drilled on the edges of the can.

The can is weaved onto leather using a cord that looks like thin cable wires (the cord is inserted into the holes). The leather strengthens the can, makes it more pliable and covers the sharp edges. The different parts (ex. strap for a bag) are attached together using more cord. Sylvester tightly weaves the parts together, I was sure it was going to be strong & sturdy.

Sylvester showing off his handiwork.

Tada! A bag, a cap and visors all made from soda cans!

See that bag on the left made of Coca Cola cans? I bought this from him as my souvenir from South Africa. He even signed the inner flap! We said goodbye, both happy.

It's been three years since we met and I truly hope his business has grown!

Have a fantastic Tada! weekend everyone!

Get Your Motor Running

I hope you were successful in doing a little something for Mother Earth yesterday. Walking instead of taking the car, using canvas bags for shopping trips, taking your own reusable drinking bottle and my favorite -- recycling, are simple steps that spell a big difference.

Today, soda cans are our blah:

And look at the Tada! I found these at a gift shop called Art Africa in South Africa. These were made by a cooperative specializing in recycled art. I'm at awe with the construction and creativity. Plus the fact that the locals are provided with a source of income, a venue for self expression and they get to save the earth, too! Triple Tada!:

Happy Earth Day!

It's Earth Day today! Why not do a little something for Mother Earth? Reuse, reduce, recycle...there are really a lot of things that we can do. Start today then make it a daily habit and soon enough we can make every day, Earth Day.

In this blog, we love to recycle -- turning blahs into Tadas! And this week, we're putting the spotlight on craftspeople from South Africa. Just look at how they turned soda cans like these from blah...

...into Tada!:

These are excess sheets of aluminum packaging, the stage before they're turned into soda cans. Instead of discarding them, local cooperatives collected them and used them as material for boxes! The edges and insides of the boxes are lined with leather so no sharp edges are exposed. Then they're bound together with string. Such simple materials resulting in a useful box to store anything and everything: a secret stash for snacks, a box for soup & gravy packets or a container for crafting materials. Totally Tada!!!

Cans to Cars

This week's blah are these colorful soda cans and I must say that the artwork graphic designers put on them is really attractive. When I was younger, I had a phase of collecting soda cans because they were so pretty and commemorative cans (ex. Coke Christmas) make good collectibles, too. So imagine the thrill I felt when I saw these at Art Africa (a little shop in South Africa):

An artist turned cans into toy cars! They're decorative but little hands can play with them, too. The sharp edges have been buffed smooth and the wheels really turn. Could this be the car of the future?

See you tomorrow for another cool idea!

Soda Cans

Happy Monday Everyone! We were blessed with very nice weather over the weekend and that was a real Tada! for me! I hope each of you had your own Tada! moment, too.

This week, I'm featuring cans again. There are just too many cans out there and it's good to know how we can make them more useful. Rather than doing the crafting myself, I'll show how how other people turn this blah into a Tada!:

Tada! Soda cans turned into mirror frames.
I found these at Art Africa, a cute gift shop in Durban, South Africa.
They're a little bit bohemian, a little bit quirky, but a lot of fun!

Packages and Parcels

Thank God it's Friday! This week we saw the transformation of different boxes from boring blah to terrific Tada!. Today is no exception. I'll recycle these packaging boxes culled from stuff ordered on-line or enclosed with a gift from across the world.

I'll use them for some packages I need to mail in the next couple of weeks (ex. birthdays, swap parties & Mother's Day). This will save me from buying a new box & prevent me from adding to the trash pile. But of course, I had to pick the good & sturdy-looking ones.

I dismantled the box and removed any old tape. Then I turned it inside-out so that the "ugly" side is inside. The loose flaps, I attached with a glue gun.

As a final step, I filled the box with festive paper and soon I'll be stuffing it with goodies for some very special people ('Ill share with you what I put inside in a future post).

The "new" box is clean & neat outside and imagine the look on the recipient's face when rummaging through this happy pile of confetti!

Happy weekend folks! May you receive lots of Tada! surprises!

Gather Ye Ribbons

Our blah to Tada! project today is related to yesterday's aluminum-foil-box-turned-gift-wrap-organizer. We're waving our magic wand on this box that once contained resealable freezer bags. But before I reveal the Tada!, let me show you how I came up with this idea...

I have ribbons like these, both brand new and recycled from old gift boxes, that I keep handy for birthday presents. I just stuff them in a plastic bag but they end up getting crushed wherever I store it. Such a blah! How do you revive a droopy ribbon anyway? So I thought it was better to keep them in a sturdier container...

Tada! By wrapping the box with an old map (you can use gift wrap or old magazine pages) and cutting off the box top, it now holds ribbons, keeping their shape! Also, it's easy to stash the box in a drawer or closet shelf.

Gift Wrapper Organizer

Does this ever happen to you: when wrapping gifts, small sheets of gift wrap are left over? What do you do? You probably can guess by now that I don't throw mine away. I save them for a smaller gift I need to wrap in the future. So I wind them around the giant roll it came from and tape the end to keep it from unfurling. But one day, an idea came to me when I saw this:

A box of aluminum foil...

Once it's empty, time to turn it into a Tada!

Give it a little make-over...

Using scissors, glue & an old map...

Measure the panels of the box & cut corresponding strips from the map.
Apply the strips to the box with glue.

Roll the loose sheets of gift wrap around the cardboard roll.
A little tip: attach the inner end of the gift wrap to the cardboard roll with some tape.

Tada! A nifty way to organize smaller sheets of gift wrap!
The sharp metal edge helps cut the wrapper to your preferred size
without the need for scissors.

Now, wrapping smaller packages will be so much easier!

See you tomorrow for another Tada! idea.

Gift Boxes

I'm sure you have a lot of boxes in your pantry, from cereal, to granola bars to pasta. Before you roll out the red carpet towards the recycling bin for them, maybe you can consider a blah to Tada! suggestion? It's easy, I promise!

Step 1: Cut out the box tops.
Step 2: Cover the box with gift wrap.
Neatly tuck the edges & secure with glue.
Step 3: Punch holes on the sides of the box; insert a ribbon that
will work as a handle.
Step 4: Put a gift inside the box, conceal with colorful tissue wrap
& attach a tag!

Tada! Effortless, instant gift-wrap!

Imagine how much money you'll save on pre-made boxes and gift bags
just by recycling boxes from your kitchen cupboard.

See you again tomorrow!

A Box-full of Ideas

It's a brand new week and I certainly hope you had a good Easter!
This week we'll be transforming boxes in all shapes and sizes
from blah to Tada!

I'm a big fan of tea. It calms, soothes and is packed with health benefits. I like to try different brands but I'm particularly fond of Yogi Tea. Different blends, an inspiring quote attached to the string and beautiful packaging are the reasons why. C'mon, even the inside of the box is decorated:

Inspired by the beautiful art of Mehendi.

Turn the box inside out -- this is what you've got!

Here's an idea for a wedding: fill several of these boxes with rose petals. Distribute them to guests for them to shower the bride & groom when they leave the ceremony or as they enter the reception site!

See you tomorrow for another blah to Tada! idea.