2011 Christmas Neighbor Gifts

For my neighbor gifts this year, I decided to do a Christmas Tree Ornament.  Since most of my friends and neighbors are in the military, or for one reason or another, move every couple of years, I decided to make an ornament that would represent their life in 2011.  And what better way to do that, than to show their home?  It's the place they build a family and memories and I'm hoping that a few years down the road, when they're living somewhere else, they will look at this ornament and it will bring back great memories of the Christmas they spent in this particular home.  

First I started with a small frame.  I went to the dollar store and found these cute little frames in a two pack with another frame that is 4x6 for only a buck.  (now I just need to think of a project that uses 4x6 frames).  I went with the silver color, because I wanted to add some glittery bling to it.  

I removed the glass and backing and placed the empty frames in a box.  Then sprayed the frames, a few at a time, with spray adhesive.  Working quickly, I removed them from the box and dusted them with glitter.  You could also use other glue, I just didn't want to have to paint the glue on.  Trying to make life a little easier during this crazy time of year.

 I bought the glitter at Michaels.  They have a lot to choose from, but I decided to go with the iridescent color.  Make sure it's superfine glitter.

To make the ornament hanger, I just used green wire and hot glue.  

Now for the crazy part.  You have to take pictures of your friends houses, and let me tell you, that was an adventure!  I decided to go with my small canon powershot camera for two reasons.  First of all, it has a wider angle than the lens on my nice SLR.  And second, I could be much more inconspicuous!  Just park on the other side of the road and roll the window down.  Although I did have a few people stare at me on some of the shots, and even had to move trash cans for one of them.  But you do what you gotta do, right? 

So in this example, this is the picture of one of the houses.  This shot is right out of the camera, after I downloaded it.  

But I wanted to add the words, "Home Sweet Home" and their address.  I did that by doing a few actions in Photoshop.  First I cropped the picture to 2.75 in wide by 2.2 inches high.  Then I changed it to black and white.  Now, to speed things up a bit, for the rest of the changes I recorded my own action, so I could do the same steps on multiple pictures and save myself some time.  I started by going to the actions menu and clicking on "create new action".  I called it "Ornament".  Then I pushed record and did the follow steps:  First I created a new solid color layer in WHITE on top of the background picture, and attached a mask to it.  Then I did a text layer with the words Home Sweet Home in red.  And finally did another text layer that says their address with a different font in green.  Then I stop recording.  

The solid color of white helps to gradually change the bottom of the picture to white, so that you can read the words better (and also mask the ugly street).  So what you have to do is click on the mask, get a brush (that is big at 100% opacity), then make sure the foreground color is black.  When you paint over the house with the brush, you will reveal the house.  If it doesn't work, just push the "X" key on your keyboard to switch the background/ foreground color.  If you show too much of the street, just click X again and repaint it white.  Super easy.  Then click on the test layers and get the move tool to move the words to a location that you like.  Here's what it looks like when it's finished.

Finally I need to get it ready to print.  To do that I go to "File" "New" and make a new picture that is 4 inches wide and 6 inches tall.  I move the window over so I can see both my new document and the picture I just touched up on the screen at the same time.  Then I get the "move" tool and drag the picture over to the new document.  Once in there I make sure the dimensions are right.  If they aren't, I go to Edit, Transform, Scale and adjust the size.  For some reason, they don't always stay the correct size when you move them to the new document.  So keep that in mind.  You can fit two pictures onto one 4x6 picture.  But for my example, I only have one on it.  Save the new document and send it to Costco to print.  

 This is how it looked when I got it back from the printers.  This is just a regular 4x6 picture.

 Time to assemble.  I trim it down to size and put a small piece of tape on the back so it won't shift in the frame.

 Here's the final ornament.  Of course the gift wouldn't be complete without attaching a wonderful poem to the ornament.

 This is the poem I used.

HOME

Home is the place your heart resides

Home is the place that you decide

Home is the womb that holds the soul

Home is the place where one is whole

Home is the glow you hold in your eye

Home is the emotion that makes you cry

Home is safe and a place of peace

Home is where all strivings cease

Home is protective against the others

Home is full of sisters and brothers

Home is where you find your rest

Home is where you feel your best

Home is a memory that follows your being

Home is a dream for those agreeing

Home is the place where reserves fall

Home is the place you yearn to call

Home is where the family meets

Home is a place of restful retreats

Home is the place you know you’ll be heard

Home is the place where nothing blurs

Home is all these wonderful things

Home is the place you develop wings

Home is the place that you’ll find one day

Home is the place where your heart will stay

I printed it on regular paper and rolled it up with a ribbon around it.  Then put everything in a cellophane bag with a pretty ribbon.  I think it turned out cute and my friends really like it.  Merry Christmas!!!

2010 Christmas Neighbor Gifts

For our Neighbor Gifts this year, I took some inspiration from the American Girl Cafe in Los Angeles, CA.  I have taken my daughter there twice and we have so much fun, partly because they have a small box on the table, filled questions on tiny pieces of paper.  We take turns asking each other the questions and I'm always surprised by how much you can learn about one another.  So I came up with my own version of this fun dinnertime activity.

Conversation Starters. 



























I start with these awesome spice jars from IKEA.  A set of three costs $5.00.  Not bad.

Here's the link.  IKEA Spice Tins
I love that they have a huge magnet on the back, so you can store it on the fridge.  AWESOME!

Next I got this large pad of 12 x 12 scrapbook CARDSTOCK from JoAnns when it was on sale for $10.00.  48 papers (24 different papers - 2 of each sheet).  Each Conversation Starter is made up of 2 sheets of 12x12 paper, so this whole book will make 24 gifts. - That's only about $0.42 per gift.

 So I picked the paper with the black dots.

 I cut the papers in half, so I have four 12 x 6 papers.

I made the document with all the questions in word.  I basically set up the paper size as a 12 x 6, then just made a table (2 columns, 11 rows) and plugged in the questions.  I made sure the lines of the table where a thin line in light gray color, so you can hardly see them.  My questions are listed below.

I ran them through the printer.

 I cut the extra paper off the top and bottom.

 Then I cut them in half.

 You should now have a neat stack of 8 papers.  This is when I would throw them in a bag and take them with me when I'm carpooling the kids.  I could cut them out on my lap while I'm waiting in the car, and tie them up with a rubber band until I get home.

 For the lid, I pull the paper out of the lid and use it as a template to trace on coordinating scrapbook paper.  This is a picture of my 8 year old daughter helping me.

 Then I attached a label (that I cut out with my Cricut) to the top circle and put it in the lid.

 To finish it off, we tied it up in cellophane and made a christmas card tag with instructions.  Total cost is just over $2.00.  Super inexpensive and so much fun.

 Good fun (Mia taking my picture)

Here are the questions (if I know how to attach a Word document to this post, I would do it).

What’s the nicest thing anyone ever said to you or did for you?	When was the last time you laughed so hard, your stomach hurt?  What was so funny?
If you won airline tickets for your entire family to go anywhere in the world, where would you go?	What was the scariest moment in your life?  What did you do to overcome your fear?
If you could give an award – for anything you choose – to the person on your left, what would it be?	If you could give your parent any gift in the world, what would it be?
What’s the best April Fool’s joke you’ve ever seen or heard about?	What is the best movie you saw in the last year?
Name your favorite piece of clothing in the whole world – the item that makes you feel cozy and happy when you put it on.	Do you have any good luck charms?  If so, what are they?  Do you think they really work?
Name a time when you felt very lucky to be YOU.	Name all the things that are under your bed right now.
Imagine you’re filling a treasure chest with your most precious keepsakes.  What three things would you put inside?  Where would you bury the treasure chest?	What’s the best Halloween costume you’ve ever seen?
Imagine you have the gift of being able to talk to animals.  What animal would you most like to talk with, and what would you say?	Imagine you’re on a decorating show and the host says that you can do anything you want to your room.  Name the three biggest changes you would make.
Imagine you’re going to live on an island for a whole year.  What would you bring?  What celebrity would you most like to have come with you?	Say your first and last names spelled backwards.  For the next five minutes, try to use only people’s backward names, K.O.?
If you could have dinner with someone famous, who would it be?  Where would you go?	Do you know the story about the day you were born?  Tell it.
If you had to eat only one type of food for a week, what food would you eat?	Of all the schoolteachers you’ve had over the years, who was your favorite?  Why?
Why did your parents choose your name?	Name one thing you can do that others really admire.
Finish this sentence:  “I really love my _____________.”	Make up a family motto or cheer that captures your family’s spirit.
If you could live during any time period in history, which era would you choose?	What is /was your favorite toy growing up?
What’s the last book you read for fun?  How did you like it?  Why?	What is your most memorable holiday?
Do you like shopping?  What are your 3 favorite stores?	Time for dessert!  What’s your all-time favorite dessert?
What color do you think reflects you best?  Why?	When are you at your best – early in the morning, anytime in the afternoon, or late at night?
What is your favorite animal?  Why?	Imagine you’re the star of the sequel to the movie Freaky Friday!  What’s a day like in the life of your Mom or Dad (daughter or son)?
Imagine you and your friends have started a band.  What is the group’s name, and what type of music do you play?	What is your dream birthday party?
What makes the person to your left special?	Can you name everyone in your family’s favorite food?
If you were to write a book, would it be fiction or nonfiction?  What would be the topic?  The title?	Tell about something you learned today.
Name something funny that happened to you today.	Finish this sentence:  “I think the world could be a better place if only ________”
What foreign country or faraway place have you always dreamed of visiting?	What is your favorite subject in school?  What subject do you dislike?
You’re part of history in the making!  What current events do you think will be in history books when you get older?	If you could be a super hero, what special power would you possess?
If you were to create a time capsule of the past year, what would you put in it?	If you could have a tour of any factory, to see how something is made, what company would you pick?
If you could meet the President of the United States, what would you like to ask him?	Name something you like and don’t like about each season.
What is your favorite ice cream flavor?	If you could invent a cure for one disease, which would it be?
If you could change the color or your hair or your eyes, would you?  What color?	If you were given a chance to go in a spaceship to the moon, would you do it?  Why or why not?
Think of a new name for your hometown.  The catch:  It must be descriptive of what your town is really like.	Which of the five senses do you use the most?  The least?
Imagine your house is getting a makeover and you get to design it.  What ideas do you suggest?  (Cost doesn’t matter)	Pretend you have the opportunity to travel in time.  Would you go forward in time or backward?  What would life in America be like then?
What does the word “integrity” mean?  Who do you know that shows a lot of integrity?	Can you think of a really neat invention… that hasn’t yet been invented?
What would you do for a million dollars?	Tell about a dream you had recently.
If you had to open a business, what kind of business would it be?	Tell about something nice that you’ve done for someone else.
If you could make a wish to have it be your birthday everyday, would you do it?  Why or why not?	If you could travel by plane, train, boat, or car, which would you choose?  Why?
Pretend you just invented a new flavor or ice cream.  What are the ingredients and what would you name it?	If you could live someplace where the weather stayed the same all year, would you choose somewhere cold and snowy, or hot and humid?
What is your favorite sport to watch?  To play?	What is your fondest memory of kindergarten?
Name a hobby you’d like to do, or a skill you’d like to have.	Which would you rather give up for a week:  the TV, the computer, or the telephone?
Which of these words describes you best – loyal, fun, creative, or determined?  Give at least one example.	What is your favorite pastime?
What is your biggest fear?	Are you tall or short?  What are the advantages and disadvantages of your height?
How many different states have you visited?  Countries?	Finish this sentence:  “My Mom makes the best ______________”
Finish this sentence:  “My Dad is really great at _____________”	What are your 3 favorite holidays?  Why?
If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be?	If you had $1,000 to buy anything you wanted, what would you buy?  What would you buy with $10,000?
If you were stranded on an island, what three items would you want to have?	Who is your favorite musical group?  What is your favorite song?
Name five things you are thankful for.	If you could speak another language, which one would you choose?  Why?