Holiday Baby!

Our first baby, Rowan Matthijs Balyon, was born on December 22, 2010.  He's the most precious thing! 

So, forgive me for being slow with the bloem blog updates.  I have my hands full right now.  You can follow us through life as new parents on our family blog, One Ring Short of a Circus.

Hot Chocolate Mix in a Jar (Easy & Budget Friendly Gift)

This year, we made Hot Chocolate Mix in a Jar for our neighbors and friends.  Just a little gift to warm people up during the holidays, without breaking the bank.

Here's how we did it:

1 Cup Powdered Milk

3 Heaping Tablespoons Dutched Cocoa Powder

3 Level Tablespoons Sugar

1/4 Mini Marshmallows

We mixed 5 batches at a time

2 Cups per Mason Jar.

YUM :)

I decorated the jar top with Christmas-y fabric and a raffia bow.

Make sure to include a card that tells your recipient how to make and enjoy their delicious treat!

"Mix 3 heaping Tablespoons (1/4 to 1/3 cup) cocoa with 8 to 10 oz of hot water.

Makes about 4 servings"

 

That's all there is to it!

-Sarah

French Memo Board - Tutorial

How to make a French Memo Board

by bloem

I just made a French Memo Board for one of our friends daughters.  These are a fun and stylish way to display and stash mementos like pictures, tickets, hair clips, etc.

 

Here's how I made my French Memo Board.

Materials:

 1. Pre-stretched canvas, your choice in size. 2. Fabric of choice, enough to cover canvas with about 1.5" to spare on each side. 3. Batting. 4. Ribbon of choice. 5. Buttons of choice. 6. Scissors. 7. Staple gun. 8. Glue gun or needle & thread (not shown).

Steps:

Click this image to enlarge

1. LAY the canvas face-down on the batting.  PULL the batting around the edges and STAPLE the batting to the back.  Stretch the batting as you go, just enough to be taught.

2. LAY the batting covered canvas face-down on the fabric and do the same thing with the fabric that you did with the batting.

3. TUCK the fabric to make your corners are neat and STAPLE.

4. LAY the ribbon out in the pattern that you want (Generally criss-crossed).  You may want to double check that the ribbon is spaced far enough apart to hold whatever you plan to put in the memo board.

5. & 6. STAPLE the ribbon onto the back. Tip: tape the ribbon in place first to make sure the ribbon is evenly spaced and where you want it to be.

7. SEW buttons on at the ribbon cross sections, or GLUE them with a hot glue gun.

That's it!  It's super simple!

-Sarah

Karla & Christopher S. - Custom Made Wedding Thank You Cards

I had the pleasure of designing custom wedding invitations for Karla & Christopher S.  I was really pleased with the design and they must have been too, since they decided to order coordinating Thank You cards.  

 

bloem - Custom Thank You Cards - Karla & Christopher S.

 These cards are what I call "matchbook" folded.  They clasp with the little olive branch tab.  The matchbox fold can be used to create cards which can be mailed sans envelope, saving trees!  However, the cards are designed to fit into a standard 4-bar envelope which, in this case was provided in a shimmering champagne color.

Coordinating Wedding Invitations, designed by bloem, for Karla & Christopher:

Brother Sewing Machine - Zigzag Stitch Issue SOLVED!

I never posted my recent sewing issue, however, I did spend WAY too much time trying to find the answer on the internet.  Luckily, I was able to find an answer, but I can't remember where, so I thought I'd share it here in case anyone else has the same problem.

 I was trying to make a Christmas stocking, (a major pain in the butt project, as posted earlier), and the zigzag stitch on my Brother CS-6000i sewing machine was not working.  Not unusual for this POS machine. Specifically, the right side of the zigzag would not pick up the bobbin thread, so I ended up with a straight line.  

I found a few people out there online who had the same issue and the responses were mostly related to changing the needle, changing the bobbin, changing the tension...the usual.  Anyway, I happened to find one brilliant response that mentioned that only Schmetz needles seem to work on her Brother.  Desperate, I switched out my cheapy-cheap needle for a Schmetz (I can't actually believe I had some) and my zigzag nightmares were over...almost.  I still had a lot of problems with the tension.  It's always something with that machine!  Arrgghhh!

In bloem...

Holiday Gift Tags!

I just listed a small line of handmade gift tags to add a special touch to your holiday gift giving.  These tags are stamped with rustic, charming snowflakes. 

Enjoy :)

Gift Tags in bloem