How to Make a Date Night Passport

March 20, 2019createcrafting with kids, date night ideas, gift book of experiences, gift ideas for hubby, handmade gift idea, homemade gift, paper craft giftsarthurized Leave a comment

Here’s a fun gift idea for your honey or anyone you enjoy spending time with, really. Create a Date Night Passport for them filled with gift cards to your favorite restaurants, IOUs or tickets to events. This does not have to be expensive!

I made this one for my husband’s Christmas gift a few years ago.

For this project, you will need:

Slim pocket calendar or notebook with a plain cover – I found mine at the dollar store. If you don’t want the clear, plastic cover you can create your own booklet. You’ll need a piece of heavy cardstock to make a cover. The advantage to creating your own is that you can make it any size, design or theme you like.

Sturdy white or ivory cardstock paper – a few sheets, depending on the size of the calendar. I used six pages of 8.5” x 11” cardstock cut to 6.75” x 6.5” for a total of 6 passport pages, 12 folded.
A variety of stamps or stickers – for the book title and to mimic passport stamps on the inside pages.
Stamping ink in black, brown, navy or dark grey

If you would rather doodle your own passport stamps, you won’t need the stamps or ink. Just grab your favorite pens or markers.

Paper cutter or a ruler and scissors
Stapler

Remove the paper calendar from the cover and measure the pages, unfolded. Cut 6 cardstock pages to that measurement. Neatly fold each page in half. If your measurements are not square, make sure to fold in the direction of the passport cover spine. Next, stamp the pages however you like. I made a page for each month of the year and stamped ornate keys, postage stamps, medallions and fleur-de-lis, using chocolate brown stamping ink.

A favorite passport ‘stamp’. This is a rub-on transfer from the craft store.

On the passport cover, add your title. I used silver stickers to spell out “Date Night” and added a small silver flourish below the title. Assemble the pages in order inside the cover and staple down the spine.

Now comes the fun part; filling the passport! Here are some ideas:

Gift cards: Restaurants, Coffee Shops, Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt Shops, Book Store, Massage, Manicure/Pedicure

Tickets: Movie Theater, Sporting Events, Concerts, Live Theater, Comedy Club

IOUs: Back Rub, Breakfast in Bed, Foot Massage, A Day Trip, Hiking, Movie Night at Home, A Honey-Do Chore, Seasonal Activities (Pumpkin Patch, Fall Foliage Drive, Ice Skating, A day at the Lake or Pool, Parades, Farmer’s Market, Holiday Lights Tours) Antiquing, Thrift Shopping, Picnic in the Park

No truer love was ever found than that of my husband and Starbucks coffee!

Kid’s Activities: Zoo Trip, Water Park, Go-carts, Mini Golf, Aquarium, Geocaching, Hot Chocolate Date, Run a 5k together, Science Museum

IOUs for Kids: Library Date, Build a Fort, Pillow Fight, Favorite Dinner, Favorite Dessert, Craft Day, Card/Board Game Night, Permission to Jump on the Bed, Bake Cookies together, Skip a Chore, No Rules Day (My SIL occasionally did this with our nephew)

Now it’s time to make this your own! What activities would you add to this list?

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Luck of the Irish Mini Bunting

March 15, 2019createcrafting with kids, mini bunting tutorial, st patricks crafts, st patricks paper craftsarthurized 2 Comments

Here’s a fun project for your St. Patrick’s celebration. This craft is simple, low-cost and adaptable to the materials you have on hand.

Kiss Me and Lucky Bunting Directions

Kiss Me: Green patterned cardstock, gold letter stickers, paper cutter (or ruler, pencil and scissors), glue, 20” of baker’s twine, 12” wooden skewers

I used scrapbooking cardstock from American Crafts.

Lucky: Gold metallic card stock, gold glitter letter stickers, paper cutter or ruler, pencil and scissors, glue, thin, 20” gold yarn or string, 12” wooden skewers

I used Aleene’s Clear Gel Tacky Glue for both of these buntings.

Cutting the cardstock background flags:
Determine the size you will need by measuring the largest letter sticker you will use. The Kiss Me and Lucky letter flags are approximately 2” x 1 1/8”. To make the notch in the bottom of the flag, measure ¼” from the bottom and mark it. Now find the center and mark it. With a ruler or straight edge, draw a line from the center point to the corner of the flag. Cut along the lines.

Apply the stickers to the front of the flags, taking care to line them up neatly. I did not have a shamrock sticker for the “kiss me” banner, so I cut teardrop shapes out of another sticker to form the leaves and cut a thin curved stem. Now we’ve found a use for all those “Q” stickers! Place a thin line of glue across the top of each letter flag and adhere to the string. Let dry, tie the string to skewers and you’re done!

Rainbow Bunting Directions

Materials: White cardstock, washi tape in rainbow colors (alt: cardstock in rainbow colors), micro pom-poms, (these are 3/8”) paper cutter (or ruler, pencil and scissors), glue, 20” baker’s twine, 12” wooden skewers

If you are using paper for the rainbow bunting, Aleene’s Clear Gel Tacky Glue will work just fine to glue the micro pom-poms. If you’re using washi tape, I recommend Beacon Gem-Tac. It bonds well to slick surfaces.

Neatly apply washi tape to white cardstock. If your washi tape has a repeating pattern, make sure to line it up carefully. Next, cut out the flags. The rainbow flags are 1 5/8” x 1 5/8”. To make the inverted triangle, find the center of the bottom edge and mark it with a pencil. Draw a line from that mark to the top left corner. Repeat on the right side and cut along the lines. Now that the individual flags are cut, place a thin line of glue across the top and apply the micro pom-poms. Let dry. Once dry, turn them over and apply a thin line of glue across the top of each flag and adhere to the string in rainbow order. Let dry, tie the string to skewers and you are done!

I hope I’ve explained this clearly. Let me know if you have any questions.

Don’t have a cake plate? Here’s an easy way to create one: Use a coordinating dinner plate and bowl, turn the bowl over and place the plate on top. Super simple. You can use a dab of hot glue to hold them together temporarily. I don’t recommend hot gluing Grandma’s china, but sturdy dishes will be fine. The glue peels right off when you are done with your “cake stand”.