Tea Cup Sleeves

I am an avid tea drinker. During a normal work day, I go through about four tall cups of tea.

Problem: Our office water heaters are a little too effective, and our cups are a little too thin. The only way I hold my tea without burning my hands is by using a cup sleeve. Because I drink so much tea, I end up going through a lot of sleeves.

Over the weekend, I decided to try making some reusable cup sleeves with felt.

Peace Corps Goodbye Care Package

My best friend, Madeline, decided to take the plunge and join the Peace Corps - something she'd been thinking about doing for the past few years.

Not wanting to let her leave for Peru without a proper goodbye present, I put together a package of "essentials":

For reflection: Moleskine Ruled Notebook
For friendship: Calling card
For relaxation: First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria: How A Peace Corps Poster Boy Won My Heart And a Third World Adventure Changed My Life by Eve Brown-Waite
For entertainment: MP3 CDs
For growth: Spanish/English New International Version Bible
For encouragement: Pack of letters from Madeline's friends

Gummy Candy Lei

After three busy years, Cynthia, one of my closest friends (we've known each other for ~15 years!), finally finished law school. She loves gummy candies more than anyone else I know. Instead of buying her a traditional flower lei, I decided to make her a lei out of gummy candy. All I needed was candy, cellophane, and a glue gun.

Mother's Day Flowers

Though I'm not the biggest fan of giving gift cards, more often than not, they end up being your best gift option. When I have to give a gift card, I try to wrap/present it in a creative, personalized way - which was the case on Mother's Day.

My mom had been talking about needing new flowers for her backyard, so I knew she would appreciate a gift card from Orchard Supply Hardware. Of course, no Mother's Day present would be complete without some real flowers the day of.

Some flowers now, some flowers later...

Mock Candy Table Candy Bar Wrappers

My friend Kathy (who, by the way, makes great desserts!) was putting together a mock candy table for an article she was writing for Project Wedding. She needed one more candy wrapper design for the table, so I flexed my PowerPoint skills and put together a polka-dotted pattern for her (the grayish dots were actually orange dots... the picture didn't come out well).

Photos courtesy of Mike Bautista