A popular gift around our house during summer and usually for Fourth of July is the Watermelon Fruit Basket. I give it everytime I am invited to a summer Barbecue. It is a great inventive gift. I like to make a different style depending on the size of the watermelon but for this one I will advise how to make the smaller one.
It looks a lot more complicated than it actually is, you’ll keep that bit of info to yourself 
. First thing you do is find yourself a small round watermelon with a thick skin. Once you get it home, clean it with plain water and dry it completely. You are going to need a stencil, unless you are an artist and can freehand, to draw onto the melon. The stencil will act as a guide in carving the design into the melon.
For the design you can be as creative as you like, stencils are available at any arts and crafts store. Back to the prep:
- Peel the skin off of the watermelon, this gives you a better hold of the melon. The skin is very slick and it looks better without the skin.
- Cut the watermelon in half and scoop out the inside of it. Cut a 1″ lip around the top half of the melon and one around the bottom half of the melon. This makes the decorative edge for the two adjoining pieces of the melons.
- Now you can draw your stencil on the top half of the melon. Use a carving knife to cut the stencil completely out of the watermelon. Do a rough cutting first then you can come back and neaten it all up.
- The topper is optional, I never use it but it is made out of a turnip. You just cut it into the shape you wish, using stencils or freehand.
Anyone who sees this will be so surprised and thankful. This is the perfect gift for any outdoor event. Creative and easy to make!!
Image belongs to Temple Of Thai.
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What little child does not love Curious George? The next time you are invited to birthday party or you want to make something special for your little one, why not give a cake. Cakes are always known for “get well soon” occasions or welcome gifts.
Here is one specially made for kids. The Curious George cake is a fun and creative gift that is sure to get screams and smiles of joy out of the little ones.
What you’ll need:
- knife
- rubber spatula
- muffin pan and cupcake papers
- chocolate cake mix
- well greased oven safe glass bowl, preferably 2 quarts
- wire baking rack
- caramel frosting
- 2 doublestuffed oreo cookies (minis if you can find them)
- small amount of red icing and black icing
Now you have all your ingredients, let’s get cooking.
- Follow directions for mixing cake
- Pour 2/3 of batter into the greased glass bowl
- Use remaining to fill up the 3 muffins (3/4 full, each)
- Put cake and cupcakes in oven and bake until done (cupcakes will cook faster than cake)
- Once finished, allow to cool completely on the wire racks
Eveything must be completely cooled so that the frosting won’t get crumbs in it. Ok, everything is cooked and cooled. Let’s make us a Curious George!
Face
- Use the caramel frosting to make the face shape as shown in the picture. Like a large 8 for the upper and the bottom is simple. Make sure to come all the way to the bottom of the cake.
- Get the frosting as smooth as possible using the spatula.
Ears
- Put frosting on one cupcake using the caramel frosting
- Cut the cupcake vertically in half
- Put each half onto the side of the head using frosting to secure it
Eyes
- Take the Oreos apart
- Flatten out the creme into circular shapes and place accordingly on the face
- Use the oreo cookie part for the pupil
- Draw eyebrows using the black frosting
Nose
- Use the black icing to draw the nose and the nostrils as pictured
Mouth
- Using the black frosting, draw a shallow “U” about 1 1/2 inches below the nose
- Draw the bottom of the mouth, make sure to connect it to the top and leave room for the tongue
- For the tongue, use the red icing and make the tongue
Now you have yourself a pretty nice adorable Curious George. Plate it and it’s ready for any child!! You can box it up or leave it as is.
Image belongs to www.pbs.org
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“This is your life, mother”
A great idea for this mother’s day is a scrapbook depicting your mother’s life up until this point. It’s like a chronological tour of her life ’til now. The hardest part of this book will be finding all the pictures and keepsakes you will need, but you still have about 2 weeks to gather everything you need from aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and close friends.
Here is a list of basic items to get you started (these can be personalized according to your mom’s taste):
- a scrapbooking kit (any craft/hobby store should have one)
- Mother’s day embellishments, stickers, rub-ons
- Memory and Date embellishments, stickers, embossing
- Personal pictures (from her childhood to current) school photos, high school prom, graduation, wedding, following baby’s birth, vacation pictures
- Mom’s favorite and best recipes
- Mom’s accomplishments
- Poem for first page that describes what your mother means to you
- Her ambitions from when she was young (”I want to grow up to be”) and then what she became
- Past cards from husband and kids (mother’s day, birthday cards, valentine’s, etc.)
- Personal notes to mom from family members, friends and you
- What your mom means to you page
The book should start from the earliest information you can gather to today. The setup of the pages will be left up to you, I use a similar setup as pictured above. The page arrangement in the book will depend greatly on how much and what information you have on each item in her life. This is a great site to get ideas on different layouts for your pages. This will be such a special from-the-heart gift, it is sure to be treasured and showed off over the years. Another cool thing to do, is every mother’s day from this point on, you could incorporate more parts of the book; displaying such items from the previous as vacations, special moments (births), valentine’s and Christmas. Once your book is complete, wrap it in your favorite Mother’s day paper and wait for the tears .
—-image belongs to www.cluttercontrolfreak.com
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Gel candles can be a beautiful and surprisingly easy gift to make. The good thing about making your own gel candles is that you can personalize it as much as you want. The more personalized a gift is, the more meaning it has to the receiver. I like to always add a great fragranced essential oil, it’s always good to see and smell a candle. It is quite simple to make gel candles just make sure all your items are non-flammable, wish someone would have told me that my first time making one
. These are the needed items:
- candle gel
- stainless steel pot
- zinc wicks
- thermometer
- Liquid candle dye
- essential oil (specially for gel candles)
- Embeds (things you want in the candle)
- glass container
- glue
*easiest way is to buy a candle making kit
Now you’re ready to make your candle. First things first, place hot glue in the center bottom of the glass container. Cut the gel in small pieces so that it can melt evenly. Place cut gel into steel pot on medium heat. Now this is a critical part, make sure the temperature is 200 degrees (use your thermometer). Maintain this temperature until the gel is completely melted. It will have the appearance of syrup. Now add your dye, start with a little and add until it is your desired color. If you are adding embeds, remember to keep the candle mostly transparent.
Almost finished! After you have your desired color, add in your essential oil. Use 1 tablespoon per two cups of gel. Get the glass container with wick in it and heat in microwave until about 150-160 degrees. This will make the gel pour in smoothly eliminating any bubbles. But before you pour in the gel, if you want embeds add them now. Dip the embeds into the hot gel (be careful not to burn yourself!) and arrange them in the container. Now, just slowly pour in your gel. Pull up the wick, let cool, and Voila’…you’re done. You now have a beautiful hand crafted gift.
—image belongs to www.partyfavormall.com
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