DIY gifts and gift wrap/art station

I made a couple gifts to give my friend Ashby at her birthday dinner last week. Here’s a peek:

Free printable gift. All you need is a frame. — One day Ashby said she really wanted a print made of this poster I designed awhile back. I printed it for her and put it in this white Ikea frame. You can download the poster from this post. Wrapping paper is from the dollar store.

DIY homemade gift - personalize a dollar store mug with a Sharpie — Lolfr, in our little world, means laugh out loud for real. You know, a text reserved only for when you really do actually laugh out loud. Anyway, I love the idea of decorating ceramics with a Sharpie because it can bring an inside joke to life. Mug is from the dollar store and the bag is from World Market.

DIY mug design with a Sharpie — I drew on the mug with a Sharpie and baked it in the oven for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Using an oil-based Sharpie and hand washing the mug is best.

Yep. She's pretty AND funny. — Here’s Ashby with her mug. Yep. She’s pretty AND funny.

I was pleased with my little gifts, but when it came time to wrap them I realized I still had all my gift wrap supplies in random containers scattered across the garage. After I put the boys to bed that night, I emptied all the contents of most of the drawers in a corner of our garage — and pitched most of it. Then I piled in the party decorations, gift wrap, ribbons, and art supplies in the drawers.

No, this is not the most impressive gift wrap/craft station in the world, but I’m excited to finally have all these things in the same place! And in drawers, not boxes. We don’t have the space in our house for something like this, so the garage works great.