Good Fortune

I’m not a huge fan of fortune cookies but when I get them at the end of a meal, I always have to take one and see what my quirky little fortune will be. My favorite? “You like Chinese food.” How can you not love a cookie that makes you laugh?!

The great thing about these cookies is there is no baking at all. In fact, they aren’t even edible! They are made out of cloth and you don’t need to worry about burning, breaking or ruining them in any way.

Why make cloth fortune cookies? Well, for one thing they’re pretty quirky. Have you ever gotten one before? And can you imagine getting one? It’s a gift that would stick in your mind, definitely!

The really cool thing is that there are gift boxes shaped like Chinese food take-out containers that you can put these in. And you don’t have to make up fortunes at all. Think of your favorite memories with the person, or give them promises that they can open and use throughout the year—“Good for one breakfast in bed.” The neat thing about this plan is that it’s a surprise to both of you when it’s opened what the task will be!

Cloth Fortune Cookies:

Materials and Supplies:

~ Pieces of thick material or felt

~ Craft glue

~ Pen and paper

~ Scissors

~ Craft wire

~ Wire snips

Note about the craft wire: You can find this in several sections like floral or general crafts but if for some reason you live somewhere where you can’t find it, try the hardware section. They sell that stuff you use to twist-tie up bags of things by the roll and since it’s not seen in this project--that would be okay to use. You might need a double-thickness of it or about 20 gauge wire.

Directions:

1. Cut circles out of the material. A really good size is the mouth of a plastic, 9 oz drinking cup.

2. Cut pieces of wire slightly smaller than the diameter of the circle and glue in place. If you’re like me and impatient, you can use hot glue but remember it will dry hard so you want to be neat in your application because you will be able to feel it.

3. Glue a second piece of felt on top of the other, sandwiching the wire in the middle. I use glue all around the edge leaving about .25” from the edge. Hot glue dries quickly so do about a half or less at a time.

4. Let dry. While they’re drying (do lots at a time!) you can either write your “fortunes” or memories or promises.

5. Place the fortune inside. Fold up like a taco shell then fold the two ends back toward each other. You may need to “fluff” them by putting your finger inside to push out the sides.

You also may need to put a drop of glue between the parts that touch, just to make certain it stays together.

Extra idea?

Slip a gift certificate for a yummy meal into the gift box.

If you want to do fortunes, here’s a fun site that can give you lots of ideas.

http://www.fortunecookiemessage.com/

Be My Sailor's Valentine

As you can probably guess from the title this project has two main thoughts behind it—love and the sea. I got the idea for this project while working at the Headley Whitney Museum in Lexington, Kentucky. Our founder loved to collect things and seashells were part of one of his collections. We had lots and lots of seashells to work with and this was one of the ideas that actually was good!

Sailor’s Valentines have a wonderfully sweet story attached to them. The tale goes that as sailors would be away from their loved ones, they would collect shells from the lands that they traveled to. Then they would spend candlelit nights arranging the shells in boxes so that they formed flowers and hearts and other pretty things. As wonderfully charming as it is to think of these big burly sailors hunkering over a bunch of seashells every night instead of doing other things, chances are it didn’t quite happen like this. Instead, they probably bought them while docked in Barbados which is still a great story because it means they were thinking of their loved ones while away. So either story you tell, it’s a delightful tale.

If you’ve not been to a beach to collect shells, you can pick them up in any craft store. They’re really pretty so you don’t have to worry about not collecting them yourself—you and your giftee can look at it and dream of warmer days on a beach somewhere.

Sailor’s Valentines

Materials and Supplies:

~ Seashells

~ Hot glue gun and glue

~ Wax paper

~ White ribbon

Directions:

1. Pick an assortment of shells in various sizes. Since Sailor’s Valentines are usually worked in the round and shaped like flowers or hearts, I try to pick 5 to 7 shells of one type for each layer. You’re really not limited in size so just play around with the shells until you find a combination you like.

2. Arrange the foundation set of shells in a circle so that all the shells are touching on the sides.

3. See how the shells form a big circle in the middle? Squirt a big glob of hot glue there. This will be hidden by other layers of shells so it doesn’t have to be perfect.

4. Pick out your next layer of shells. Depending on the type and size, you can try to glue these all at once but I usually glue them down one or two at a time.

5. If you have room for a third (fourth, fifth, etc.) circle of shells, go ahead and glue those down, too.

6. Pick a nice sized shell to glue in the center to hide all the glue.

7. Flip over and repeat steps 1 through 6 on the back OR glue a cut to size piece of felt on the back to hide all the glue. Whichever you prefer.

8. Glue a looped ribbon on so that it’s an instant ornament.

Extra idea?

Depending on your means, I can’t think of anyone that would turn down a trip to the beach. :)

Since I can’t exactly promise a trip to the islands for the people on my gift list, I included a little card or bookmark to go with it telling the giftee how much they mean to me and how even when we’re a part, I’m thinking about them.