Homemade Chia Pet

Ok, after being gone for a few weeks on a business trip with the hubby, I'm back and ready to give you some more great craft ideas.  This one is in honor of Earth Day, and is a homemade chia pet (or as my son lovingly named his, "Robot Cup").

What you need:
Plastic cup (hopefully recycled)
Cupful of dirt (go dig up some from the yard)
2 googly eyes
pom poms
pipe cleaner
feather, sequins, whatever you would like/have lying around to embellish)
grass seeds (or if you have a cat and REALLY want to make it happy, get catnip seeds)



What to do:
1) Glue on googly eyes, a pom pom for a nose, and the pipe cleaner for the mouth.
2) Decorate and embellish to you hearts content until your cup looks just like the Chia Pet you child always wanted.  :)
3) Fill cup with dirt to almost 3/4 of the way.
4) Pour in a generous amount of grass seeds
5) Pat seeds down gently and then top off cup to almost full with remaining dirt
6) Water your Chia Pet cup, place in window and watch it grow!

*My son Connor loves going out to visit "Robot Cup" every morning to water him and talk to him, and give him haircuts.  Just make sure if you go out of town for a bit, have someone water your cup, otherwise you'll get home and he'll look like he used a bottle of conditioner on his hair!

Sock Bunny

Well, everyone I know loves sock monkeys (how can you not?), so we decided to post a really cute Easter version of a sock monkey...a sock bunny!  It's an easy and fun no sewing involved craft you can do with your kids, and you can alter and make this your own however you want.

So here's what you'll need:
-1 knee high kids sock (pink, white, blue, or whatever color you want your bunny to be)
-2 googly eyes
-2 rubber bands
-stuffing (polyfill, beans, cotton balls, whatever you'd like)
-white pom pom
-1 ft ribbon
-red and black marker
-glue
-scissors

And here's what you do:
1) Stuff sock with filling enough to create a body (about 3" tall) and then wrap 1 rubber band around until it is tied off.
2) Continue stuffing sock with filling to create a head (about 1 1/2" tall) and then wrap the other rubber band around until it is tied off as well.
3) Take the ribbon and tie it around the neck of the bunny into a bow. 
4) Glue the white pom pom onto the back of the bunny's body for a tail
5) Glue the googly eyes onto the bunny's head.
6) Draw a mouth, nose and whiskers for the bunny's face
7) Take the remaining part of the sock and cut it in half until you are almost to the top rubber band to make the ears.
8) Add any other embellishments you'd like to make the bunny your own
9) Commence cuddling!

Breast Cancer Awareness

Okay, so usually my posts are fun, cheery and loaded with great gift and craft ideas.  Today will be a bit different.  Unfortunately I recently lost a friend to breast cancer.  Debbie was only 31, and left behind not only her husband and three very young boys, but also a ridiculous amount of debt incurred by medical bills and the inability to work for the past two years while she fought to live.  As a result of this, I have posted a bracelet on our website called "Debbie's Hope".  The proceeds of each sale (all money made minus the actual cost of materials) will be donated to the Deborah Russo Williams Breast Cancer Fund.  Please understand that this is not a fund to help breast cancer research, but to help her family pay for all the debt they now have as a result of this terrible disease.  So please buy one today, and show your support to every woman who has fought breast cancer with hope, faith and determination.

Handmade Florida Valentines

So, since it is almost Valentine's Day, I've been searching for a cute idea to post for a handmade unique Valentine.  Who would have thought I'd find in within the pages of my 2 year old's favorite magazine?  These adorable Flamingo Valentines are right up my alley...especially with us being based out of Florida.  So I had to share this with everyone out there.  The idea comes from Michelle Reyzer and the photo is by Mark Godfrey (Feb 2010 edition of Your Big Backyard by National Wildlife Federation).  Check them out, make them with your kids (or by yourself) as they are too cute to pass up!



What You Need:

-pink construction paper
-pink pipe cleaners
-pink feathers
-googly eyes
-scissors
-glue
-black marker (thin)

What You Do:
 1. Cut out two matching heart shapes and one beak shape (a
     rounded triangle) from the construction paper.
 2. Bend one of the pipe cleaners into an "S" shape to make the 
     flamingo's neck.  Glue the pipe cleaner to one heart.  Glue
     feathers to the same heart to make a tail.
 3. Glue the other two pipe cleaners to the bottom of the heart.
                                                                      Bend them to make legs.
                                                                 4. Write a valentine message on the other heart.
                                                                 5. Glue the second heart directly on top of the first heart
                                                                     (valentine's message up!).  This will cover the glued ends of
                                                                     the pipe cleaners and feathers.
                                                                 6. Color the tip of the beak black as shown.  Glue on the googly
                                                                     eye.  Then glue the beak to the end of the neck.  Fluff up the
                                                                     pipe cleaner neck, and your Flamingo Valentine is ready to
                                                                     present!

So Happy Valentine's Day to everyone from all of us at Dayna Lane Gifts!!!!

Busy little bees

We've been so very busy lately, that we realized we've been neglecting our blog!  But we have some good excuses. 

First and foremost, my business partner (the Dayna of Dayna Lane) had her first son.  Tyler was born Saturday November 7th.  We are so excited to have another little man in our family.

Then, we've been working on finally doing home parties.  The great and unique thing about our home parties is instead of ordering things at a party and then waiting weeks to get them, you take home what you buy.  I just love instant gratification!

Finally, we were getting ready for our largest craft fest of the year at the University of Florida O'Connell Center.  Even though it was held the day of the SEC Championship game, we still had lots of people come out and shop all the booths looking for handmade gifts.  I just love meeting all the other artisans and seeing how talented people are.  Plus it is so nice to see the general public spending their money with crafters versus going and buying a generic gift from a box store.  I also got to meet some of the nicest people at the show.  Next to us was Millie from Fallin Oak Glass who makes gorgeous stained glass pieces (I even bought a pendant from her to use in a necklace).  Then across from us was Kevin from Clay Orchids who made these amazing flowers out of clay.  It took me going over and watching him make one to believe they weren't real!  So if you are not able to make your own gifts this year, please at least go online or to a local craft show and support crafters.  Handmade gifts are so much more personal and thoughtful, and at least you know who is getting your hard earned money!

First Ever Dayna Lane Gifts Giveaway!!!!

Okay everyone, we've been hinting at it a bunch lately, but it's finally here...our first ever DLG giveaway!!!!  We want to say thank you to all our loyal fans, so we are beginning it with our September Fanfare raffle. 

First what everyone wants to know is, "How do I enter?"...easy peasy.  There are many different ways to enter, and each thing you do gives you an additional entry, so you can enter multiple times. 

Here's the ways:

1) Become a fan of our Facebook page
2) Make comments on our Facebook page (each comment is an entry)
3) Suggest a name for one of our new jewelry pieces in the comment section of the photo corresponding to the piece.
4) Become a fan of our Blog
5) Make a comment on our Blog
6) Post something in our website Guestbook
7) Register to be on our email list
8) Become a fan of our Etsy store by clicking it as a favorite
9) And of course, any purchases made qualifies you for an entry as well.

So, the important part.  What do you win?  Instead of giving you our choice of a gift, knowing everyone has different tastes, we decided to just let you pick.  So we are giving away a $25 gift certificate to Dayna Lane Gifts to be used on anything your little heart desires!

Make sure you enter as many times as you like, but all entries must be received by September 30th, 2009 at 11:59:59 PM EST.  We will randomly draw a winner from all the entries received on October 2nd, 2009 and the winner's name will be posted on our blog, Facebook page, as well as emailed directly. 

Now that you know the rules, how to enter, and what you'll win...get a move on.  Time is running out and you want to get as many entries in as possible.  Thanks again for being such a loyal fan!!


-Meg & Dayna

Teacher Appreciation Gift

Now that back to school time is upon us, why not make a cute little apple pot as a gift for your new teacher! It is great for their desk, and can be used to store all sorts of things! Materials Needed: 3 inch Terra Cotta Clay Pot 3 inch Terra Cotta Clay Saucer Small Wooden Spool Fun Foam Paint Clear Acrylic Sealer Spray Glue (hot glue gun preferred)

Instructions: Wipe down your terra cotta pot and saucer with a damp cloth and let dry completely. Paint the clay pot and saucer red (figure 1) - let dry. Paint a face on pot (figure 2). Paint the wooden spool green. Once all your paint is dry, spray it with the clear acrylic sealer. Flip the saucer upside down and place it as a lid on top of the clay pot. Glue the wooden spool on to the bottom of the saucer (figure 3). Cut a small leaf shape out of fun foam and glue it to the wooden spool. Your apple is now done! A great place to keep treasures, candy, or other small items. Of course, if you don't have the time to make a gift, you can still show your appreciation with a gift from our website. Our beaded badge holders make a wonderful teacher gift as it allows them to wear their school id badge with style.