Another Quickie Gift Idea from The 31 Woman

Here is another quickie gift idea I wanted to share with you.  Hopefully I will get some videos done soon, but this summer has been pretty busy.

The other day I was at Michael's and they had these cute little candles on sale for 50¢.  I picked up several just to have for a quick gift.  Well, I have already given them all away.  I came up with the cutest way to decorate them, and have been able to give them as hostess gifts, a little gift for a friend and 2 birthday gifts.

For this candle, I cut a last initial out of yellow vinyl to match the lemon candle.  I tied a little piece of raffia around the top.  Then I used my favorite Cricut Storybook Cartridge to cut out a design for the top.  The candle has a little plastic cover on it that is about 2" in diameter.  So, I choose one of the flowers from the cartridge and cut out a 2" blackout flower and then the cooresponding 2" cutout flower and glued the two pieces together.  I added a little brad in the middle of the flower and used pop-dots to attach it to the little plastic cover.  

Very Cute!  I used this one as a hostess gift.

Here is another one that I made again using the Storybook Cricut Cartridge to cut out the vinyl for the side of the candle and to make a topper for the candle.

I used little rhinestones to decorate the butterfly.

Another quick tip is that I always try to keep these three things on hand for quick gift giving:

Personalized Labels For That Special, "I Made This Just For You" Touch

And, clear bags and basket filler.  I have lots of sizes of clear bags and many different colors of basket filler.  They come in so handy.  I buy my bags from Nashville Wraps and/or ClearBags.com

I hope this gave you a few ideas for your quick gift giving needs. 

A Witty Invention

We had some family and friends over for the fireworks on the 4th of July.  While we were waiting for the show to begin, I was able to spend sometime getting better acquainted with our Pastor's wife, Elizabeth.  I did not realize what a smart business woman this gal is, and sweet and gorgeous, too!  Her husband is truly a blessed man.

While we were talking, it was obvious that God gives her great ideas all of the time.  Being an idea person myself who routinely wakes up in the middle of the night with inspiration, I asked if she had a journal to keep all of her witty inventions written down in.  The Word tells us that God gives us Witty Inventions, and we need to keep up with what He gives us.  We may not be able to implement every idea immedietaly, but if we are patient I believe God will help us get it all done.  I mean why would he waste good ideas on someone who can't do it?

Later that week, while I was out and about, I picked up a journal for her.  But, I wanted it to be personalized, so out came the Cricut Expression and some lovely vinyl.  In no time, I had a cute little gift to take to her on Sunday.  Now she has a place to journal all of her inspiration.

Be Blessed,

A Paper Rosette Name Frame for Delaney

My AWESOME niece, Delaney's, birthday is today.  Happy Birthday, girl.  And, I wanted to make her a little something-something for her room since she is getting older and wanting to redeocrate a bit.  I have just figured out a quick and foolproof way of making beautiful paper rosettes and made a big pile in her favorite colors: PINK & LIME GREEN!  What a girly girl.

I decided to make a Name Frame using the pink and green colors and paper rosettes (which I will be showing you how to do later this week - wink, wink.)

Here is what you will need:

A picture frame painted any color you like

Some card stock cut to fit the frame

A Name cut out in vinyl 

Embossing folders and embosser, optional

Ribbon, optional

Paper Rosettes

Here is how to do it:

Be Blessed

Quick DIY Gifts

I wanted to share two really quick ideas for great gifts with you.  And, they are very inexpensive, too!

Frist, I picked up these really cute latte mugs at Dollar General a few months ago.  They were a few dollars each.  I loved the pottery look with the black and brown glaze.  My kitchen's base colors are brown and black with splashes of lime, deep red and golden yellow.  I knew these mugs would look great.  I used my Cricut Expression to cut out Oracle 631 vinyl in black and tan and layered it on the mugs.  I'm very pleased with the way that they turned out.

My other super quick tip is for making custom coasters.  I was in Home Depot looking through the tile and noticed some glass ones in tan and olive that already had a nice backing on them and the edges were nicely finished.  They were less than $2 each.  I cut out black vinyl using a great set of monogram letters that I got from My Vinyl Designer.  Once I applied the vinyl the only thing left to do was add little cork feet to the bottom, which is optional.

There you have it - 2 great gifts for just dollars!

Be Blessed,

Custom Acrylic Tumblers by Glorified Designs

I have been really busy this summer making custom designed acrylic insulated tumblers.  They are too cute!  I have done flowers, retro circles, tennis themed, golf themed, high school themed, collegiate themed, cocktail themed, fundraisers and so much more.

Just thought that I would share a quick photo of them with you.  You can purchase your very own in my store, or be inspired to DIY.

Be Blessed,

FREE Printable Labels & A Sassy Salsa Gift!

My daughter is heading out tomorrow for a family vacation with her wonderful boyfriend and his family.  She wanted to take a little gift to be hospitable.  Her request was to take a large jar of my Glorified Sassy Salsa and her boyfriend readily agreed.  You can find the recipe for it here.

So obliged and whipped up a large jar for them.  But, it needed a little Glorifying!  So, here is what I did...

First I designed a printable on my computer.  I am a Mac girl and love, love, love Pages for graphic design.  It is just so easy to use.  Then I printed it out on Printable Vinyl which simply rocks!  I get my Cricut Vinyl from here.

You can download this label or another version without the name and ingredients on it at the bottom of this post.

I added it to the front of the jar.  But, it still needed more, so a little bit of lime and black raffia helped.  It was looking better, but not Glorified enough, so out came the Cricut Expression.  I used my Storybook Cartridge, which is one of my favorites and cut an adorable lace flower out of lime and black scrapbook paper that was the diameter of the lid.  Then I cut out the shadow of the flower in solid black card stock.  I glued the 2 pieces together with my Zig 2 Way Glue Pen and added a precious black jeweled brad in the center.  Now we're talking.

I used some 3D Glue Dots to adhere the flower on to the top of the jar.

Look how cute this turned out!  And, of course it tastes good, too.  I think the family will enjoy this little gift on their vaca.

Download the Salsa label by Clicking Here.

Download the Blank label by Clicking Here.

Hope you enjoy the labels.

Linked up to:

Be Blessed,

Judy's Sleeptime Elixir

I told you the other day that my Mother-in-law just celebrated her birthday.  I just was not sure what to give her and as I was sitting in my office thinking over craft/gift ideas, I had the funniest brainstorm.

First I should give you a bit of background.  Judy has never been a drinker, but my husband, father-in-law and I love our glass of wine now and then.  Earlier this year when she was having trouble sleeping, she decided to take a small drink to see if it would help.  She calls it her medicine that she needs from time to time even though she hates the taste.  She also says that she has to drink it sitting on the side of the bed, because it makes her sleepy instantly.

Well, we have given her some ribbing about it - all in love - I promise!

Okay, my idea - design a wine glass that said, "Judy's Sleepytime Elixir."  I was thinking back to the old "Doctor Feel Good's Elixir Days."

I had some beautiful wine glasses that I had picked up at Dollar Tree of all places for - you guessed it - $1.00.  I used my Cricut Expression and Sure Cuts A Lot to design and cut out the vinyl that I applied.  I used a Yellow and Gentian Blue Oracle 631 vinyl that I purchased from Expression Vinyl.   The font that I used was Mussica Swash.  The Moon image came from ScrappingTable.com.

It turned it out really cute.  And, when she opened it at lunch everyone got the best laugh, especially her.

I also made a cute card for her using the Provo Craft Storybook Cricut cartridge with a cute 3-D butterfly.

Be Blessed,

A Little Cup To Unwind With...

I LOVE my life!!!!  I'm so glad God made me - well me, even with all my quirks.  But, life does get pretty hectic sometimes and you just have to take a little time to unwind.  This summer we have a house full of folks: me, my handsome and excellent in everyway hubbie, our totally cool teenage son (future Oscar winner in the making for Best Director and Movie of the Year), our amazing daughter home from college (future Best Selling author and clothing/accessory designer) and her wonderful boyfriend (all around great guy and awesome connector of people - a true gift).

With this many talented, creative folks under one roof and ideas flowing constantly, we have found that "unwinding" time is essential.  So, my honey and I have taken to sitting by the pool every afternoon, unless we have rain, for about an hour or so and just going over our day and any ideas that we need the others help with.  It has been so enjoyable, plus my tan is not too bad either.

I just got the cute Provo Crafts Nifty Fifties Cricut Cartridge in and it had the cutest designs, so I decided to make us Pool Cups.  They turned out so "ADORABLE."

I love the olives and retro feel.  And, our fav treat to nibble on by the pool has been Triscut's and cream cheese with an olive on top.  So, how perfect!

Oh my, it's almost time to go catch some rays with my honey!  Yippe.  

Be Blessed,

Sippy Cup With A Little Something Extra...

Last week our church had a shower for our Youth Pastor who just adopted two precious blessings: Landyn and Londyn.  The twins are 18 months old and ADORABLE!!!!   Anyway, they needed mostly gift cards for things like diapers and wipes, but what fun is just giving a gift card?

So, I made these cute sippy cups with vinyl to "hide" the gift cards inside.

I used the cutest font that I found over at KevinandAmanda.com called Pea Faith Dots.

You can grab her fonts here:

I designed the layout in Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) and cut it with my Cricut Expression using Oracle 651 Outdoor Vinyl that I purchased at ExpressionVinyl.com
Once I had the vinyl on the cups, I added some basket filler inside the cups with the a gift card to Walmart in each one. 
I placed them inside clear bags that I purchase from Uline.com and tied the tops with curly ribbon.
I also added  little gift tags that I made using Provo Crafts Doodle Charms Cricut Cartridge.

All in all, a simple, cute baby gift!

Be Blessed,

Summer Pin Wheels

 I made some pinwheels for the 4th of July and my daughter got inspired, so she decided to make some with a summer theme. Here is her wonderful blog post about them.

Dulce Taylor: Summer Pin Wheels: "Hey guys! Today I'm going to show you how to make some pretty summer pinwheels. Let's get started... Here's what you need: Glue, wire cutte..."

Individual Jar Pies & Cakes

With the 4th of July upon us, I was trying to plan my menu for our neighborhood fireworks display. It is a fun event where we live. We are on a lake here in Georgia in a golf community that has an annual Independence Day Extravaganza!

On the 18th hole and behind the club house of one of our golf courses that sits on the lake, folks start piling in around 6pm with blankets and lawn chairs and picnics, and fun. On the lake, boats start piling in, grabbing their spot on the water for the show.

Our family loves attending this event each year and I try to make the food not only delicious but fun. So this year, I am making as our dessert little individual jar pies and cakes. I've seen lots of versions of these all over the Internet, but since I was in a hurry, opted to do a semi-homemade method.


I started with 24 half pint mason jars, 2 packages of refrigerated pie crusts, 2 can of cherry pie filling, & 2 cans of apple pie filling. I also mixed up this quick crumb topping.

Crumb Topping

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar or sucant (natural sugar)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 stick softened butter

Mix with a fork or pastry tool until crumbly.



Apple Pies

I began with the apple pies. I used the lids 0f the jar to cut out tops for each pie. Then I repeated the process for the bottoms of the jar, too.

And I had this great idea of using this little tool, I got from Pampered Chef.  I placed a dough round on the end and put the jar on top of it, flipped it over and easily layered the dough into the jar.

I cut strips of dough and layered on the edges - it will be easier if I show you real quick. Take a look at this quick video ...

I filled 8 jars with pie crust.   Now on to filling our pies. Of course, just because you start with store bought filling does not mean it has to taste store bought. I had some caramel sauce in the fridge, so I added that to the canned filling. There was probably not quite 1/2 cup of sauce. I also added a little melted butter, like 2 tablespoons, a sprinkle of cinnamon, a 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice and about an 1/8 cup whole wheat flour. It gave me enough filling to do 8 of the jars.

I used a star cookie cutter to cut a vent out of the top circle of dough for the little pies.

Then I laid the tops on the filling and used my fingers to seal the edges. I placed the star cut back on top a little turned so that the vent hole was not covered. I brushed a little butter on top and sprinkled with a small bit of Florida Crystal sugar, which I like because it is not bleached.





I screwed the tops on and at this point and can freeze them until I need them. I will pop them in the oven on the 4th for a quick bake. I'll start with a cold oven, put the frozen jars in and then turn the heat on to 375 degrees and bake for 50-60 minutes.  If you are baking them fresh, not frozen they only need to bake for 45 minutes.

Cherry Pies

For the cherry pies, I used 2 cans of filling plus a can of drained tart cherries that I had on hand. I spooned a layer of the crumb topping into the jars, then the cherry filling and then more crumb topping. Very easy!

Again , you can put the lids on at this point and freeze like we did with the apple pies. I will pull them out on the 4th and bake with apple pies.


Red Velvet Cakes In A Jar





My son and daughter are not big fruit pie lovers, so for them, I mixed up a red velvet cake mix. I poured the mix into 8 of the jars, about 1/2 way full. I baked them for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. After they cooled, I used a grapefruit spoon and scooped a little of the cake center out.

Then I made homemade cream cheese icing, because nothing is as good as my homemade cream cheese icing. I'll add the recipe below. I added the icing to a decorator bag and piped it down into the little hole I made into each cake and over the tops.

I used a bit of the crumbs that I scooped out on the top of each little cake for decoration. They look yummy.

Here is my Cream Cheese Icing recipe.

Cream Cheese Icing


1 stick of softened butter
8 oz softened cream cheese
1 pound confectioner sugar
11/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 to 3 tablespoons half-n-half, depending on consistency of the icing you desire: pipeable to pourable

Cream butter and cream cheese with a mixer. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Mix well. Add the vanilla and cream until you reach desired consistency.



Be Blessed,

Anniversary Gift For My Awesome In-Laws

My In-Laws are celebrating 51 years of marriage today! Isn't that wonderful? But after 51 years, what do you get someone, except maybe a long trip around the world :-)

So, I decided to craft something special for them. I used my Sure Cuts A Lot to design and cut vinyl with their last name, "families are forever," and "established 1960."

Here is a photo of all the vinyl cut and weeded on my mat. I absolutely love this Olive vinyl. It is my new favorite. It is Oracle 631.

I also decided to use my new Ornamental Iron Cricut Cartridge for a quick addition to the project.

I took a 10 X 13 picture frame and removed the glass. I cleaned the glass well and laid it on my craft mat so that the guides on the mat acted as my ruler to lay my design out with. I placed the elements on the glass using transfer tape, layering the "established 1960" on top of their name.

Once I had it all adhered to the glass, I grabbed the frame and flipped it over to the back. Working quickly, I added 4 hot glue dots in each corner of the frame and laid the glass back in the frame. Then I ran a small line of hot glue around the inside edge of the frame to secure the glass, but being careful to not let it show from the front.

Turn it over and Voila, a beautiful piece of decorative art for their home. You could always add a nice bow to hang it from, if you like. Or, use an ornamental metal holder to stand it up on a counter, shelf or table top.

Be Blessed,


Glori Winders
The 31 Woman

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cute Little Hershey Nuggets...

I got this cute idea for turning Hershey's Nuggets into great little favors.  This came from Robyn over at MyPinkStamper.com.  First off, purchase a bag of little Hershey's Nuggets.  Then use cute scrapbook paper that's fits your need and cut into 1 X 3 inch strips.

I made mine assembly line style, so I laid out each strip and ran a strip of glue down the middle of each one.  

Lay a nugget in the center of each strip.

Next, warp the paper around each nugget and press well to seal.

Here is my pile of yummy nuggets.

Next,  for a cute addition, I cut out small navy stars.  I laid out a strip of small zots on my cricut mat to hold it in place.  Those mats are so darn useful.  I stuck a star on top of each dot, assembly line style, and then added to the tops of the nuggets.

Too Cute!

Only problem is I had to hide them from my hubbie and son or there would have been none left for this weekend.  This is such a great idea to do for little favors, gifts, showers, weddings, holidays.  I love it!  I plan on laying them on my guest pillows this weekend.

Thanks, Robyn for the great idea!

Be Blessed,

A Creative Tumbler For A Creative Fellow...

My nephew, Dax, celebrated his 13th birthday this week. I can't believe he is that old. Wow. Anyway, he is one creative fellow - always drawing cartoons, video game characters, etc. In fact, he wants to design video games one day. He already has the stories written for his first game. I know he'll be great at it.

I wanted to make him a gift that let him know how much I believe in him, so I created this tumbler using the Cricut cartridge, "Wall Decor and More." I am loving this cartridge. So many great possibilities.

I used red, black and white since he is a UGA Bulldog fan.

I have black basket filler inside, which is making it a bit hard to see the black images on the cup, sorry.

The tumbler has phrases like: pray, have faith, dream, create, inspire, believe, imagine, etc...  I also used an image of a light bulb and some paint brushes.  And, of course, his name.

Be Blessed,