DIY | Beaded Leaf Headband

Only in SoCal can you go from shorts at noon to furry coat by evening...not to mention the sight of snow is quite a rarity around these parts so it's usually a (relatively) warm winter for us compared to in other states. For Advent Calendar Day 25, I DIY'd this headband as a tribute to winter wonderland for Debbie.

DIY | Pearl Pins

Some most days I haven't got the time to fuss with my hair so as much as I'd wanna rock the freshly-rolled-out-of-bedhead look, I don't think I could pull it off without looking like a frazzled zombie. I have yet to perfect the "messy bun" look since I have naturally thin hair, so I just throw it up in a normal bun dressed up with few pearl-topped bobby pins. These are fantastically simple (and cheap!) to make but makes a bun look so elegant. If these look familiar to you, I had made my friend Debbie a set of these for Day 1 of my DIY Advent Calendar!

Featuring special appearances by my floral pajamas and fuzzy purple socks

DIY | Advent Calendar 2013 Roundup

Hope you all had a lovely time celebrating the holidays with your loved ones! Hope you find some inspiration in this roundup of all the DIY wrapping ideas that I came up with for the past 25 days, for your easy navigation, Of course these ideas are not just limited to Christmas; feel free to use these ideas for wrapping gifts all year round!

Day 25 | Tissue Paper Packaging

Day 24 | Ribbon Tube Packaging

Day 23 | Elastic Box

Day 22 | Pretty Paper Bag II

Day 21 | Milk Carton

Day 20 | Pyramid Box

Day 19 | Feathered Bag

Day 18 | Clipped Pyramid Bag

Day 17 | Circle Topped Box

Day 16 | Cutout Tissue Wrap

Day 15 | Glitter Top Box

Day 14 | Slip-Through Tissue Wrap

Day 13 | Button Pillow Box

Day 12 | Pretty Paper Bag I

Day 11 | Wrap-Around Label

Day 10 | Sequined Tube II

Day 9 | Tube Packaging

Day 8 | Sequined Tube

Day 7 | Gold Dotted Envelope

Day 6 | Polka Dot Scallop Box

Day 5 | Origami Folding Box

Day 4 | Star Bow Envelope

Day 3 | Matchbox

Day 2 | Diagonal Wrap w/ Tag 

Day 1 | Tea Bag Packaging

Pre-Dec | Recycled Mailbox

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 25: Tissue Paper Packaging

It's the last day of Advent Calendar ideas here at Cafe Craftea for 2013! Can't believe December went by so quickly and Christmas is here so a very big Happy Holidays to all my readers! 

For day 25, I DIY'd a winter-inspired beaded leaf headband since Debbie's a huge fan of headbands :) This is a great last minute alternative to wrapping paper; I'll also be doing a DIY tutorial for the headband soon so stay tuned!

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 24: Ribbon Tube Packaging

While Toblerone's packaging is fascinating, I was finding it hard to package it so that it didn't obviously give the gift away. Paper towel tubes to the rescue! This DIY is pretty similar to my other two tube packaging projects, so refer to Day 8 and Day 9 if you're stuck.

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 23: Elastic Box

For day 23, I got Debbie a set of jewelry pliers perfect for jewelry making. While these didn't originally fit into the ~$1-a-day budget, I had a $5 off coupon from Michaels so the price ended up being around there anyway. Today's box features a long flap secured with an elastic; this would be lovely for holding chocolates!

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 22: Pretty Paper Bag II

I'm absolutely obsessed with Brookside's chocolate-covered acai berries from Costco...they're so addictive (and expensive)! I make sure to pick up a huge bag every time go :P While I wasn't able to grab these for Debbie, I was able to find these chocolate-covered blueberries in the bulk section of Sprouts (another one of my loves) which come pretty close! Here's my second variation on how to dress up a paper bag!

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 21: Milk Carton

Debbie mentioned that she was on the lookout for a mason jar with handle that she could use as a mug and I knew exactly where to find it: the 99c store! (Cue profession of undying love for the 99c store) I've seen these sold for much more at other places like Walmart and Michaels so it was awesome finding it there. Since this was by far my largest gift, I designed a cute little milk carton to hold it. I've included two options for you to download: one has the bottom and sides separate and one with all the components already connected.

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 20: Pyramid Box

If you haven't had Hi-Chew before, it's sort of like the Asian version of Starburst! Chewy and fruity and oh-so-addictive; I picked this mixed variety pack from Daiso and packaged the individually wrapped candies in a geometric pyramid-shaped box. 

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 19: Feathered Bag

I'm a huuuge fan of flats. There's just something convenient and incredibly lazy about just being able to slip in and out of shoes in a flash, but I hate the stinky foot smell that results due to not wearing socks! I've recently discovered some super comfy ballet socks from the 99c store and I bought Debbie this pack of 2 pairs. I found it misplaced and couldn't find anymore though :(

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 18: Clipped Pyramid Bag

Got a pack of mini airheads for Debbie for Day 18...had to resist the urge (again) to sneak a few for myself! This bag is a take on a type of candy wrapper...only bigger!

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 17: Circle Topped Box

Since Debbie heavily hinted that she needed a durable retractable keychain (from Daiso)...well, that makes it a little easier for me ;) I confess, I hurt myself trying it out LOL. For Day 17, I decided to make a little tuck-in box with some whimsical circles on top. 

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 16: Cutout Tissue Wrap

Quick little anecdote: I was so obsessed with Sour Patch Watermelon once that I bought a whole 5 lb bag, but at so much and haven't had it since. I just realized that this is the only present that doesn't match with my red/white/gold/brown color theme! :( Regardless, I think red Christmas trees would look funny anyway. 

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 15: Glitter Top Box

Anyone else loathe those tricky little lint balls that are just a pain to pick off your freshly dried clothes? I'm hoping that this little lint vacuum I got from Daiso will suck up those annoying little buggers. I packaged this in a simple box decorated with gold glitter for some bling ;)

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 14: Slip-Through Tissue Wrap

Debbie's a huge fan of sweet/sour candy so I instantly thought of her when I saw this box of Starburst. I don't know about you but I looove square/rectangular boxes b/c they're so easy to wrap :)

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 13: Button Pillow Box

I spotted this adorable pack of wool roving from Daiso and thought about all the felted balls and acorn bowls that I wanted to make, so I thought Debbie would like this. The label on it showed a cute little felted macaron that I'd like to attempt as well! Today's project isn't much of a tutorial because it's just a pillow box, but I've provided a template for you to download :) I adorned it with twine and a button that ended up being perfect for packaging this gift~

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 12: Pretty Paper Bag I

In keeping with my recycled Advent Calendar theme, today I dressed up a paper bag to wrap up a package of Tootsie Rolls aka I ran out of ideas for cute box packaging at this point.

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 11: Wrap-Around Label

For Day 11, I spotted this bottle of matte polish at Daiso! I actually use this very brand myself and it works really well at matte-fying? glossy polishes, so you won't have to go out to buy specific (and expensive!) colors of matte polish. I also had this little Kraft cardboard jewelry box that I had saved from a previous present; the bottle barely fit but I was able to make it work :P

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 10: Sequined Tube II

I remember pretty clearly that Debbie was the one who introduced me to Shock Tarts when I was little, resulting in much rawness of the tongue after consuming one too many of these. When I initially saw this, I thought it was a weurd off-brand wannabe of the original Shock Tarts, but apparently they're called "Shockers" now. Today's tutorial really isn't much of a DIY, since the steps are exactly the same as Day 8's sequined tube just in a different color, so click here for the tutorial!

Yesterday: Day 9: Tube Packaging | Tomorow: Day 11 - Wrap-Around Label

All Advent Calendar-related posts can be found here.

Want to see what Debbie got me? Follow me on Instagram!

DIY | Advent Calendar Day 9: Tube Packaging

Picked up this adorable metal honey dipper / egg scrambler from Daiso after Debbie mentioned that she thought it was cute. Due to its odd shape, I decided to package it in a tube again but in a slightly different way :)