A quick gift for a pre-teen girl...

My granddaughter turned 11 years old earlier this month. Eleven can be a hard age to buy for - too old for toys, but not yet into the whole makeup and clothes scene. My granddaughter has pierced ears and loves to make things, so I decided to put together a little earring-making kit for her.

I had a small, compartmentalized, clear plastic box that had actually contained some card-making supplies. I simply filled it with a few pretty beads, cute charms and earring findings, along with a set of small tools that fit into the center section of the box. You can just see their pink handles peeking out.

I adhered a large label shape that had been cut with a Lifestyle Crafts die onto the top of the box. I also added some fun puffy stickers that I've had in my stash for quite a while.

I found some simple instructions online and edited them to better fit the supplies in this little kit and printed them out. I made a little instruction booklet with my Zutter Bind-It-All (love that tool!) and decorated the front and back covers of the booklet using the same paper and stickers that I had used on the plastic box.

This was a fun gift to give, and I hope my granddaughter has lots of fun making earrings! Since I've made lots of earrings in my time, I'll be able to help her get started.

Working on this reminded me of when I got my ears pierced. It was back in 1968 and I was 18 years old. I was in my first year of college, living in a dorm. My friends decided it was high time I had pierced ears (and I agreed), so we turned to our friend Barb who was in her second year of a four-year nursing program. Barb was our medical expert. Ha! She probably hadn't had any more science classes at that point than I had. Anyway, surgeon Barb took charge and held some ice cubes against my ear lobes to numb them. Then she held a potato behind each ear and stuck a BIG safety pin straight through them! Once the holes were there, Sue (the Resident Assistant or RA in our dorm) loaned me a pair of her gold earrings to wear until my ears had healed. We had nothing on hand but good old rubbing alcohol to disinfect my ears. Believe me, it stung! It all went exceedingly well - no infection, healed nicely, still wearing pierced earrings to this day!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl