16 Birthday Gifts for Every Budget

Supplies For Your Own "Cruel Summer" Taylor Swift Fuzzy Dice:

• Sewing machine
• Pink fleece fabric
• Pink thread
• Pink felt
• Scissors
• Blue rope/cord (I took mine off a loofah)
• Needle + pins
• A copy of Lover to listen to while you sew ;)
• Poly-Fil Stuffing (not pictured)
• Ruler (optional)
• Glue gun + glue gun sticks (optional, use it to touch up your seams if you need)

Instructions:

Start by marking your fleece with the measurements for your squares. Since the size of the dice on Taylor's official website was listed as 3.5", I marked them just above 3.5" so I could leave room for a hem. You'll need 12 squares total.

Next, cut out your squares. I used the first square as a template for the others, then went back in and cleaned up the edges where necessary.

The first image I made was a sun, and I started by drawing a circle on my felt. I used the rim of my thread spool to make sure I had a perfect circle but you can also free hand if you want the circle to be a different size.

Pin your felt to the center of a fleece square.

Sew the circle to the fleece using a regular straight stitch.

Next, move your sewing machine from a straight stitch to a zigzag stitch and decrease your stitch length to a lower number like 0 or 1. This will allow your art to have more of a filled-in border, instead of a messier, chevron finish.

Go back over the rim of your circle with the zigzag stitch to give it that embroidered look. I did this with the fabric right side up, then I did it again with the fabric flipped upside down just to be extra thorough.

After your circle is complete, it's time for the sun rays! Use the same zigzag stitch and 0 stitch length to move from the circle outward. This is where you'll want to add another element: stitch width.

To give the sun rays their triangular shape, adjust your stitch width as you move out from the heart of the sun. While the stitch length ensures your sewing won't have empty spaces, the width will let you move from a wider sunbeam base to a thinner point. I just decreased the width every few stitches as I went along.

Your finished sun will look something like this! I went back in with a needle to clean up loose threads by hand. I waited to trim them until I had threaded them to the back so that the front image had a more polished look.

Repeat the above steps for your devil and angel hearts. There are only a few differences between these and the sun; you'll cut the felt into hearts instead of circles, and to fill in the horns and the wings, I used a straight stitch to give it a colored-in look, reserving the zigzag stitching for the borders.

I know the original dice had "Cruel Summer" lyrics stitched onto these squares, but I ended up leaving them off. It makes the design more minimal and easier to work with.

One thing to note about this step: beware of bunched fabric! Filling in the angel wings brought the edges of the squares in a bit, but I wasn't too upset about it. I think flaws give a craft some personality!

The "Lover" stitching got a little more complicated than the images. I first traced the word with my pen so that I would have some guide as to what the word should look like. Move the stitch width back down to one of the lower settings.

Then instead of just moving the fabric in a circle like I did for the sun, I moved it all around to follow the word I had written in marker. Repeat this a few times until you're satisfied with the thickness. I definitely tried this step a couple different times so don't worry if you don't get it on the first go!

For my final embroidered square, I did a simple "TS," which of course stands for "Taylor Swift."

Before you can sew your squares together, line the edges up and pin them. I used my ruler to mark how far I wanted my hem to go (I did 1/4" at every edge) for a sewing guideline.

I pinned the squares one at a time, checking at each step that they were pinned the right way (especially after I sewed two together incorrectly and had to pick out the stitches. Oops.)

Arrange the images in a similar way to the official dice, or change it up however you'd like! I chose to arrange the squares so that there was a blank in between the images.

Pin and sew your remaining three squares around the middle square so that you end up with a cross.

I continued pinning and sewing the edges to one another until I had an inside-out cube. Here's a tutorial to help you better understand which edges should be sewn together.

I did one square at a time, making sure to focus on the corners and going back in to tighten them up once I was done. You only want one gap, which is where you'll flip the cube inside out and then stuff it.

Once you have a cube, flip the fabric inside out. I used my pen to make sure all the corners and edges were good to go.

Next, stuff your cube with whatever filling you prefer. I didn't stuff it super full because I didn't want it to have a rounded look when I was done.

Ta-da! A little wonky but very cute :)

When you have both dice, cut a small hole in the top for your cord. Knot the ends and stuff them into the holes, then use your needle and thread to attach the cord and the fleece together.

Voilà!

They're soft, fuzzy, and pink. What could be better than that?!

If you don't want to hang these in your car, they also make excellent Valentine's (or Galentine's) decor.

If you need me, I'll be blasting "Cruel Summer" for the rest of the month.

DIY Valentine Gifts Your Partner Will Love

Give your sweetheart hugs and kisses via these easy-to-sew XOXO pillows. Pick fabric that goes with your decor or use the brightest red and pink fabric that you can find.

This floral backdrop is perfect for a doorway surprise for when your love or little ones wake up on Valentine's Day morning. Plus, by the time your V-Day celebrations end, you might as well leave them up for March.

Keep the surprises coming withbreakfast in bed. We heart these Red Velvet Heart Waffles with Cream Cheese Glaze — yum! Sprinkles are encouraged.

Challenge your love(s) to a game of Jenga with this cute DIY Valentine's gift. This will make for an adorable game to play any time of year.

Make your own box of chocolates with a piñata twist. We'll take two, please!

Gift your gal pals a hand-stamped scarf for the occasion or make a DIY night of it! Since you make the stamps yourself, you can create any pattern you want.

Dig into this DIY conversation heart cake for the sweetest V-Day dessert you ever did try.

Put a ring on it! Chocolate ring pops for the DIY Valentine's gifts win. Our favorite part is definitely the fun colors.

Here's a long distance-friendly idea: Make theseConversation Heart Piñata care packages to send to your BFFs or you can surprise your fam in the morning with a goodie-filled one.

Give your sweetheart something delicious and gluten-free with these Cassava Flour Brownies.

Get cozy with these conversation heart pillowsfor your favorite texting pal.

Serve your Galentine's Day guests Celebrity Heartthrob Cookies— the next best thing to the real deal. Pass us the Ryan Gosling cookie please!

Make a stack of pixel-inspired Pop-Up Heart Cardsfor your favorite people.

Add a green twist to your Valentine's Day surprise with these Air Plant Wall Artpiecesthat creatively make use of nails and string.

For a more hands-on DIY Valentine's gift, whip up these fun DIY Conversation Heart Coasterswith polymer clay and letter stamps.

Map your travels together with this clever Photo Map Wall Artfor a personal and so special touch!

Celebrate your Valentine's favorite food with these extra cute (and yummy) Heart-Shaped Boxes. Fill them with candy today and love letters tomorrow.

Trader Joe’s Night Cream is a brand-new addition to their collection of skincare goodies. In fact, it’s so new that it’s not listed on their website quite yet. Despite its newcomer status, tons of shoppers are already buzzing about the Trader Joe’s Night Cream.

One TJ’s fan on Reddit surfaced the new find on the r/TraderJoe’s subreddit, and skincare lovers were super quick to chime in.

Per the post, the Trader Joe’s Night Cream is formulated with Irish sea moss extract, a fermented mushroom complex, ceramides, and sodium hyaluronate. It’s also unscented, which can be super beneficial for sensitive skin in need of moisture.

The TJ’s fan that found the night cream on shelves reported that it is “very thick but dry at the same time. I really had to work it into the skin,” they said. “Very odd consistency.”

Another shopper that tried the Trader Joe’s Night Cream weighed in on their experience:

“Using it sparingly since I’m quite pregnant and don’t want to mess with sensitive skin but so far it’s quite nice!” they said. “Thick but not greasy in the slightest. I still feel it on my skin when I rinse my face in the AM which means it held up overnight in my dry altitude climate.”

Several more users compared this new TJ’s formula to other products on the market, mentioning Asian beauty and even retinol for its anti-aging benefits.

“It’s interesting to see all the fermented ingredients in this!” one person commented. “I know that they have been very popular in Asian skincare for years, but I don’t see it that often in the States. I’m excited to try this! Thanks for sharing, I’m going to be on the lookout now.”

“Based on the ingredients list, I suspect this might be a Korean product,” another TJ’s shopper agreed.

“Irish Sea Moss is considered an excellent retinol alternative so if it agrees with one’s skin, not a bad option for those who can’t tolerate or don’t want harsh actives,” one more skincare fan noted.

One Redditor confirmed that a single 2-ounce jar of the Trader Joe’s Night Cream cost just $9. Similar moisturizers that leverage sea moss in their formulas (like Wildling’s Moonbounce 2% Bioretinol Irish Sea Moss Plumping Moisturizer and MARA's SeaDream Algae Crème) average around $73, which is insane.

This TJ’s find could be a great way to try out the sea moss skincare wave without shelling out a fortune! Per episode 87 of The Inside Trader Joe's Podcast, it’s certifiably “high-quality” and “incredibly functional.”