What’s a friend to do when her bestie is halfway across the state, country or world? As someone who has a lot of experience with big international moves and long distance friendships, I can confidently say that care packages are THE way to tell your far away BFF how much you love them. Trust me, when you have a 17-hour California to Australia time difference between you, every little present helps!
Whether your fave gal has just moved halfway across the world, is prepping for an epic vacay, having a birthday, going through a breakup, or about to be your bridesmaid, a care package is always a welcomed surprise. We knew we had to combine a little buy and a little DIY into this happy set of hand-picked presents. Keep scrolling to see how we put the whole thing together!
To send off the perfect care package, we teamed up with FedEx Office® to make sure this curated combo of gifts gets there in time and intact!
We’ve seen our fair share of friendship bracelets made for all ages, but we wanted to step up our game a little bit by putting together some silly yet sophisticated stacking bracelets. Scroll on and make a whole set all in about 20 minutes.
DIY STACKING MESSAGE BRACELETS
Materials + Tools:
— small alphabet beads
— colorful beads
— gold curved tube beads
— jewelry wire
— jewelry plier/cutter
— jump rings
— clasps
Grab a fun selection of beads and the rest of your supplies and BOOM — you’re halfway there already!
Using your plier/cutter, cut a piece of wire that measures a couple inches longer than the circumference of your (or your bestie’s) wrist. Plan out your phrase in alphabet beads and string the first word onto the middle of the wire. Frame this first word with gold and colored beads on either side until only a half inch or so of wire is left on each end.
Bend one end of wire around the bottom ring of a clasp, twist it around itself a few times and then fold down the sharp end with your pliers. Repeat this process on the opposite side but with a jump ring instead of a clasp. Pro-tip: While you’re finishing the first side, keep all the beads from slipping off the opposite side by temporarily folding that end of wire at an angle.
Repeat the whole process for the rest of your phrase, giving each word its own bracelet. When you’re done you should have a pretty stacking set just like this!
In our opinion, the ultimate customized bestie gift is a jacket made just for them (extra points if you have a matching one). So, we decided to make exactly that! Keep on scrolling to see this super quick and cute DIY that can be done in just an hour or two!
DIY PAINTED CANVAS + DENIM JACKET
Materials + Tools:
— denim jacket
— canvas fabric
— fabric paint (multiple colors)
— paintbrushes
— fabric glue
— scissors
— pencil
Grab a plain jacket and the rest of your supplies, and let’s get started!
Choose a panel on your denim jacket that is surrounded by a “border” of seams, like this back panel here, and lay your canvas fabric on top of it. Trace the shape of your panel with a pencil, feeling the bumpy seams underneath the canvas and using those as guides for your pencil line.
Cut along your pencil line with scissors and then lay it back down on top of the denim jacket to make sure it fits the panel nicely.
Now let’s get painting! Squeeze out various colors of fabric paint onto a paper plate, lay your canvas panel on top of a paper towel and grab a jar of water to clean your brushes later.
The EASIEST way to add instant color and life to something is with an abstract brushstroke pattern like this one. Layer up your colors in different sized strokes and shapes, making sure to mix up some dark, some light and some bright colors. Let your painted panel dry for about an hour and then you’re ready for the next step. To really personalize this for your bestie, think about their favorite colors and patterns. Does she love florals? Paint some abstract flowers! Pineapple obsession? Grab some fruit and paint your version of it! For this example, we went with colorful brushstrokes fit for the art enthusiast BFF.
When your canvas panel is completely dry, grab your fabric glue and cover the matching panel on your denim jacket with a spiral of glue. Carefully match up your canvas panel to the glued denim panel and firmly press them down onto each other. Let the whole thing dry for another hour or so.
When your jacket is dry it should look like this!
OliaDesign Emoji Pillow
PACKING + SHIPPING YOUR CARE PACKAGE
Gather up all of your gifts in a box or bin, putting the more fragile items at the top. Now, we all know the most stressful part of shipping care packages is figuring out what on earth to do with the fragile stuff. To make this whole process a whole lot easier, FedEx Office® can pack up your gifts for you, including this fragile jewelry dish, starting at $4.99.
HOORAY! Your care package is safely in the hands of your bff. Get ready for a slew of Snapchats of her showing off how good this haul is (and how good of a friend you are).
Exhibit A and B :) Who wouldn’t feel like the most loved person on earth after receiving this box of goodies?