Yesterday I shared the table gifts I made for our recent crop weekend at Disney. Today I want to share my latest crafting obsession and the gifts I made for the girls I roomed with that weekend.
Living in south west Florida gets hot. Really hot. A miserable, humid, muggy, sweaty kind of hot. And in this kind of heat you need to stay hydrated. I like my drinks cold. Ice cold. The problem is that even at work it is hard to keep fresh ice in the (questionable) community freezer. Now, any good Floridian will tell you that they never leave home without their Tervis Tumbler and while I have spent the last 12 years touting the awesomeness of Tervis and their ability to keep ice cold for several hours, the Tervis I loaded with ice before leaving the house at 7:30 is still sans ice by noon. Not good. (and it makes for a very cranky afternoon).
Then I was introduced to Yeti. A Yeti tumbler is a 30 ounce, (yes, 30 ounces although they do make a 20 ounce as well), double walled, stainless steel tumbler that will keep ice in it's ice-like state for up to 18 hours. That is all day, even if you leave it in your car in the unbearable Florida heat. After my son broke down and bought one for himself and could not stop singing the praises of the Yeti, he bought me one for Christmas last year. But, being the consummate crafter, I refused to use my Yeti until I had customized it. No naked Yeti for this crafty chick. But I have commitment issues. This is a big decision people! I did not want to be like every other southern girl and put my monogram on my Yeti. I need something more unique, more me. So after much soul searching and more than a few sleepless nights I finally decided on a design for my Yeti and used my Silhouette to cut it out of turquoise glitter vinyl. (because everything is better with glitter and my Yeti deserved nothing less)
The problem is a 30 ounce Yeti retails for $39.99. Now don't get me wrong, it's worth every penny and in Florida it's a necessity. Then along comes Walmart with their knockoff version (their own Ozark brand) for, are you ready...........$9.97! One fourth of the price of the Yeti! Does it work as well? You betcha. (which is why Yeti is currently suing Walmart so get em while you still can) In side by side comparisons they are pretty much the same amount of ice-preserving awesomeness. The problem is they have taken the southern crafting world by storm and they are next to impossible to find here now. Walmarts all over the south have started to limit the number you can purchase at once because southern crafters have been buying them up by the dozens and customizing them in all kinds of creative ways. Since they are such a hot commodity here, I wanted to customize a few for my roomies but it took me several trips to four different Walmarts to find them.
I had a Facebook conversation with a woman who had used vinyl and alcohol inks to cover her "Feti" (fake Yeti) and she was kind enough to share her technique with me. I tried to customize them to reflect the personalities of the recipients because like me, I know they have commitment issues too. Personally, I think I nailed it. I hope they feel the same.
This one was for my friend and roomie Kari...
The back of the cup says "Be a Peacock in a world full of pigeons". Love that saying.
This one was for my friend Kelly's birthday...
Love this saying too. In fact it may have to go on the back of my seahorse.
Just to complicate matters and send my creative brain into overdrive, my oldest son who lives in Orlando sent me this picture the other day.
Apparently Walmart now has their Ozark brand "Feti's" in matt black. Oh the possibilities! I see some Halloween and Manly Feti's in my future lol!
Thanks for stoppin' by!
