A Very Bloomie Christmas

Merry Christmas, Everyone!  And for those who do not celebrate Christmas, I wish you a Happy Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus, Sunday, etc.!  Basically, no matter what is contained in your faith, belief system, or heart (even if that means nothing at all), I hope that at the very least this day brought you joy and love.

...And maybe a gift or two :P

On that note, my most recent project was a bunch of little gifts for The Bloomies!  They're admittedly not all that eye-catching--their value lies in an inside joke--but I thought I'd share anyway!

Doc Schaber's Delectable Incredible Revitalizing Treatment (D.I.R.T.)

If you looked at the photo and simply scratched your head (or chin or whatever else you might scratch when in a state of confusion),  I can't say that I blame you.  But if you will, allow me to explain! 

Whenever one of us is sick or injured in some way, you can count on our manager to dispense his sagely medical advice.  And that advice?  Rub some dirt on it! :)

Seriously.  When I took that hard fall from skating and came in with a mangled leg---"Rub some dirt on it!"

When I was complaining about a sore throat--"Rub some dirt on it!"
Me:  "But...it's in my throat, not on my neck..."
Him:  "Rub some dirt in it!"

When that sore throat developed into a full-on, nasty cold/flu--"Did you rub dirt on it?  You should have rubbed dirt on it!"

The joke spread out among us at work, but amusingly enough, I've begun to hear it more frequently from other people as well.  Even so, the first person I think about when I hear that phrase is the Boss Man!  So there you are!  Little glass bottles filled with miracle dirt for The Bloomies :)

And just so it's clear, the bottles are not filled with actual dirt!  On the off chance that someone was going to get a bit too curious, I decided it was best to fill them with hot chocolate mix, hahaha!   


ART NOTES:

Considering the absurdity of the joke itself, I thought it'd be a fun idea to make the gift look like an old-fashioned, cure-all remedy like the kinds snake-oil salesmen of the days of old used to peddle. 

Er...well I suppose there are still snake-oil salesmen nowadays (iRenew bracelets, anyone?).

Anyway, I started off looking for glass containers at the craft store.  My first idea was to buy a bunch of mini mason jars (the kind with the glass tops/lids with the metal latches), but I couldn't find any.  That's when I opted for the cork-topped glass bottles that looked like they could have contained a bunch of strange potions and curios.  Ideally I would have wanted to use the same type of bottle for everyone, but the need for 21 bottles coupled with a dwindling stock meant that I ultimately had to compromise with 2 different types: A circular, "flat" flask, and a globe-like potion-style bottle.

After I got all of my supplies home, I quickly designed an old-fashioned looking label.  If I had enough time, I would have added more graphics (like a drawing of a clump of dirt or some botanical scrolling).  Because I was working on these the night before Christmas Eve, however, I had to limit the design to text only.  The rounded proportions of the bottles also meant that I had to resort to creating tag labels for them instead of sticker labels.  Without a truly flat surface, the stickers wouldn't have adhered without some wrinkling.

Here's the label.  But in case you can't read it, here's the text:
DOC SCHABER'S Delectable Incredible Revitalizing Treatment
Cures all ailments--Guaranteed!
When you're run-down, don't dare submit!
Follow The Doc's orders and...
...Rub some D.I.R.T. on it!

The labels were printed on white card stock, so I printed the old, tanned paper texture on both sides to make it look a little more "authentic."

All of my supplies!  Hot Chocolate mix, glass bottles, card stock labels, ribbons
and some sweet sweet caffeine to keep me going

I filled each bottle with about 4 tablespoons (2 servings) of hot chocolate mix.

I actually ran out of hot chocolate mix...  Eeeep!  2 of those bottles are instead filled with flavored cappuccino mix!
The light gray-ish colored one is pumpkin spice cappuccino, and the one to the right of it is mocha mint!

Tying on the labels--The flask-style bottles had red ribbons, the potion-style bottles had green!

21 finished bottles of Doc Schaber's D.I.R.T.!

While I put everything together myself, the idea for the gifts themselves was more of a conceptual collaboration between Bloomie Megan and me.  Gotta give credit where credit is due!

Happy Holidays!