Crafts, gifts and a whole lot of love
Not so long ago, when I was working in the office full time I had to wear an ID badge while I was in the building. I had a lanyard to go along with it, and while it wasn’t all that fancy, at least it […]
Greetings and welcome back! I’m fresh (well, semi-fresh anyway) from another annual girls retreat and jazzed to dive into new projects. Evidently this included having to get nearly all of my website back up and running today. Sheesh. Who knew making one addition to the […]
Okay, I admit it. I fell victim to blog lust recently when I was cruising through a few favorite sites. They were all disgustingly pretty, fresh and clean and I immediately realized that this labor of love of mine was, well, not any of those things. So, off I went in search of a new theme that would satisfy my need for less pink, more clarity and a bit of variety from page to page. So…ta daaaaaah! Here we are. Just in time for Spring. Yes, I realize there is still snow on the ground, but work with me here.
Working from home full time as I do, the days tend to run one into another and Winter seems to be just crawling along this year. I don’t know about you, but I am SO READY for Spring and a vacation. Probably more ready for a vacation if I am completely honest. This past year has not been kind in terms of time away or the making of plans for time away. I am getting really good at cancelling vacations. (sigh) I guess this blog refresh is my way of nudging things along a little in the right direction. Thankfully, I do get to run off to a girls craft retreat this weekend with the bestie where we will, no doubt, stay up too late, laugh hysterically over every silly thing, and enjoy the company of some exceptionally fine women. I’ve only been looking forward to this retreat for 362-ish days. That’s not too cray-cray is it?!? I hope my boss understands that my ability to concentrate tomorrow (my last day for the week) will be in question. I bet she will, since she’s joining me at the same retreat, *wink* and I expect we will all come home on Sunday a little bit exhausted and a whole lot refreshed. Just what the doctor ordered I say!
I’m happy to report I’ve solved the production issues I was having with my Chocolate Cherry Bomb candles though, not quite quickly enough to have them ready for Valentine’s day which is a HUGE bummer. However, that particular scent (and any of the others in my shop) would make great gift ideas for Mother’s Day, Birthdays, Anniversaries, or Spring Cleaning I need a new Candle Day… And, if that’s not enough exciting news for you, I have a couple more Spring scents coming next week too, including…drumroll please…Yep! I Cleaned! Three guesses what that one smells like. *wink*
For those who use lanyards for badges, keys and other dangly things, I’ve got a trio of pretty fabric lanyards hitting the shop before the end of the month and, at the request of a few dog-lovers, some leashes that will make walking Fido fun. Be sure to stop back and see what’s in store! I’m working hard to keep adding new things. While you are waiting though…you can cash in (literally) on a couple good deals with the promo codes on my Promotions page.
Thanks for stopping in today! I hope to see you back here real soon!
don’t know about you, but when the weather is nasty and cold, I want something hearty and warm for dinner. Enter this FANTASTIC recipe from Pampered Chef. With a Toni twist. The original recipe is vegetarian friendly, but since the hubby and I are carnivores, I added ground beef to the mix for an alternative version. The biggest win for this recipe? I had EVERYTHING I needed on hand. I bet you do too!
Hello! I am back with four new additions to the shop that are absolutely PERFECT for Valentine’s day. Skip the chocolates, the flowers that wilt and the guilt and head for the Valentine candles! I guarantee, every single one is calorie free (though Chocolate Cherry Bomb won’t seem like it), and they last for a nice long time!
Good morning and welcome back! I have another idea to share that will add a little extra somethin’ somethin’ to your holiday gift wrapping. My hubby was wrapping packages this weekend and discovered a shortage of tags so, of course, I made a beeline to my craft room to fix the problem. Now we have a surplus because as the organizational director of our house, I found all the tags after I created these. They were right where I stored them of course, but apparently they were “hidden” a little too well for the hubby to find them. No worries. It’s always a good thing to have extras, and these are super cute so, win, win!
Below is your supply list for my One-Sheet-Wonder Gift Tags. You may even have most of what you need already on hand, but if not, everything is easy to find in any craft store.
Supply List:
Score the cardstock lengthwise at 4-1/4 inches, then turn 90 degrees and score in intervals at 2-3/4, 5-1/2 and 8-1/4 inches. You should now have 8 evenly divided panels. These scorelines will help to provide guidelines for where to stamp and later to cut. NOTE: I added the illustrative lines to the image above so you can see where the score lines should be. If you don’t have a scoring tool you can use a pencil and ruler to add light lines instead. Then when you get to the cutting part, you would just cut on your lines and erase any marks afterward.
I first stamped the ornaments along the outside (what will be the bottom of each tag) in a repeating pattern that just slightly overlaps the score lines. Don’t forget to add just a little of the same image along that far right edge so that the pattern is the same across all 4 tags. Stamp one edge then turn your cardstock 180 degrees and repeat.
For the little candies, I stamped them randomly along that center score line so that they overlap the score line. Don’t be afraid to crowd them a bit so they show up on all 8 tags.
This step is a repeat of the previous one using your second color. I stamped the sentiment and the little green candies in between the ornaments making sure that I didn’t stamp the sentiment too close to the score line.
Here’s where those score lines really come in handy! Just trim along each score line until your full sheet is divided into 8 equal pieces. Almost done!
These last two steps are optional. If you want to stop here you are done, but the little extra bit of baker’s twine and the rounded corners make them special I think. I used about 12 inches of twine for each tag and tied them in a little bow, but you could leave the ends free to tie them on to your packages.
Aren’t they cute and I made them in less than half an hour! So easy and inexpensive to do; especially if you already have some stamps and ink on hand. If you want to glitz these up a bit, a little glitter or some adhesive gems would be lovely additions. I opted to leave them as is.
Thanks for popping in today and I hope you will give these a try! Let me know in the comments what you think, or if you’d like to see more tutorials like this one. Have a fantastic week!
This project is just in time for holiday gift wrapping and ornament making. The tags that I used are wood and come in a box of 50 from Michael’s. I only used three for this project which means that I have 47 more to play around with for ornaments, gift tags, place markers… Well, the list is endless right? I also used my Cricut to cut the letters so if you have a cutting machine, I have saved the cut files into my Digital Downloads freebie files for you to download and use. So, let’s get started!
I am super excited to announce I have a new gift section in the store and I am working on loading it up with a bunch of different things to make gift giving easy. To start things off with a bang, I have a bright paper package all tied up with string (and aren’t those all of our favorite things?) that I hope lands right on top of your wish list!
Hello again! I’m not sure where November went but between a landslide of projects at work and also here at home, my blog time took quite a hit. So, let’s see if I can’t get us back on track.
Today I have a sparkly snowflake project that you can do with the kids and deck the halls while you are at it! These aren’t original to me, but I thought they would make a good project since the supplies needed are really easy to find and pretty inexpensive too. Also, the options are pretty much endless as far as potential designs so let your imagination run wild and see what you come up with.
I’ve been gathering TP tubes for months now in preparation of this project. Now, the season and the time is right to share it with you . I used three tubes for the two snowflakes I am going to show you but once you get going on these you might not want to stop. Of course you will need to save up on the tubes but how hard is that?!
Supply List:
Step 1: Paint the tubes. I used white acrylic paint but you can use any color you want. I started these by cutting the tubes into the slices and painting each one individually, but quickly discovered that was not the way to go for that part of the project. Mostly because it took longer and was messier. I think I had just as much paint on my fingers as there was on the tubes. So, just paint the entire tube at one time (inside and out) and let them dry completely
Step 2: The next step is to cut your tubes into slices that are approximately 3/8 – 1/2 inch wide. I just eyeballed it, but you do want them to be as close to the same width as possible so that when you get to the glitter dipping part the two sides are relatively flat.
Step 3: Count out however many slices you will need for your design and arrange them into the pattern you would like. I used 12 slices for the first snowflake and 18 for the second, but you can use however many you would like. Also, try different folds to create different configurations. Once you get going you’ll likely discover any number of different combinations!
Step 4: Start gluing the slices together. For the first snowflake, I flattened and stacked six slices together and added a dot of hot glue near the end of each one then fanned all six out and glued the first to the last. For the second snowflake, I flattened and folded six slices in half and then glued them to the inside of six more slices. Then I glued the inside points together to form the main piece. The last six pieces were flattened and folded in on one end about a third of the way down. I tucked the center point of the folded end in and then glued the opposite end in between the other points. And just like that…you have two different snowflakes!
Step 5: Once you have all of the pieces glued together, it’s time for the glitter. I used a chunkier glitter that I found at Michaels. I used Mod Podge and a foam brush to lightly dab it onto the edges of the snowflake. Another option is to pour a thin pool of glue onto a large paper plate and lightly dip each side of the snowflake into it. Some supervision is recommended if you are doing this with younger kids.
Next comes the glitter! In a shallow tray big enough for your snowflakes, or a paper plate, pour out a layer of glitter. Dip each side of the snowflake in the glitter and then set aside to dry on a sheet of parchment or wax paper.
Step 6: Add a length of cord or ribbon to hang your snowflake on the Christmas tree or hang them in a window. They also make good additions to packages or as decorations on your table.
And, that’s a wrap! Super easy, glittery fun just in time for holiday decorating. Be sure to stop by again Friday too. I’ll be debuting a brand new gift set that features a limited edition Peppermint scented candle, cozy re-usable hand warmers, and two Heartland cup cozies in holiday red!
I believe it is really important to find things that interest us outside of work and all the usual day-to-day stuff we slog through on our way to the weekend. Something that refuels our creative spirit, refreshes our outlook and gives us the energy to keep going. Self Care is the catchphrase being used of late for this concept, and yes, it is important so why not have a little fun while we are at it?