Bring on the Bracelets!

With the success among the teenage crowd of our bottlecap necklaces, Kelly and I decided to make some more home-made jewelry for the upcoming craft fair. Remember, it's November 13th on Rose Barracks, building 134 (behind the fire station). I hope to see you there!

Anyway, we went bracelet-crazy! My kids also had a lot of fun modeling the bracelets!

These are pretty easy to make once you learn the technique. I will try to explain. If you still don't get it, I would be very happy to try to make a photo tutorial for you!

 Supplies:

24" stretchy clear cording
6 buttons (more if you are using smaller)
Black beads
Scissors

Take your cording and find the middle point. Then take a button and put one end through a hole. Take the other end of the cording and put it through the same hole, going the other way. So, you have one end going from the top to the bottom, the other going from the bottom to the top.

Tighten the cording down until it reaches approximately the middle of the 24" of cording.

Now do the same thing again. Take the cording at the top of the button and put it down through the next hole, and the bottom string goes up through the next hole.

All you have to do now is string some beads on both strings at the same time. Then add another button, until it wraps around your wrist.

I then put the cording through the first button again, the same way, and tie off tight.

Wear with pride!

Sticky Note Holder

These holders were so easy! Take the scallop envelope die for your Big Shot and cut out two. Cut the side flaps to measure 1/2 inch. Glue the two together to make a box. This will hold one Post-It pad.

Then I used a small piece of chipboard for the base so it stands up. Everything is made from retired paper, but it is easy to change things up with the current Stampin' Up! products!

Flip-Flop Scrapbook

Another craft fair treat! I hope you are really planning on joining us on the 13th of November, starting at 10am. It's free, so come on by to check out everything! You can see other things that will be on our table over on Kelly's Blog.

For today I made a flip-flop scrapbook. I used up a retired Simply Scrappin' kit and some retired DSP. I love how it turned out! This is perfect to add into you next care package to send downrange, or to send to Grandma!

There is a really good tutorial for this album here. I changed a few things around. As long as you know the basic style, this scrapbook is so easy to customize to your likes!

Fudge

Want the world's easiest fudge recipe? Here it is!

Yes, those are Hershey's bars! The poem is from Papercrafts Magazine a few years back. This is not my original idea, but it was too cute to pass up! There are many variations of the poem, and I changed it up a bit myself.

Dashing from the malls
With groceries yet to buy,
Lessons, kids & housekeeping,
Life's so crazy! Why?

Bells on our telephone ring,
The machine will take the call,
We have no time for family or friends,
It drives us up the wall.

How are you? How's your life?
We really want to know.
Hope you're ready for Christmas,
Now maybe it will snow.

A day or two ago,
We thought we'd make a treat,
For all our special friends--
A Christmas Gift to eat!

Our intentions were top notch,
But our schedules would not budge,
Hence, here's this year's edition of 

HOMEMADE
CHRISTMAS FUDGE!

Achoo!

You guessed it, craft fair again! Today I'll show you the gorgeous tissue box covers I made. They required quite a bit of work, but they are gorgeous! So much better than what the box looks like by itself, that's for sure!

I found the tutorial over at Splitcoast Stampers. My base is white card stock, sponged in Soft Suede ink. You can change out the picture on the front to match the season.

I kind of hope that one of these doesn't sell so I can have one in my house!

3D Scrapbook

Are you excited for the craft fair? I sure hope so! I really don't know how I'm going to go back to "normal" stamping after the fair. It is so much fun to make things in bulk for sale. My friend, Kelly, has been making a lot of things too! Be sure to check out the other half of our sale over on her blog.

I have been making a lot of scrapbooks for sale at the craft fair. It seems like everyone always asks me to do scrapbooks for them. Well, now I have! This scrapbook is easy and is very cute! You can make it as big or small as you'd like.

The scrapbook opens up into a full circle.

To make it, cut four circles. Fold those circles into half, then half the other way. Cut up one fold line to the middle, and then cut off a flap, leaving about 1/2 an inch to glue. The triangle opposite the flap, fold that into half again. Do this times 4, embellish, and then glue them together. If you don't understand my ramblings, there are many detailed tutorials online with pictures.

First Grade Gifts

My daughter's class had mandatory flu immunizations last week. I figured there would be a few tears and a lot of anxiety. So, to ease their fears, I made a quick and easy treat for all the kids.

These were so easy, I was done with 18 of them in under an hour! To make them, take a piece of card stock that is 2 x 11. Score it at 6.5 and glue up the sides (with sticky strip). Or you can staple instead like I did to save time. Them stamp, punch, and color. You can use any long, skinny candy. These are Twizzler sticks, but I have made them with Pixie Sticks before. The kids even figured out you can fit pencils in them! The kids are reusing them as bookmarks now.

The kids were troopers. There were no tears, and only two kids were worried about it. They all did so well, and deserved the treat after!

Say "Cheese!"

If this is your original idea, please let me know!

I saw this adorable camera made from the matchbox die years ago. I printed the instructions, but have since lost half of the sheets, including where the idea came from! It uses the matchbox die, black, gray, and silver paper, a white gel pen, punches, and dimensionals. You can also add in pink hearts like I did, or your own embellishments.

More Christmas Cards

If you aren't a scrapper, you probably flip quickly past the Simply Scrappin' kits at the back of the SU! catalog. Well, you really shouldn't do that! I took about half of one Simply Scrappin' kit (this one is a retired one from my stash. No clue how I didn't use it!!) Cut the pieces of paper and the embellishments to fit on card fronts, and you can easily make 60+ cards from one kit. All you need is the base cardstock (Very Vanilla for these cards), some ribbon, and envelopes!

These are only two of the cards I created from half the kit (with a lot of leftovers!)

Art Journal

As promised, I'm back with the crafts for the upcoming craft fair. I really hope to see all my local friends/fan there! It is sure to be a wonderful time!

This quick and easy project is an altered art journal. Using the spiral punch for the edge, the paper slips right over the binding to make a beautiful cover! I will use the paper and make a custom pen to go with this too. I love simple projects that look stunning!

Halloween Party!

Ok. I will give you a small break from the craft fair projects. Here are two crafts I did for my daughter's upcoming Halloween (sorry, "Fall Festival") party at school. The first is Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin. Just like "Pin the tail on the Donkey," the kids each have a nose with their name on it (black triangle) and they will be spun around and try to get the closest to the nose. There are no real special prizes planned yet for the winner, but that may change. I do have goodie bags for all of the kids.

The second project I'm quite proud of! My husband and I drew the bones of the body, in really simple form, and cut them out. The bones will be hidden around the classroom. The kids have to find them and then build the skeleton. All the parts are labeled with the real name and the simple name: Femur/leg, etc.

Christmas Card for Craft Fair

Kelly and I are making a lot of card sets for the upcoming Craft Fair on November 13th. If you are local, plan on stopping on by! A lot of local people will be selling hand-made goods, perfect for Christmas presents, teacher gifts, and to spoil yourself!

Our cards will come in sets of 10, including envelopes, and will be $15 a set. How perfect are they for sending out to loved ones for the holidays?

This card I made for the sale. I used blender pens to color in the door, and then added chunky glitter to the bottom with a 2-way glue pen. I love how it turned out!

More Mini Scrapbooks

I know I have been showing you a lot of mini scrapbooks lately, but I just love them! They are quick and easy, and they are so much fun to put your favorite photos in and show them off to your friends! They also make wonderful gifts for family members. We are a military family, so scrapbooks are always wonderful to have to send to Daddy while he is deployed or on a long trip!

These mini scrapbooks are like the ones here. I just changed up the colors to put Halloween or Fall pictures inside. What deployed Dad wouldn't like to receive one of these with his favorite monsters inside?!?

Mini Scrapbooks, Part II

Yesterday I showed you the adorable school scrapbooks. Here are two more that I made for Christmas. I really love how these turned out! What do you think?

If you like anything you've seen on my blog, or over on Kelly's blog, that we've prepared for the upcoming craft fair, please make sure to put it on your calendars! It will be on November 13th in Graf from 10-4 in building 134. There is no admission to the craft fair, but we are asking everyone to bring a pet food item to donate. We hope to see you there!!!

Mini Scrapbooks

Are you tired of items for my upcoming craft fair yet? Good! Because Kelly and I have been creating like mad!

Since we are making things to sell at the craft fair, we decided to go through our piles and piles of horded items that we just "can't" part with. I know you have a pile like that as well, so don't judge! :) One thing Kelly had were Bitty Board Books that Stampin' Up! used to sell. Now that I've played with them, I wish they still sold them! These books are chipboard and have 10 small scrapbook pages inside. They also come with their own box that you can decorate how you'd like.

Kelly had four left over in her stash, so I made two different themes. I will show you the School ones today, and check back tomorrow for the other style I created!

Medallion Trays, Part II

Earlier I showed the gorgeous Medallion Trays I made using simple wooden trays. I also told you that I was going to do something special to spruce them up for the craft fair next month! Wait no longer! Here are the gorgeous candles I made to put on top of the trays!

Stamping on candles is very simple! You need:

White tissue paper
Ink
Stamp
Waxed paper
Heat Tool
Candle

Stamp your image on the tissue paper. Cut it out, close to the edge of your design. Then simply put the tissue paper where you want on the candle, cover it with waxed paper, and heat with your heat tool! That's it! It's really neat to watch as the wax melts and the image goes onto the candle. Remember that each time you will need a new sheet of waxed paper.

Christmas Ornament

I could only make one of these...it's supposed to be for the craft fair, but I may just keep it for my own tree! I folded the paper, but my husband is the genius behind figuring out how to put all the pieces together to make the ornament! I may just get him to make another one...if I'm lucky! I'll have to ask really nicely.

I found a video on youtube that may help you visual learners how to make this. Leave me a comment with your version of this ornament!

Santa Basket

Here is another project for the upcoming local craft fair. It is made from cutting out 3 Pillow Box dies in red, and one in vanilla. I then ran the vanilla through the Big Shot with a texture plate. How cute would these be filled with Christmas candy to give to a teacher? Email me for more information on how to make this adorable basket!

Monster Hat

My friend, Kelly, saw a hat at a local store, and it was outrageously priced! So she described it to me and asked if I could make it for her son for his birthday. Here's what I came up with.

I have never written a crochet pattern before, but I'll try!

Supplies:

yarn of choice color (1/2 skein or so)
white yarn
black yarn
cotton batting
crochet hook to obtain desired gauge
stitch markers (optional)

Steps:

Hat

Round 1: ch 2, sc 6 into 2nd ch from hook

Round 2: 2 sc in each stitch around (12)

Round 3: sc in 1, 2 sc in one. Repeat around (18)

Round 4: sc in 2, 2 sc in one. Repeat around (24)

Round 5: sc in 3, 2 sc in one. Repeat around (30)

Round 6: sc in 2, 2 sc in one *sc in 4, 2 sc in one (repeat from * 4 more times), sc in 2 (36)

Round 7: sc in 5, 2 sc in one. Repeat around (42)

Round 8: sc in 3, 2 sc in one, *sc in 6, 2 sc in one (repeat from * 4 more times), sc in 3 (48)

Round 9: sc in 7, 2 sc in one. Repeat around (54)

Round 10: sc in 4, 2 sc in one, *sc in 8, 2 sc in one (repeat from * 4 more times), sc in 4 (60)

Round 11: sc in 9, 2 sc in one. Repeat around (66) (Done with increasing at this point, unless you need the hat to be larger around. Continue adding 6 stitches per round until it is as big as needed)

Continue crocheting in round until hat reaches desired length, then change to white to do teeth.

Teeth

On last edge of hat's main color, change to white yarn.

Sc 6, turn

s2tog, sc 2, s2tog, turn (4)

s2tog, sc 3, turn (3)

s2tog, sc 1, turn (2)

s2tog (1)

chain down edge of tooth (4), then begin again. If you had 66 stitches like it did, you end up with 11 teeth.

Pupils (make 2)

With black, follow Rounds 1 and 2 of hat. Leave a long tail to sew on.

Eyes (make 2)

Make rounds 1-4 of hat.

Sew pupils onto center of eyes.

sc around twice.

Start decrease: sc 2, s2tog, repeat around (18) Fill the eye with batting at this step. Continue filling as needed for desired "puffiness."

sc 1, s2tog, repeat around (12)

s2tog, repeat around (6)

You can decrease again if you would like. Leave a long tail to attach it to the hat.

Completing

Sew eyes onto the hat and then weave in all edges.


Wear with pride!

Medallion Trays

Yesterday I showed you the bath salt holders for the upcoming craft fair. Another project used wooden trays that Kelly had stashed in her craft room. I saw them and thought they would look perfect with the Medallion background stamp right in the middle. I was so very right!

How awesome are these trays?
 

There were ten trays, so I came up with 5 different two-color combinations. I put the lighter color on the entire stamp, then I put the darker color just around the edges. I will show you later this week what I did to spruce up these trays just a bit more!

Bath Salt Test Tubes

My friend, Kelly, and I have been working on projects for an upcoming craft fair. We have been around town buying things that we can spruce up with Stampin' Up! products and sell at the fair for a profit. We figure that even if we don't profit, at least we had a good time making the things! Also, we will have a LOT of holiday presents for random people around town! :)

One project we made were these adorable test tubes filled with bath salts. Kelly had already punched out the tags and cut the ribbon for a class that was canceled last-minute. So I spruced them up with a bird from the bird punch. Quick, easy, and so cute! To see the other style we made, check out Kelly's blog!

Treasure Hunt

Last Christmas, we wanted to get our kids a larger present that wouldn't fit under our tree. My favorite present experience growing up, my mom made me a treasure hunt to find it! So, I made these for my kids to find the present.

Each map led the kids to a different present related to the main present, which were all hidden in part of the house. At the end, their big present was waiting.

The kids loved this experience! For details on how I made them, please email me.

Week of Cakes! Day 7

Here we are, at the end of the Week of Cakes! I hope you enjoyed my creations this past week. The next cake is definitely the hardest cake project I ever attempted! It took three days of baking and decorating! Want to see?

This was for my son's third birthday. He was (and still is) obsessed with Thomas Trains. He wanted the number 3 train, so we took his number 3 from his collection and tried to match it as close as possible.

Every train car was decorated differently and had a different cake flavor. We had a mail car, an animal car, a box car, and caboose. Under the cars, we made a track using black licorice and chocolate covered wafer cookies.

Week of Cakes! Day 6

As the day comes to a close, I will show you the two cakes that probably took me the longest to make. I have a very loving husband who helped me a lot! The first cake is from my daughter's 5th birthday. I used the idea on Wilton's website for the large cupcake pan.

Each house was a different flavor of cake. The top cake was hypo-allergenic with no eggs, chocolate, or dairy for a guest of the party. Most of the cake was devoured, thank goodness!

Week of Cakes! Day 5

Classic Southern Request

I two Southern friends lived in Germany a couple years ago, and they both love (and missed) red velvet cake. I made the cake for one birthday, and the other person asked for it for his birthday the next week!

While I don't like red velvet cake, I think it did turn out quite beautiful! I toasted the pecans with brown sugar and butter in a pan before putting them on the cake. The frosting is a simple cream cheese frosting.

Week of Cakes! Day 4

Yesterday I showed you a simple Mickey Mouse cake. Here's a more difficult one. It was for a friend's son on his 2nd birthday.

My Aunt gave me her huge collection of vintage Wilton cake pans a few years back. I think this Mickey is from the 70s.I used colors that I found online. I don't have the original instruction book for this cake pan, so I just winged it. I love how it turned out!

Week of Cakes! Day 3

This cake was for a really good friend. I wanted the cake to be simple. She loves Mickey Mouse, so made this cake for her. I free-handed the design onto the cake. Simple, yet perfect!