12.10.2011

Homemade Christmas Gift Blog Hop, Day 2!


Merry Christmas and welcome to the Homemade Christmas Gift Blog Hop, Day Two! You should have gotten here from Carla's blog. If you just happened here and want to start from the beginning, click here to get to her blog.
We have 7 fabulous crafters again today who are going to share some of their ideas for Homemade Christmas gifts. What is better than making something personalized for someone you love.  So sit back and enjoy.

  Here's the lineup!

1. Carla
4.  Barbara B
5.  Lynda
6. Ashley
7. Gina
Now on to my second handmade project!!
 

This little guy is a lot of fun, and you can really personalize it to whatever you want it to be!!
I started with a set of paper mache nesting boxes from my local craft store and painted them white. After that was dry, I dry brushed a light coat of midnight blue. Lastly, I painted the stars on the larger two boxes and the face on the smallest box.





You can pack these boxes with cookies or other treats and be the hit of the party.
I hope you've enjoyed these homemade goodies and gotten some great ideas for your next Christmas gift!

12.09.2011

Homemade Christmas Gift Blog Hop

Merry Christmas and Welcome to the Homemade Christmas Gift Blog Hop. You should have gotten here from Carla's blog. If you just happened here and want to start from the beginning, click here to get to her blog.
Today we have 7 fabulous crafters who are going to share some of their ideas for Homemade Christmas gifts. What is better than making something personalized for someone you love.  So sit back and enjoy.  And make sure you come back to see what they’ve created on both days.
 
Here's the lineup!
1. Carla
4.  Barbara B
5.  Lynda
6. Ashley
7. Gina



Now on to my first handmade project!!






I made this simple mitten garland from two old sweaters I had from years past. They're so (sew) easy!!! :)


 Step One: Cut out mitten shape from sweater (be sure to leave the 'cuff of the mitten' along a finished edge of the sweater - either the sleeve or waist band). Cut both layers of the sweater (front and back) at the same time.

Step Two: Machine or hand stitch along the edges of the two mitten pieces together. Turn the band down to form the cuff of the mitten.

Step Three: String coordinating buttons along wire, adding the mittens as you go (the wire will string right through the knit of your mittens!). 



Easy, simple and cute! (and refurbishing!!)


Be sure to head over to JulieK's blog next, and stop back by tomorrow for more handmade inspiration!!

12.07.2011

New Garden Girls and a bonus video!

Hey!! Sorry posts have been so infrequent! Things around here are crazy with Christmas.

I have some great news from Friendship's Garden! We announced our new design team members today in this post. Congratulations, Jamie, Chana, Sam and Sharon!!!! You'll start seeing their work in January. I personally can't wait!

Also, it's a bonus week at Friendship's Garden! Check out CherylAnn's amazing video on making these great tags here!!



Until next time....Merry Christmas!!

12.01.2011

Another Quick Christmas Card!

I love Christmas cards. I really do!! While store bought cards are nice and thoughtful, a hand made Christmas card brings a smile to my face. It amazes me that someone went through the time and effort - for me!!

I threw this together last night for a coworker's care package going overseas. I love using pre-designed paper for a cute background! The cardinal and holly paper is DCWV, accompanied by some SU! striped paper and rub-on. I added some Twinery twine for a splash of detail!

So remember, in your holiday preparations this year, a hand made card warms the heart like none other :)

11.30.2011

A Christmas Inspiration!

Sorry I've been out of posting lately! What can I say...it's the Christmas season, and things always get a little crazy around here this time of year.
Today's challenge for Friendship's Garden was a color challenge from a Pinterest photo (here's a link to my Pinterest boards!):


And here's my project:

 I stuck with Stampin' Up!'s Jolly Holly Designer Series Paper for all of my patterned paper. This line went perfectly with the inspiration piece!
I singed a piece of my lace doily (couldn't resist!) for a bit of texture, added a distressed, pre-fab dimensional sentiment embellishment (Me and My Big Ideas) and a bit of green fuzzy yarn.

I can't wait to see you take on this week's project!! Make sure to link it back here!

I'll be back soon with more Christmas (and beyond!) projects to inspire you this Christmas season!!

11.21.2011

Art Journaling

While I was waiting for paint to dry last night (literally), I made this little ditty in my art journal. Getting the hang of those gelatos finally!
Rough? yes.
Amazing? not really.
Part of me and where I'm going? yes.


11.20.2011

Non-Christmas(ish) Party Fun with Glue Dots!

I love birthdays! I love that everyone has that one special day that they get celebrated.
But.

 {are there any Christmas babies out there??}

Yeah. Christmas babies tend to have their birthdays accidentally forgotten in the hustle and bustle of the season, or may get a 'combo gift'...
                "This present is for your birthday and Christmas!"


So this year, I wanted to do something special for my 'Christmas baby' friend. We'll be having a normal, non-Christmas(ish) party for her this year. I was in charge of dessert and favors.   (!!!)

As much as I love birthdays, I love a good sale, too!! In all of the crafty stores, Christmas displays and goodies are speedily being set up and readied for the upcoming Christmas season...with $ales!! I went shopping for favors and was viciously attacked by 50% off Christmas items!!

So with my non-Christmas(ish) party theme, I snatched up an arm-full of clear plastic Christmas ornaments :)

Favors:

These are super easy to make and a lot of fun, too!! I'll walk you through the steps. Ready?
You'll need the following supplies:
  • Clear ornament (I chose plastic...from experience!)
  • Glue Lines® and an assortment of other Glue Dots®
  • Coordinating glitter, ribbon and paper flowers
  • Glittered chipboard letters (I used Thickers)
  • Wood floor finish (I've used a few different brands that have all worked)
  • Small piece of plastic wrap


 
The first step is to pour a bit of the floor finish into the clean ornament, cover the opening with plastic wrap, and make sure the entire inside of the ornament is coated.









Once the inside is coated, pour out the excess liquid and pour in the glitter. Give it a good shake to make sure it gets everywhere! Put the hanger back onto the top.










Cut your ribbon to fit around the ornament and apply your Glue Lines® to the back.
Peel off the plastic from the Glue Lines® and adhere your ribbon around the ornament. Use Ultra Thin Glue Dots® to apply paper flowers and finish off with your chipboard letter!




For the second ornament, I glittered the inside and used varying sizes of Glue Dots® (Mini, Permanent, and Craft) and randomly adhered them to the outside of the ornament. Press the dots into the glitter and wipe off the excess. Decorate with paper flowers and chipboard letter.






Cake:
When it comes to cake, I ran straight to the cupcake shop!! I love making kids cakes, but thought cupcakes would be more appropriate for this party. I wanted to dress them up a bit, so I used the Cindy Loo Cricut cartridge to cut out cute butterfly cupcake wrappers. I cut out some coordinating paper to line the wrappers and used some Micro Glue Dots® to adhere them.
Can you see those micro dots?? They're there!! Get out the magnifying glass!!
Use a 1" Glue Line® on the end where the tabs are (I don't care for using the tabs...they always fall apart!), wrap the liner around the cupcake and glue for a perfect fit.


I love them! I think everything turned out really well and we'll have a great non-Christmas(ish) birthday party.

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots® design team.