Hats off to Valentine’s Day!

I found the coolest project on Tosha Leyendekker’s blog.  She made these amazing top hat boxes to fill with candy.  I bookmarked the page at Christmas time but never had enough time to make one, then I saw she made another one for Valentines day and I knew I could wait no longer!
Before I get to it, a little story.  I showed it to my husband and asked him if he thought it was cute.    I showed him that it’s not just a pretty top hat, but a box to fill with candy. He hesitated and said, “it’s for a girl though, right?”  Did he really think I was going to give him a pink frilly top hat?!  He’ll be lucky to get a stale conversation heart now. 
Here is my creation.

I used Vintage Cream felt from PTI to cover my box.  I actually cut it the wrong size and ended making a hat about a 1/4 inch shorter than Tosh’s, but it still looked proportional so I went with it.   It was really simple to make and I had so much fun embellishing it!  The ribbon around the brim is an old piece from a LSS that closed a few years ago.  It looks like a strip of printed cotton fabric with a wire down the center.  You just pull the wire and gather it into a ruffle.  The big gem flourish is from Prima and the gauzy flowers are from Recollections.   I used a Martha Stewart punch with card stock and vellum for the butterflies and added pearls to the center. 

I used a piece of floral wire to stick a couple of the butterflies on and added one to the Spellbinders tag I created with the Tags Trio set which I think is no longer available.  It’s one of the first tag sets they made.   I can’t remember what set I pulled the sentiment from…it’s from an old clear set, maybe Studio G or Hampton, but something I picked up real cheap in Michaels.  I have tons of these little stamp sets and I forget to use them! 
I am going to fill this with chocolates from the gourmet chocolatier in town for my mom for Valentine’s Day.  Her favorite is dark chocolate covered raspberry marshmallow, yum!  My favorite are the chocolate covered Oreos!   Their chocolate is just SO good…it’s worth blowing weight watchers points on, lol! 
I hope everyone had a great weekend!  Yay Giants!  See you on Wednesday when the Flourishes February sneak peeks begin!!

Friday Focus

Today we have these cute little tins to showcase.  Flourishes has these tins in stock for your altering fun and they are only 75 cents!  You need a bunch at this price!
I pulled out my 123 Create Kit Sunshine again for this project.  I just love this kit!   I used a beautiful floral for the front of the tin.  I used Labels Twenty from Spellbinders for the sentiment, which is from Tokens of Affection. 

The inside I lined with more patterned paper from the MME Sunshine pad.   The token and Happy Valentine’s Day sentiment are both from Tokens of Affection.   I used a button for the center and surrounded it with flowers from Prima and Recollections.   I scattered adhesive gems around it too.

Around the outside of the tin I added some beautiful pleated ribbon.  The bottom card I added a flower and a ribbon tab so it can easily be pulled up.  Underneath it I added a gift card. 
Check out all the creative projects the design team came up with today.
Barbara Anders
Julie Koerber
Christine Okken
Danielle Kennedy (you are here)
Dawn Burnworth
Stacy Morgan
Tammy Hershberger
Sharon Doolittle
Jan Marie Caruso

Friday with Flourishes

Today I have a little project to share using the Sunshine 123 Create Kit.

I’ve been loving using this kit! It has a wonderful MME paper pad with matching buttons and coordinating ribbons and gems. I just love the color combo too! So, I decided to use it to alter this clothes pin.

I purchased a few of this giant clothes pins a few years ago with the intention of altering them for teachers gifts but I never got around to it (that’s a big theme here on this blog!). When I was moving into my new studio (doesn’t that sound fancy?!) I came across them and knew it was time. I made this one for my husbands niece for Christmas. She’s in college, so of course this will come with some cash!
I painted the clothes pin with white acrylic paint then using Mod Podge adhered patterned paper to the front and back. When it was dry I sanded all of the edges then sponged all around with Distress Ink in Walnut. On the front I added four buttons tied with twine.

And on the back I added some fabulous ruffled ribbon, gems, and a pretty fabric butterfly that I think is from Prima. Here I have shown the clothes pin holding a photo…it’s my Christmas card ( I couldn’t resist slipping in a pic of my boys) but it can easily hold a recipe or note or to do list…anything!
Get your kit before they are all gone! And I hope everyone is ready for Christmas (and if you celebrate Chanukah, it’s too late, lol). Now check out the sweet samples from the awesomely talented Flourishes design team!
Barbara Anders
Julie Koerber
Christine Okken
Danielle Kennedy (you are here)
Dawn Burnworth
Stacy Morgan
Tammy Hershberger
Sharon Doolittle
Jan Marie Caruso

Birrrrd House

Today I wanted to share one of the gifts I’ve created this holiday.  I bought this bird house stake in Target for $1.00 last year knowing I wanted to alter it.  I finally got around to it when I saw the altered birdhouses my friend, the unnamed stamper,made!  They were so frosty and so cute I just had to get going on mine.

I apologize for the lousy pictures…this is on a tall stake and I couldn’t get it in the light box so I was propping it up all around my studio to get a decent shot.  Anyway, it started out lime green.  I painted it with white acrylic paint then went over that with a concoction of white acrylic, Sno-Tex, and glitter.  I mixed it all up in a small container and covered the entire house.  I sprinkled it with more glitter while it was wet so it’s really sparkly!  Then I set out with punches and adhesive gems and tiny rusty bells to decorate it all for Christmas. 

Both sides have a kraft snowflake with some pine branches and a bell.

I created the wreath with the pine branch punch from Martha Stewart.  I used Marvy Liquid Applique on all of the greenery, sprinkling it also with glitter while wet, then puffing up with a heat gun.   I thought I would buy a pretty house plant, maybe a poinsettia or amaryllis for my SIL and add this decoration when we go there on Christmas day.    Maybe in the plant I can get a better picture…if I do I will post it! 
I have another one of these in orange…I think I need one for me too!  I’d better get working :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I have a few quick projects to share that I meant to post this morning but I got on a roll with errands and such and forgot. First I tried out the Criss Cross card technique I found here on SCS. Beate has such great tutorials! These are thank you cards I made for Joeys kindergarten teachers. He had a bit of a rough time adjusting to a large class and they helped us to help him get more comfortable and really enjoy school. He is in a dual language program which means the entire kindergarten curriculum is taught in both english and spanish through 5th grade (if he chooses to remain in it that long). It's great for him because he's kinda smart and gets bored easily! I just wanted them both to know that my hubby and I appreciate their extra effort to transition Joey into kindergarten.

The next are a votive holder that I made for my sil whose house we are going to for thanksgiving dinner. I got the idea from Lisa over at Poppy Paperie. It's filled with river rocks and a few scented pine cones. My votives/holders was either larger than hers or my tin is smaller so I could only fit two, but it's still pretty and smells really good!

The last are my turkey fry boxes. I made 6 of them to fill with candy and give to the kids on thanksgiving. I would have loved to make one for each person but my sil informed me that there will be no less than 22 persons in attendance...glad I'm not cooking!! I used different punches to create the turkey including a maple leaf for his tail. The box is a die from Sizzix. His eyes I made with a black gelly roll pen. I love these little guys!

Well, off to bed! Me, hubby, and the boys are headed into NYC in the morning for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I can't recall that I have ever been to the parade although I don't live that far from the city that I shouldn't be there at least once! I don't do well in crowds ;)

I wish everyone a very happy and blessed thanksgiving!!

Some Halloween projects

I made these bats and spiders last halloween before I began blogging and they are just too cute not to share. I think I got the idea from a magazine but I don't remember which one exactly, and I did take some liberties with my final creations.


It was so hard to photograph these black items! I tried outside, but what was I thinking using a white back drop? Anyway, this is his face close up. All began with styrofoam balls that I painted with black acrylic paint and a foam brush. The bats I also sprayed with Glimmer Mist in Midnight for some sparkle. I used a sheet of craft foam to create the wings and ears which I inserted slightly into the foam and secured with hot glue. Gotta be careful with that though because you can melt your styrofoam! The first picture is the bat hanging in front of my window in my livingroom. I was going to hang them random around my livingroom until I realized that since the walls and ceiling are plaster there is no way a thumb tack was penetrating! They are like cement!

These spiders are really my favorite. I wrapped the large ball with craft marabou securing with hot glue. The legs are just large chenille pipe cleaners that I pushed into the foam and secured with hot glue yet again. Some I added filament for hanging like above, and some I added a stick so that they could be added to flower pots or floral arrangements. I love my spider on a stick! Bet Andrew Zimmern's had a few...yuck.

The eyes of all my pets are ball head pins which I dipped into bright green pigment ink, Colorbox I think, and then dipped into clear ep and embossed. I did this several times until I got them thoroughly covered and bright and shiny!

Here is hanging spider up close, and below in his environment! Sorry for the crappy pictures.

I have more halloween projects to share but it's too late and Lord knows I need my beauty sleep! Have a great night everyone!!

A Quick Project for the Mantel

I love to decorate for Halloween!

I found these great mdf (medium density fiberboard) at Michaels on clearance for $1.00 each. I only bought a few because that wasn't a huge bargain for me. I found them again a few weeks later, for the same price and decided I needed a few more. When I got to the register they rang up $.29 each! Yeah baby! It was probably only a week later and I was back again...lets see what they have left...got a few more letters. This time they were $.14 each! Now THAT's a bargain!!!!

I painted these black and covered them with Imaginesce paper. The bats are from the Martha Stewart punch and I attached them to some wire I curled around a paint brush. The cat is from Whipper Snapper, Anna Wights Spooky Expressions and I cut him out and covered him in Diamond Glaze before adding him onto the O. Well, you won't be surprised to be seeing more words in the future...at $.14 I bought quite a few...lol!!

Peeps in a Jar

This is not a new thing but when I came across it here I thought it was so cute and would make great gifts for my boys daycare teachers. Little did I know that getting these squishy bunnies into the jar was going to be such a pain! What I mess I made! I actually had to empty the first jar twice and remake it to get everything to fit in. Some of the peeps are grotesquely staring out through the glass...some with crumbs on them, some with M&M's burrowed into their fleshy casings. Now doesn't that sound appetizing? I think I cursed making the first one...nope, I'm sure I cursed.
Anyway, I found these plain "craft" mason jars at A.C. Moore which I thought would be perfect to showcase the ingredients better than the traditional ones. Same exact shape, just smooth glass without any raised writing. I really enjoyed making the decorations for the lids. I used an adorable egg stamp from Elzybells and stamped it once onto Papertrey white cardstock and again on design paper from Imaginisce. I colored in the white image with copics and cut and pieced the eggshell from the dp and popped it up. Before I did the piecing I used a white scallop circle punch around each image to fit on top of the lid. I pierced each scallop and sponged a coordinating ink around the edges. I made 6 of these in different colors. Then I made the tag using my rectangle Nestabilities die and stamped the sentiment on it from the Papertrey Just Hatched stamp set. I realized that I needed to add the recipe to the jar also so I might re-do the tag and make it into a card instead and have the recipe printed inside. And after making these adorable little egg chicks there was no way I wasn't getting those peeps inside the jar...ugly or not! Okay, maybe I will just eat the ugly ones. Oh that sounds bad...I'd better stop now.

Here are some close ups:

I believe I added a little sparkle too with my Sakura Star Dust and Spica pens. It's hard to capture that in these photos. And here's where I found the recipe if anyone is interested:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123558