My Wish For YOU….

Hi Friends, don’t forget to relax and enjoy the season…

Wishing you all the best, Happy Crafting!

I Love those Candy Colored Pages!

Hi Friends! I love it when my kids make gingerbread houses. I love the creativity they have when decorating them. This year for the first time the kids were able to assemble the houses too! I thought they might be too old for this craft but they said “No way!” they still wanted to make them and of course they each had to have their own!

I was inspired to scrapbook these picture right away because of the brand new die cut adhesive ribbon I received from Offray. This product will be available soon in stores and on their website but you get a sneak peek of it in today’s video!

The self adhesive ribbon was so easy to work with and really flat which is nice for scrapbookers who do not want a lot of bulk in their albums and card makers who do not want to pay extra postage for lumpy items. I love to use traditional ribbon too so I used some narrow grosgrain  because it adds a great texture without fraying:

Here is a close up look at the other page:

I kinda hate to tease you with new stuff that is not available yet but there are lots of other wonderful ribbons from Offray on their website and you can save 15% off your next order with the code Frugal15 Though 12/31/14. Thanks so much for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

What YEAR is it anyway?

Hi friends! Yesterday I made a bunch of clay ornaments to use as gift tags on Christmas presents and I left all of my supplies out so my kids could make some if they wanted today. Well, my girls took one look at the ornaments and said “Mom, what does that say 2015?” To which I replied “Because that is this year.” The girls looked at each other and said “No it’s not!” I guess I am just ahead for next year! LOL!

Luckily I only stamped the date on one ornament! Working with polymer clay is really fun. There are some pitfalls I want to help you avoid though. There are different kinds of polymer clay and they all have a purpose. I thought about making this video really short and showing only the step by step (that seems to be the popular thing to do among YouTube crafters) but I really wanted to explain a little more in-depth so you can avoid making brittle ornaments or burning your clay. Maybe it is over explaining, what do you think? You can let me know in the comments below. :D

Supplies:
polymer clay
stamps
ink (pigment-metallic looks really pretty!)
plastic wrap
rolling-pin or pasta machine
oven
needle tool, pin or straw
cookie cutter
mica powder (optional)

Directions (these are brief since I explained so much in the video):
Condition the clay be kneading or rolling through the pasta machine several times. Flatten the clay and place plastic wrap on top, cut with a cookie cutter. Remove plastic wrap and excess clay. Make a hole for the ribbon. Dust with mica powder if desired. Stamp snowflake with pigment ink. Bake according to package instructions. After cool, add ribbon for hanging.

I also wanted to give you some more info on the 2014 holiday lights contest sponsored by USA Today:

You can enter the USA TODAY contest by uploading a photo of your own holiday lights display here The winner of this photo contest gets a $5,000 gift card from USA TODAY!

It does not matter how big or small, they want to see ALL of your best holiday light displays! Don’t wait, you have until 12/10/14 to enter!

On the 12th you can vote for your favorite out of the 10 finalists! 2 voters will win $1000 and $1500 gift cards from USA Today! Voting begins here on 12/12/14

Good luck to all who enter and vote! Winner will be announced on 12/22/14

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

 

Christmas Card Batch in a Flash & Giveaway!

Hi Friends! Every year I make a lot of Christmas cards and I have to organize my supplies or the cards will never get done. This year I used divided bento style containers from EasyLunchboxes to organize my supplies for assembly line card crafting.

I like my Christmas card stuff to be portable so I can craft with the family upstairs or take my supplies with me to a crop and these boxes and tote are perfect for that. See what I mean in today’s video AND learn how to make this cute (and quick) card:

Do you want your very own set of 4 lunch boxes and cooler bag? Well, of course you can buy them directly from EasyLunchboxes they even offer free and reduced shipping though their Amazon store (they are the #1 best-selling lunchbox on Amazon BTW) for US and Canadian residents OR you can win them! To win you need to have a peek here in their shop, then come back here and leave a comment telling me something you like about their products.

That’s it, pretty easy huh? I will select a winner at random December 12th. This giveaway is open to US residents.

I want to thank EasyLunchboxes for sponsoring this giveaway. Their products are sturdy, durable and BPA free so you can feel good about storing your food in them too!  They would also make a nice Christmas gift! I want to thank you for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Christmas tag workshop and a winner!

Hi Friends! Today I am going to show you a quick way to batch out some Christmas tags but first I need to announce the winner of the Art Neko stamp giveaway! The winner is…Faith Newkirk Harris! Congrats! I have sent you an email, reply to that to get your prize! I wanted to post a quick project tonight using some of the lovely Art Neko Christmas stamps in my collection and I wanted to use my homemade (faux Wink of Stella) glitter pens so I came up with this and hey, we all need more gift tags this time of year!

Sure these are simple but I think they are cute and useful and I really like the way the glitter pens turned out. I am glad it was able to go over the Tombow markers without smearing, that is the power of heat setting folks! Do you think they look like Wink of Stella pens? I have never used the real McCoy so you will have to let me know:) Thanks to Art Neko for providing the giveaway and thank you for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

WOYWW: Kids, Dogs, Rolerskates & Chaos!

Christmas is a week away and it looks like a snow-day for Wednesday, so much for an extra Christmas shopping day but I have to say I love padding around the house in my slippers, watching movies and making cocoa for the kids when they come in from playing in the snow. Besides, I have a whole week to shop right? Right? Anyway, it is time for What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday and I have not participated in over a month because I did not want to just link up if I did not have time to desk hop myself (a snow-day is perfect for desk-hopping!) and here is what my desk looks like today:

Pretty clean with a couple of wrapped presents. I wish the rest of the house looked this good. I did catch up an all the laundry yesterday though so I feel good about that! Of course if I have all the kids home playing in the snow all bets are off LOL! Since most of us are getting ready for Christmas this week I thought I’d share some quick and easy wrapping and tag tips as well as tips for removing sticky labels and price tags and making your own bow maker cheap! I’ts all in the video:

The supplies I used are from Papermart, I love the way the burlap looks over the plain brown boxes and I like getting the doilies, ribbon and shipping tags in bulk so I always have them on hand. Papermart even has a heavy duty heat gun if you don’t have one but I’d keep it on the low setting for craft use, don’t burn your hands off LOL! If you want to see more crafty desks besure to visit Julia’s blog for more WOYWW fun! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

 

 

How To Make a Burlap Wreath! {video!}

Hello and happy Friday! Wow, I have been so busy today, we lost power this morning and the school sent the kids home early. This day being the one to get all of my stuff ready and packed up for the craft fair tomorrow! I am so thankful to Jaimie, Susan and Amy (our Girl Scout Leaders) for stepping up and re scheduling the girls scout activities so they could have them this afternoon rather than this evening. Not only did it help me getting ready for my craft fair but the other moms who work outside of the house from having to shuffle jobs and kids. Make sure you appreciate all that your school and scout volunteers do, I sure do! So, I got back from setting up my craft fair booth, sat down to watch TV with the kids and fell asleep in like 10 minutes flat! The kids did not wake me up to inform me it was time for them to go to bed LOL! I’m gonna hit the hay early myself but first I wanted to share a fun holiday project. Yesterday, for the first time, I set about learning how to make a burlap wreath, let me tell you it would be a hit at a craft fair, and it is quite easy. All you need is burlap/jute fabric rolls (I used 14″ wide in moss color, it is $10 a roll and you can make 2 wreaths with one 10 yard roll), ribbon and decorations. You will need a wreath form too but I’ll show you how to make one for free in today’s video!

You can find the mesh and ribbon I used at Papermart. You can also use the same technique I showed you with all of the Deco Mesh products they offer. I’ve seen burlap wreaths selling for $45 and up on Etsy and the Deco Mesh wreaths fetch a pretty penny too. I recommend making your wreath form out of white foam core or spray painting a cardboard one to match with the more sheer mesh. It’s smart to purchase supplies from Papermart because you will get the best price (more profit for you if you sell at a craft fair or on Etsy) and you will also get the best quality available.  I wish I tried this sooner, I’d have a craft fair booth full of wreaths LOL! Right now I don’t think I could squeeze anything else in my booth and there is not a wreath to be seen…hmmm, maybe I could squeeze one in? I’ll share pictures tomorrow:) Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!