pinecone garland.

a neat-o blog I follow is Twig & Thistle. well they had this project tutorial to make pine cone garland that I swooned over ages ago and then filed away for a rainy day. (common theme which relates directly to my arts-n-crafts binge-ing)

well i finally got around to making it, with my friend Allison's help. all you need is those yummy smelling pine cones that come out this time of year, some ribbon or twine and a few screw hooks.

my mantle BEFORE garland:

my mantle AFTER garland:


next craft on deck, this short tree-stump trivet made out of felt that will make some slightly altered appearance in baby king's nursery. yay!

rosette felt pillow.

speaking of felt, I found an EXCELLENT tutorial on etsy the other day. a pillow filled with clusters of gorgeous felt rosettes. i love the orange but don't have a place for it so I'll have to find another suitable color. FUN!

table numbers.

sondra and josh are getting married and she asked me to create twenty table number cards for their reception. ingredients: brown cardstock, burlap, buttons, raffia ribbons and STAMPIN love. here are the results:

she'd be honored.

my girlfriend allison responded to my MOH card by one-up'ing my crafty creation. she made me a DARLING little book with photos of her and i and my other half and included a small tag saying "i'd be honored"

she has produced these before and i've always been in AWE when i see them. it really is a tricky puzzle i'd never be able to follow!! she swears it is only 3 pieces of heavy cardstock, 2 pieces of cardboard and some scrapbook paper. as soon as I have the steps - I'll let everyone know!

ps - if you're reading this allison, we really didn't need 2 publish evidence of my 9th grade hairstyles...

will you be my bridesmaid cards.

my other half and i have been engaged for AGES. we're not in any hurry but things have finally been moving along so i want to share a recent 'wedding' project...

the girls i wanted to ask to be in the wedding are close friends/family and have been around for awhile. during my wedding research i found some cute bridesmaid cards here and here. i loved everything about them but the actual design!! (too cutesy for me) so what better way than to share my love of crafting to ask them in a special way. i came up with a cheezy poem and married it (no pun intended) with some supplies from our local craft store. i love the dress stamp and know i'll use it lots in the future. if interested, check out the steps and pics on my projects page.

stampin' fool.

who doesn't love a rubber stamp?! i'm pretty crazy for 'em. check out my newest set of STAMPS. this one came from an estate sale that sondra and i ransacked. i literally squealed when i came across it... well - after i removed the half inch of dust that is. it's a sign stamping kit from 1894. or atleast that's what the copyright is... let's just say it's OLD. there is a small & a large set of numbers and letters. and i just LOVE the typography on them!! they might be the oldest stamps on the planet - but for $15 - the set was a STEAL!!

so what can i do with them?! well i played around with them to scrapbook and make a save-the-date card for J&S. (that's my new nickname for josh-n-sondra) they're getting hitched lickety split here and don't really have time to send these out to their guests. i still thought they really deserve one irregardless. (i just hope she opens the card b4 she reads the blog)


then i made them some place cards for their bazillion guests. i invited my better half a few times, myself, her bro and SIL, and even 'G'. 'G's our favorite barn sale guy who calls and gives us the heads-up whenever he's having a BIG sale. for all he's given us in the junk world... he made my list. (who knows - maybe they'll be some of his junk decor @ the wedding ;-)

(you'll have to click them to look at 'em up close)




next attempt - i'll make sure i have more supplies stocked in their color scheme. seems i'm overloaded with browns and short on 'rust'.

ps - the craft world is a better place now that slicing doohickies have made it mainstream. man i can cut a STRAIGHT line in a skinny minute with that thing. (thanks again allison!)

dover clipart.

here are some samples of Dover clipart that I swore I mentioned a long time ago but now i think i was dreaming. the gist is simple - if you sign up, dover sends you an email every Wed with links to download 'em.

they come in handy. i've printed them out, used them on cards & gift-tags, and even decoupaged them to *STUFF*. i'm sure there are a bazillion other uses too. here are some of favorite:

(i've used the black and white tags over and over and over)

if you want to sign up, go here. if you want to tell me i have too much time on my hands to be perusing FREE images, go here.

make your own christmas ornaments.

this holiday season i've been on the JIT (just-in-time) gift-giving inventory plan. this means i'm running around (ok - so no real exercise is occurring) trying to get EVERYTHING done but I'm really so behind I don't get to anything until less than 24 hours before it's required to be 'gifted'.

recent problem: it's 9pm, Grey's Anatomy is on (which despite BOMBING this season, I can't let go b/c of all the time invested from previous seasons), I have an 8am mtg (boo) & a holiday happy hour event which I NEED to bring a little something-something to for all the ladies.

recent solution: glitter balls. spend your commercials creating quick ornaments filled with holiday CHEER. (yes, there are still people on this earth without DVR) i found this idea on hgtv's christmas crafts countdown. click on the Nov 23rd date from the calendar and watch the quick video... she has lots of good ideas for glittering glass balls.

a few basic supplies are needed: christmas ball ornaments (i got some cheap ones at kmart and the dollar store), glitter (i HEART martha stewart glitter), glue (w/clean spout so it's easy to 'write' with), a small paint brush and ribbon.

you can follow tutorial steps here on my projects page, but the basics are:
1. using glue, draw SOMETHING on the ornament. (i'm really into MONOGRAMMING lately)
2. shake glitter over the glue, making sure to cover all sides.
3. tap the ornament to remove the excess and repeat until it the glue has good coverage.
4. let the ornament dry. (i set them all in shot glasses to dry overnite)
5. when glue is completely dry, use a small dry paintbrush to brush off excess glitter.
6. string ribbon color of ur choice and HANG from tree!

diy magnet tutorial.

long-time readers must be thinking - where are all the project updates?! well, rest assured i'm busy-busy. it's just i'm TORN at whether i should talk about them PRE-Christmas at the risk of revealing the homemade treats that MAY be arriving in a stocking near you. but this christmas magnet project is one that won't be gifted to a blog reader. in fact i'm not sure this recipient even knows what a blog is. so here goes...

basic supplies: wooden doll heads (or dowel caps), acrylic paints, paint brushes, magnets, hot glue gun, paint pens (optional) and clear spray paint (optional).

you can get detailed steps here, but here are the basics:
1. paint 2 coats of acrylic paint on the wooden balls and let dry. i used a brick red americana paint.
2. paint 2-3 coats of acrylic of metallic green in different shapes. i did a square for a christmas present, a small tree, a circle for a wreath, and an oblong shape for an ornament.

3. in a contrasting color, decorate the shapes. i used a silver paint pen to add a bow to the wreath, a star to the tree, a hook to the ornament, and a bow/ribbon to the present.
4. optional step - spray with clear coat when dry.

5. using a hot glue gun, affix the magnet to the back.
6. enjoy them hard at WORK on your fridge! (or gift them to a friend)

all the steps (with photos) are on my kodak gallery project page.

burlap or bust.

you just HAVE to check out Sondra's burlap projects. they are super duper cute, especially the tree skirt.

she's not the only one making good use of BURLAP. we brought our herbs in a few weeks ago and i plopped them under a window. they were looking mighty drab until i saw a cute BURLAP idea in Country Home.

potted plant + burlap + ribbon = burlap heaven. i even made a burlap BOW for the Turkey Day wreath. check more pics! happiday.

wine cork placecard holders.

for turkey day, we used wine corks as place-card holders. i think they fit the table's harvest theme quite well. plus they're quick and inexpensive to whip up for a large party.

i used this placecard template from martha stewart's website. just download, print and wedge them into a teeney slit on the top of the cork.

here are a few more project pics. enjoy!

wine cork wreath.

i'm notorious for starting a craft project and then moving on to my next great idea before it's completely finished. case in point -> the wine cork wreath I started ages ago.

I had a legit excuse when I ran out of corks. i just couldn't drink as fast as my lush neighbor. I should have left a note in her recycling bin asking for a weekly donation. but then i scored 2 bags FULL of corks at a garage sale- so I had to finish it.

it's a delicate wreath, but i'm very pleased with it. project pics and instructions are up on my gallery page.

confused pumpkins.

cam isn't the only one getting a painted pumpkin! i decided to paint our initials on smaller pumpkins to JAZZ up our front porch. well the pumpkins were so darn small they got lost in our HEAPING pile of mums!

despite being overwhelmed with how close christmas is, i solved that by stacking them up like a SNOWMAN. lots of hearty toothpicks are holding them together pretty well.

glitter pumpkins.

there has been a lot of hype in the craft world over martha stewart's new GLITTER. i glittered a bunch of pumpkins PURPLE last year for decorations - but used regular 'ole glitter that i had in the craft pile.

emily recently raved about the MS glitter, so I had to give it a whirl. i bought a 3 pack with glue b/c i could use the 40% off michael's coupon. i also bought paper mache pumpkins in hopes i could keep the finished products for more than one fall season.

the project was easy-peasey and came out very nicely. now i'm looking for smaller things to glitter, preferably pumpkin or gourds shapes.

Check out the pics!

E A T.

completely unrelated to my week of food themed posts, i finished a quick-n-easy (which is how i like 'em!) craft project today that i started last week. i purchased the LETTERS at joanne's and use the remaining supplies that i had at home. i'd say they were wooden but after lightly sanding them down (per their instructions) i think they were merely some kind of wood-looking fiberboard.

i had seen the word EAT hanging on a kitchen wall in a home decorating magazine some time ago, so I was inspired for our kitchen. we still have loads of BLACK paint left over from painting our kitchen cabinets. i think painting the letters the same color provides balance against the opposite wall of black cabinets.

although i'm not the biggest fan of the letter's TYPEFACE - i do think they look GREAT up over the swing door that leads to our dining room. they add just the right touch of vintage appeal. the letters are the perfect size, not too big for that space between the trim and the ceiling and not too small that they get lost.

what do you think?!