Revisiting Projects

I don't know about you, but I'm in the throws of crafting. Here are some of my favorite ideas from last Christmas, with links for you to revisit...



Homemade Hot Cocoa. Great hostess or neighbor gift with the chocolate covered marshmallows...

Host a mother/daughter gingerbread house decorating party. You will be happy you did!
Decorative Soap dispensers. Great to have on hand for folks who drop by...
Photo ornaments. I have two of these trees and I love them so much.
Patterned Paper Wreath. Fun to make with kids.
Button Wreaths. Nicole Eshelman made this one and I love it.
Gumdrop trees. Great kids craft--and wonderful presentation.
Homemade cookie recipe book. I refer to it often.

I've also got a bunch of new projects lined up to share with you through the month of December. Along with the projects, I've asked the Design Team to share a bit of their holiday traditions with us too. Should be a very creative season!!

Enjoy your Sunday all!!

Ornaments

A fun, but messy ornament I've made for the past two years now is using the clear ornaments, stamp pad re inkers and glitter. Recently I found these 1" ornaments and thought they would be a fun ornament to add to packages.

You can either use the re inker full strength and drop several drops inside ornament and roll around until inside is covered. Or you can add water to dilute color and then fill ornament. Dumping excess back into another container. Then add your glitter, rolling ornament again to get glitter coverage.
I found the original idea here

December Daily Albums

When I saw Marianne Mess' December Daily album, I knew I wanted to see more of it immediately. She was kind enough to share her book with us today, and it is a real treat...

She was inspired by Ali E, like many of us. Her book uses the Creative Imaginations Creative Cafe Spirit Scalloped Chipboard Binder (9x6.5).In her words, "I love when an album really reflects me as a person and an artist: cutting edge, yet traditional and a combination of all the bits and pieces of life I’ve picked up along the way."
When creating this book, she used mostly scraps from her stash. If it was too big to fit, she simply cut it down and made it work. Lots of texture & fonts--blended all together to make it work...
For paper and inserts, she used...
Cosmo Cricket, Basic Grey, Bazzill Basics Scalloped Rectangle Cardstock, Making Memories, Creative Imaginations, Bird Chipboard Coaster Book by Maya Road, Lucky Neutral Date 12x12 Transparencies by Creative Café...
I love how she used the bird chipboard and covered it with paper. I'm so lifting that idea!!
Some of the embellishments used are:
Tinsel Town Holiday Press Ons, EK Success Holiday Stamp, Making Memories, Seven Gyspies, Heidi Swapp Date Stamp, American Crafts, Scenic Route Parker, and Misc. Ribbon...

Thanks for sharing your December Daily, Marianne! I will be showing mine when I have a few photos to share. I'd love to see yours--so feel free to leave a link in the comment section!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

So thankful for each one of you out there. I hope you have a wonderful day...

thankful

Tomorrow is thanksgiving - a day to be thankful for so many things. Of course I am so very thankful for my family and our good health but I am also thankful for a few other things...

1. Cricut Cartridges will be 29.99 from 6-9 on Thursday at Michaels.

2. The Cricut Expression will be 199.00 at Walmart on Friday.

3. The Pulsar Products Warehouse sale is only one week away.

4. Charlie Brown Thanksgiving was on ABC last night. (Remember when they eat toast, popcorn and jellybeans for Thanksgiving?)

5. CHA is only 60 days away and all the new products for 2009 will be revealed!

a little sneak peek ....

a little sneak peek ....

wanna a little peek from december's
main kit? just a few more days till the reveal!
i have a little one for ya.
these papers are so.much.fun.


and if you need a jump start on your christmas
cards here are a couple really simple card sketches.

Advent Calendars

I know many of you are into Thanksgiving and all right now. But I took a little jump-start on the holiday thing this weekend because I felt the spirit of the season. Here are a few of my favorite advent calendar ideas...

Jessica Sprague did these last year, and I love them. You can get all the info on how to make them here. So cool!I saw this sack idea on Etsy and thought it was adorable...
This one made me want to run out and cut tiny little letters out of felt...
And this one was simple and yet perfect...
I love how this one uses simple photos...
This beautiful white one was on Etsy using felt and burlap...
I found this one on Etsy and it is made with a muffin tin to house the goodies. Magnets hold the chipboard pieces in place...
This cone advent calendar was created by Francine...
This one using the Love, Elsie papers is just happy...
And this one by Jen Stewart uses a cookie sheet and the Creative Imaginations Christmas line...
Do you have a favorite advent calendar you'd like to share? I'd love to see what you have!

Have a great day everyone!!

Brown Bear Bread

Looking for a fun activity to do over the holidays with your little ones? This one is super easy and a lot of fun. Plus, on top of that, it helps you get dinner ready at the same time! :D And all you need is a thawed package of frozen bread rolls.



Each bear uses 3 rolls. The body of the bear is one roll. Divide the second roll into 2. One half will make the head and then the other half gets divided again to make 2 ears. Finally, the third roll will be divided into 4 to make the legs.



Place on a cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick spray and bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes.



Have fun and take some time out to create something fun with your kids/grandkids!
Jana

Five more finds...

I found this on Etsy and think it is just adorable...I got a bunch of these at Michael's the other day for a classroom craft with one of my kiddos. For a dollar, they'll be adorable once they're dolled up!
Another Etsy find. These are just too cute...
Martha, Martha, Martha. I have a serious thing for those gingerbread people...and it is felt!
And last but not least, these beautiful pre-made books by Teresa Collins are so beautiful that I ordered a bunch more. I sold out of them last week at the Retreat, and for $7.00, you can't beat it! I have them listed on the WIP Etsy here.
Enjoy your Saturday!!

Eight Things.

1. 31 Days of Christmas Acrylic Album
I got a lot of feedback about this book when I posted a photo of it a couple of days ago. I taught it last weekend, and it sold out almost immediately. So I made some more. And those went too. I got several requests for more photos, so here are a few...
I have compiled enough people now to do yet another group of these books. If you would like to be on the wait list, please email Trish at Turay413@gmail.com. The kit for this book costs $35 plus shipping, and they would ship out on Monday, November 24. Any leftovers will be up on the Etsy site.
And as a little bonus, anyone who makes any Etsy purchase before December 1 will receive a dozen of the cute little gingerbread people (as seen in the photo below...)
2. The Fiskar's Gingerbread Man Punch. Man, I'm in love with this thing. I found it at Archiver's.
3. Cheryl & Co. cookies. Seriously. I have to say, these are my all-time favorite. Go for the mix below if you're in need of an outstanding hostess gift for Thanksgiving. The frosted spice pumpkin cookies brought me to my knees.
4. My giant cornucopia. Sorry for the poor pic. But it is a reminder to all of you to look for clearance items while you're in the throws of Christmas shopping. I got all this fake food for this horn aplenty on clearance one year, and I filled it so it overflows. I simply cover it with a bag year after year, and bring it out for the holiday in my dining room. It is literally 4 feet long and I got it all at Michael's.
5. My paper pieced turkey. I was given this by a gal who wanted to remain anynomous at the crop, but it is too cute not to share. Great use of that cool ribbon, eh?
6. White chocolate and peppermint. One of my favorite combos during the holidays. I found this at Target yesterday...
...and these too. Both will go great with cookie baking (but mine won't make it that long)...
7. I also found these Advent Calendars at Target on sale. I like to get a bunch of them for my nieces and nephews for Thanksgiving and I wrap them up like presents. After dinner we pass them out and they act surprised. The dance we do. But it is a great tradition that is fun and I wanted to share...
8. Two new Christmas CD's. Since my sister does Thanksgiving every year, I've decided to start decorating a bit early this year, and these two have me in the spirit. I'd love to hear your new favorites too!!
Thanks guys!! Have a super weekend!!