Up Cycled Craft Packaging to Mini Album

I went a little crazy at Scrapbook Expo last year, purchasing Darice embossing folders. So many beautiful patterns and the awesome offer of  "purchase multiples, get them cheaper". I have 6 sturdy cardboard packaging pieces, all the same size, just begging me to reuse not toss them. Ok, challenge accepted. 

I glued the short front flap of one piece to the backside of the next piece to create the hinge end of the mini album. I used an Elmer's X-treme glue stick. I love these and stock up on them each back to school sale time. 

With all the glued pieces together and the end squared up I clamped them with binder clips and let them dry overnight. 

I chose an older DCWV paper stack for my pages and cut them to fit the pages. Again using the Elmer's X-treme glue stick I attached all the patterned paper to the pages and trimmed the edges where needed. 

Here's a peek at the finished pages. 

And the beginnings of my cover. 

A little cover embellishment, so far.  (It's funny the pictures look so different because one is taken by lamp light and the final pic was taken by natural day light.)

This will make a great brag book to fill with pictures of my family. 

Find inspiration everywhere! Go... Create something fun & fabulous. Enjoy!

Paper pumpkin leftovers card

Lots of variations of this seen around the internet. This is my take. Orange felt Thanks left over from a recent Paper Pumpkin kit. I added Melon Mambo and Crushed Curry ink and paper. It's a legal sized envelope and I lined it with stamped printer paper to cover up the ugly print on the inside of the envelope. 

Sorry I have been MIA from my blog, I am crafting and creating, cohosting monthly SU! Stamp-a-stack classes too, but I just am not motivated to sit down and type up descriptions to accompany my photos of projects. 

Find inspiration everywhere! Go... Create something fun & fabulous. Enjoy! 

A gaggle of turkeys

I'm making little turkeys to put at the place setting of each of my family members, at Thanksgiving dinner. I was inspired by this adorable pin on Pinterest. I absolutely love this SU! Day of Gratitude stamp set, and this is such a clever way to use it. 

Here's a close up of my very first one, in all his glory. I used SU! inks as you can see, and the third pad is Cajun Craze.

I created a Pazzles cut file so I wouldn't have to fussy cut all those turkeys tails by hand. I cut and then stamp while the paper is still on the mat. I feel like it helps me to line them up a bit better. I didn't want to put a York peppermint patty between the body and the tail as the original creator did. I'm hoping these turkeys hang around for a lil while, not just ripped open for their candy and discarded. *gasp* So I repurposed the centers of my used ATG tape refills. I covered them with a strip of coordinating card stock and put some SU! dimensionals on both sides, strategically placed over the spokes in the plastic tape refill piece, to give the dimensionals added support. Then I sandwiched them between body and tail.

Thanks for visiting my blog today. I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving filled with lots of love and happiness.


Find inspiration everywhere! Go... Create something fun & fabulous. Enjoy! 

It's all about the wrap, gift exchange

This is quick and easy gift exchange present. A recycled jar covered in SU! Nordic Noel Designer Series Paper that I fussy cut around the roof lines before adhering it to the jar with scor-tape. I also wrapped some coordinating bakers twine around the top of the jar. I covered the IKEA tea lights with All Is Calm and Color Me Autumn Designer Washi Tape. And lastly I used a brown paper bag, trimmed down and embossed with Filigree Frame Textured Embossing Folder, as the wrapping. I stamped the Olive Green dots using the Wondrous Wreath on the bag and then stamped and die cut the wreath and adhered it over a banner or Real Red cardstock. Tie the package closed with Real Red ribbon and it is ready for the exchange party. 

Here is another close up photo of the gift set. I am excited to see what all of the other participants created. 

Find inspiration everywhere! Go... Create something fun & fabulous. Enjoy! 

Mini coffee cups

I have caught the fever. The altering the mini coffee cups fever. They are so adorable, and they are everywhere these days. Hundreds of pins on Pinterest later, I have bought my stash of cups and lids, I have downloaded the template someone graciously shared and I have begun selecting cute spring papers and covering and decorating and filling. Oh My!!! 

Here is a view of my decorated lids and my little ribbon handles. I used my crop-o-dile to punch two holes in the cups and in the lids, then I ran a 10 inch length of ribbon with a knot on the end through the whole thing and finished with another knot at the other end. 

Here is a view of how I stuffed each of them with 4 covered Hershey's nuggets and 4 Hershey's kisses.

And here is my second trio of decorated cups.

I changed up the lids and added a scalloped edge to the top layer on the cup. Simple, cute spring party favors. I will be putting one of these at each seat at my Easter dinner table.

Find inspiration everywhere! Go... Create something fun & fabulous. Enjoy!

Valentines Love Decor

Some upcoming holiday decor. Valentine's day is coming up. I created this using four 5x7 inch Dollartree frames. I removed the glass, I used book pages for the background and I cut the letters on my Cricut using the Storybook cartridge.



These close ups show the layers and the beautiful sparkly shwoopies.



I also added some layers of flowers and pearls. The frames are hinged together simply with strips of paper folded down the center and taped to the edges, so it stands nicely but it wont actually fold in on it self for nice storage. There was not enough area to tape on the back side of the frame to make it fully hinged. 

Find inspiration everywhere! Go... Create something fun & fabulous. Enjoy!

Fall wreaths over cabinet doors

One more fall decor project to share before I go into full on Christmas crafting and decorating mode. Or I may take a few days off because my dogs are barkin' and I need a nap.

This project is 3 dollar tree grapevine wreaths and 3 different dollar tree leaf swags that I pulled apart. The design was loosely inspired by this pin on Pinterest. I hot glued the leaves to the wreaths and tied a big checkered ribbon bow.

They are hanging over cabinet doors in my dining room, by lengths of ribbon.

Here is a close up of the leaves and some stuff that was on one of the swags. I used it all. 

Another close up. 

Such a quick and simple project. 

This idea was a Pinterest find. Use a command hook on the inside of the cabinet door to hang the wreaths from a length of ribbon. Easy as can be. Now I can make more for different holidays too. 

Find inspiration everywhere! Go... Create something fun & fabulous. Enjoy!

Burlap and lace table runner, wrapped vases and jars

It's beginning to look a lot like Thanksgiving around here. My son has raked a ton of leaves from the yard. We had our first overnight freeze this week and our first foggy morning yesterday. Yahoo! Finally.

The preparations are under way inside the house too. I have been cleaning and decluttering and crafting during my much loved Thanksgiving week vacation. I love this time of year. Everything about it. I have so much to be thankful for and I am thankful everyday, but I love an extra special time set aside to concentrate on family and our blessings.

Here are my dinner table decorations I have completed this week. Two upcycled jars, wrapped in jute, burlap, lace and twine and embellished with buttons. The jars are from my mom, we both share a love of cute little containers and uniquely shaped jars and find many practical ways to reuse them. The lace and the twine are from my mother in law, she was a crafty woman also and very frugal. These were things that I inherited from her collection when she passed. I love using them now for this project.

These are two dollar store flared top vases and candles in glass jars. The only new things that I bought for this project. Again decorated similarly as the jars, I was inspired by this idea and this idea and this one too. You can see the influences each inspiring photo had on the final outcome of my project. 

And finally my favorite new addition to my Thanksgiving table scape, the burlap and lace table runner. I have had this and this inspiration pinned for a long time but it wasn't until I found this post for preparation and this wonderful post for execution, that I felt confident enough to purchase the supplies needed to make my own. It turned out wonderfully thanks to the step by step instructions on Ella Claire Inspired and Mikaela Rae blog. What beautiful blogs and amazing photo tutorials. Made the project feel less intimidating and more possible.

I am lucky enough to have a big beautiful table that will comfortably seat 8 people. My runner is 6 feet long. It is a thing of beauty. I am so ready to have the table set for family to feast at. Happy Thanksgiving. 

Find inspiration everywhere! Go... Create something fun & fabulous. Enjoy!

Wine cork Christmas trees

This is one of those projects that has been high on my to do list for a very long time. I got my Pinspiration here. There were no instructions or anything, that I could find anywhere. And I searched. I used Google Image and tracked down all kinds of blog posts that linked back to a now long gone (but not forgotten apparently, at least not by rabid Pinterest pinners) article on the Stonewall Kitchen online catalog. Some links even said their was a tutorial on the website. Not any more. So I started in, and learned some things by trial and error. 

When I make decor crafts, I usually want them to be sturdy enough to store and display again year after year. This craft was definitely one of those, so I knew hot glue gun was out of the question. I ended up using Liquid Nails, it dries clear, doesn't shrink or expand and is tough enough for items that might be outside. This won't be, but being that tough sounds like a good thing in my book. The one draw back is that it takes 24 hours to dry completely. So this project has been a slow one, testing my patience along the way. But it was totally worth it and I am thrilled with the final outcome.

This is a shot of the side and back of the cork trees. I spent a good amount of time sorting my corks for this project. Ones that had prettier designs went on the outside. Ones that had writing that was upright from only one side, I tried very hard to display them on that side. The corks that had no designs around them whatsoever went on the inside of the tree shape.

While I was gluing them together I was careful to keep the wine stained side towards the back. I like the look of the backsides as well. Change out the star and the bakers twine bow at the top and I could turn them this way and display them during fall time too. I enjoy the rustic look of the back side.

I used a 3/4 inch circle punch on my paper stack Vintage Christmas from Hobby Lobby and adhered them to the front of the corks with a dab of the Liquid Nails again. I used a dauber and CTMH inks in Topiary and Cranberry on a few of the corks. I added a few SU! brads, and some buttons and pearls from my stash, for a little more texture. I also tied a bit of ribbon around the portion of Champagne cork I used for the tree trunk.

I used two rubber bands to hold the tree together after I had glued all the corks together. They had to sit for 24 hours so I wanted to insure they would not move around or sag. It worked perfectly. 

The top parts I cut off the Champagne corks I made magnets out of. One nearly had my husbands initials (just a little Sharpie doodle and it could be his monogram) and the other had just a T for our last name, I thought they would be cool. It's a quick little craft since I have the magnets handy and the Liquid Nails out already.

Find inspiration everywhere! Go... Create something fun & fabulous. Enjoy!