Christmas Cards

Acorns....not just for squirrels.

So I may have mentioned this site called pinterest.com once or twice now and here's another mention.

I found these adorable acorn treats and made them for a party I had. They were a huge hit.

Ingredients:

hershey kisses

mini nutter butter cookies

mini milk chocolate chips

melt some of the mini chips according to package. This is be your "glue" to hold them together. Using a toothpick dab some chocolate on the bottom and press the flat side of the kiss on. Dab some more melted chocolate on the other side in the middle and press a mini chip to it. Place on wax paper to allow the chocolate to harden.

Tulle Wreath

My friend turned me on to a new website called Pinterest.com. Its addictive. It has all kinds of fun craft projects and amazing recipes, plus much more. It is basically a huge bulletin board where you can pin things you find that you want to keep track of for future use. Also, you can follow your friends and family to see what goodies they find.

My friend made one of these wreaths and I had to try one as well.

SUPPLIES:

8 inch foam wreath form

2 spools of tulle

decorations of your choice

hot glue gun

All in all, I spent about $8 for all my supplies...not bad. Only took me about 30 minutes to assemble.

I just looped my tulle around the form by cutting 18 inch pieces and then putting the ends together to make a loop then put the ends through the loop and pulled. You could also knot the tulle on there. Either way works and it looks the same.

Spider was purchased at Spirit of Halloween store. The hanging ribbon is Stampin' Up!.

Sweet & Salty

One of my all time favorite sweet treats is chocolate covered pretzels. The combination of sweet and salty will satisfy any craving. A friend of mine in Florida shared this recipe as she makes them every Christmas with red and green candies, but they can be customized for any occasion especially since you can get packs of certain colored candies at the store now or online.The gym is having a Halloween party for the kids and I decided to make these treats to share.

They are quick and easy (only 3 ingredients).

Place a pretzel on a baking sheet, top with a candy melt. Put in a 250 degree oven for 3 minutes. Once out of the oven, put candies on top and let harden.

Simple Sympathy

A dear friend of mine lost her father last week very suddenly. I made this card using Flower Soft in sage to give the leaves texture. It really adds a nice effect.

Initial Shadow Box Frame

I had found this embroidery paper online and really wanted to try it out. I had it for at least a year and no clue what I wanted to do with it yet.

The website I purchased the paper from had tons of ideas for the papers use but they weren't speaking to me. I wanted to do something different.

Finally, I thought a shadow box frame would be neat with an embroidered initial then decorate accordingly.

The only thing I want to change is the size of the "A", which I am hoping I have solved by purchasing the largest hoop available.

I'm thinking I am going to make one for my oldest daughters teacher as this is her first year teaching. Here's hoping I can make the letters bigger!

Awareness

Safe a life, grope your wife; save the tatas; feel your boobies; don't let cancer steal second base....no matter your slogan on the subject, breast cancer awareness is highly important and this month is dedicated to raising awareness.

Its been almost four years since my mother was diagnosed. She has since beaten cancer and remains cancer free. It wasn't an easy journey for her or one to watch her struggle through, but from it all we are all stronger because of her bravery.

So in her honor I made her this Pink Ribbon Tree.

The original idea came from Michael's craft store last year. They had these project ideas at holiday time.

I have found that satin ribbon works the best as it will lay perfectly. I would avoid wire ribbon, though it works, it is hard to shape all the loops the same. You can use any width ribbon and any size styrofoam cone.

Cut your ribbon into 4 inch strips (you could do any size strip depending on how long you want the loops, fold in half then pin the ends to the styrofoam cone using small headed straight pins. Longer ones are better as they won't pop out easily. The smaller pins tend to come out on their own and you will be putting them back together a lot.

You can mix this up for any reason or season. There are so many beautiful ribbons that you can always find the perfect combination to suit whatever you need.

Happy Craftin'

Sarah

Fabric Flower Pins

There are many different tutorials out there for making these pretty little accessories. The possibilities are endless when it comes to fabric choices. You can go elegant, fun, childish, or modern. Just add a pin on the back with hot glue and you can jazz up your shirt, coat, or bag. You could also hot glue these to hair pins or hair bands.

To make this one, I actually used my Stampin' Up! Sizzix Die to cut out the flowers from my fabric selections. I used two of each flower size. I held a piece of felt in place on the back and had a coordinating button on the front. I then hand sewed the button on making sure to sew the felt on at the same time. Once the button was secured, I hot glued the pin to the felt.

Happy Anniversary

My love of crafting all started with making cards. Today marks my 8th wedding anniversary and this is the card I made for my husband.




All supplies except the ribbon are Stampin' Up!. The background is embossed using the Vintage Wallpaper textured impressions embossing folder on the Sizzix. I also used the bird builder punch and the top note Bigz Die for Sizzix.

Paper Flowers

My new obession is making paper flowers. You can do so many things with them from decorating cards, making decorations for baby showers, weddings, or parties. I think they would even make adorable hanging mobiles for baby rooms.

There are two different ways to make them. Both use the same basic prinicpal; the main difference is one uses two pieces of paper glued together and the other uses one long strip of paper.

This is the one with two pieces of scalloped punched paper or two flowers cut from a cricut machine, which is the way I did them. Score on the "valleys" from one end to another and then cut to the center on one only. Accordian fold and then glue the two half circles together.

Using the Cricut you can make different sizes and layer them together.

These are made with one strip of paper using a scalloped edge punch on one side. Score on each of the "valleys" on the scallop and accordian fold up. Fold in on the center and glue down with a circle. decorate with brads, buttons, or anything your heart desires.

With all the designer papers out there the possibilities and themes are endless with these. Lots of WOW without a lot of hassle. The best kind of craft.

-Sarah