Don't Count Your Chickens

I was given this very cute Southern Living wire basket a long time ago. I had decided (separately) to do my downstairs powder room with a garden theme -- seed packets and such. So this basket seemed to fit in with that theme. Up on the wall it went. But what to put in it? At first it sat empty. Then I stuffed some straw colored bag filler in there. Looked pretty blah. Still, it stayed that way for a L-O-N-G time. Then I had a vision of paper covered eggs. I think I must have seen this in magazine somewhere but can't remember exactly where. I have made pinecone Christmas ornaments but those are time consuming and hard on the fingers! These were much easier and super fast. I whipped out four of them, with the help of my neice who handed me the small punched circles, in less than an hour. That was working slowly, too, as I had four kids running around my craft area at the time.






Making them was super easy. I got a package of 4 styrofoam eggs at Michael's for a couple bucks (if that). I picked out four different patterns of designer series or printed paper. Cut 1 inch circles with my SU! punch. Than randomly attached the circles to the egg with a straight pin. On some, I used the same pattern for the entire egg, others it was totally random. These are fun to make and make a good filler for that spare basket or decorative bowl you have lying around.

Happy Crafting,

My Birthday Party

Yesterday was my birthday, and while I am not excited about birthdays anymore (as the number is advancing toward a milestone I'd rather ignore), I thought it would be fun to throw myself a party. I work really hard on my kids parties and I LOVE it, so why not do it for myself once to see how it feels. ** It was fun! **

I made cupcakes and put cute flags in them. I used a dollar stamp from Michael's, circle punched it and a back peice, sandwiched it with a toothpick in between using a pop dot. Viola! Easy and it really added a lot. The stamp I used said: "of all possessions, a FRIEND is the most PRECIOUS". I didn't want to be too self-indulgent so skipped the overly "happy birthday" stuff!



I also used my beloved Big Shot to make pillow box favors. I used almost all of my Robinhood Red paper which makes me a little sad, but it looked so cute with the fun polka dot ribbon I found at Michael's. Besides I have to make room for my new In Colors! I had also found some birthday paper supplies (plates, cups, etc) at Hobby Lobby on sale and so that color scheme went together, too. I filled them with M&Ms. I did use a birthday stamp from Eight Great Greetings but it said "You Take the Cake" so I figured that could be more about the attendee ;) I really like that set - I think it's going to get used a lot.



And lastly, I wanted to try to make a pennant banner, as I have never had the opportunity to do so before. What better excuse, right? Again, not wanting to go over board with the "birthday stuff to me", I opted for a WELCOME banner, hopefully, hung tastefully in the family room where we would be spending most of our time. It was fun and I will definitely make these again!




What I loved most about my party is that some of my very favorite people came to celebrate with me. It gave me a good excuse to craft for a reason and now I can share with you. I hope you do something nice for yourself today -- big or small!

Happy Crafting,

I am a TWEETER ....

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By the way, this is a card I did for my swap group a month or two ago! I just love this little bird and the polka dot ribbon. Really, this might be one of my favorite cards of all time.

Thanks for looking,

Why, Hello There ....

Its been a while, huh? No promises when I will blog next since I keep making promises that I don't keep. I don't like it when people promise me stuff and then don't follow through, so no promises from me! Here are a few things that I have done while I was away doing God knows what :)






And I even participated in a challenge which I have not done FOREVER. This one is from The Cats Pajamas Co. and it was a fun color challenge. I was inspired immediately. This is actually a pocket calendar cover, but it could be used for a checkbook cover, also (although its a tad big -- didn't fit in my wallet). The image is from the Tickled Pink set from The Angel Company (circa 2008). And I have had those flip flop brads (from OTC) for almost as long as my youngest child has been alive. Okay, exaggerating ... but its been a long time. I thought they were cute and then when they arrived didn't know quite what to do with them. Does that happen to anyone else?





And I thought, as incentive to myself, I would pose a question. Answer the question and I will randomly chose someone to receive a small token of my appreciation for helping me get back to my blog. Let's consider this "baby blog candy" :)

QUESTION FOR THE DAY:

What is one "strange" item that you have used to craft with?

I will start:
I might try to stamp anything that will hold still long enough. But one that comes to mind is when I made the most adorable (IMHO) container to hold my tacks for my bulletin board out of those Laughing Cow cheese containers -- you know the circle ones with the lids? I also just bought some clear tubing from the hardware store with visions of bracelets dancing in my heads. I will have to let you know about that one.

Your turn!