Madisen

At the beginning of March I made my friend Lindsay a wood block with her new baby boys name, Levi!  Have not sent it yet Lindsay...spring break really took me by surprise this year:)  So, after making something for a little boy...I knew I had to make something for a girl as well!  Ms. Madisen is the daughter of my great friend Madeleine,who is already in Germany and I know she is anxiously awaiting my arrival:)))LOL!!!!!  It is going to be to much fun!!!!

If you have read my blog in the last couple of months, you know that I have gone a little crazy with the blocks of wood.  Won't say I get stuck in a rut but I get addicted to all the possibilities.....it is just a block of wood, but you can do so much with it!!!!!! With this block of wood, I could not find any printables that I absolutely loved or could just add to so I decided to make my own.  I used Photoshop, if you have considered purchasing any software such as photoshop CS5 or photoshop elements(cheaper)....just do it!  Such an awesome program...you will pay for it dearly but it is worth it! I found a free photoshop brush that I absolutely fell in love with and applied it to the program. 

The first block is a shabby chic green, the printable is plain with Madisen's name put across the front.  It is a dark pink....normally I go darker with all of my colors and the reason is because if you sand the paper and even when you use sealant it will appear lighter on the wood. After sanding the paint and applying Tim Holtz tea stain dye,  I applied the printable with Canvas Corp glue that is nearing the end of the bottle!  After drying spray glitter was applied and I used leftover ribbon from my tassel project and tied a bow to the top.  A small drop of glue was applied to the back and the actual bow to make the ribbon stay put. 

This block was done almost exactly the same except the printable is smaller and a tutu brush was added on photoshop.  The block was sanded, tea stained, printable was applied and spray glittered.  The bow is just larger ribbon and hot glue was used to make it stay put.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Love Bucket

The Oreo suckers needed a great way to be displayed, I found a bubble gum bucket that was going to be thrown away and decided to re-purpose it.  Of course it had to be painted...using a primer and spray paint that was made for plastic it was given two coats.  

My next step was to cut out the printable found over at littlemiso.  Using the paper cutter, I trimmed off all the edges, and rounded the corners.  The stamp pad was used around the edge of the entire card, and spray glittered.  

Canvas Corp glue was used to attach the image to the bucket...then I used a spray sealer to make sure it all stayed attached!  I used ribbon left over from the tassel project and attached just above the printable.  Floral foam was stuck in the bottom of the bucket and shredded paper was used to decorate the top.  It was glued in, and spray glittered on top.  

Thanks for stopping by to take a look! 

Trash to Treasure

My husband and I eat almonds like there is no tomorrow, needless to say we are left with these empty containers after all the almonds are gone.  I have kept wondering what I could use the empty containers for and thought...what about my craft supplies!  After scraping off all of the label that would come off with just my fingernails, the goo gone came out and it came off with ease! 

The lid was a green color....I knew this would bug me so I painted the lid with a spray paint meant to cover and stay on plastic, this was used as a primer. Later painted a cream color with regular spray paint and sprayed with spray glitter.  

I measured the area where I wanted paper placement and began cutting paper to fit the area.  The paper used is from Canvas Corp  After cutting the paper, I rounded the edges with the Creative Memories corner rounder, lightly sanded each piece, then antiqued with a Tim Holtz distressing pad(tea dye).  

The Canvas Corp glue works great for stacking the papers, this glue makes it stick....and stick well:)  It also will not wrinkle the paper when it is drying.  Normally I like to let each layer dry just a bit before placing another layer on top. The middle of the layer is two round circles that were cut out with the Creative Memories circle punch.  The top circle was stamped with a circle stamp that reads "from the heart".

To finish off the top of the project, I found ribbon that was used in my tassel project, and hemp cord from Canvas Corp.  A chipboard embellishment that I found in my supplies was dyed to match the ribbon with a stamp pad.  Letting the chipboard dry, I tied the ribbon around the top and heated up the glue gun!  Then attached the chipboard with hot glue.  

Below is the entire finished project!

Thanks for stopping by!

Holiday Memories

Now that I have successfully taken and downloaded all my photographs...yes, I still need to get them printed out..but two out of three definitely is not a bad start!  I decided I needed a mini holiday scrapbook to put all those photos in.  Over our Christmas vacation Jon and I made a deal...if we take the hour and a half trip from my parents to Fayetteville, AR to buy Razorback gear, he can take me to a Signed, Sealed, Delivered in Rogers, AR:)))  I believe it was a fair trade...trust me both parties involved suffered dearly!  This was so fun to make...here is what I started with:  Canvas Corp paper, and I bought LOTS, they have some of the best paper I have ever used!  Chipboard album that I picked up on clearance at Michaels for $2.00.  

I cut my paper to match the chipboard then used Canvas Corp paper and mounting glue, awesome glue that when you put on pretty much anything...makes it STICK!

 After sticking the paper I used a sandpaper block to rough up every page, then distressed with a distressing stamp pad...around the edges.  

 The first page I set up with a Merry Christmas stamp that I have had for a few years, cut out, stacked on a patterned piece of the same paper, then used spray glitter, and finished it off with a ribbon.

The bird stamp that I had never used was another in this same set.  I would tell you the name but the package was thrown away and I have no idea...Im fairly certain it was a cheap set I picked up at Michaels.  Below is the first page on the inside of the album.  Used ribbon I bought at Target for a dollar.

 Hit a mental block when I got to the third page, I layered ribbon and that was it:)

 Finally by the fourth page.....I was back on track. The letter stamps worked great, and I used the circle cutter from creative memories to make these perfect circles on the bottom on this page!

I stacked ribbon again on this page then used the circle cutter, snowflake stamp, and my favorite...the spray glitter!

 For some reason I always have one page in my scrapbooks that just look like....wow, what was she thinking!LOL  Well this is that page:)  Going through my stack of stuff, I saw these rub-ons and decided to use them!  Personally I love the page...Im hoping you have the same reaction!

The "tis the season" page turned out so cute.  I love the coordinating papers with the stripes and dots.  I layered ribbon and stacked the cardstock.  To stamp the "tis the season"  I used the opposite side of the cardstock.  Normally I would not waste precious printed cardstock but I wanted it to match.  Also, I should have mentioned earlier that on all the cut outs of the cardstock that I stamped, I used the sandpaper and distressing pad on those as well.  To distress the paper, I only go around the edge...I feel like that gives it more of an antiqued look.   Spray glitter was also used on this stamped cut out. 

 This stamp, I LOVED!  Found it in the stamp box and had to use it with the "I believe" ribbon.  

The back of the album is ribboned, stamped, and spray glittered!  Used another stamp from my found Christmas collection!  Around the ring of my album, I cut different strands, and various lengths of the ribbon used throughout the album.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

*Pecans*

My mother has made these pecans for years and they are so delicious!!!!  I made them this year to give to all my favorite neighbors.  I'm sharing the recipe with my favorite followers:)  Here it is,


1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup brown sugar
about 2 lbs. of pecans

In a large saucepan bring whipping cream and brown sugar to a boil...while continuously stirring mixture.  Turn off flame and add pecans to the mixture, coating pecans.

Place pecans on large baking sheet and bake at 350 for about 18 minutes.  After the first nine minutes stir pecans on cookie sheet and place bake in oven for another nine minutes.  Dump pecans on wax paper and let dry.

It is wise to place the pecans almost immediately after drying in bags....otherwise they will disappear:)  I used Wilton Icing decorator bags for mine and tied a ribbon to the top!

Endless Possibilities with Tassels!

I have been wanting to make my own tassels for quite some time now...I hadn't because it was difficult finding the finials for the top.  If I wanted to get really creative and up off the couch...finding a wooden topper, or ceramic topper would not have been a difficult tasking!  On the other hand that would have required drilling and all sorts of other tools that I would have to find and later put away:)  Truly I am not lazy but on occasion I like the easy way out! Finding these tassel toppers at my local Hobby Lobby about made my week, what could be easier??? 

Here are the supplies I gathered before sitting down to do my project:
Tassel Topper from the local Hobby Lobby
Assorted Ribbons of various sizes, colors, shapes, even rick rack, and beads.
Scissors
Hot Glue Gun
Wooden Wheel(this is optional)
2" Foam Ball

You will want to start out by cutting your ribbon.  If you want the ribbon to loop remember to cut it double the length.  A variety of lengths will be needed for each tassel.  While you are cutting the ribbon the glue gun can be heating up. Form individual loops and glue together.  Find your 2"foam ball, start gluing the ribbon around the circumference of the ball.  You can line the ribbon up side by side, use as many ribbons as you would like on each loop around the foam ball, working in rows. 

The following picture is a top view of the foam ball after all the ribbon pieces have been glued on.  I am not a neat crafter....please keep that in mind:)

This next step is optional...however if you choose not to do this step the top portion of the tassel still must be finished somehow.  I will show you two alternative ways to finish out the top of the tassel.



I found this neat stretchy ribbon that I used around the wheel, then  used a cording to break up the ribbon.  After being as creative as you care to be hot glue the wheel to the top of the foam ball.  Take your tassel topper and hot glue it onto the top of the wooden wheel.  Tie a ribbon onto the topper to use as a hanger.  Below is the first tassel I finished!

Now for a second finish to the topper.  This one is a little more tricky.  It is more of a pleated design around the top and I used ribbon.  I really think it might be easier to use fabric? So pick a starting point and start folding the ribbon.  The ribbon has to be glued on both the top and the bottom of the pleat in order to stay put.  This is the bottom ugly view!

Here it is sitting up.

Around the last tassel(pictured below), I pleated the ribbon on the bottom of the topper and then simply hot glued a wide piece of ribbon. 

I hope you all enjoy creating these as much as I did!!!! Thanks for stopping by:)