SNOWFLAKEs are falling

Tis the season to be generous to others. To show love to those that need it - and if you're heart is still a little bit soar by the SandyHook shooting then I have found the perfect

solution to help heal that hurt heart

of yours.

 

I am planning on participating in 

PROJECT SNOWFLAKE



 

 

Here are the details ...

They are asking for everyone to make and send snowflakes for them to hang around the school. Their only request is that the snowflakes have no words on them ... think bright, and sparkly, and happy, and magical ...

Snowflakes are to be sent by January 12, 2013 to:

Connecticut PTSA

60 Connolly Parkway

Building 12, Suite 103

Hamden, CT 06514

You can check out the CT PTA website or Sandy Children Help on Facebook for more information or updates. They are also putting together a photo album of the snowflakes; you can send photos to crafts4newtown@gmail.com. Please include a note to let them know where the snowflakes are coming from (school, grade or age, town etc).

 

I'll be back to share our snowflakes - if you have time please join in - these sweet kids deserve to come back to school surrounded by LOVE from around the world.

 

Happy New Year!!!

 

tina

 

Merry Christmas

(photo taken at the show SANTA CONQUERS THE MARTIANS at the Fllerton maverick playhouse)

 

Merry Christmas to you and your family ---

from our family and a few Martians !

Because sometimes on this crazy planet we call earth we get a little bit crazy, things spin out of control and time creeps up so fast we forget to take a breath and enjoy the spirit of the holiday season.

Today that's what I plan on doing ---

 

See you in 2013

tina

GIFT WRAPPING IDEAS

 

Oh geez - can you believe that Christmas is 3 days away? Jinkeez...that came up quick.

I have been busily baking away over here and wrapping presents and most are done.

I wanted to share with you some cool gift wrapping ideas I tried for the first time this year.

 

Ok so first idea - came about when I was looking for a small package for some small magnets I was giving to a friend - I just grabbed some of my handy burlap and made up some small sacks with my sewing machine and some fun stamps & paint...quick enough to make and easy to add some bulky magnets - but they lay flat enough to add a gift card to.

 

 

then just use some of your favorite ribbon to tie them off.

 

Next idea came from wanting some tags that were re-usable AND could be used for all occasions

So I took some plain wooden shapes and sprayed them with chalkboard paint (both sides) 

 

To prime them all you need to do is rub chalk all over them then clean it off...

 

I just need to drill some holes through the wood tags so I can attach them to presents.

 

The idea for the pom poms below were I really wanted to have my presents under the tree look coherent and sharp.

 

 

The idea is nice but really it's not wise unless you have an unlimited amount of time and really who's house looks like those that are all staged like those of the magazines

 

But in case you want to try---just grab some yarn you already have in your stash wrap it around your fingers a lot...how ever thick you want the POOF to be --- wrap that much around your fingers...

 

 

when you are done wrapping grab a loose piece of yarn and tie it around the center of poof - tie it TIGHT! then grab some scissors and cut through the loops...

 

Then snip and trim your POOF until it looks just like you like it. and

doesn't that make for a lovely presentation.

 

Well there you go some fun gift wrapping ideas.

I hope you can use them and make them fit your design.

 

Here's wishing you a great holiday season.

I will be dropping a line in here sporadically until the end of the year - my hubby and the kids are all off for the next 2 weeks so I will be busy keeping them busy -

a mom's work is really never done even on vacation .

 

Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years Blessings are being sent to you and your families...

 

 

from ours

 

 

I am linking this post up to the following parties:

 

EBTKS

The Shabby Nest

Freestyle Friday

Friendship Friday

weekend showoff party

aloha Friday hop

a crafty soiree

keep calm & link up

 

xo

Tina

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12/12/12

today is a BIG day - for several reasons - 1st: it is my daughters 12th birthday...

she is 12 on 12 - 12 - 12 -

2nd: we will never see a date like this for another 100 years --- spectacular right?

 

Here is my sweet girl

 

taken today! 

 

We had a wonderful day celebrating with her!

 

also wanted to share our Christmas cards for this year.

I found a cool card in the nov/dec paper crafts magazine and cased it.

A bit different but similar. I love me some simple and easy to make cards.

I had everything in my stash already - so no cost.

 

I used some fun holiday ribbon used a stamp I got in the dollar bin of Joanne's and a MS holly leaf punch. Those red berries are actually clear bling dots that I colored with my red copic marker. I am also including a photo of my kids in our kids this year.

 

Nice, complete and - look there - they match or coordinate - pretty cool!

 

Here's wishing your card making and sending is going smoothly.

 

I am linking up my cards to the following challenges:

 

abc Christmas challenge- xmas/punch

sweet stampin Christmas-- anything Christmas

crafting for all seasons - green, red, glitter, sparkle

the perfect sentiment - must have sentiment on front/ xmas

anything goes challenge - traditional Christmas colors

clear it out - Christmas or red & green

deep ocean challenge - Christmas

top tip Tuesday - Christmas

 

xo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Tag Freebies

Just wanted to share with you that

LAURA BIRNEY over LBE blog

has an entire post devoted to FREE HOLIDAY PRINTABLE TAGS...

the tags and link are all right there - no additional blogs to visit

 

you can't beat that --- you just gotta sit and pick which ones you want...

 

 

this is only one of the many cool tag choices...(printed it)

 

I am printing lots of extras so that I don't run out and I can even use them next year.

 

anyway stop by and check our Laura's blog and print away.

 

Happy Holidays

 

 

Advent Calendar

Here's another NOT SO original idea but I did notice that everyone has been sharing their take on the traditional advent calendar. So I thought I would share the one I put together this year for my kids.

 

 

This post contains the Tutorial to make your own as well.

 

Ok so let me start by saying that the base for this advent calendar is a large frame I picked up years ago from a thrift store - that has been painted a ton of times...I use it as props for photo booths at parties..

(see this post)

 

Last time the frame was used was for my sister-in-laws wedding in their photo booth. So here it is in black.

 

So you'll need some hemp cord, some stamps, staples, paper bags and clothes pins & some treats...

 

1st thing is to staple some cord to the back of the frame - the tighter the better

 

I kind of spaced the cord out to what looked right to me but I guess you could use a ruler and be more precise.

 

Here is the back of the frame with all three cords stapled on. Spacing looks pretty good right???

 

Here's a front view of the frame  (sort of)

 

Now the fun begins: I used tags but you could use scraps of paper I suppose - Just make it look cute-

 

I have some large letter & number stamps and used them to add the numbers 1- 25 on the tags.

 

I then grabbed some small paper bags and added the treats ( since the bags are bigger you can add things other than candy - try the dollar store)

Then I used some some clothes pins and clipped the bags with the number tags on the cords and look how incredible my 2012 ADVENT CALENDAR looks.

I added the wreath for some decoration - cool? 

 

Here is an up close shot of the bags - I stamped a bit more on the tags - just to kick them up a notch.

My kids were super excited to see it and now clammer to open the bags in the morning. I put in 4 items for my 4 kids and they are thrilled with it and it I am happy with the way it looks displayed on our wall.

 

I love to get on pinterest and see all the fun Advent calendars out there.

 

Hope you are getting crafty this Holiday season.

 

I am linking this up to the following parties:

 

Market yourself Mondays

Craft-o-Maniac

Made with Love MOndays

creative corner hop

sew cute Tuesday

make it pretty Mondays

made by you Mondays

creative blogger party hop

handmade-Tuesdays

one project at a time

tip me Tuesday

too cute Tuesday

show me what you got

take-a-look Tuesday

 

xo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shabby Tree Skirt

I gotta tell you that this is not MY original idea. I have been seeing these NO SEW

tree skirts all over the blog-o-sphere. I am sharing the way I made my skirt through

my own tutorial. I gotta tell you that this is most definitely PERFECTLY IMPERFECT!

 

The basic premise is to use some inexpensive fabric something lightweight - I used some MUSLIN - mine was 2.99 a yard plus 40% of course. Now the idea is to cut a circle out of the muslin. I tried folding the 3 yards into a square and attempted to cut out a circle

and this is what I came out with...PERFECTLY IMPERFECT!

 

Then I cut out LOTS - like 3 yards worth of strips around 3-4 inches wide - just snip the fabric then tear...they will come out more even then if you cut down the strips with scissors.

 

Then just start to glue down and try to gather as you glue. I laid the glue down then took the fabric in my fingers and crinkled it and laid it on the glue - be careful not to BURN yourself!

This is a long process especially since I made the funky shape and it was way bigger then I expected it to be.

 

I love the way MY skirt looks - it even kept its original cut shape - weird how that happened.

 

I wanted to share an up close shot - see you don't have to be PERFECT because it all overlaps so you can cover your mistakes. Remember I told you it took a long time and lots of strips - just be patient. I did it over 2 nights while watching t.v.

 

 

 

The end result is STUNNING. My kids LOVEd it. My husband just asked WHY? Boy, guys are just so dense sometimes - he did add later as it lay under the tree...

"Hey that looks pretty good."

nice save HONEY!

 

Nice right?

 

 

 

I like that it looks so substantial. and definitely handmade!

 

 

Anyway, I say give it a shot and when you are done you will have a lovely YEARLY holiday decoration, perhaps an HEIRLOOM, someday! Common ground blog - is hosting a VINTAGE INSPIRATION holiday decorating ideas party---you should play along.

 

Wishing you a wonderfully fun holiday decorating season. 

 

 

I am linking this up to the following parties:

 

COMMON GROUND

EBTKS

INSPIRE ME FRIDAYS

FRIENDSHIP FRIDAY

FREESTYLE FRIDAY

KEEP CALM & LINK UP

A CRAFTY SOIREE

HAPPY HOUR FRIDAYS

FABULOUS FRIDAYS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sweet Snowman

Here is another sweet Holiday D-I-Y couch buddy or gift.

I made these at my last show and they sold like crazy and really quite simple to make.

I thought I would share with you how to put one or bunches of these together.

its the smaller one

 

 

Here are the supplies you will need not forgetting the glue gun and the sewing machine

You'll need to some white chenille or any other white thick fabric, a little bit of orange felt, lots of black felt  and some vintage trim for the hat.

 

 

 

I sewed an orange triangle together  on the machine and sewed an oblong circle out of the vintage chenille and left an opening for the stuffing

 

 

I used black circles cut from the black felt for the eyes and the mouth.

I made a hat using the black felt too and just cut out a square  wide enough to cover the top of the snowman's head and a rectangle to act as part of the hat...and just glued it in place

 

the finishing touch is the vintage holly & berrys that I added to the hat to give it that vintage feel.

 

 

What do you think? Cute right and super simple....

 

I am linking this up to the following weekly parties:

 

market yourself Mondays

craft-o-maniac

made with love Monday

creative corner hop

make it pretty Monday

made by you Monday

masterpiece Monday

handmade Tuesdays

show me what you got

too cute Tuesday

 

Here's wishing you a wonderfully crafty week

 

xo

 

 

 

 

 

 



TOO sTINKING CUTE

I wanted to share something I made recently - which was a custom request for a dear lady friend of mine. It's a paper bag album but this one is special because it holds an ENTIRE years worth of photos. 2 pages for each month - well here let me show you...

 

here is the cover page

 

and each month the pages reflect that month

 

with some cute little subway art details ( for girls I would add more flowers, of course)

 

Cute right?

 

And the best part of the whole book is the BIRTHDAY LAYOUT - in this case - it'll showcase Ryan's 1st birthday = how special is that...

The cool thing about these albums is that you could take JUST 2 photos a month for a year and by the end of that year you would have a full documentation of your child's growth and keepsakes of memento's throughout the year...how incredibly cool is that...

 

I have these listed in my Ebay store - come by and order one for your special little one and let me know who I can dedicate it to--- these make great presents for new parents or for the grandparents who can't  be there to see the child grow up first hand.

 

I am linking this up to the following challenges:

 

WHAT I WHIPPED UP WEDNESDAYS

OVERFLOWING W/ CREATIVITY

KEEP CALM & LINK UP

A CRAFT SOIREE

FREESTYLE FRIDAY

friendship Friday

 

 

have a crafty day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Crafting

Wowzers who could believe that Christmas is a month away---so now the fun

Christmas CRAFTING begins...love me some Holiday Crafting for the pure JOY of it!

 

To start off I started to make some Christmas cards and some all occasion cards too-maybe I will group some together and give them as a gift. Cool gift right? Handmade is ALWAYS better!

 

 

Sweet and with a touch of vintage ---Love it! Simple vintage image accented with some hand dyed ribbon and just some glitter dots around the edges - not to much just enough!

 

Gosh it feels good to make something that offers quick and INSTANT gratification!

 

Best yet it qualifies for the following challenges:

 

the crafty pad - add glitter

stampin sisters in Christ - xmas card

crazy for challenges - put a bow on it

one stop craft challenges - vintage xmas

delightful sketches - red & green

bloggers challenge - Christmas

 

here's to your own Holiday crafting

 

xo

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Boy am I stuft! I woke up early to put the turkey in the oven and get the side dishes started
and set our table - of which I sewed up last night.

WHat do you think?

 

I used some burlap and made some ruffles for the edges of the table runner

 

I cut out some leaf shapes from felt and then used my sewing machine to add some accents stems and decoration to each leaf...

 

Because I wanted this to be versatile I didn't sew on the leaves just laid them on the runner.

 

 

Then I just added my other decorations to the top of the runner some handmade fabric pumpkins and some smaller stuft leaves...

 

It was a great addition to our table but I would have added some more length to the runner because the edges just ended at the end of the table so when you sit down to eat you have to lift up the table runner so that the plate doesn't wobble over the ruffle.

 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch and I hope you did too...

 

the kids table!!

 

Happy Thanksgiving

 

xo

tina

 

Project life

Oh my - time has flown by. Project life has taken a back seat but I am finally done crafting for bizness and now can enjoy what I love to do and that is to play with paper and scrapbook and paint and just create - FOR me...

 

I have been taking pictures with the intent to scrap them...so here I am sharing a few pages that pretty much share the past 2 months - September & October & the beginning of November - yowzers - what a jumbled mess...but I really wanted to stay on top of this so I will carry on...

 

here you go

 

October

 

 

 

 

I really want to work on adding some fun accents to my pics and to take better pics of these pages because they always look so dark - but of course in the interest of getting Project Life caught up - this is what you get sometimes...

 

 

Quick and easy and NO FUSS - is all life has time for.

 

Hope you are having better luck with your Project Life albums..

 

I am linking this up to the following party:

 

one-happy-mama

 

have a great day

xo