More Christmas Crafts

Here are a few more simple ideas for Christmas crafts…

I had a bunch of these tiny little silver tins that were actually sitting in my craft trash can (they were originally used for some bracelet kits that I purchased, but can also be found in the wedding favor aisle of most craft stores).  I picked them out of the trash (yes…I was trash-picking my own trash) and thought they would make cute little gifts for candy or mints:

Just a few samples – these are SUPER easy!   Stamp any image (color, if desired – I used the Mr. Twigster and Season of Joy stamp sets from Stampin’ Up! here), punch out with a circle punch and layer onto a piece of patterned paper punched with a scallop punch.  Tie a ribbon around the tin and you have a sweet little gift tin!

If these aren’t big enough to hold your gift items, you can try the same idea with a larger glass jar:

I took a piece of patterned paper and used it as a ‘belly-band’ around the jar.  It wouldn’t fit all the way around, so I actually cut two pieces and overlapped them on the sides of the jar.  I added a pretty red-striped ribbon and one of the new Stampin’ Up! Star Bright Designer Series Paper Ornaments from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  I added a rub-on to the ornament and a piece of linen thread to tie it to the top.  To top it off, I also added a  circle of patterned paper cut with my Coluzzle to fit the jar lid.  How cute would this be filled with homemade candy or cookies as a gift for your neighbor or teacher?

And speaking of those Star Bright ornaments, for my display at the Shop ’til You Drop night tomorrow, I assembled several of the ornaments from the kit and have them hanging from a little Christmas Tree for my table:

These ornaments are SO easy to make – I’m going to offer them as make-and-takes at tomorrow’s event.  And not only do they work as ornaments, they also make great additions to gift packaging (as I’ve shown on the jar above).

How about another Thanksgiving idea tomorrow?

Christmas Frame

So yesterday I posted my Thanksgiving-themed frame – today I’ll show you another frame that I did with a Christmas theme (also using a 60 cent Target Halloween frame I found on clearance).

This frame is my own design – and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.  All the products used are from Stampin’ Up!

Again, I removed the glass from the frame and started with a piece of Ruby Red Stampin’ Up! cardstock as the main piece.  I added some snowflake rub-ons in the background and also some white "Season’s Greetings" rub-ons directly on the black frame. 

I used my Sizzix machine with a Christmas tree die (you could also trace and cut any Christmas tree outline) and cut out three trees from SU! patterned paper.  I folded the trees in half and glued the edges together to make a 3-D effect.

Again, this is a very simple project – at the bottom of the frame opening, I added a few more strips of patterned paper and cardstock along with some additional rub-ons and a piece of HodgePodge Hardware with a few stamped letters spelling out "JOY". 

This would make a great, inexpensive gift – just keep your eye out for some more clearance frames (and you’d better get to them before I find them first)…

Tomorrow – another Thanksgiving idea…

Crafting Frenzy!

In an effort to get ready for the WCK Walls School “Shop ‘til You Drop” event this Friday night (6-9pm in Pitman, NJ if you’re interested in stopping by), I have been in an absolute crafting frenzy for the last few days!  I am hoping to show some new ideas using some of the latest Stampin’ Up! products and stamp sets…and I had sequestered myself to my craft room for a few days… 

Tonight I have finally emerged and I’d like to show you some of the projects I finished.  I could do SO much more…but my family is hungry and wearing mis-matched clothing – I suppose it’s time to get back to reality and finally do some grocery shopping and laundry.

Instead of overwhelming you with all the projects and cards in one post, I’ll break them up and post a new one (or two) for the next few days.

For the first post, I’ll show you the “Chinese Auction” prize that I put together (each vendor has to supply one for the event):

In the basket is a Stampin’ Up! catalog (of course!), an SU! gift certificate, some new, unmounted stamps (in a pretty little bag with a cute tag):

and a box of five all-occasion stamped cards and envelopes:

I used the stamp set, Enjoy Every Moment, to make the cards and tags for the basket.  I kept with an Pumpkin Pie/Chocolate Chip/Old Olive color palette to make it seem ”autumn-ish" – plus I just loved the little orange basket. 🙂

I also included an embellished frame with a Thanksgiving theme – I actually made two of them – one for the prize basket and one for a table display (and to use in my own home for the Thanksgiving holiday):

Because I only had a limited number of chipboard letters, the end results are slightly different.  This project was inspired by an idea that I saw in Stampin’ Success magazine, but was modified to match the supplies and frame that I had on hand.  By the way, I picked up these plain orange frames at Target on the 90 percent off Halloween aisle the other day (they cost me all of 60 cents). 

I removed the glass and started with a background of plain Chocolate Chip cardstock.  The leaves were cut from Stampin’ Up! Designer Series paper using my Sizzix machine and were sewn on my sewing machine, inked and crinkled for dimension.  That’s really all there is too this project – a few more pieces of cardstock, some twine and ribbon and a few chipboard letters – simple, but I love how these turned out!

Now I bet you’re going to come to the Shop ’til You Drop night just to bid on this Chinese auction prize, aren’t you? 😉

Tune in tomorrow for a similar idea for a Christmas frame…

Happy (belated) Halloween!

This past weekend was Halloween and I’d like to show you Matt and Emily’s finished costumes.

I decided to re-do the box for Emily’s puppy costume – the first box was way too heavy for her to carry on her shoulders.  So I used a smaller box and some lighter puppies that I found at the Target Dollar Spot:

Matt’s costume had a bit of a ‘wardrobe malfunction’ during his parade at school – the double-stick carpet tape was just not holding the cape onto the alien head.  I took it home at lunch and made a few modifications – I ended up using hot glue which was just what was needed to re-attach the cape:

Here they are at our local town’s Halloween Parade, waiting for candy:

Matt really got into his alien costume (as you can see by the eyes rolling into the back of his head).  In fact, he managed to scare a little girl (about 2 years old) to tears at the parade.  It seems that she thought the alien was really carrying him away – now THAT’S a successful costume!

Emily received a lot of compliments on her costume as well – in fact, her teacher decided to use the same idea for her daughter next year.

By the way, congratulations to the Philadelphia Phillies on their World Series win this year! 

As soon as that final pitch was thrown in the last game (after the very strange 2-day rain delay), we could hear cheering on our entire block followed by fireworks in our street.  Andrew’s school canceled all classes for the day so that the students could attend the Phillies parade on Halloween day.  He’s too old for trick-or-treating anyway…

Day at the Beach

We spent a gorgeous day at the beach in Ocean City today! 

While we were there, I thought to grab my camera and take a snapshot of the kids to use in our Christmas photo.  Here’s one of my favorites:

Unfortunately, the kids weren’t wearing clothing that works well in for a Christmas picture…

So I’m going to try to take the image and play with it in Photoshop until I get something I like. 

Here’s the same image cropped in a simple black and white:

Or here’s a neat ‘glow’ effect that gives it a dreamy quality and takes the focus off what they’re wearing:

Or here’s an effect called ‘poster edges’ – kind of a interesting result:

Or a chalk and charcoal image?

A watercolor image?

Or how about something really funky like a rubber stamp image?

Hmm…what do you think?

Matt’s Halloween Costume (continued)

The alien costume is coming along…I had Matt try it on for size this afternoon:

A few minor modifications, and it should be done soon…

Andrew’s First Homecoming Dance

Yesterday Andrew attended his first high school homecoming dance – here he is with his lovely date:

They had a nice time – and I think they were surprised as to what a big deal it was and how much was involved.  It wasn’t just your average Friday night middle school dance by any means.

And I still can’t believe I’m old enough to have a teenage son going to HOMECOMING!!!!  Sigh…

Happy Birthday Michael!

I just wanted to wish a happy birthday to my dear husband Michael.

Here’s the birthday card that I made for him (it’s so hard to make a nice masculine card, but I like how this one turned out using brown velvet and embossing):

Thanks, Michael, for sharing your life with me!

The Hair I’ve Always Wanted (At Least for a Day or Two)

It’s been CRAZY around here with back to school madness the past few weeks.  Having three children and only two parents is definitely an equation of inequality (as you can see, I’m brushing up on my freshman algebra skills). 

Last night was Back To School night both at Andrew’s high school and Matt and Emily’s elementary school.  Mike and I had to divide and conquer – the same tactic we’re using for all of their activities lately. 

After the laziness of the summer, I’d forgotten (maybe on purpose from the scars it left) how insane it can be to work all day, come home in the evening, jam in a super-quick dinner (cook, eat and clean up in 15 minutes or less – now THAT’S something they should demonstrate on the Food Network!) and head back out for more – until we finally collapse into bed to grab a few hours sleep before we start all over again.

But back to the title of my post…I managed to squeeze in a haircut this week and asked if my stylist could PLEASE straighten my hair after my cut.  Here was the result (and the hair I’d like to have):

Just for reference, here is my hair in its normal state:

Quite a difference, huh?  My own daughter didn’t recognize me when I went to pick her up from school.

Unfortunately, the straight hair only lasts until I wash it. 🙁

I suppose I could go to the salon once a week and have it straightened regularly…not sure if that’s in the budget, though…

I’m Now Officially a “Soccer Mom”!

My kids have played many sports and have participated in lots of other activities over the years (baseball, wrestling, flag football, basketball, karate, dance, gymnastics…you name it, we’ve done it!), but this is the first year that two of them are actually playing soccer.

Emily started with her first Micro-Mini Soccer on Saturday:

She managed to get her game in before tropical storm Hannah came roaring through in the afternoon.

Then Matt played his first game on Sunday on Pitman’s traveling soccer team.  He did a GREAT job playing defense!

It’s going to be a busy season…