Glitter makes the world all sparkly

 
Hey, friends! I was given an opportunity to do a guest post... It's a crafty one over at The CSI Project.

It's glitter week at The CSI Project... who doesn't love glitter?  It just makes the whole world more sparkly... or at least my craft table! :) Here's a glimpse of what you will find.

Be sure to head on over there and check it out!!

and always remember, you can connect with me here on my blog, on twitter, and on facebook. I also attempt to sell my handmade cards... Here's my shop!  I am excited for the opportunity to meet a few crafters through The CSI Project this week!

Photography Decor (& a Poem)

 

I've always wanted to create a sign using Photography Letters.. and being that it is Photography Week at CSI Project, it gave me the push to do something I've been thinking about for a long time ... and like I said last week, I involved my kids.

 
We did a little bit of experimenting and here are the three results. Now to decide which group to actually print and place in the frames for my fall mantle!! :)


We started with sticks and the kids took turns making letters (hey, maybe I could homeschool, haha)! The kids really enjoyed this participation and started making all sorts of letters, not just the ones I needed! So it was lots of fun!

 Then we moved to "people" letters (can you read it?)  This one was a little more challenging, apparently the grass was a little prickly, but they still had lots of fun!!

Then I did a little bit more of what I was thinking and a few of them came with me and helped me out. This was walking all over our property and it was starting to get hot... but I still had some help making the U and finding more letters!

our picnic table, rocks on the driveway, more sticks, our swing, leaves, and the barn door...

And I wrote a poem to go with it:

Apple picking, apple cider, apple pies
Uniforms coming out... for school, for football
Trees shedding leaves, piles for jumping
Under the setting sun: bonfires, sweatshirts, S'mores
Mugs full of hot cocoa, bowls full of soup
Nights cooler, clear; first frost is coming.

What's your favorite thing about Autumn?

Back to School Wreath

I am having just a little too much fun making wreaths to decorate my Red Door... And Pinterest makes it soo easy!  I am almost done making one wreath for every month of the year... what will I do then?

Some that I've already blogged about are
Spring Green Rag Wreath
Five minute $5 Wreath
Patriotic Wreath
FlipFlop Wreath

and Now... A Back to School Wreath 

  Here's the original pin...A Ruler Wreath

I got these wooden rulers for 25 CENTS each!!! (hurray for back to school sales) I should have bought more, I'm sure I could find another project for rulers!! :)

SUPPLIES:

12-14 rulers (I used 12)
6 inch embroidery hoop
hot glue gun
red ribbon
Accents ... small school supplies, scrapbooking stickers, apples or flowers!

So if you are handy, you get a saw and cut the rulers in half (or if you are like me, you sweet talk your husband in to cutting them for you)! Then you lay out half of them on a protected surface like your kids' placemats. (Sidenote: My craft table is so covered with stuff that I can't use it for projects like this... I'm working on it)

Then you carefully glue 12 ruler halves, evenly spaced, to the embroidery hoop (outside ring only)

After it dries (or sooner if you're impatient like me) flip it over and glue the second set to the first set, filling in all the gaps.

take the inner hoop, cut a slit in the inner hoop, measure it to fit inside the rulers and cut off the excess. then hot glue it to the inside for a more finished look. (this step was hard... I tried it 3 times before I got it to fit and look right)

Find a pretty red ribbon... I like polka dots! And loop it around, tie a bow, and have a pretty hanger.

Then accent it with flowers, apples, school themed stuff!!

The felt apples on mini clothespins were a Michael's score!!  They make me happy!

 And now your door is decorated and ready for September!!

Linking this up to The CSI Project for Pinterest Inspired Week...

And to MomminItUp for PinFTW!!

and Joining Jen with Tatertots and Jello

 

Hurray for copied creativity!! 

5-Minute $5 Spring Wreath!

So do you have five minutes?! Do you have $5?  Then you can totally make this cute wreath to decorate your door... or anywhere else for that matter!!  Perfect for April/May flowers!!

The CSI Project has a Dollar Store Crafts challenge this week! and the purpose of The CSI Project is to "Create Something Inspiring" or to Create, Share, Inspire...

and one of my favorite crafty blogs is Dollar Store Crafts, and I get most of my inspiration lately from Pinterest. So I combined the two and found this great pin!

That same day, I took a trip to the dollar store and I picked up a foam wreath form, some crepe paper, and 4 flower bunches in my favorite spring colors!  I had the glue gun at home and dug in my stash for the perfect ribbon to match!

What you need:

• Wreath form, $1
• Crepe paper, $1
• 3-4 faux flower bunches, $3-4
• Ribbon, on hand
• Hot glue gun with glue sticks, on hand

What you do:

Wrap crepe paper around wreath form to cover it (not sure this step is necessary, but it does cover the green), and secure it with hot glue gun.

Pop the flower heads off the stems.

Using hot glue gun, secure flower heads to wreath form in random order (unless you are OCD, then plan out a pattern and be very exact, in which case it might take you more than 5 minutes to complete the craft)

Wrap the ribbon around the wreath form and tie a knot on the top. Hang from your door and you are done!!

EASY Peasy and so cheery!! and it was time to replace my Spring Green Wreath!!




I'm also adding it to Tatertots and Jello's Weekend wrap up!

when crafting seems to fail

Well, one of the things I am learning through the Allume Better Writer series is that you have to wade through the mistakes and failures to find you voice and become a better writer... Well, yesterday I experienced this in my crafting world.

This week the challenge at The CSI Project is Embossing/PaperCrafting! Now that's a challenge I can get into! I love my papercrafting!  So I dug through my supplies and pulled out my embossing powder and heat gun and got to work.



This idea came from Pinterest... of course, but I didn't have the great tape she used in her card makings, so I had to improvise with the Perfect Plaids stamp set I own. and while I love the idea and hope to try it again, the execution of it yesterday didn't seem to come together for me.

I found that the embossing powder really didn't stick as much as I thought it should, and I wonder if the embossing ink pad I used is drying out...  The above card, I actually stamped and embossed twice! (this one is embossed with Old Olive powder)

I might have been hurrying too much and that caused some of the sloppiness, as well!  I wanted it to be crooked, but I didn't stamp well, either!

I really liked the lines on this one better, but once again, a little too sloppy for my taste! However, I really enjoyed making the matching envelopes with the embossing, too! (this one is Gold Glory)

And I loved the raised sparkles on the card from the embossing...

Thank you, CSI Project, for reminding me how much fun embossing can be!
I really love the idea and I will be trying it again... either with a new ink pad, or some of that patterning tape from the original idea!



So crafty types... or those who buy handmade... How perfect does an item have to be in order to sell it?!? Handmade items are never perfect, so what's the guideline on "how messed up" it can be? If I would still use it, can I still (attempt to) sell it?!?! I am really trying to figure out the dynamics of selling handmade!!

Pinterest Inspired - Wrapping Paper Bow

Is it better with...
A?

or B?

So, I was wrapping a present today and finished with some extra paper leftover... and I looked at the plain boring box and decided that even if it was just for a kid, it needed some jazzing.

And I remembered seeing a quick and easy bow made out of extra wrapping paper. So I returned to Pinterest and did a search... do you know how fun it is to search on Pinterest?!?!  and I found it!! so I pinned it for future reference and then I gave it a go for this cute little package!!

Here's the original pin. Wrapping Paper Bow


and here is my cute little bow and the process I took to get there!

Fold your extra paper in half horizontally, then fold it vertically once or twice and cut side folds (close to the top, but not all the way) so the only fold is your original fold.

Then start cutting thin lines within a 1/2 inch of the top.  (the great thing about this project is there is NO need for perfection)

Take scissors and start curling the paper like you do curling ribbon. Always turn the paper so you are curling with the print out.

You will most likely rip a few pieces off completely, but you will never notice when you get it all done.

Then fold it in half again and fluff it a little. (I forgot to photograph that step)
Tape it together if necessary and then tape it to the box and arrange it beautifully.

Admire your work and thank Pinterest for making you so crafty! :)

I can't wait to do this next year with all my Christmas presents!!

Linking up with The CSI Project for Pinterest Inspired week!!  Be sure to check out more great ideas.

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