A Look at My Tuesday

Here's what I've been looking at today....pretty stuff for this time of year.

First up is a picture of the prettiest ice crystal my oldest found on the ground this morning. I was glad this brought a smile to her face after a disappointing trip to the bird bath revealed a leak in our miniature ice skating pond.

Next is a package that came in the mail from a Scrapbook Trends giveaway I won last week. I opened the box to find this fabulous nested tower of treats with a gorgeous red and green felted bow. 

And last is a picture of one of my krafty wrapped gifts that I am giving away this year. When I am doing something in multiples I like to keep things simple but I also like to add a few touches of sparkle.  I thought this color combo of brown, gold and green was just what I was looking for.  The ribbon is from Michael's and the glittered snowflake tag is from Target.

I hope you are having a fun Tuesday!

Fringe Flowers

I saw this tutorial a while back and fell in love with the thought of making these pretty tissue paper flowers.  This afternoon I finally got around to playing with my new Martha Stewart scissors. Martha's new "Fringe Scissors" are really fun!  I found mine at Michael's and with a 50% off coupon they were less than $6.

I had a pretty package to prepare today so I got out my tissue paper, scissors and a stapler and came up with this:

This picture actually shows three small flowers clustered together to make a grouping on top of the package.  They were actually very easy to make following the maya*made tutorial.

I can't wait to make more in all kinds of colors!

One of my Favorite Things...

to do is to surprise friends with special "little" gifts, usually something homemade, to brighten their day, or in this case to say "Thank You." I love taking something simple and adding a simple little touch to make it more special, something bigger than it really is.

Here is what I did to fancy-up a loaf of Zucchini Bread I made yesterday afternoon:
Quick breads like Zucchini, Pumpkin and Chocolate Chip Banana are my favorite things to bake. You can make multiple batches, bake two loaves at one time, and everyone usually gobbles them right up. Sometimes I package my quick breads in bread bags that I've sewn together with a quick straight stitch, but for this one, I first used a layer of foil and over that a layer of freezer wrap. That way, if my friend wants to eat it later all she has to do is remove the ribbon and pop it right in the freezer.

I used my Spellbinders tag dies, Memory Box patterned paper and cardstock in blue and orange that were at my fingertips in the scrap pile. Next up I stamped the "friend" heart using my new Stampin' Up clear stamp set and embellished it with a simple flower and brad. Couldn't be any easier....now the fun part, I get to give it away!

Safari Snack Bouquet

I wanted to give my friend Katie a gift to say "Congratulations" on getting her own classroom...she's now a full-time 2nd grade teacher and we are all so excited for her. My first thought was "FOOD" and then the idea of a "bouquet" of food came to mind. Her classroom is set with a jungle/safari theme, so I went with that idea.

I headed to Michael's (where else? -- I can't help it....it's only 2 miles away) and picked up a medium-sized clay pot, along with some fun ribbon. I also had in my stash some rocks, floral foam, hot glue gun, black paper shred, skewers and large popsicle sticks. I also headed to the grocery store and picked up some tasty snacks including granola bars, trail mix, rice cakes and some chocolate....I was thinking "food" along the line of snacks to have when you get hungry and have a few minutes to spare (does that ever happen?) and I didn't want to totally junk her out.

Next, with hubby's help, we painted the pot using black exterior paint leftover from a project or two. Painting is definitely not my specialty, so his help was much appreciated. Next, I layered the inside of the pot with rocks (to give it some weight), floral foam cut to size and paper shreds adhered using my hot glue gun.

I made a bow with the ribbon I purchased and wired it to a large popsicle stick. To assemble the bouquet, I used my glue gun and attached the food items to popsicle sticks and wooden skewers. Then I began inserting everything to form a nice "arranged" look. I also found three wooden animals to complete the theme and attached them to skewers as well. (Here's a look from the back.) And here's the finished assembly!!! I thought it turned out great and I can't wait to give it to her. This project was very affordable and could be used for just about any theme.See you sooner than later....I've been busy working a few projects, but I promise to stay in touch!

Heidi Grace Houses

Here's a card I made for a friend who just moved into a gorgeous new house. I mixed up the colors on this one, just playing off the designs on the Heidi Grace printed paper. I thought the little houses all lined up were so cute and would make a pretty card.
Here's the close up shot:

I realized once I had it almost finished that I didn't have a single stamped sentiment that said anything close to the moving theme, so I went with an old stand-by, my Hero Arts stamp that says, "Best Wishes."

I also gave her a little treat bag filled with a few of my "Favorite Things" just like on Oprah's show, only I didn't hand out expensive perfume, watches or cars, we are talking simple favorites when it comes to my gift giving. Instead, I gave her a set of my favorite bar mop towels, the new recycled sponges from Scotch brand, a white dish to put by her sink and some Meyer's spray cleaner.

The next photo shows a little wooden house that I covered with paper to use as a decoration for her gift bag. It was a fun project and took just a few minutes to put together. [Sorry about the lighting...we had another rainy, stormy day in Florida.]

Scraps Make it Easy

I finished up my baby boy gift by making a card and decorating a cheap gift bag this morning. (I love to buy the bags when they are on sale for 3/$1.00.) It amazes me how, by using only a few scraps and some things on hand, you can take the simplest thing and really give it that "Wow" factor. Both this card and...

this tag were made using scraps leftover from a project I did for my sister. The ribbon is leftover from the taggie football and the acrylic star I picked up in a pouch at a garage sale for 50 cents. I love this look of white, natural, baby blue and stripes for accent.