{DIY} altered goodies

I JUST caught up on editing!! YAY!
I'm not really sure what to do with myself.
It's the first time since Christmas I haven't had sessions to edit.
That will change shortly, so for now, I'm going to catch up on some blog posts I've been wanting to share.

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I always get into the crafting spirit just before Christmas.
It's fun to have hand-made gifts to give, so I was excited when I came across this post on my friend Amanda's blog!
I'd seen candy caddies before on Ashley Ann's blog. She IS my blogging/crafting idol. I want to be her when I grow up =)

So when I saw that Amanda had just made some,
I couldn't wait to alter some Starbuck's drink caddies for Christmas gifts!
(these will work with any type of glass bottle sold in a caddy-jones soda, starbucks, etc.)

My candy caddies had a {peace, love & joy} theme.
I used non-Christmas colors, so that the ladies I gave them to could use them as "craft caddies" later.

I was thinking once the M&M's were gone, they could hold buttons, stickers, ribbon, etc.

If you need a Valentine's gift idea, these would be super cute in a red, white & pink theme!!


I started the process with a couple packs of Starbucks Frappucino.
Good thing my hubby can chug these, because I started this project about a week before I needed to gift them.
He had to finish of eight bottles for me.

Once the bottles were empty, I peeled off the labels, washed them in hot soapy water, and let them air dry overnight.
Before decorating the bottles, I shot the inside of them with a hair dryer, to make sure every last drop of water was out.

Then I covered the caddy with patterned scrapbook paper
(my brown & blue paper came from Walmart)

I like to keep things easy, so I used the same pattern on all sides of the caddy.
I applied it in two pieces that folded around one corner, so that each covered two sides.

I was thrilled when I realized the center of my caddy was solid brown.
Yay, no measuring or covering needed!

I don't have a stinkin' circle cutter, so I found a plastic toy in Barrett's play-dough kit that was the perfect size, and traced around it to cover my bottle lid tops.

I use Zip Dry for all my paper projects. Because...it's the bomb. period.


Once the caddy was covered, I layered some other patterned paper to decorate two of the sides.
My stickers were custom designed by myself, but you could easily create something on the computer or purchase stickers to use.
OR, I'd be happy to make some for you!

Finally, I tied ribbon to the top of the caddy, and then added a sticker to each of the bottles.

The final project....

Rejoice Tag {free download}

I was up til 3am last night, creating some DIY gifts!
 

I've really been enjoying my work-free nights...

Lots of reality tv watching, while I wrap, craft and bake!

Every year the week before Christmas, I do a {5 days of Christmas} gift exchange with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. This year's exchange started on Monday, and we're already having so much fun. We do little gifts everyday--hand-picked or hand-made goodies! Last night I made Puppy Chow, and then created these tags for the tops of the zip-lock bags I used.

If you're needing a quick last-minute gift...yummy holiday treats are always a good option!
You can fill your bag with any treat you'd like, and then attach this to the top, and deliver.
I used 1 quart zip-lock bags. The tag is sized at 8-1/2" across, to fit that size of bag.

{DOWNLOAD this tag}

*Download the above file. Open link, and scroll to orange "download" button at bottom of page.
It will save to your computer as a jpeg image

*insert the image into a blank word or publisher document (page set-up as "landscape")

*print on cardstock, cut & attach

Enjoy~Merry Christmas!

thirty-one

Our 2010 Thanksgiving was full of family, food, and a little birthday celebration!

We spent Thanksgiving day in El Dorado with my Aunt Clara and her family. We were so happy to have Mamo there with us, but missed having Uncle Rick and Aunt Deb with their clan, and both of my brothers. Holidays just aren't the same now that we've all grow-up, got married and started our own families. We're spread out around Kansas and Nebraska now, and it's just not as easy to have everyone together all the time. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to that.

Barrett enjoyed some "wine"...

On Friday, Justin had to work, so Barrett and I hung out at home. I had a little work of my own to do. That afternoon, Brian, Sarah and the girls got here. Barrett had fun playing with his cousins. We had dinner at mom's that evening and celebrated my birthday! Loved all the help I had with my candles!!

On Saturday (also my 31st birthday), we had our Thanksgiving with Justin's family! Justin's brother was in town, so we spent most of the day at his parent's hanging out with everyone. Kim, Kylie and I crafted...making adorable and easy messy flower headbands and pins. Emily and Barrett played Wii, and Jeff and Justin played football.

Kylie modeling one of my favorites. It was cute on her, so I let her have it :)

That was our Thanksgiving...

and now I am 31!!

USA!!!

 We've been watching a little bit of the Olympics over the past couple weeks.

I think the event we watched the most of was probably Curling (Men's and Women's).

It's probably not the most exciting sport to watch, but I enjoyed the strategy involved.
And, it was usually on during the time Justin was home for lunch.

To celebrate the 2010 Winter Olympics, Barrett's Toddler Art class made torches and an American flag!

Barrett showed the torch to Daddy when he came home for lunch that day, and Daddy thought it was flowers.

Barrett would hold the torch above his head and shout U-S-A!
Well, it didn't really come out USA, more like a mumble-jumble of four or five random letters...but it was cute. 

I'm glad I had the presence of mind to get a picture of him with these things the day second we brought them home.
Because it wasn't long after these pictures, that the Olympic torch turned into a telescope, and was fully dismantled.

Yes, our little Olympian performs best in nothing but a diaper and shirt!

handmade holiday

I was determined to save a little money and make some fun little gifts this year. So, I searched the internet high and low for ideas that I could pull off. I found tons of adorable ideas, but most involved sewing. I have no idea how to sew on a sewing machine! I learned in middle school, and unfortunately forgot everything I knew. My talent in that department stops at sewing on a button, or fixing a tiny hole in my niece Emma's stuffed bunny! In her eyes, Aunt Lala is a master seamstress! She's never forgotten that I "healed" bunny a few years ago. Her mom says every time they have something that needs patched, she says "oh, we should take this to Aunt Lala." Thank you Emma Jean for being my biggest fan!

Back to the gifts...I fell in love with a few ideas, so I had to call in a professional. My sister-in-law Kim, came to the rescue again. Her talents are never-ending, and she was happy to help me out! She probably wouldn't call herself a professional, but she has her own sewing machine and she knows how to use it...so like Emma, I am her biggest fan!!

The last two mornings, we've been at my dining room table working away like little elves! Me doing all the measuring and cutting, Kim doing all the sewing. I really should have jumped in at some point and attempted to learn. But, hey! She was doing great! Barrett must have known Mommy was busy, because both mornings he took great two hour naps! After he did get up, he had fun playing with Aunt Kim's thread tin, so we were able to keep working.

So, are you ready to find out WHAT fun little pretties we made?!?! I am so excited to give them to my sweet little nieces Emma and Lauren. I don't think they read my blog, so hopefully the surprise won't be ruined! As you know, they moved to South Carolina in July and I MISS THEM so very much!

"I Spy" Bags

I'm sure you've seen these. They're all over Etsy. They sell for around $18.00. I knew I could make my own for way less than that and I wasn't crazy about any of the materials I'd seen on Etsy. I had so much fun at Hobby Lobby picking out fabric! That could get addictive very easily. After walking circles in the fabric department for close to 30 minutes, I finally picked some out.

I used plastic name badges to attach my "can you find it" lists to the bags with ribbon. One side of the badge has their name, and the other has their list of trinkets. These will be so much fun for them in the car. They will have a long trip back to South Carolina after Christmas.

Here's Kim, sewing away. My hero!

Crayon Rolls or Crayon Caddies

These are all over Etsy too! These were super easy and inexpensive to make. I love the way they turned out, and they are such a great idea! Mommies can keep them in their purse for quick and easy entertainment at the doctor or a restaurant!


Ours have 12 slots for crayons, and a little pocket on the end for paper!


We also tried our hand at making an applique. I found a plain brown shirt at Toys 'R' Us, then used some of that cute fabric and drew a little birdie design. Kim stitched it on with some pink thread, then I ironed on some other little flowers. It gave us a few challenges, but we made it work and it turned out pretty cute for our first attempt.


THANKS a million for all your help, Kim! It was so much fun! One of these days I'll get a sewing machine and learn how to work it!

Just for FUN...clock design

Not too much going on in my little world this Friday, and I didn't have time to find any good "flashback" pictures for today. So...I thought I'd share some pictures of a custom clock I designed.

This project was for a local arts & crafts festival. The year's theme was "Time of your Life," so individuals were invited to create clocks. When you signed up, you were given a kit that included: 18" square of rough, plain 'ol plywood, a clock mechanism, clock hands and numbers. You could do anything you wanted with your kit.

I started with a trip to Michael's! I love pink, brown and white together...so I was on the hunt for the perfect paper to cover my plywood with and of course some ribbons and other embellishments.

I covered the plywood with a pink and brown floral paper, then used an empty white picture frame for the center where the clock face would be, and tied coordinating ribbons all around it. Inside the frame I used a bronze metallic finish paper. On the edges of the clock, I used a pink and brown polka dot ribbon to cover up the plywood.

There you have it! A custom clock in a couple of hours....

They auctioned the clocks off at the festival as part of a fundraiser. Mine went to a sweet little girl. I wonder if she still has it?

If you've got a space at home that needs the perfect custom clock, I hope I've inspired you to try to make one of your own!

Altered THREE on Thursday :)

Seriously...where is this week going? I can't believe it's Thursday already! But, I'm NOT complaining :)

One of the reasons this week seems to be flying by for me is SUMMER CLASSES at the art center! Our first week of summer session started on Monday, so it's non-stop kid traffic, in and out, and all around the building!! Although it's chaotic, it's one of the things I will miss most about my job. For the six weeks of classes during June and July, I see hundreds of kids and learn to call them all by name. They are so sweet and energetic...even the one that pulled the fire alarm on Tuesday! It happens every year, so why not get it out of the way the first day?! AND the firemen we're too bad to look at :) Next thing to look forward to will be the three year-old calling 911 from the payphone in the hall! That usually happens every year as well. In hopes to avoid it this year, we've taped a cardboard box over the phone, so hopefully the kids won't notice it! This summer we're offering 138 classes...everything from cooking around the world, pirates and ceramics to wacky water, ribbon purses and detective in training... we love to keep the kids involved and exploring their creativity!

I have been able to teach a few classes each summer since I've been here, but one of my favorites is Altered Things! I've taken some classes from my favorite scrapbooking diva, Alicia, and it gave me the 'altering bug'!! I consider altering to be taking everyday objects and turning them into something useful, creative and fabulous! Over the years, we've altered everything from clipboards and cd cases to notebooks and wooden boxes. The wonderful ladies from Crop Camp donated tons of awesome scrapbooking supplies to the art center every year and the girls in my classes have a blast with it all! I have 8 girls in my class this summer and they are all so creative. They're super QUIET too!! I have to remind them it's okay to talk!

Here are THREE of my Altered Things projects from this week's class:

ONE-Random plastic box (someone donated close to 15 of these, and I knew I could make them into something much prettier). Here's a before...

After...turned it into a recipe box! It could also be used to sort and hold pictures

TWO- spiral notebook altered into a beautiful journal with some patterned paper & ribbon
THREE- boring 'ol clipboard altered into something bright and cheery

Hope I've inspired you...make your world a prettier place, go out and alter something today! AND don't forget to share some pictures when you do! I'll have to share some more of my alterings later :)