What do you do when laundry is taking over???

You make stuff! Ha ha Yes, the laundry is taking over, there is dust all around me, my work room is an absolute disaster but what did I do when I came home from church?!?!??! I sat around and made rings and finished painting pumpkins! I'll post the ring pictures later but here are my pumpkins!

I am VERY pleased with how they turned out.  First let me say that they are done free hand. I am sure the diamonds on my large pumpkin would have been more even if I could have figured out the mathematical equation for lines, etc.  but let's be honest...I can make stuff but math - well, my mind doesn't work that way! Left vs. right brained and I'm whatever isn't math!!!

For those of you who might want details: these are synthetic pumpkins bought at Michael's while they were 50% off! Painted with acrylic paint...I used Outdoor/Indoor gloss by Plaid. Why did I use this? Because it's what I had...no other reason - just grabbed it and started painting.

BEFORE....AFTER.....
AFTER, AFTER.... I never noticed that the med. pumpkin was brownish - I mean I noticed but it didn't seem to matter much until I saw the end result (photo above) of the pumpkins.  I had an extra med. one that was the same white as the large and the small so I re-did it and here it is.  I am altering the brownish pumpkin and will post that one once I finish.

Got 3 minutes?

OK.  I saw these for sale at a high end boutique store in South Carolina.  I thought they were absolutely precious.  I went to pick it up and when I did, I was shocked.  I saw it was made out of an acrylic photo holder.  Once I saw that, I knew that this could be SO easily duplicated at home so I just made a mental note and came home and rushed to buy some frames so that I could make some.

I'm telling you ....if you have enough time to make a pb & j, then you have enough time to make one of these ADORABLE post it note holders!! Literally, it took me less than 10 minutes to make 3!! Now, I went very simple and didn't do any embellishments but you can get crazy and do all kinds of stuff to it if you so desire.  

Directions:

***These Post-It pad holders are made from 4 x 6 and 5 x 7 acrylic photo frames - you know the ones that are about $1 - $3 depending on where you buy them.  I was so anxious to make them, I just bought them and mine were $2 but you can definitely get them for less. Once you have the frame you need some paper, ribbon ( I prefer ribbon with wire) and your pad of post-it notes.

If you get a 4 x 6 frame, then cut your background paper to 4 x 6 - if you got 5 x 7 then cut it t0 

5 x 7.  Simply slide it in the frame like you would a picture. If you notice, on a couple of mine I put a square that would "border" the post it pad.  This was adhered to the paper before I slid it into the frame.  I cut those 3. 5 inches square. After that, peel off the back paper to the pad and stick onto the frame.  Tie your ribbon around the frame at the end that would stand on a table. After this, YOU ARE DONE!! I am thinking these would make GREAT hostess gifts for those functions that are going to start now that it is fall.  Or great teacher gifts...the possibilities are endless!

Happy 13th!

Thank goodness my youngest is pretty compliant ( and patient!) because we had planned a sleepover for her bday... It was going to be a Happy 12th! , then it was going to be a sleepover given a tad late, then I thought maybe a 12 1/2 bday party...well, before I knew it, she was turning 13 so I HAD to follow through and do a party. (anything at this point would have been good!) 

Once the idea came for her invite, they didn't take too long to make and I had one happy girl!

Wicked Tickets!

A while back, my youngest daughter and I camped out with some friends at The Fabulous Fox theatre in downtown Atlanta to make sure that we didn't miss out on seeing Wicked the Musical when it comes to town.  Since we were camping out we took orders from our friends so that we could all go as a group.

Well, it's time to distribute the tickets and the other day, while at Michael's, I found a WICKED stamp in the $1 bin!!! How timely! so I stamped some lime green paper bags (had in stash) with the stamp using Versamark ink and embossed the image in black.  Punched a couple of holes, put tickets in and closed it up with some cute white and black gingham ribbon.  Was that necessary?  Well....no, but how much more fun to get your tickets in this cute package than just being handed them! Definitely time well spent for my friends! (don't tell them it just took a minute!!)

Water & Soda Bottle Treats

Another idea  shown on last week's segment was a "Just Because" treat of a water bottle or soda.  These would be a great treat for anyone! And you can keep thinking of different things to package up.  My brother suggested Gatorade and a power bar for the sanitation workers! With Thanksgiving  & Christmas coming up, I think that is a perfect treat to leave them! 

Tip*****One thing I suggest is to do it with double sided cardstock for both visual appeal and sturdiness

These are really simple ideas and didn't take but a minute to make.  You can get all crazy and make the pouches alot cuter with more embellishments and add-ons, but one thing I really want to show is that you don't have to!  This is just as cute and the thought is just as sweet!! :) Alot of times, I can get sidetracked because I want to make it a "certain way" but instead I just never do it! I would rather do something than nothing. I love giving little gifts!

This first example is something I definitely would want to get! A DP with a pouch holding peanut M&Ms. :) yum.  The strip of paper is double sided, cut 4.5 inches wide and 12 inches long.  I just stapled the sides and punched a hole for the bottle with my 1 1/4 inch circle punch.  SO EASY!

Same directions here, but instead of candy, I put a mini bag of popcorn in the pouch.Here I used a water bottle and a lemonade pouch.  The paper was cut 3 inches wide and 9 inches long.  Literally, just eyed where I wanted the pouch made and instead of stapling, I stitched the sides on my sewing machine.

Again, this stuff isn't hard - really, there's nothing to it, 

but it is just taking a few extra minutes to make something a bit more special.  

Just Because!

Did you know that August 27th was "Just Because" day??  Well, the day has come and gone but I did want to share the ideas that I presented on Everyday with Marcus  & Lisa. As with all my stuff, anyone can do it....it's just a matter of taking a bit of your time to make something quite ordinary a little special! :)  

Ok, so let's start with the pop-top cans - which I must say are OH SO CUTE!

This is what they will look like finished....this can has Amy Butler paper, which is fabulous! and I put in a small, pink manicure set, some nail polish and some chocolates. I am sending this to my aunt who just had surgery and has to sit around for 6 weeks doing nothing!! :)

This brown one is for my son - I put in a mini stapler/staples, a mini post it pad and a jump drive. For those of you who don't know - he just went off to college 

You will want to use a can that opens with a "pop-top"  

and has an edge like this on the bottom

         You DO NOT want a bottom that looks like this! This has a rounded bottom.

  You need to use a can opener that takes off the whole lid. 

This type of can opener doesn't leave the jagged edges.  Mine is manual and I got it at Target.

 

Open the can FROM THE BOTTOM!, empty the contents and wash out with soapy water.  Just air dry... I usually stuff a papertowel in it while it dries to absorb any residual moisture. then measure from rim to rim and cut your paper to wrap around the can. I use double-stick, scrapbook adhesive to adhere the paper to the can. I leave about a 1/4 inch overlap on the seam.

Once you wrap the can, then fill it with whatever you are giving and glue the bottom back on with Diamond Glaze

or

Put a thin line of glue around the bottom of the lid and press back into the can. Wipe off any residual glue and weight it with a heavy book or something while it dries.  It dries quickly and should be ready in about 20 minutes (or less!)

***the trick to the top is to make a notch so that it will fit properly under the pop-top. You'll just have to play a bit. It's a good idea to make a pattern and label it with the size of can you used.

You'll end up with a can that looks something like this with the "pop-top" intact and whoever you are giving it to can Pop the Top and wonder how you did that?!??!?!!

It's been a while....

Yes it has been awhile ....been super busy and then had a FABULOUS family vacation!! I hope to upload some fun things in the next week or two.

I do, however, have something SO cool to share! First, let me just say that I am a longtime lover of words and color and shapes and this website just makes my heart race!! Please take a minute to go Wordle. The directions are WAY easy and then in a mere instant you have this!
I am going to love making stuff using this site! You could make one with birthday words or words that describe someone you love - print it out and make a card or frame it! The possibilities are endless!