I love letter stickers and own way too many. Since I know I'll never be able to use them all (but that won't stop me from buying more), I figured I should come up with creative ways to use them up!
Here is a layout I created for Scrapbooks Etc. magazine last year using up some of those zeros, c's, u's, etc. View this Scrapbooks Etc. blog post to view a tutorial on how to to make your own loopy letter sticker flowers.
St. Patrick's Day is a great time for a playdate, party, or family fun. I have included lots of textural party decor in my newest Fiskars article.
Along with super easy ways to add some mischievous touches. (You'd never guess what punch made these leprechaun shoe prints).
Topped off with a treasure hunt...
For full step-by-step directions and photos, click here to view the full article.
Well, my team was knocked out of the playoffs this weekend, but I'm still excited for the Super Bowl commercials ... and food!
These helmet toppers are super quick and easy to make using only circle punches! Directions and step-by-step photos can be found here in my latest Fiskars article.
But cupcakes aren't the only food you can dress up. Add some character to whatever you serve, such as these d-fence sandwich picks! Step-by-step photos here.
I had a problem with my addiction to using artificial grass carpet for just about everything, including the invitations! I'm also currently addicted to using jewelry boxes for invitations. I love not being limited to something that fits in a flat envelope. (The football laces are super quick to make using an unexpected punch.)
View the full party here including really cute penalty flag favors!
In honor of our snowy week in Oregon, I thought I would share a couple of scrapbook pages with ideas for super quick snowflakes.
First up is a layout I had in Scrapbooks Etc. magazine. Just clip off the rounded tips from a white, punched flower. Full details here.
Another quick idea is to wind white embroidery floss around punched scallop circles in a whimsical snowflake design. This layout was also featured in Scrapbooks Etc. magazine with full details here.
Cookie decorating is a fun party activity for any age or any holiday! It can also hold its weight as its own party theme. A rolling pin invitation, which fits into a standard business envelope, kicks the party off before guests ever arrive.
Not only does this theme take care of an activity, snack, and a take-home goodie built-in ... it's also just so *cute* to decorate with. Even down to the smallest details like these sweet cookie straws.
I created monogrammed cookie aprons from dish towels for the guests not only to keep them clean and to send home as a goodie gift for future use, but they make the party so adorable and become part of the decorations.
These monogrammed cookies were inspired by a layout I made for the December 2010 cover of Scrapbooks Etc. magazine, where I lined chipboard letters with puffy paint to mimic frosting.
You can view the full party including photos and directions here in my Fiskars online project.
My daughter had a winter wonderland themed 10th birthday party recently ... or a "brrr"thday as we called it. While I hope to eventually share her party here on the blog, I wanted to stop and share the necklaces we made now because I thought they could be useful for last-minute DIY gifts for the holidays.
We used Sculpey oven bake clay. The girls picked from an assortment colors and broke off half of one of the scored bricks...
Next condition the clay and roll it into a ball.
Then flatten into a disk. I found an easy way for the girls to get theirs even by pressing down on the ball with a paper cup. The rim on the bottom of the cup was very short, so the edges stopped the pressure evenly. This wouldn't work with any paper cup. These particular cups I happened to have had a very shallow rim. I assume this varies by cup brand. You can just flatten with anything you can find around that won't stain.
Stamp your design into your clay disk. Be sure to leave room for a hole for hanging. We used toothpicks to widen a hole for hanging. Be sure the hole goes all the way through. After baking, we noticed a couple of the girls had holes that didn't reach the back. Luckily I had my handy craft drill, which you could opt to use after baking instead of the toothpick method.
We used a snowflake from the Winter Wishes stamp set by Fiskars. This is the set that has the "warm winter wishes" stamp I've been using constantly.
Bake according to manufacturer's instructions and allow to cool. Paint inside snowflake with white acrylic paint and wipe away excess with a paper towel. Use a large jump ring to attach to a necklace to complete.
These were inspired by my clay jewelry dishes I created a while back which can be viewed here. I've become quite addicted to making things with oven bake clay ... it's just so easy =).
Is it seriously time to talk about New Year's Eve? Didn't summer just end? I need to learn how to stop blinking, because it is all flying by so quickly...
But if it's coming, we might as well have some fun with it! Here is a new party I created for Fiskars to celebrate the new year!
From the invitations to food ...
... to the cutest goodie bags, the full party and directions can all be viewed in my newest article here.
And just a reminder that my party from last year can also be viewed at the Fiskars site here.
I love finding creative (and cute) ways to say thank you to the teachers and staff at the kids' school. From finding fun ways to dress up (literally) practical gifts...
... to adorable ways to house a gift ...
.... to making super simple, yummy treats!
Lots of teacher gift and card ideas in my new article over at Fiskars here.
You may know by now that I have an obsession with felt.
So it shouldn't be a surprise that I came up with ways to incorporate it into gift wrap for my newest project over at Fiskars.
It easily and inexpensively adds a ton of texture ....
... and personality to your gifts. You can view all wrappings, photos, and step-by-step directions here.
And speaking of gifts, I wanted to share a link to a free Holiday Gift Guide I enjoyed from Discover Paper blog full of cool paper gifts!
I was excited to get a chance to use the new interchangeable border punches from Fiskars.
They function the same way as their regular border punches, except you can pop out different design cartridges so they store very compactly!
I used them to spice up the popular paper strip ornaments.
You can view full photos and details in my article here at Fiskars.
