Peppermint Goodness

So a couple of years ago I was asked to participate in our school's Holiday Craft Fair. I had to come up with items that I could sell to both adults and kids. (Kids accompanied their parents and bought items for their friends and siblings). I love peppermint and the holidays. The only other taste I love as much is my mom's non-alcoholic wassail. (And it smells good too).

At the time I had a very little one at home, and so did a few of my friends. I came up with this cute easy project to do for the fair. The most complicated part was spray painting the white lids, and making sure the peppermint swirls didn't fly away when I picked the vinyl.

Last post I talked about traditions--I have to tell you about another one of my favorite traditions which ties into this post--Each year when we put up the Christmas tree, we drink peppermint punch. My husband generally does not like peppermint, but this is the one time of year he looks forward to having it. We've been doing this since before I can remember, and I've carried it on with my family.

I'm going to share this long-time family recipe with you. Perhaps you'll enjoy it as much as we do.

Peppermint punch:
1 part vanilla ice cream
2 parts peppermint ice cream
Milk and Ginger Ale

The let ice cream soften a little, then mix together in a large bowl. Slowly add in milk and ginger ale until the concoction is soupy and frothy. Yum! (And seriously easy).

Do you have any family traditions you want to share?

October Fun

It's already the 5th of October. Halloween is three and a half weeks away, and it's time to decorate. Consider putting vinyl rub-ons onto your windows and doors...

The Gift that Keeps Giving

Happy New Year! I apologize for the funny error with the photos from my last post. My computer randomly dropped my internet connection while I was uploading my photos as I was posting. I reconnected and thought it went through alright, but apparently I was wrong. You should be able to see the photos now.


My friend Mica send me this darling gift in the mail. She rolled the white lunch sack, and made her cards with Stampin' Up! stamps and materials. I particularly love her card. It's simple, but very cute. The two-sided paper and stitched ribbon add a fun flair.

(Alas, this year I sent Mica and the other 200* people on my Christmas card list store-bought cards--though in my heart I stamped them one). As I mentioned in my last post, it was a particularly busy Christmas for us this year. And to top it all off, one of my children had us singing "All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth". My sweet pea has been miserable as two bottom teeth made their way through the gums. Add to that an ear infection and pretty much all my sweetie wants to do is be held.

I don't know if you've ever tried stamping with a young one in your arms, but it's pretty impossible. :D

Anyway, inside Mica's cute wrapping job was this recipe card holder. I had cut the vinyl letter for her and her church group as well as a few extra for gifts she was making. I guess I was one of the lucky recipients of the gifts!

Thanks Mica! I love it. I've already got my favorite Williams-Sonoma recipe for Butternut Squash soup on the metal board and ready to go for dinner tomorrow. I'm so excited to use this. Mica knows I love to cook (when I have the time), and I have needed a good recipe card holder for a long time.

And speaking of gifts, let me just say there are definite advantages to being such good friends with the owners of the best new stamp company out there, Lizzie Anne Designs. Meridith (Anne) sent me the cutest new stamps for Christmas, AND THEY'RE NOT EVEN AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE YET!! (Okay, so if you wait a few more days you can get them too, and BELIEVE ME you want to get these stamps).

Not sure what I'm talking about? Well throughout this week LAD is revealing several new stamp sets they adding to their already fantastic collection on January 7th. Today they revealed four new sets. I can't tell you what the stamps that I received are yet (I promised them I wouldn't spoil their surprise), but I can STRONGLY encourage you to check out their sneak peeks throughout the week.

So what was your favorite Christmas gift this year? Was it handmade? I'd like to hear from you if you are willing to share.

*The actual count is 199 Christmas cards--really it is. When you have as many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends from numerous moves as we do it adds up quickly. :D

Happy Holidays!

Wow, where has the time gone? I didn't mean for 2 1/2 weeks to go by without posting. (How did that happen?) Well, on second thought, Christmas parties, holiday concerts, Christmas shopping, rushing Christmas orders out, making several hand-crafted mini scrapbooks with customized photo CD's, waiting at the post office....

Yes, it's been a busy time here.

I hope all of you had a marvelous Christmas or Hanukkah, and that your new year is full of love and happiness.

Until the new year actually starts, I thought I'd share some photos of the mini-scrapbooks I made. These were taken before I added photos and other embellishments since I don't want to post personal pictures of the recipients.

There were five books in all. The papers largely coordinated for all five, though there were some slight variations between the different books. (If you look at the photos, you'll see what I mean).

These books are made from CD holders which are covered in patterned paper and held together by adhering them to solid colored cardstock. The covers and spines were made from solid-colored cardstock as well.

Frosty the Snowflake

Okay, so I was trying to think of a clever title. Anyhow, I thought I'd post another holiday card. I decided to depart from my usual colors of red & green, and I'm very happy with out it turned out. I have to confess, I got my courage after Meridith Anne from Lizzie Anne Designs sent me a Christmas card. I'm pretty sure I hung onto it, so if I find it I just might post it.

Anyhow, I used a white craft pad on the snowflakes. I liked how they were a little more translucent that way. I also used whisper white to set off the boxed snowflakes, though if I had some shimmering white I might have used that instead. I made this card before I saw Lizzie Anne's snowflake. Cute huh?

You use what you've got though, right?

So, what is your favorite holiday card color combo?

Let it Snow!

Well, it's November 29, and the ground is..... brown. Uggh.

So, here's wishing we get some white stuff sometime before too much longer. (As long as I don't have to drive in it).

There's a good idea--snow that falls only where you want it to. :D

Thanks for being patient with the lack of posts this week or so. I've been helping a dear friend who is 9 months pregnant (well not anymore since she had the baby today!)

She's done the baby thing before, but not with a broken kneecap (hence the reason she's needed extra help). Hopefully she'll be out of the brace in a couple of weeks (she was in a cast until a week ago). It's going to be a long road to recovery, but we're all trying to be as supportive as we can.

So, thanks again for understanding why there was a sudden drop in posts. I'll try to be a bit more frequent, but it might be hard until my friend is on her feet again.

Holiday Fun!

Wow, what a busy weekend. I fully intended on posting more blog entries, but time truly got away from me.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We spent a lot of it with my in-laws who came into town. We also put up the Christmas tree (no, it's not decorated yet), and did some "fall" cleaning. (Leaves, move mattresses around, etc). It's only just stated to calm down, and tomorrow we're back in school!

In any case, after so much vinyl, I thought I'd post a fun little holiday card I made a couple of years ago.

This card I used two different naturals paper. The gingerbread men were stamped on kraft paper, cut out, embellished with marker & a painty pen, then popped onto the card with dimensionals. I got the idea from some wood gingerbread men I made years ago. The real wooden gingerbread men I painted have holes in their hands and are tied together with jute. For my card version, I drew little bows between their hands with a zig pen. (I probably would have used wire, but I came up with this card before Stampin' Up! carried decorative wire.

Stay tuned for more fun projects.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope you get full of turkey and lots of yummy foods. I'm up late trying to bake somethings for our early dinner tomorrow (we're eating at 11:00 am). I'll try & have a card or some vinyl ready to post sometime tomorrow. I just didn't want to let another day go by without posting.

Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Count Your Blessings

Since November is the month of Thanksgiving, I thought it was appropriate to post this vinyl project. I think that in the whirl of being a mom & coordinating all of our family's activities, I get so busy that I forget that the best things in life are not "things," but the family I live with everyday.

My friend put this above her kitchen table. It's her way of reminding herself that what we do as moms is important. Above my kitchen table I have, "Laughter is our favorite recipe." It's what my parents are quoted saying when a friend of theirs wrote a cookbook. It reminds me of the dinnertimes of my childhood and how much we all need to laugh and create good memories together.

It's time to make your Christmas Cards

I was clearing out the set samplers again and I came across this Christmas card I created. I used the embossing gun on the ribbon to make it shrink & shrivel the way it does. It is a simple, yet elegant touch. You have to be careful though—if you hold the heat gun in one place too long you can melt a hole into the ribbon. You can see what I mean in the close-up. The hole in the ribbon and the frayed edges are why I hung on to this card--I didn't want to send a damaged one to a friend.

If you want to try shriveling your own ribbon, I recommend trying the heat gun on a test sample first to make sure you don’t end up with a ribbon that pulls too tight on your cardstock. (I found it easiest to tie the ribbon first, then use the heat gun).

I also don't recommend sending too many of these through the mail. The year I did these I discovered I had to pay extra postage due to the bulk they created in the envelope.

All materials are Stampin’ Up!

More Halloween Fun!

Last year I wanted to create a wall hanging that I could switch out for my regular art on the walls. This is what I came up with first. It is a 12x12 wood board spray painted in a shiny black acrylic. I have a font with fun Halloween-themed dingbats, and I wanted to incorporate them into a square sign. I also wanted it to be versatile for smaller displays, so this particular design also works well on 4x4 black bathroom tiles.

I came up with the idea for this second sign after I made the Boo board. I was playing around with the idea of spiders and using two colors of vinyl to make a sign (much like our overlays). I love how it turned out. Now that I've gotten my orange vinyl, I'm thinking of tackling a pumpkin or jack-o-lantern design. It looks like I'll be finishing those after Halloween since this week I am trying to finish up the last of the Friday Frenzy orders, and I also need to help my sister-in-law who just fractured her kneecap and is 3rd term pregnancy. (Yikes!)

I've got one more Halloween inspired idea that I will try & post for you tomorrow. Let me just say, it's gone a long-way in preventing fights over candy. Until then, Happy Fall!
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Halloween Fun

This is a cute little sign I made for my home two years when we were first starting out. We love fall & Halloween around here. There is something in the air when leaves are falling that I just love. Orange reminds me of fall for so many reasons--leaves, pumpkins, Halloween & football (orange & blue were my high school colors).

And speaking of falling leaves, Melissa Allen, who took some of the professional shots for our website, just posted these gorgeous leaves on her photography blog. Check it out.

Still busy

Wow! I'm so excited! The response to the proposed craft day projects has been excellent. The ladies groups put out displays with several different options for vinyl projects (as well as some sewing, painting, card making & the like). Between the various women's groups I'm processing vinyl for over 325+ projects!

One of the most popular items has been the "Believe" blocks. You can see a picture of it below. It's a little hard to see, but instead of a dot for the "i" in believe--there is a gold star. This believe block is a super easy project to do--perhaps that is why it is so popular. :)

I've also been playing around with more project ideas in my head. I've got a couple of ideas for Halloween (now that I have my orange vinyl) that I'm excited to try out. I'll try & post pictures of a the projects I did last year over the next few days.