BitsyPieces

My Beautiful Birdie - Gift Exchange 2011

2011-12-05T14:50:00.001-07:00

This was the first year I participated in the Craftaholics Anonymous Christmas Gift Exchange. My exchange partner was Kimberley Sminkey. She has an absolutely wonderful blog, is an amazing artist, mom and my new friend. I am absolutely tickled "pink" with my gift.

Visit her blog at : Tiaras and Bowties - Think Smink

She knew I loved black and pink, but didn't know I had just recently started collecting birds. How weird is that? About two months ago, I found a couple of pretty little tile bird plaques at a thrift store. All of the sudden, I was in love with birds. I have found a couple of other items since then and now I have this beauty to add to the collection.

In my rush and excitement to send out her gift, I forgot to take a picture, so I am borrowing Kim's pic. Thanks Kim!

For her gift, she told me that she loved bling and animal prints, both Cheetah and Zebra. I wasn't sure what to make. I thought about a fancy wreath and actually started on it, but as I looked around my craft room I had a last minute idea.

I took a black shadow box purchased from Michaels, covered the inside backing with silky cheetah print material. Then I cut out a circle from gold glittered scrapbook paper from Joann's. Then with the clock parts, I painted the hands gold and used the already painted gold numbers that came with the kit and applied them to the gold paper. I cut a hole in the back of the shadow box frame and inserted the clock. Then I added some gold fringe to the top and bottom of the clock. It was great fun to make it for her and I had so much fun just anticipating both giving and receiving these exchange gifts. A big thanks to Linda at craftaholicsanonymous.

I would encouarage you to sign up for one of these gift exchange programs if you have the chance. It was great fun.

Happy Holidays!

Craft Show Ideas

2011-12-05T00:46:00.001-07:00

I did my first craft show in 13 years. It was Saturday at Living Word Bible Church in Mesa, AZ. It rained, it was cold and windy and we didn't have a super turnout, however, I did okay and made some great friends in the process.

As, I have mentioned in many of my previous posts, my budget is very limited this year, since I am no longer working and depending only on my "allowance". My poor husband, I am always asking for an increase. It doesn't go over well, at times. Anyway...

Here are some pictures of what I sold: Above are my clay pot angels. I made these many years ago and they sold well at that time, so I thought I would try them again. They sold very well at this event too. Not all the supplies are available 13 years later, so I had to improvise a bit, but they still turned out cute enough.

My snowman and gingerbread man magnets and ornaments also sold very well. I painted bottle caps, water bottle caps etc white, added a cute snowman face, then sprayed them with a clear coat to keep them from getting scratched. I did the same with the gingerbread men. I wrapped a few of the snowmen caps that were wider with a fleece scarf. The ornaments were made from some foam marshmallows I had purchased on clearance at Michaels earlier in the year. I added a face, a hat and a string. I made a few of them into rings and necklaces as well.
You can see them clearer in this picture...I also used some of them to make clocks (see the previous blog "Clock Making 101)

These little angel pins, also sold well. I made them in different colors to reflect the world around us, and that seemed to appeal to a few people. They were super easy to make.

They are in the middle of the picture. I used a macrame type bead with a larger opening. Then ruffled up a 6 inch piece of lace and stuffed it into the bead. I added a little dab of glue at the top to secure it, but deep enough into the hole so it wouldn't be visible. Then I used another 6 inch piece of lace, folded it in half and made a bow for wings. I glued it to the back of the angel. I added a small wire to make a halo and finished them off with a pretty little coordinated bead on the front.

My husband made me some marshmallow shooters and they also sold well. You can kind of see them in this picture. They cost about 1.75 to make and I sold them for $5 each. Once someone started to play with them, other people came over and wanted to buy them. Next time, I will bring my kids and let them shoot marshmallows at each other...for marketing purposes only, of course.

I sold a few of my clay pot snowmen and both the the Capri Sun bags I made sold as well.

All in all, it was a good day for me. I learned a few things and will definitely change the way I display and set up next time, but this was kind of a trial run and helped me get my feet wet again. I had a great time and can't wait to do it again.

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Happy Holidays!

Christmas Gifts for Mom

2011-12-05T00:21:00.001-07:00

We just had an early Christmas during our Thanksgiving trip to Utah with my parents. My budget this year is....non-existant...so, I really struggled trying to make some nice gifts. My previous post shows the clock I made for my Dad. Men are super hard to make a gift for.

My Mom loves blue and white, Delft, Victorian, fancy etc. type items. Here is what I ended up with.

First, was a teacup pin cushion. She collects these little cups and saucers, but really...she has tons of them and so I wanted to change it up a bit. She also loves to sew. I glued the cup to the saucer with E6000 glue, added lace to the bottom of the plate, then surrounded the bottom of the cup with pearls, well pearl like beads. For the cushion I used a handful of stuffing wrapped in a piece of a nylon type book cover I had lying around. I tested it first to make sure the pins wouldn't cause it to tear easily. It worked well. I stitched it at the bottom to get the tight round effect, then stuffed it into the cup. I did add a dab of glue at the bottom. Then finished it off with a ribbon around the rim of the cup and a little pearl bead.

Next, was an altered Delft candle holder. Mom collects these too. When my husband and I were in Amsterdam last year, we brought her back a few authentic Delft items, but they are much harder to find in the US. However, my local Goodwill just happened to have this little guy on the shelf a couple of months ago. I grabbed it for 2.99 and knew I was going to do something with it for her Christmas gift.
I attached a spaghetti jar lid that I had painted metallic silver. Surrounded it with silver ribbon then glued a votive cup to the lid. I surrounded it with blue and silver lace I found at the dollar store and added in the glass beads. It was a little different, but I think she liked it anyway.

This was my favorite. When I was a little girl....a long time ago...yikes...I used to get into my mom's jewelery box. She didn't have much and most of it was the costume type, but I loved her cameo. It was dark red and just beautiful. So, when I saw this cameo on clearance at Wal-mart for $1.88 I grabbed it. I didn't know what to do with it at the time, but it fit her blue and white decor.

Well, a few days before we left for our trip to Utah, I finished off my French Vanilla Cappuccino and had this cute little tin that I had to do something with. I wrapped it in this Victorian style ribbon I had on hand. I think I bought it at Michaels in the fall sometime. Then glued the cameo on the front, added some pearls and then finished off the top with a fan of lace and a blue newspaper flower.

Finally, I gave her on of the Newspaper wreaths we made. The gold and red looked so pretty together and I found a cute gold and glittery Merry Christmas sign at the Dollar Tree and hung it in the middle of the wreath.

We had a nice visit and the Handmade gifts meant a lot more to my parents than anything I could have purchased.

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Clock Making 101–using recycled items, of course!!

2011-12-05T00:12:00.001-07:00

Save those bottle caps, you never know when they might come in handy. My husband brought home about 20 thick cardboard 12 x 12 squares from a recent tile job he completed. (Note the tile frame on the Starbucks clock.) He also had some leftover tile. I wasn’t sure what to do with it at first. I have wanted to make a clock for my sister-in-law aka Starbucks addict, for quite some time. I saved about 30 of the Starbucks caps for the past year and finally found a use for them.

After I made the Starbucks clock, I realized I could do the same with the other bottle caps I had been saving. I made a bunch of little snowman and gingerbread man magnets for a craft show I was doing and just took off the magnets and added them to the clock.

The great part was it didn’t cost much at all. Instead of buying the clock parts from Michaels, which would have cost about 5 bucks even with my coupon, I found a bunch of clocks at Wal-Mart on clearance for 2 bucks. I took them apart poked a hole through the cardboard and used the overlay from the Wal-Mart clocks to arrange the caps accordingly. I did have to trim down the hands a couple of mm in order to keep them from hitting the caps.

I placed a felt cover with a flap over the timepiece in the back to change the batteries.
I also made one for my Dad for Christmas. He is a computer lover and so I took some keys off of an old keyboard and used some old CD’s to construct the clock. He loved it…maybe cause he’s my Daddy, but that’s okay.

I think these will make great gifts for some of my other friends and family too. They are super easy to make and very unique.

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment or better yet, follow this blog and be sure to check out the other great blogs on my side bar. Happy Holidays!

T-Shirt Pumpkins

2011-11-16T11:27:00.000-07:00

These are easy to make and you can re-use the materials once the season is over. I found one brown and one orange t-shirt at the dollar store last week and brought them home with the full intention of using them for the “garland” I had planned to make. Change of plans…they turned into pumpkins instead.

Supply List: One fall colored t-shirt One bed sheet (for stuffing) 10 Rubber bands Fall Leaves Ribbon / Embellishments
Turn the t-shirt inside out. Place a rubber band just under the area where the sleeves begin and tighten it as many times as you can.
Turn the t-shirt right side out again. You will now have a puckered area that will be the bottom of your pumpkin. If you do not want to re-use the t-shirt, you can always trim the excess off, but I found that the excess helped to stuff the pumpkin.
Now, stuff the pumpkin with the sheet. You will have to fluff it a bit to get a nice even shape.
Gather the open end of the t-shirt tightly and wrap a rubber band around it as tightly as possible. You will end up with a nice pleated pumpkin form
Then I wrapped the stem into a nice round ball and secured it with yet another rubber band.
Next, you will use your rubber-bands to wrap around the pumpkin to get as many even segments as you would like to get the perfect “pumpkin effect”.
Start adding your embellishments; they will hide the area where the rubber bands cross paths under the stem.
That is it. Fluff it up a bit and add it to your Thanksgiving display. It only takes about 15 minutes to put together. No hot glue, no sewing, no cutting, very easy project!

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Newspaper Wreath

2011-11-09T10:42:00.001-07:00

I realized that we barely have any Thanksgiving Décor and figured we needed a wreath, doesn’t everyone? I have been collecting newspapers for a while and went to work. Here is what I ended up with. I did learn a few things while doing these and am working on a couple more at the moment.

Eventually, I will find the perfect process, but if you have made these in the past and have any pointers please send them my way! Here is a TUTORIAL if you want to try this.

Tips:

· Make sure you glue or tape each strip when you apply it.

· Do not use glossy spray paint

· Shake your wreath as you paint it

· Be patient and spray from a distance swiping the can back and forth or in a circular motion being careful not to concentrate on one location for very long or the papers will stick together.

Most of all have fun!! Please let me know you stopped by. We all love comments!!

Roll up your shirt sleeves- or just cut them off!

2011-11-09T10:39:00.000-07:00

I found a couple of nice shirts/sweaters at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago and have been staring at them wondering what I can turn them into. Yesterday morning I slipped the sleeves over the top of some mason jars and realized I wouldn’t have to sew much and could have some pretty containers for my stuff.

I had one wide mouth jar and one standard size jar that had been staring at me from the cupboard for months now. I didn’t get to can anything this year since I was working during what would have been our harvest season, so I have extras this year. I didn’t want to paint them or alter them so much that I couldn’t use them in the future if I wanted to, so I figured a little glue on the outside wouldn’t hurt too much.

This sweater was $1.00 and it has knitted lace over the top of regular sweater knit material. At first I put the lace over the jar by itself and although I liked it, I felt like it needed something else. I also found a cute flower print dress at another yard sale for $.25 so I cut a piece from that to place under the lace. It really added to the effect, I think. Then I just slipped the sleeve over the jar from the bottom and trimmed and glued the ends in tightly so it would sit evenly on the shelf.

I gathered the two fabrics together at the mouth and added some embellishments.

I will probably make a match soon, but you know how crafting goes…you get on one project and it takes you off in another direction.

So, I wanted something a bit bolder for the other jar and used yet another garage sale shirt $.50 which I had already cut into for something else. I realized the sleeve on this shirt was still intact and had a cuff at the end which would look great on the jar.

Thanks for stopping by. Please take a moment and let me know you were here. Send me your comments, links and ideas. I love to share!

KIDS

2011-11-09T10:29:00.000-07:00

I have been busy with kid stuff over the past week or so. With Halloween came the annual pumpkin contest at school. My daughter Meagan always comes up with some kind of character. One year was a mouse, last year was Garfield and this year it was Angry Birds. She did all the work herself. She has become quite crafty.

The following day she brought home a blank turkey to decorate. We figured out something together with what we had around the house and then she finished it off with a balloon for the “wattle”. We used our over abundant supply of shopping bags once again, for the “feathers” and added in some fall leaves for extra color. My friends and family are always donating extra bags and craft goodies to me so we try to put them to good use. I do try to use the cloth bags when we go to the store...really I do.

Pardon my mixer in the background…lol…sometimes my counter is the only place I have to craft.

We also had a birthday party for my youngest over the weekend and my in-laws surprised me with cake and ice cream as well. Our birthdays are only a week apart and I always try my best to avoid being the center of attention...ugh...especially since this is my 40th coming up. I guess it is inevitable.

On to other things.....

More Trash Crafting

2011-11-03T13:40:00.001-07:00

Tin Can Topiary

(Made with shopping bags, newspaper, a pencil and a tin can)

I wanted something "fancy" to place in my hall bathroom but just couldn't come up with the right thing. I was looking at all the tin cans and shopping bags I have accumulated and came up with this idea. Here is a Tutorial if you would like to try it.

I went to a yard sale over the weekend and bought a necklace and some clip on earrings for 10 cents. So, I added them along with an old metal heart I found years ago. I have used and re-used it on all kinds of projects over the years.

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Let it Snow

2011-11-03T08:02:00.000-07:00

While many of you are getting snow, we are craving it here in Arizona. Yesterday, we sat down and made these fun little snowmen to make up for that loss. They were super easy.

I almost had 6 of them, but the dog ran off with one of their heads and my 3 year old ran off with the other. Now we have to make more, I think these would be great holiday gifts.

Next time, I am going to make a “girlie” snow lady and pair her up with a mate. I might add mittens and even some paint or decoration of some sort on the bottom rim of the snowman. Oh, I also placed felt on the bottom of the snowman.

Supply List:
2 inch terra cotta pot
2 inch wooden ball knob (found a 6 pack at Goodwill for $1.50)
1 Sleeve from an old knit tee-shirt (for the stocking caps)
1 Piece of Black Felt (for the top hats)
1 TP or Paper towel roll (for the top hat form)
Twigs (HARD to find in my backyard) cactus needles just didn’t work.
Misc. buttons, ribbon embellishments
Foam paint brush
Old non-working ball point pen or mechanical pencil (used to make the dots)
Blush (color of your choice)
White Paint
Orange Paint

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Christmas Tree - Made from Recycled Items

2011-11-01T15:09:00.000-07:00

Here is a TUTORIAL if you would like to make one of these. It takes a bit of time and some basic supplies, you may already have lying around

Halloween went well last night and my thoughts are already on to Christmas. Yesterday while grabbing my last minute bags of candy, I spied one of those spiral type Christmas trees. I came home inspired and tried to recreate it. It didn't work.

I pondered on it all night, then this morning I had another idea. I still couldn't get the spiral like the Walgreens tree, but I came up with this alternative instead. As usual, my projects have to be made with whatever I have lying around and if you click the tutorial link you will see what I pulled from my recycling stash to make this.
*** See the link below for the inspiration for the tree topper.****

I wish I had a better camera...or...maybe could learn how to use mine. : ) One more thing to add to the
list.

Here is my supply list:

· 20 -25 (16 oz.) Plastic Water Bottles - Empty

· 1 (44 oz.) Styrofoam cup

· 1 (1 qt. carton) I used a Silk Milk Carton

· 1 Empty Soda Box or Similar thickness cardboard

· Sand or Rocks

· Scissors

· 1 can of spray paint

· 1 piece of metallic tissue paper

· 1 Tall/Wide Drinking Straw

The Tree Topper was made from an idea that I found on Homemade Ginger. She made a beautiful little flower arrangement based on an Anthropologie product. Thanks for the inspiration!!

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Plastic Water Bottle Flowers

2011-10-31T00:03:00.001-07:00

This is the project I have been working on for a while. I have seen other plastic water bottle flowers out there, but they were pretty basic. I wanted something unique, so these are my original creation. I am still "tweaking" them a bit and trying to find the best use for them. I have been blessed with donations of water bottles from family members, so I have many more to make. I did use these on my Halloween Trash Bag wreath, although they were hard to see.

I think they would look nice in a flower arrangement, centerpiece, in a frame etc. I will keep you posted.

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Have a wonderful Halloween!!

Recycled Shampoo Bottle Friends

2011-10-30T23:06:00.000-07:00

Don't know what to call these but they are fun conversational pieces anyway. My 3 year old likes to play with them in the pool and the tub (watch the edges) and my teenagers like to torture them with various piercings. Either way I saw life in them and just couldn't pitch them in the trash.

It was too cold to go in after them today here in AZ so we will have to wait for them to float to the side. I am sure they will enjoy their midnight stroll on the "barge". Just hope I get to them before the dog does.

Lessons Learned

2011-10-30T22:37:00.000-07:00

The past week the girls and I much anticipated the weekend. We planned on making a Capri Sun tote bag and maybe even a wallet. We looked and surfed around and tried to find some ideas. Well, Saturday came and NEVER ended. I was up until 3 a.m. trying to finish this darn thing. My daughter wanted to bring it to school Monday morning to carry the treats she is bringing for the class Halloween party. No pressure.

Here is what I learned:

My 1992 Sewing machine needs a tune-up...even more so now!!
Regular weight thread and needles don't work for this project.
You can only use the seam ripper so many times on Capri Sun pouches ....errrr
Sewing the handles on before the trim might be better idea
Leave one side panel un-sewn...is that a word?? lol..., sew on the bottom panel then the other side panel...I had to take my side panel completely apart.
Use a bit of bleach water in the pouches, rinsing them with water and waiting for them to dry just doesn't cut it.
The old cut up jeans I used for trim were cute but bias tape or wide ribbon would have worked just as well.

Anyway, I will make a few more of these....once my sewing machine is working again. I think they will be nice gifts to give for teachers, my fellow nurse friends, the girly cousins in our family and who knows who else. I will try and do a tutorial on the next round.

Have a great week!

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Sheep and a Smile

2011-10-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

This was such a fun project. I was surfing around and found an awesome family site called http://www.looledo.com/ I am amazed at the projects this man has created. Plus, he has a tutorial for each one.

They are all right up our alley, since we love recycled crafts...mainly because they are very very inexpensive. (Usually)

We made one small one and one large one. I have to say that we tried to spray paint the straws so the legs were black, but it was a big mess and we were a bit impatient. We caved and used the unpainted straws instead. My husband suggested placing the straws on a long nail hammered up right into a board prior to painting them. He is so smart.

These sheep have endless possibilities. You could add a ribbon, a bell, even color the cotton balls.

"Mommy, can I keep them?"

I hope you enjoy trying this craft and please visit "The Professor" at www.looledo.com

Also, check out our other links, tutorials and linky parties and please leave a comment if you stop by. I think I am finally getting the hang of some of this blogging stuff. : )

Pizza Box Chalkboard

2011-10-22T15:50:00.001-07:00

Well, we had pizza again. You know what that means: Cardboard Crafting Time. First it was our ghostly trio, now this.

I didn't have to buy anything , we just used the supplies we had on hand. It was a fun Saturday project. I love Pink and Black together and with two teenage girls in the house, this has quickly became a coveted piece. It was fairly simple. Click HERE for our tutorial.

We used our Shopping Bag Flowers for this project.

Just for fun I took this picture below when I visited my son Brock at Fort Jackson South Carolina a few months ago. I have been dreaming ever since. Okay...maybe it is a bit extreme...but I LOVE IT!!

I am still learning, but very much enjoying blogging and sharing with everyone. Hope to hear from you out there and share share share! Have a great weekend!

Trash Bags, Flowers and a Hanger, Oh My!!

2011-10-17T13:59:00.004-07:00

Trashy Halloween Wreath 2011

So, as I look around the house, this is what I have. Hangers, black trash and shopping bags, and our unpainted flowers that we have been working on for awhile. If I paint the flowers orange, I can make this work.

Here is what I ended up with for my first attempt. I like it, but I am thinking once I can get out to the store, I might buy some ribbon and add a few bows. I am told that I am supposed to post this as a tutorial...lol...here goes.

Click Here for the TUTORIAL

Happy Halloween

Recycled Shopping Bag Flowers

2011-10-12T22:26:00.001-07:00

I saw a tutorial to make poms on Martha Stewart and thought I would alter it a bit with what I had on hand. I did try the tissue paper at first, but it ripped easily and could have quickly got expensive. So, as I looked around I saw an endless supply of plastic shopping bags waiting patiently for the garage sale I will probably never have and thought I would try it out. This is what we ended up with. I love them and now we are looking for shopping bags, especially colorful ones, everywhere we go. As we work with them some more I am sure we will find an even better method. Let me know what you think.
**UPDATE**Click here for the tutorial.

My 3 year old brought me home a lonely bouquet of fake roses from the dollar store after a trip to Grandmas house. So, I added the target flower, some Diet Coke Aluminum can frills, and my daughter added in the plastic water bottle flare.

Here is another we created. We had an old peanut butter jar sitting around and stuffed the flower in there. I added a straw to make a stem. I should have added something in the taller vase for the pic, but you get the idea. : )

Here is another variation. I made a pineapple cream cheese carrot cake for a party on Sunday and added in some yellow shopping bag flowers.

Another variation with blue tissue paper and brown shopping bags. More on the tray later. : )

Meagan's 12th Birthday-Recycled T-Shirt Goodie Bags

2011-09-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

So, I am getting all my blogging done in one day. I have a few more minutes before the older kiddos start getting home from school.

Last year we had a pool party at the house and it was absolutely crazy but fun. This year I wanted to do something that was...well....easier. We ended up at Laser Tag. However, Meagan, who also loves to craft wanted to do something unique for her goodie bags. I could have purchased them for $3.99 per child, but I caved and crafted instead.

This is what we ended up with.

Recycled T-Shirt Birthday Goodie Bags

We made some into drawstring bags and others we cut the sleeves down to make “handles” and made flowers out of the sleeve material and tried to coordinate and contrast them with the other t-shirts.

Yes, I left the tags on…I am all about authenticity. These were very easy to do and cost me very little. The t-shirts I found at goodwill/garage sales. I just sewed the bottoms shut, sewed the sides on some of them to give a better shape to the bag, and then constructed the flowers by basting a strip and connecting them. I used strips of t-shirt “yarn” to roll up in the middle of the flower and attached them with a few stitches.

The night before the party two of her friends "randomly" showed up and ended up staying the night. So, in addition to her party at Stratum Laser Tag, she ended up with a mini slumber party too. The girls stood up late working on crafts. Oh ...and attempted to dye their hair with food coloring...ugh...it didn't work too well. Thank goodness, or I would have had some explaining to do.

Happy Birthday Meagan we love you!!

Recycled Halloween Fun--Spontaneous Crafting

2011-09-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

We have started creating for Halloween.

I love to recycle, so as a family we came

up with these cute ideas so far.

The "Haunted House" is a spray painted Heineken box. The Tin Can Monsters were super easy and we had most of the supplies already.(Saw something similar to these on the Family Fun Magazine Site". The Hanging Ghost Trio we made from a Pizza Hut box. See below for closeups.

These three little ghosties were super easy to make. We had Pizza Hut pizza the night before and that cardboard box inspired me. Plus, I don't yet have a scroll saw, so I have to improvise. (hint hint...honey) : )

I found a ghost pattern in an old magazine I liked and made a template then cut three out of the box. I painted one side white and the other side black.

After they dried I used my Micron pens to draw all the details. We had a bag of scrapbooking cutouts which we used to decorate them even more. I hung different sized ropes on the back with a button glued over the top of the rope connection to hide the glue.

We also outlined them in thin rope which was also in my scrapbox. It finished them off quite a bit better, I think. The cardboard tends to have torn or rough edges. They hung nicely in my little Halloween corner.

I am going to try bats and other figures next time. ...what was the number to Pizza Hut??...lol..any type of cardboard would work I am sure.

Okay for the Heineken Haunted House this is what we did. Now I know we could have made it even better or perhaps added a little fence with a graveyard. I am working on that as we speak. But, this was our first attempt. I added this pic and brightened it a bit so you could see the logo bleeding through. It doesn't really show in the corner I have it in, but probably could have used one more coat of paint. Of course, my husband enjoys seeing it, so what the heck. Yes...he loves Heineken, yes we have been to Amsterdam and yes we visited the Heineken factory (It was a wonderful trip)..I assume there will be more projects in the future with bottles, caps and boxes so be prepared. : )

He always opens the box in the front, so that provides me with a little "ramp". I left the edges rough, because I thought it added some authenticity. We added little decorations from the dollar store and my scrap booking cutout bag. Stuffed black grocery bags and purple tissue paper inside.

The felt covered paper mache softball pumpkin was easy to do. Actually, the softball was only the softball guts, as my almost 1 year old puppy chewed the crud out of it. That is why we "re-shaped" it a bit prior to covering it.

I found the leaves at the dollar store. I always pick up seasonal stuff and have it stored away for "who knows what" and it worked to cover the handle hole on the top. I am sure some of you out there can come up with a better way to do this, but this was just a spontaneous first attempt.

Thanks for stopping by and remember to gather all the bits and pieces of your lives and make lasting memories.

In the Beginning

2011-09-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our life.

We are the Cayer family; A non-traditional kind of blended family.We all love to create. My husband comes from a long line of carpenters and creators.I grew up crafting with all kinds of misc materials and have tried to pass that one to my family as well. We have 5 children and as they have grown they have all shown their ability to create as well. I am so proud.

It has been a long time since we have devoted a great deal of time to our crafting passion, but I am now a stay-at-home mom...for the time being..so watch out! We have the crafting bug. Every milk carton, bottle cap, toilet paper roll and aluminum can are now carefully scrutinized before they are tossed in the recycle bin. I have dug out all my old supplies and crafting magazines, and we have begun.

I hope to share with other fellow crafters, make some friends and as always, learn something new each day.