Halloween is nearly here! This time of year is filled with lots of sweet treats, and today I’m sharing one that makes a cute kitchen centerpiece: a Halloween themed gingerbread house. I love decorating gingerbread cookies and houses, but I’ve only made them at Christmas time until now. In recent years I’ve noticed that gingerbread kits are available for several holidays throughout the year. My local Meijer store had this gingerbread house kit made by Wilton, along with a whole section of Halloween themed candy decorations to add to baked goods and gingerbread houses. I’ve also…
October 6 UPDATE! We have a winner! Rebekah Khoury won the set of three handmade birthday cards! Thank you to everyone who entered! *** The blogoversary celebration rolls on with a giveaway! It’s our first birthday and we’re handing out gifts! Win this set of three handmade birthday cards featuring a variety of cute critters. Each card in the set features animals, but they all have a different look. There’s a deer card made with fall colors and prints, a sloth card that has bright birthday colors, and a blush and gold fox card all included in the…
Papertrey Ink hosted a live crafting event in Cincinnati August 24-25 to go along with their annual online Stamp-a-Faire. I was really excited when I heard about the option to attend in person. The only other live event was held in 2011 for the first ever Stamp-a-Faire, before I knew about Papertrey Ink; I became a customer in 2015. I had so much fun participating in Stamp-a-Faire from home last year that I decided spur of the moment to attend the live event on May 20, the day it was announced and tickets…
August’s challenge hosted by the blog Where Creativity Meets C9 is Anything Goes. Since there wasn’t a set theme, I knew immediately that I wanted to make a unicorn card with the Concord & 9th Unicorn Awesomeness stamp set I hadn’t had a chance to craft with yet. My July challenge card was all about shiny things, and I’m still on a glitz kick. Lately, the more glitter the better! So I knew my unicorn would end up with some sparkle. By the way, black stars are still raining out of my die cut…
I’m back with another Papertrey Ink Blog Hop challenge. I had to skip June’s challenge since I was out of town for work when it took place, but I’m jumping back in for July. The blog hop is a day-long event held each month for crafters to share their creative projects made using Papertrey Ink products on their blogs. Each month there is a different image presented by Papertrey Ink which serves as the inspiration for the project. July Challenge Description and Image: “We have been so inspired by the ocean themed products that Papertrey Ink…
This is my first time participating in a monthly challenge for Where Creativity Meets C9, a blog that hosts challenges featuring products from the stamp company Concord & 9th. My friend Wendie first introduced me to Concord & 9th products a few years ago. I like the clean, modern style and graphic design look of their products, plus the way they can be used in multiple ways – some even have 3D options. Wendie recently joined the Design Team for this blog, plus she was a guest designer for Concord & 9th during the month of June. So I was definitely…
I had so much fun my first time participating in the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop last month that I decided I had to join in the fun this month too, especially when I saw May’s cute inspiration photo. You can check out my April blog hop post here. The blog hop is a day-long event held each month for crafters to share their creative projects made using Papertrey Ink products on their blogs. Each month there is a different image presented by Papertrey Ink which serves as the inspiration for the project. May Challenge Description and Image: “Do…
I’ve always wanted to try marbling paper, because it looks so pretty. When I saw the samples for the Marbling Workshop at Indianapolis’ Paper Source store, I recruited my friend Wendie to take the class with me. We love Paper Source workshops, and have attended several in the past. Marbling uses plain paper or any other absorbent material like fabric or wood, to pick up swirled ink designs from a water bath. It dates back to twelfth century Japan, where it is called Suminagashi (“floating ink”). During the class, we created hand-marbled papers in…
This is my first time participating in the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop, an all-day event held once a month for crafters to share via their blogs their creative projects made using Papertrey Ink products. Each month there is a different image presented by Papertrey Ink which serves as the inspiration for the project. April Challenge Description and Image: “Anytime is a great time to throw a tea party and it’s such a great way to gather together a group of friends and friends and loved ones. Keep it simple or get as fancy and flowery as you want…
Decorating Easter eggs is a tradition I’ve carried on from childhood into adulthood. I dye and decorate Easter eggs nearly every year. Each year I try at least one new kit or technique. In the past I’ve used stickers, adhesive gems, washi tape, small fabric flowers, and rubber bands to decorate eggs, but this year I streamlined my supplies to four kits: the Unicorn Easter Egg Kit by American Crafts, the Galaxy Egg Decorating Kit by Easter Unlimited, the Easter Under the Sea Egg Decorating Kit by Spritz, and the Eggmazing Egg Decorator. Kits are perfect…
Today I’m sharing two sweet little scenes my mom and I made that provide instant cheer and a pop of Spring wherever you set them. These displays were inspired by the adorable Garden Bunny Cloche Pottery Barn featured in their catalog last year. My mom saw it and sent it to me as Easter craft inspiration. (Pottery Barn’s cloche was $169, with a sale price of $101 – way out of our budget!) When I saw Michael’s had cloches on sale for $12.74, I picked up one for each of us. Their cloches are really nice…
A few years ago, I saw this wreath on Pinterest and was inspired to make a wreath like it. I then searched for and found a great yarn wreath making tutorial on Pinterest. I was so happy with how my wreath turned out, that I started making yarn wreaths for other seasons and holidays, and now I have a collection of them to change out with the seasons and enjoy all year long on my front door. Yarn wreath making can become addictive because the wreaths are so easy and fun to make. Wrapping the wreath with yarn does take…
Here is a collection of photos of all the wreaths I’ve made over the years, in the order I’ve made them. For more DIY details on how to make your own yarn wreath, see my St. Patrick’s Day wreath post. When I need inspiration, I browse wreath makers on Etsy and Pinterest, and see what seasonal decorations I find at my local craft store. Which one do you like the best? I’m contemplating making an Easter wreath next. I hang a wreath made of fresh greenery for December, so I haven…
Super Bowl Sunday was super indeed! The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Patriots in the Super Bowl, and I had a pre-game meal at our new Portillo’s for the first time ever (they’re famous for hot dogs, and I’d been craving a good hot dog!). But those weren’t even the best parts of the day. The highlight was my friend Jessica’s Year of Cards Make and Take class. I love her card classes and attend as many of them as I can. During the class attendees choose five projects to make for a class…
My friend Rebecca’s daughter Abbie just turned three on Groundhog’s Day and celebrated the occasion with a fun birthday party. She was REALLY into playing with all her presents this year and enjoyed everything about her birthday cake, from the adorable Daniel Tiger design her Grammy made to the ice cream accompanying it, and us singing Happy Birthday to her. Unfortunately her birthday fell on a bright, cold day, so she saw her shadow and we’re in for six more weeks of winter! Abbie is the cutest little fairy princess so I wanted to make a card…