Pittypat Paperie

Thanksgiving Tissue Box

2011-11-15T13:13:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to Pittypat Paperie. I have been soooo enjoying decorating for Thanksgiving. I have been guilty in the past of skipping right over Thanksgiving in my haste to decorate for Christmas. I said this year I was not going to do that. Are you like me and just can't find much for Thanksgiving??? The stores are full of Christmas stuff already.

Soooo, with that being said (my rant for the day, lol) I thought I would just make some things. First of all I made this little kleenex box holder. If you have been following my blog you might remember the one I made last Christmas. You can see it HERE. If you want to make one of your own you can find the instructions They are so fast and easy to make Ÿ

This is a close up of the top of the box. I cut the hole using one of my Nestabilities.

This is a pumpkin I had out at Halloween. I just added a dowel and an alligator clip with one of the nestability die cuts.

A closeup of the cutout. It is like the one I used on the tissue box only bigger.

I thought you might like to take a peek at some of the other Thanksgiving decor I have out.

The last picture is of a candle that I printed out a free subway printable that was shared HERE. Wrapped it around the candle and added a cute resin cross I bought for half price in the Christmas decorating area at Hobby Lobby. The plaque I just made using a piece of 1/8th inch thick piece of wood and added a label I designed in PSP.

The cowboy in this picture is my sweet grandson, Shannon. He ropes steers and keeps his Nana scared to death and praying for him day and night Ÿ Oh how I love this child of my child :o)

Well, that's about it for my Thanksgiving decor. We are having our Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends this Sunday. We will be going to my daughter's house on Thanksgiving day. I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Thank you so much for stopping by. Be sure and visit the link parties listed to the right of my blog. I will be joining all the fun there. Hugz, Diane

Eli's Birthday Gift

2011-11-10T13:52:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and thanks so much for stopping by today. I wanted to share a birthday gift I made for my and Terry's grand nephew. He will be 3 yrs. old and lovvvvves Dinosaur Train.

This is all the goodies I'm adding to his bag. I decorated a notebook, a candy bar, a can of Tootsie Rolls that is also a piggy bank when the candy is gone, a box of crayons, a plaque that can be hung on his wall or propped up with the easel I added to the back.

The above pic shows the closeup of the crayons. The front and then the back.

The above pic shows the 2½ inch pin I made using my Badge A Minit. I love that little machine and hardly ever use it.

The next picture shows the plaque I made. It measures 8 inches x 6 inches.

This is the before and after of the notebook I decorated for him. If you remember in a previous post I told how I do this. I simply take the front off, make a new one, laminate it and punch the holes and rewire it. Easy and fast and turns out so cute.

The next picture shows the Tootsie Roll can. I just made a cover for it. When the candy is gone he can use the can for a piggy bank.

The next picture is of a 4.4 oz. Hershey bar. That is the large candy bar.

I added an old jean pocket to the front of a gift bag and put the candy bar in that. Made a cute gift bag. I picked up the colors of the graphics for the tissue paper.

Well, that is what I've been up to Ÿ I will be sharing this little gift idea at the link parties listed to the right of my blog. Thanks so much for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Thanksgiving Decor

2011-10-31T09:59:00.000-07:00

I'm so honored to be featured over at Thrifty Thursday. Thank you so much. I hope all of you will drop by over there and see all the great things offered.

Hello everyone and thanks so much for stopping by. I am soooo ready to decorate for Thanksgiving. Ready for a change Ÿ

First of all I wanted to share a plaque I made that I personalized with my and Terry's names. I found the graphic on the web and just printed it out on sticky back paper and laminated it and stuck it to a 6x6 inch tile I bought at Lowes.

I also decorated a glass block purchased from Lowes. It measures 8x8 inches. Terry drilled a hole in the back about a 1 inch diameter and I placed one of the corded lights bought at Hobby Lobby last year for ½ price. The printable I used was shared over at Blooming Homestead. Be sure and drop in over there and see the beautiful printables she is sharing. I just added some words to make it fill my block and be more personalized.

This is a picture of the block with the light turned on. I really like how it turned out. I will post a picture later on of all the Thanksgiving decorations in place.

This is a closeup picture of the glass block with the hole drilled in it and the light I used. The light has an on/off switch that is handy.

Again, thank you so much for stopping by. Be sure and visit the link parties listed to the right side of my blog and see all the wonderful things others have to share. Soooo many great ideas Ÿ

Hugz, Diane

Monogrammed Shower Curtain

2011-10-26T07:37:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone. So sorry that I have been MIA, but real life gets in the way of my playing sometimes Ÿ

I haven't made anything this week so I thought I would go to a project I made a few weeks ago. I used my cricut and some vinyl and monogrammed the shower curtain liner in one of my bathrooms.

I love how it turned out. I had searched and searched for a cute shower curtain liner and couldn't find anything. I hated how plain it looked so I just bought an inexpensive curtain and dressed it up a bit.

I'm happy with it (for now), lol.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please let me know you were here and I hope you have a great week. Be sure and check out the link parties listed to the left side of my blog. There are sooooo many great projects offered that you can spend all day looking Ü

Hugz, Diane

Pilgrim Candy Bar Wrapper

2011-10-15T16:18:00.000-07:00

I am so glad you stopped by today. I wanted to share a candy bar wrapper that I will be using to make as favors to give to everyone that comes to our Thanksgiving dinner next month. So many of our family have meals of turkey and dressing that Terry and I decided a long time ago that we would make gumbo. It has been a big hit. Just something different Ü

I always like to give each person that comes a little favor to take home and this year I thought I would buy the regular size Hershey candy bars and add this cute wrapper that Laurie Furnell gave as a free printable on her blog. You can find the printable HERE.

Isn't he just the cutest little guy. I just used a regular size Hershey1.55 oz. Printed out Laurie's printable, cut it out and wrapped it around the candy bar and glued it shut and glued each end. the little had was folded and added to the top of the candy bar. I added a little bow and was all finished. Now I just have about 30 more to make Ÿ

This is the printable printed out before I cut it out. It really prints out well and is just the right size without having to alter it at all.

Thank you all so much for stopping by. I hope you will leave a comment and let me know you were here. Hugz, Diane

Halloween Tree

2011-10-08T16:05:00.001-07:00

This little tree was featured over at Passionately Artistic. Thank you so much. I hope all of you will click on over there and see the wonderful Halloween ideas that were featured over there.

It was also featured over at Feature Me Daily. Thanks so much Lisa. She features lots of things so be sure and visit Lisa.

This was featured again over at Kristen's. thank you so much. I'm so flattered. If you haven't visited over there you are missing some great talent. Kristen is one of the best Ÿ

Hello everyone and thank you so much for stopping by. I wanted to share a Halloween tree with you that I made.

This is the tree. I just ♥ black and orange and making Halloween decorations. I think I will sit this on my dining table.

All I used was a piece of black poster paper and folded it into a cone shape. I then taped the seam with packaging tape. The garland was bought at Wal Mart. It is really cute black sparkly garland with little pumpkins on it. I wrapped the garland around the cone shape and used my cool melt glue gun to hold it in place. Really quick and easy.

I then decided my tree needed a topper. I cut out a black cat using cardstock and used 2 thicknesses of it, glued them together, sprayed the front and back with pray glue and added black glitter. The cat really sparkles.

This is the cat up close.

Then guess what !?! I decided my little cat would be cuter with some eyes. I glued the little plastic eyes you can find at any craft store.

Here is the little guy up close. Now he has some personality Ÿ

All finished and sitting on the table. What do you think? Quick, easy and inexpensive. My kind of project Ü

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you will leave a comment and let me know you were here. Hugz, Diane

Tile & Gift

2011-10-03T06:29:00.001-07:00

I don't have much to offer this week, but thought I would share a tile I made to sit on my dining room table.

It is a 6x6 inch tile purchased at Lowes for less than 50¢. I designed what I wanted in PSP and added some graphics along with the wording, laminated it and since I printed it on sticky back paper I just placed it on the tile. The little fleur de lis at the top of the easel is an old shower curtain hook hung on the easel, lol. If you have visited my blog much you know I ♥ ♥ ♥ fleur de lis Ÿ

I just thought I would share a housewarming gift I made for a friend that is moving into a new house this week. I saw this idea on Etsy and thought it was sooooo cute. Just printed out to an 8x10 and added it to an 11x14 frame and wrapped it up.

Well, that is it for today. Hope you like my little projects. So glad you stopped by. Hugz, Diane

Diva Pumpkins

2011-09-26T08:18:00.001-07:00

Allison over at House of Hepworths featured my pumpkins on her blog. Thank you so much Allison. I hope all of you will visit Allison and see the great pumpkins that were featured. There are so many that I want to try Ü

Hello everyone. I am so glad you stopped by today. I'm joining the blog parties listed to the right side of my blog and I hope you will visit these great sites and see all the wonderful inspiration that awaits you.

I'm also joining the All Pumpkin Link Party over at Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy

I hope you will check out all the neat pumpkins that are entered there Ÿ

The first pumpkin that I'm sharing isn't actually one of my diva pumpkins, but it is one I added flowers and leaves to the top of and I think it turned out ok.

The one above is the one sitting on a bench just as you come up to my back door. I used my cricut and added the vinyl monogram and the spooky hands. I ♥ how it turned out.

These 2 are sitting my my microwave. The zebra print pumpkin is made by using a ceramic pumpkin that I had for years and used modge podge and tissue paper on. The other one I pained and decoupaged a rooster on because I have lots of roosters in my kitchen.

The pumpkin above is a large pumpkin I have on my dining table that I bought years ago for half price at an after holiday sale at Hobby Lobby.

This one is a ceramic pumpkin that I modge podged a label onto and then used vinyl to add the fleur de lis .

My next diva pumpkin was made using leopard print tissue paper and mp again and added an old bracelt to the stem area.

This one was just one of the plastic pumpkins that I spray painted silver and added the fleur de lis using vinly and my cricut again.

The printable in this picture of the subway art was a freebie I printed off and framed. If you would like to make one it is generously shared by That's What {Che} Said .

Again, thank you so much for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Shoe Favor Box

2011-09-16T09:00:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone and welcome back to my little piece of the crafting world Ÿ This week I thought I would share a card and envelope with a shoe favor box I made for my granddaughter. I know some of you will remember the posts from last year where I stressed over making her cupcakes and stand for her birthday. This year it will be all about shoes, lol. Her very favorite things in the world Ü

Isn't this just the cutest favor box. I made this one and parts of her card from a shiny gift bag I cut up. It is really sparkly. Melani lovvvves bling. I always give her money for her birthday and a little something to open. I thought this little shoe favor box was perfect. I am going to put a bracelet in there for her. If you want to make one of these boxes just go

For the "label" inside the shoe I made an Antonio Melani label. She buys those shoes from Dillards and has even had the Antonio Melani boots. I thought it was funny that he spells his last night just like Melani spells her first name, no "e" on the end.

I glued the shoe to the envelope front. I thought it was such a cute accent.

This is the card I made for her birthday. The piece at the bottom of the card says, "with the right accessories you do anything".

I just love how the shoe and card turned out and I think Melani will bet a big "kick" out of it as well Ÿ

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure and leave me a comment so I will know you were here and I will visit your blog as well. Hugz, Diane

Wedding Gift Idea

2011-09-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone and thanks so much for stopping by today. I wanted to share a wedding gift I made for my granddaughter to give to a friend of hers. Melani ran in here last Thursday and said she needed a gift for a wedding she was going to be in on Saturday. Yikes! What could I make on such short notice that Melani would be proud to give...

I thought about the really pretty frame I had seen over at and I thought if I just printed it off and framed it and not fool with the vinyl I just might could get it done in time.

The new couple's last name started with a "W" so I just created this on the computer and printed it off and framed it. Melani loved it and she called today and said the couple loved it as well. Whew!

I had the frame on hand. It came from Dollar General and was $6. It measured 11 x 14 inches with the printed out matted part measuring 8 x 10 inches.

Let me know what you think. Also, I will be sharing this over at the link parties listed to the right of my blog. Thanks again for stopping by today. Hugz, Diane

Candle & Tile Sets

2011-09-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

Halloween Treat Box Card

2011-08-29T09:03:00.001-07:00

Yippeeee, this little box/card was featured over at Confessions of a Stay Home Mommy. Thank you so much. I hope everyone will drop by her blog and see all the others she featured. I can't wait to check them out.

This little card box was featured over at So Creative. Thanks so much Heather. I hope all of you will go over and visit Heather's really cute blog.

Hello everyone and thanks so much for stopping by. I will be joining the blog parties listed to the right of my blog and I hope you will visit some of them and also I hope you will leave me a comment letting me know you were here. I will visit you as well Ÿ

I wanted to share a card with you today that I made for my grandson for Halloween. Am I rushing the holiday... wellll, yes I am. I am also rushing fall. After suffering through a summer of over 100° almost everyday I am ready for fall.

This is a card with a gift box included. I just used cardstock to cut it out and scored it. I printed the inside on the computer and cut it out. I used Halloween buttons from last year. I cut the shank portion off so they would lay flat and used a glue dots to secure them in place. The "spider" on the left of the inside of the card is one of those plastic rings kids wear around Halloween. I just cut the ring part off and glued it to the spiderweb.

If you would like to make one of these card/ treat box just go HERE to find the inst. This was a fast and simple little project and one I think my grandson want find too girl, lol.

This is a view of the inside of the card.

This is a picture of the candy I added to the little box. I ♥ the fall colors. And they are chocolate, yummmm. I bought these at Dollar General for $1.

I hope you can use this little project for some of your goblins. If you do let me know. I would love the see the spin you put on this.

Hugz, Diane

Fall Gift Idea

2011-08-17T14:16:00.001-07:00

Hello and welcome to my blog. I hope you will visit the link parties listed to the right side of this blog where I will be sharing this project.

Today I wanted to share a really cute and simple "candy apple" card with you. I got the inspiration for this card/gift idea from Stamp-N-Design where she offers a cute free template and from Kelli's House blog.

I am soooo ready for Fall. Aren't you??? My friend Gwen and I were just talking about this and she is coming to visit me next week and I wanted to make a little something to give her. I think she will like this.

Click on Any Pic to See Larger

This is the card with some paper shred and some caramel candy pieces added.

This is the outside of the card. I added Modge Podge to the "caramel" to make it look like a shine surface.

This picture shows the inside of the card. The cute wordart is a freebie from Scrappindigikreations.

This is a candle that I packaged with the gift. I bought this at Dollar General and is a great scent... Pumpkin Pie. Don't that make you think fall Ÿ

This is a little brown paper lunch bag that I decorated and put the card and candle.

I hope this little gift set gives you an idea for a fast and easy gift idea. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you will leave a comment. Hugz, Diane

Bookmarks

2011-08-06T14:30:00.001-07:00

Be sure and check out my sidebar for all the linky parties I will be participating in this week. I hope you will visit them.

Hello everyone and thanks so much for stopping by today. I wanted to share some bookmarks I made. I love to read and like having cute bookmarks and I often mark places in my cookbooks. Also, these would make cute gifts to add with a birthday card.

I have seen these bookmarks all over the internet and thought I would try my hand at them. The triangle shaped ones are my favorite as they just hug the corner of the page in your book where you want to mark. I have seen them as simple as snipping the corner of an envelope and using that to mark you place in your book, but I wanted to fancy mine up a bit. I used my Martha Stewart punch to embellish a piece of white cardstock and added this to the template I made. I just opened up the template in Printmaster and used a really pretty shiny cardstock I had on hand. This is a great way to use up all those scraps of pretty paper you might have on hand.

I made some embellishements with my Cuttlebug and added them to the finished bookmark along with a Jolee's dimensional sticker. Really dressed it up.

The above bookmark was made using the same template I just used by oval Nestabilities to give it a pretty scalloped effect. Added a cute jewel from my stash and called it good.

This one was made using a large paper clip bought from Wal Mart and cutting out the papers with my Nestabilities again. Love those things.

I even made one for my grandson using cardstock in his school colors.

Here it is on my bible. I think he might like using this in his AR books Ÿ

I thought you might like to have the template I made. I hope if you make some of these and use my template you will let me know so I can see the spin you put on them. Just click on the template and open to full size, right click and click on "save image as" to your computer.

Thanks again for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Chocolate Parfait in a Jar

2011-07-21T13:03:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone and thanks so much for stopping by. I wanted to share what I made for my friend Jane's birthday. First of all is the card. Very simple, but cute Ÿ I just cut my cardstock the size I wanted and embossed it in the cuddlebug. Added a piece of flesh colored cardstock to represent the neck, added a "necklace" I made from stretchable cording and a little gold coin I had in my stash. When opened, I printed out the sentiment on the computer and added it as a liner for the card.

Jane is like me and loves chocolate. I made 2 jars of chocolate parfaits and 2 with strawberry shortcake. I made 4 jars so she can share them with her hubby Ü

The chocolate parfait is a chocolate brownie as the first layer, cool whip from a spray can so you can make a pretty swirl with it, chocolate pudding, then another layer of cool whip finished off with chocolate syrup. For the strawberry shortcake I began with a layer of pound cake, a layer of strawberry glaze, cool whip and then topped off with a fresh Louisiana strawberry.

I made tags to decorate the top of the jar lid. Added a piece of muslin fabric. I made little tags with the name of the dessert and attached it to the jar with the same gold stretchable ribbon I used on the card.

On each jar I added a cute pink spoon wrapped in a black paper napkin.

I made a cute little box to hold the jars with a tag added to the front.

Here is Jane's gift all bagged up and ready to give. I hope she likes it.

I had enough of everything left to make dessert for my brother and his wife who are coming for dinner tomorrow night. Now how is that for "killing 2 birds with 1 stone", lol.

I wanted to share the tag I used for the tops of the jars. You could add anything you wanted to the middle. This was graciously made and shared by MY SCRAPBOOKING CORNER. She has lots of cute things so be sure & visit her blog.

I just changed the color in Paint Shop Pro.

I hope you enjoyed this idea for a gift you could make for any age or gender. There are so many different treats you could use and decorate the jar any way you wanted.

Thanks so much for stopping by and please leave a comment and let my know you were here Ü

I will be joining the blog parties listed to the right of my blog.

Ways To Use Doilies

2011-07-15T11:40:00.000-07:00

Featured over at Frugalicious Me Thanks so much. Be sure & check out Tasha's blog Ü

Also featured over at Tales from Bloggeritaville. Thanks so much Leigh. Please go over and check out her great blog. You want be sorry Ÿ

Hello everyone and thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you will leave me a comment and let me know you were here Ÿ

Do you ♥ doilies? I ♥ doilies. There are soooo many different sizes, colors and shapes. They are very inexpensive. Besides using them for the obvious I would like to share today some different ways I have used doilies.

The above picture shows a pink doily that I bought last Easter at Dollar General for $1 for a package of 40 doilies. I cut one of them in half & decorated a half fold card with it. The picture color is awful, but that is a dark chocolate brown card and the pink doily looked really cute on it. Really dressed up a plain card.

The next picture shows a flowerI made using 2 4½ inch white doilies. I also added a vintage ear ring to the center. This was super simple to make & would be so cute to dress up a gift package. I got my inspiration for this at Life Made Creations. The one she made is adorable. She also shares really easy to follow instructions.

This next picture shows one of the rosettes I made and put in the middle of the doily. This would make a cute package decoration as well. If you want to know how to make the rosette check out THIS POST.

On this doily I just stamped a fleur de lis and heat embossed it. You would be limited only by the stamps you have that would fit inside the circle of the doily you wanted to use.

This picture shows some cupcake wrappers I made using a doily. They look soooo elegant. To make these just cut the border of a 9 inch. doily to fit around your cupcake and add a piece of double side tape to close it up. Fast and easy way to dress up your cupcakes.

I love this idea. I just ran the doily through my printer and added the monogram. You could print anything you wanted to go with the occasion you were using the doily for. Just tape your doily to a piece of printer paper, line up using your favorite graphics program. I had no problem running the doily through my printer, but do this at your own risk, lol.

I even used a doily to make the wedding dress for this card I made. I got the inspiration and inst. for this at Stamp-n-Design blog. Her card is beautiful and she shares great inst. & a free template. Jennifer over at TWO BUTTERFLIES blog gave me the inspiration for using a doily for the dress. Soooo cute. Thanks Jennifer.

This is the inside of the wedding card

This is the card I made for my granddaughter's 1st birthday. I used the pink doily to decorate the outside of the envelope. Her party theme was A Parisian Soire' and you can read more about it HERE.

Well, I hope this inspires you to try using doilies in different ways. If you have ways you use doilies please post them. Thanks again for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Louisiana Subway Art

2011-07-07T14:30:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone and thanks so much for stopping by. I thought I would share this subway art I made using Louisiana words. There are so many words that I wanted to use, but didn't have room. Maybe I will make another one and add a crawfish to the center Ÿ

If you would like to print this it prints well at 8x10 inch size. Just click on the image above to bring to full size. Hope some of you La. people or La. fans can use this. Hugz, Diane

I Was Featured Ÿ

2011-07-01T06:37:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh... I am so excited! Carol over at The Answer Is Chocolate featured my blog showing some of my past projects. Thank you so much Carol. I hope all of you will go over and visit her blog. It is chocked full of great ideas. I feel so honored to be among such great talent. And don't you just love the name of her blog? Chocolate is always the answer for me, lol... no matter what the question is Ü

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Hugz, Diane

Father's Day Favors

2011-06-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would share some Father's Day favors I made for tomorrow. I know it is last minute, but thought some of you might like to save this idea for next year. We are having about 40 people in tomorrow and I certainly want to make the dads feel special.

I used the Wilton chocolate mold that said #1 Dad and used the candy melts like you buy at the craft store. They turned out soooo cute.

I put the suckers in a clear bag that I bought at Dollar Tree. For the tags on the suckers I used a printable that was shared over at Today's Fabulous Finds. Thank you so much Janet for making and sharing this. I hope everyone will go over there and see all Janet's cute ideas. Soooo many cute things for Father's Day.

Here is a closeup of the sucker. They are so easy and fast to make.

I also printed out an 8x10 size of the subway art that Janet shared. I just love the statement this makes.

I will be sharing this idea over at some blog link parties posted on the right side of my blog. I hope you will visit some of the great parties and join in as well.

I hope everyone has a great Father' Day and thank you so much for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Decorated Ink Pens

2011-05-31T08:15:00.001-07:00

These pens were featured over at Kristen's Creations. Thanks so much Kristen. I hope you will check out her site. She has the most gorgeous creations that she sells, so be sure to check out her blog Ü

Be Sure & Check Out the Blog Parties on the Left Ü

First of all thank you so much for stopping by today. I'm so glad you are here and I hope you will leave a comment letting me know you were here.

I thought I would share these cute little ink pens with you. They are soooo simple to decorate and very inexpensive. They are plain Bic pens purchased at Dollar General for $1 for a pkg. of 8. They would be a cute addition to any gift or just as a thank you favor. I made these for my granddaughter. She works at a bank on her days off from college and is working there all summer. She will like having these on her desk.

If you remember awhile back I told you about this great duct tape I found in these great leopard and zebra print. I made some coke bottle bracelets using this stuff. You can read about it HERE if you missed that post.

The picture above shows what you will need to make this project. I ♥ working with this duct tape. I made the little tissue paper flowers awhile back if you want to check out how they are made you can go If you want to see another way I used these same flowers, only bigger, you can check out THIS POST. But, you can use silk flowers and they are cute as well.

Here is another pen a made about a year ago and I have been using at my desk. Still looks good, but I wish I had added leaves to it as well as the silk flower. This pen was made using scrapbook paper and then covered with clear package tape. I had much rather use the duct tape, but with the package tape you have lots of choices of scrapbook paper.

Thanks again for stopping by. Hope you have a great day. Hugz, Diane

Chocolate CD

2011-05-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

Check out the blog parties I am joining found on the right side of my blog. You will be glad you did Ü

Hi everyone and thanks so much for stopping by. I'm so sorry I've been lax in posting, but we took a little trip and today we are going to eat fish with friends... seems like something everyday.

I thought I would share a little gift idea that some of you might be able to use. If you are like me it is soooo hard to buy for teenagers and even harder to make them anything that they will like. I have made many of these chocolate cd's and gave as a little something extra along with money usually, because all teens want money, lol.

This is a picture of the chocolate cd after it has been molded and added to a regular cd case (not the thin line cd cases). I buy mine at Dollar Tree where they are 4/ $1.

Here is the one I made and I have it laying on a piece of wax paper to take the picture. The wrapped cd is after I put one in the case. I printed out a cover and inserted it into the inside of the case. Very easy and fast.

All you have to do is order the candy mold. I bought mine HERE. You can buy the candy melts at Wal Mart or any craft store or you can use almond bark chocolate you get at the grocery store. I melt mine in a microwave safe dish in the microwave being very careful to not scorch or over heat the chocolate. There are so many flavors and colors of chocolate that you can make really cute and colorful cd's.

Pour the chocolate into the mold and set in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes and then carefully pop it out onto a piece of wax paper. When it comes to room temperature I place it into the case that I have decorated and add curling ribbon. Makes a cute and inexpensive gift.

I hope this helps some of you that have to buy for teens or tweens Ü Let me know what you think. I ♥ comments. Thanks again for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

More Father's Day Wordart

2011-05-19T16:13:00.001-07:00

Here is another Father's Day wordart for you. I hope you can use this on cards or scrapbook pages. Thanks for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Download Here

Notebook Before and After

2011-05-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

I will be joining Kristen's party HERE. Stop by and see what you can find to buy or just look around. I will make and sell anything you see on my site. Just email me for more info.

Hi everyone and thanks so much for stopping by today. I thought I would share a notebook that I decorated for my granddaughter. She loves cute things for her desk Ÿ

This started out as one of those inexpensive notebooks that you can pick up anywhere. I bought a whole stack of these at Wal Mart for 10¢ each. If you want to make one of these for your student just go to THIS POST for a little tutorial.

It really helps if you have a laminator as it makes the notebook withstand the wear and tear they go through, but not a must. I designed the cover in Print Master and included a picture of my granddaughter and her 2 brothers Ü She is the oldest, but they are much bigger than her, lol. They do love their Sissy (that's what they call her) and she loves them even if their biggest thrill in the world is aggravating her Ÿ

After I finished the notebook I cut out a laminated heart as a little tag to hang on the notebook using my cuttlebug and my nestabilities. Melani's name was made using monograms I purchased from

This is a closeup of the little tag I made to hang on the notebook. I added a "W" to it because her last name begins with a "w". It is laminated as well and is really sturdy.

I hope you will try this. If you do , please let me know. I would love to see it. I will be linking up to some of the parties listed on the right side of my blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

My Daughter's House

2011-05-14T08:36:00.001-07:00

I will be linking up to Susan's Naps on the Porch. Just click on the name to be taken there and see all the great links she has to share of others who have joined her link party.

Hello everyone and thanks so much for stopping by. I have wanted to share pics for awhile of my daughter's house and since I haven't crafted anything lately to share then I thought welllll, this will be a good time to post the house pics. I hope you enjoy the tour.

My daughter and her husband bought this house about 6 yrs. ago and that is when these pictures were made. Needless to say there have been lots of changes since then. I will have to take updated pics soon and share them.

The house is 6000 sq. ft. and sits on 85 acres of land. There are 4 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. I hope you enjoy the tour. If you are like me you love to have sneek peeks into houses. I hope you enjoy.

This is the front of the house where you enter through the gates. There are 4 sets of gates like this on the property.

This picture shows some of the fence as you drive down the road by the house.

This is a picture of the pool area and it is about 3 times this big now since they enlarged the patio area and removed the fences and all those flowers. Now with the new baby I am trying to get my daughter to add an iron fence around the pool area. It would be pretty, but mainly it would keep the baby away from the pool. Can you tell I'm the typical worrying grandmother Ü

This is the kitchen. I ♥ the island.

This is a small bathroom off from the kitchen.

The breakfast area. I ♥ the red dishes and the red toile on the chair seats. She has a really pretty table runner that matches the chairs, but I have no idea where it was on this day.

Another view of the breakfast area. I ♥ that little iron bistro sign in the window.

The above picture was taken in the family room. Next time I will take more pics of that room.

The laundry room of course Ÿ

Another picture of the family room. There are 3 sets of French doors leading out onto the patio and a beautiful fireplace in this room with lots of shelves and cabinets on each side of the fireplace.

A picture of the foyer.

This is the formal dining room.

I hope you enjoyed the tour. I will post again one day featuring the bedrooms. Thanks so much for stopping by. I will be joining the blog parties listed to the right of my blog. I hope you check them out and see all the wonderful things that are shared there. Hugz, Diane

Father's Day Wordart

2011-05-12T12:51:00.000-07:00

Here is some Father's Day wordart some of you might can use. It is in PNG format and will work great for cards or scrapbook pages. Just click on the download below the wordart and save to your computer. Enjoy Ü

Download Here

Graduation Frame

2011-05-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

Download Here

I made this frame (you put a picture in the "0") for a graduation card I made and thought some of you might like to have it for cards or scrapbook pages you might make for your own graduates.

It is in png format and should work for most graphics programs. Just click on the download link to save it to your computer.

Thanks for stopping by today. I ♥ visitors so let me know you were here Ÿ

Taylor's 1st Birthday Party

2011-05-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

Joining Centsational Girl's Party over HERE. Hope you will drop by and join the fun Ÿ

All the little ladies at the party delighted in receiving their own eiffel tower sippy cups. My daughter ordered them from Birthday Express. She also ordered the matching plates, cups, tablecloths and balloons from Birthday Express.

The Invitation

Taylor's Party Hat

I will be entering this little party over at Ellephantastic's Challenge blog. Please drop on over there and check out all the cute entries.

Hi everyone and thanks so much for stopping by and allowing me to brag on my sweet Taylor's 1st birthday party. What a fun time we had with that little "miss" Ÿ

As you know from previous posts (HERE) I made most of the party favors and decorations. Don't ask me why, but I did not get a picture of the cake or the cute :o( The above picture shows the candle I made and we had lots of the decorated water bottles to hand out.

Anyway, I did get a terrible picture of the sign I made to hang out in front of the house to greet the guests. It was about 2 ft. by 3 ft. and I used my cricut to make it. It was a beautiful pink vinyl on black foam core board, but like I said, the picture is terrible.

The above pic shows the eiffel tower center piece that my daughter already had and we just added pink and black tulle and balloons to the top. The tower itself stands about 3 ft. tall. I also did not get a close up of the cute, cute skirt Taylor's other Nana made for the high chair. It was pleated and had an overlay of tulle. I made the doilys that she added to the front using my cricut again. You can see the high chair in the background in the above pic.

I really liked how her little party turned out. You can tell from the look on our little Mademoiselle's face she wasn't too enthused with any of it, lol.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment and let me know you were here and I'll be sure and return the visit Ÿ

Accordian Paper Bows

2011-04-29T07:41:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone and thanks so much for stopping by today. I wanted to share some accordian folded bows that I made awhile back. I got my inspiration and inst. These are so easy and fast and really dress up a plain gift or gift bag. They would also be a cute accent for a card. These measure 4 inches across, but you make them any size.

As you can tell I made a variety of them using different scrapbook paper, cut up gift bags and even some stationery I had on hand. I used my punches and cuddlebug to cut out accents to add to the center of the bows.

The one in the picture above was made using scrapbook paper and an old clip on "earbob". I just took a pair of pliers and removed the clip on the back and a touch of glue to add it to the bow.

This one I just used scrapbook paper and added a little plastic baby. I thought this one would be cute to use for a baby gift.

This one is scrapbook paper with a fleur de lis punch added to the middle.

Again, scrapbook paper with a heart added to the middle would be cute for Valentine's Day gift.

This is a piece of stationery.

Here is a pink and green piece of scrapbook paper with a green jewel added to the center. I used this one on a plain white gift bag with matching tissue paper added to the bag.

I hope this gives you an idea of how to use these cute and simple little bows. You would only be limited by your imagination.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. Let me know what you think and please visit the blogs listed on the right hand side of my blog. These are the blog parties I will be joining.

Have a great day. Hugz, Diane

Cereal Box Magazine Holder

2011-04-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone and thanks so much for stopping by today Ÿ I wanted to share a little project with you today that I have been needing to do forever. I wanted a neat way to keep my magazines on my desk and I have seen these all over the internet, but just didn't take time to make one. So, here it is. Only 2 more to make and I can keep my favorite magazines close at hand.

In case some of you want to make one of your own here is how I did mine. I first found my directions from this site HERE. I made a few changes, but it gave me the dimensions to get started.

I measured up from the bottom of the cereal box 4 inches and made a mark with my black magic marker. I then just made a line from that line to the top of each side of the box and cut that part away.

The above picture shows the cutaway part. I just discarded this, but you could save it for some great weight of cardboard for other projects.

I then took the box apart at the bottom flaps and the side seam. Do this carefully so as not to tear your box up.

Laying it out flat like this allows you to add your paper without any trouble and if you use contact paper like I did then you will really want to lay it out flat, lol. I don't like working with contact paper, but it is inexpensive and there are some cute patterns out there. You could also use scrapbook paper.

I covered both sides of my box.

Here it is with both sides covered. I just went along the edges of the box to trim it up neatly and then just put it back together at the seam line and the bottom flaps. I used my cool melt glue gun and it worked great.

Here it is all finished up and guess what??? I wasn't happy with it being so plain so what did I add???

You guessed it... a fleur de lis. I ♥ anything with a fleur de lis on it, lol. You could add or decorate your box anyway you wanted at this point. Now I am off to make the other 2 boxes. I hope you will try this little project. Let me know what you think and please drop by again sometimes. Hugz, Diane

Easter Egg Lollipops

2011-04-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone and I'm so sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Seems like with Taylor's party and yard work there just isn't enough hours in the day.

Thought I would share this cute idea I saw HERE. I used graphic I had on my computer that came from HERE in case you want to make your own Easter Pops.

These were so easy to make so you still have time if you would like to add them to your list of goodies for those Easter baskets many of you are putting together. This picture shows a side view using the little dumb dumb lollipops and the other pic shows a side view using a flatter lollipop. Either one works well.

I just printed out the cute cute egg graphics provided by Country Liv's Cottage Arts. She has some really cute things over there so if you get a chance check out her blog Ü Anyway, when I printed out the eggs using cardstock and cut them out. Used a hole punch to add the hole for the lollipop stick to go through. Folded up the other half of the egg and glued them shut at the top. Added a bow and was done. Really fast and easy.

Here they are again all finished. Liv has some really cute eggs to choose from. I just opened up the egg in Printmaster, copied and flipped it to have 2 eggs end to end and printed. Let me know if you can't understand my inst. I'm terrible at explaining Ü

Thanks so much for stopping by and please visit all the great blogs where I will be sharing this project. They are all listed by days over to the right hand side of my blog. Hugz, Diane

My Favorite Kitchen Cabinet

2011-04-06T15:07:00.001-07:00

In case you haven't seen the blog party that Sheila is hosting over at Note Songs I thought I would invite you over Ÿ I loved this idea of posting about your favorite kitchen cupboard and this is mine Ü

Actually this is the bottom part of an old dresser. My daughter acquired it when she and her husband bought their home. She didn't like where it was and couldn't find anywhere else in her house that it fit so guess who ended up with it. ME !

It fits in my kitchen perfectly and holds extra table cloths, napkins and table runners. So handy and I love the paint job on it as well.

Hope you will stop by Note Songs and take a look at all the others that joined in on the blog party. I have had so much fun checking out all the kitchen cabinets.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Headboard and Work Table

2011-03-31T15:00:00.000-07:00

Yippeee, Bella just emailed me that this headboard had been featured over at her great blog:
Bella Before and After. Thank you so much Bella. I can't wait to tell Terry. I hope you will all visit Bella's great blog and see all the others that were featured as well.

Hello everyone and thank you so much for stopping by today. I thought I would take a break from posting about my grandbaby's 1st birthday party to share a new headboard Terry built for me.

If you have been here the last couple of weeks you know I have been posting about the Parisian birthday party coming up later this month. If you want to see what I have made for it so far then scroll down to the 2 previous posts. I will be posting more about the party in a future post.

Now on with the details of the headboard Ÿ Terry was tired of hearing me complain that I wanted a new headboard for our king size bed. I couldn't just go out and buy one because the way the windows are in that room it is next to impossible to find just what I wanted. Oh, I sooo wanted shelves so this is what Terry cut and layed out for my approval.

I loved it so he nailed it together. See the above photo. He sanded it, countersunk the skrews (I think that is what he did), lol. It really looked so pretty at this point, but of course he had to stain it to match the rest of the furniture in the room Ü

Yep, here it is all stained. I love it Ÿ

This is a picture of the headboard all attached to the bed. I love the large wicker table from Pier 1 so I wanted to keep using that, but I wanted a new table for the other side of the bed sooooo...
Terry had this old set of end tables and coffee table set.

Here are 2 of the tables. He sanded them really well and stained them.

Matched perfectly. I love it.

Now for the coffee table he stained it and added new legs and made a perfect work table for my craft room. Again... I love it. It is soooo pretty and sturdy. Did I tell you I love my new tables and headboard, lol. Don't worry, I have told Terry over and over how pleased I am with his work ;o)

Be sure and check out the blog parties I will be posting this project to located to the right of my blog. Please try to visit some of these blogs and leave a comment telling them you were there. They have soooo many wonderful projects for you to try.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to let me know what you think about Terry's handy work. Hugz, Diane

PARISian Party Part 2

2011-03-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone and thank you so much for stopping by. Yes... I'm still at it with Taylor's 1st birthday party stuff. Having toooo much fun with this stuff Ÿ I will be joining the blog parties listed to the right hand side of my blog and I hope you will check out these great blogs and leave some love when you visit them. Ü If you want to see other things I have made for this party just scroll down.

Okay, back to the party. If you read my last post you know I am helping my daughter plan my little granddaughter's 1st birthday party. We are having a Paris soiree' for our little Mademoiselle Taylor. My daughter has done her part and that was ordering the matching plates, cups, napkins, etc. You get the idea, lol. She has also ordered the cake. My grandbaby's other Nana and I are taking care of all the party favors and decorations.

I found these cute blowouts (that is what is called on the pkg. I have always , at Fred's. I just brought them home and slid the round part off that said Princess and used that for my template to make slide ons that matched Taylor's party theme. I used my Spellbinder die cuts to cut out the decoration that I had designed on the computer. Very easy and fast.

Here is another picture of some of the blowouts I made. I am only making 10 of these because most of the guest aren't old enough to play with them.

This is picture made closer up showing how I punched a hole in each end and slid them upon the blowouts.

This is a little cutlery box I made to hold the napkins, forks and spoons. I made 2 of these. This is not how they will look. I am going to make napkin rings and place it around a napkin with a spoon and a fork & then add them to the boxes. If you would like to make one of these little boxes yourself (you could use any theme) here is the link for the inst. BOX. It was really easy to make and turned out soooo cute. It is a real sturdy box as well.

I don't know why I thought I needed so many pics of this box, but I just love how it turned out.

This is a view looking down into the box and you can see the compartments.

Well, this is all I have done so far on the party, but I will be adding more goodies as the party gets closer. Stay tuned, lol. Thanks so much for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

PARISian PARTY

2011-03-18T05:07:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone and thanks so much for stopping by. Today I thought I would share some of the party things I am creating for my sweet Mademoiselle Taylor's 1st birthday party. Taylor is my little ooh la la granddaughter Ÿ

The party is next month so I'm trying to get a jump on everything. I decorated some little pink boxes I bought at Wal Mart. This will be a thank you to the little ones that attend the party and we will fill them with goodies.

This is a closeup of the box.

These are the cupcake toppers that will be attached to lollipop sticks. I am making red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing. Will also be making my first cake pops. Can't wait to see how those turn out.

This is a picture of the banner that will hang over one of the dessert tables. I will attach these to a cute ribbon.

Each banner piece measures 11 inches tall.

I have soooo many more ideas of things I want to create. I will post them as I make them. Stay tuned, lol.

Thanks so much for stopping by and please check out the blog link parties I will be linking this to. They are all listed on the right side bar of my blog. And thank you for stopping by for a visit. I hope you will leave a comment and let me know you were here. Hugz, Diane

Tin Can Man

2011-03-10T16:52:00.001-08:00

Hi and I'm so glad you dropped by today Ü

I know most of you have probably seen the little tin man that people hang in their garden or on a patio. I ran across this picture and thought I would share it in case there is anyone who might like to make one. I have had soooo many comments on this little guy that hangs on my back porch.

If you would like to make one of your own you can visit this link for the instructions. I did the face of mine a little different and used tuna cans for the feet. You can adapt it for the cans you have on hand. Just wash and save your old cans for this little project. Some wire and a few skrews and you are good to go.

Thanks again for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Easter S'mores

2011-03-03T13:50:00.001-08:00

Everyone seemed to enjoy the Valentine S'mores that I shared last month so I thought I would make an Easter S'mores and share the bag topper in case anyone wanted to make their own.

I bought the pink Peeps, you can get lots of colors if you don't want to use the pink ones. I put in the graham crackers and some of the Hershey chocolate miniatures. I made the bag topper using graphics from She has the most awesome clipart. Check it out for yourself. The little bunny face was one that was shared on the web a long time ago and I have no idea where I got it. If you know please let me know so I can give proper credit.

Here is the bag topper I put together in case you want to make the s'mores. Just click on it and open it up full size, right click and click on "save as" and save it somewhere on your computer that you can find it when you want to use it.

I will be sharing this at the blog parties listed in the side bar to the right of my blog. Please drop by and visit the great blogs and see all the wonderful ideas offered.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Hugz, Diane

Easter Lollipop Holder

2011-03-02T08:33:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone and thanks so much for stopping by. I wanted to share a cute little lollipop holder that I found over at Kerry's blog. I hope you will visit Kerry's blog and see all the wonderful ideas she has and for complete inst. on how to make this little box. Hers was made for Valentines, but I adapted it for Easter. I just love how fast this went together and I think it will be a great little item to add to Easter baskets.

I bought these cute lollipops at Dollar General and they were 5 in a pkg. for $1. The Easter pencil is one left over from my stash. I had to cut the sticks off a little to fit into the box.

This is a sideview of the box.

This has nothing to do with todays post other than I wanted to share the idea with you and not make a separate post about it because it is so simple. I bought a box of Huggies wet wipes and added the fleur de lis and pearls using burgandy vinyl that would match my bathroom. I have this sitting by the sink and it is great for quickly wiping the counter top and I even use them to remove my makeup. They are so handy to have close by. I have even wiped down my mirror when water gets splashed on it and then use a dry cloth to dry it. Just wanted to share this handy item with you. I bought the Huggies brand because there isn't an annoying label to try to get off. Just unwrap the suran and you have a plain white box to decorate. Huggies is imprinted on the top, but not really noticeable Ÿ

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you will leave me a comment letting me know you were here. Hugz, Diane

Bunny & Basket

2011-02-18T23:08:00.000-08:00

Hello and thanks so much for stopping by today. I wanted to share a basket that I made and 2 little candy bunnies to go in the basket. I am also going to add some of the foil covered chocolate Easter eggs, but didn't have any of those on hand. I think they will be the perfect size for this little basket.

The basket was soooo easy to make and really is sturdy. I used scrapbook cardstock. If you want to make your own basket you can find the inst.

I really wish I had had the Hershey nugget candy, but all I had was the Hershey miniature candy so I just put 2 together to make the bunnies. Printed out a funny face and then added a little bunny tail (pom pon). Also added a little pre made bow.

I also used green and pink paper grass inside the basket. Really finished it off well.

This is a view of the back of the bunny.

I hope you will give this little basket a try. It really is easy and fast to put together. I made mine a 6 inch square, but I have made this basket using a 12x 12 piece of cardstock and it makes a really big basket.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Easter Bunny Candy Idea

2011-02-16T11:20:00.001-08:00

This little bunny idea was featured over at Tattered Tag. Thank you so much Christina Ü I hope everyone will drop by and visit Christina's great blog and check out all the entries in her blog party.

I just found out this little project was featured over at Embellishing Life. Thank you so very much Jenny. I hope everyone will stop by over at EL and see all the great things she has and join in her blog party.

Hello everyone and thanks so much for stopping by. I ♥ visitors Ü

I will be linking this little project to all the link parties listed to the right hand side of my blog. I hope you will all visit these great blogs even if you don't want to enter. You will find a huge assorment of craft projects for you enjoyment.

I know our next holiday is St. Patty's Day, but I have made these cute little bunnies to have on hand when the grandchildren drop by so I thought I would share these with you today.

They are soooo easy to make and turned out cute. Really inexpensive to put together as well. I had this cute bunny face in my files... not sure where I got it, but I just printed it off using white cardstock. I then used my Spellbinder's Nestabilities to cut it out. Added a little premade bow and using my cool melt glue gun I attached it to a Reece's Cup, but you could use any candy you wanted. I thought about using a York Peppermint Patty, but not all my grands like those Ÿ

I cut out some bunny ears out of white cardstock (again found on the internet) and taped them to the back of the bunny face. I used scissors to curl them a little. The ear on the right looks like I might have curled it a little more, lol. You could use blue ears for a boy bunny and instead of the bow on the ear you could add a bow tie.

For the back of the bunny/candy I printed out Happy Easter and using a 2 1/2 inch hole punch to cut them out. I added a cotton ball for the bunny's tail and that was it.

I hope you can use this little idea for something you might want to add to an Easter basket of goodies or even for treats to send to a school party. Let me know what you think and thanks so much for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Diva Picture Holder

2011-02-05T07:13:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone and thanks so much for stopping by Ü

Don't you just love using scraps??? Whether it is scraps of fabric, paper or in this case wood Ÿ

My dear sweet Terry built me a new headboard. It turned out soooo pretty. I ♥ it. I will post about that later on.

Anyway back to the scrap piece of wood... Terry cut out half moon shapes to build my headboard and of course he brought the cute little half moon shapes in to me and asked if I could make something with them. He knows me sooooo well, lol.

Here are the elements I used to put this little project together. (Notice that Terry even put a bevel on the wood piece with his router). The items I used for this project was the wood piece, a piece of maribu fur I had on hand, a 1/16th inch piece of wire that Terry had on hand (I'm showing a 1/16th in. dowel that I would use next time and paint it, 3 alligator clips (I bought these at the hardware store, but I later found them cheaper at Hobby Lobby on the jewelry making isle), paint, modge podge and a piece of scrapbook paper.

I painted the piece of wood and then Terry drilled my holes in the piece to add the wire/dowels. When the paint was dry I put a piece of black felt on the bottom to give it a finished look and it wouldn't scratch an furniture it was sitting on. After all that was dry I took modge podge to the front and added the piece of scrapbook paper. You could use any color scheme you wanted at this point. I then glued the alligator clips to the wire and glued them into the holes. I then added the pre glued bling to the front and then glued the maribu fur using my glue gun.

This is a closeup of the cutest rhinestone rubon for the front of the finished piece. It is real sparkly. Soooo cute. I made this for my granddaughter and she lovvvvves bling and zebra print, lol.

Here is the finished piece with some pics added to give you the full effect Ü What do you think? Let me know. I ♥ comments Ÿ

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day. Hugz, Diane

Cupcake Free Printables

2011-01-30T16:16:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and thanks so much for stopping by Ÿ

This little printable was featured over at Yesterday On Tuesday's blog. Thanks so much. I hope all of you will visit over there and see all the cute stuff she shares Ü

I thought this week I would share some cupcake wrappers and a cupcake pick for you to print out and use for some of your own Valentine parties or just as a treat for your family members.

I printed these at 9 ½ inches. Cut them out and wrapped them around my cupcakes. I used double side tape to attach them closed in the back. I printed the heart shaped picks and used my heart shaped Nestabilities to cut them out. Used a sucker stick by Wilton purchased at Hobby Lobby to attack the hearts and then inserted the stick into the cupcake.

Here are the wrappers. Hope you like them. Just click on them to bring up full size, save to your computer.

This is the cupcake topper. Just right click and save to your computer. Open them up in your favorite graphics program, print them out, cut out and tape to sucker sticks.

Hope you like these and can use them. Let me know and thanks so much for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Coffee Filter Topiary

2011-01-26T05:34:00.001-08:00

I was just notified that Heather over at Me Making Do featured this little topiary. Thank you so much Heather. I hope all of you will visit Heather's blog and see all the fantastic projects she has to share Ü

Hi and I'm so glad you stopped by today Ÿ

I know everyone is making Valentine topiaries right now, but I haven't seen one made with coffe filters so I thought I would share the one I made.

First off I want to apologize for the horrible colors of my pics. Terry bought me the nicest camera for Christmas and I haven't even opened the book on how to use it. I am just taking pictures like I know what I'm doing and they aren't turning out very well :o( The colors are horrible in the pictures. It looks like a washed out peach color when in fact the coffee filters turned out the prettiest pink color Ü

This first picture is the topiary all finished up. I just love how it turned out.

The above pic here are the elements I used to put this together. The only thing I didn't get a picture of was the toy rubber ball I used to glue the filters to ö Yep, you heard me right. I used a child's rubber ball and cut a hole in the bottom and it held it's shape perfectly. I didn't take a picture of it because when I did it I had no idea it would work. It was just a 5 in. rubber ball that one of the grandchildren had caught at a ball game. You know the type that businesses will donate for the cheerleaders to throw to the crowd??? Anyway, I just took a 3/4 inch dowel and glued it in the hole, let that dry.

The dowel stick was held in place by using Touch 'n Foam max fill. You know that expanding foam you buy in a can at the hardware store. Believe me that stuff expands. I put toooo much of course and Terry had to slice it off with a knife even with the top of the topiary container. The container was a metal can I bought after Christmas on sale. It is a pretty silver swirl.

This is a picture of the ribbon I used. Isn't it pretty? Wire edged. Gorgeous colors. I bought a 9 ft. roll of this at Dollar Tree.

These are the coffee filters after I dyed them. I used Wilton's food coloring and they turner out the prettiest pink. I just dipped them, sqeezed the excess water out and threw them into the dryer and then scrunched them up and used my glue gun to attach them to the ball.

Here is the topiary again all finished. I used a pretty pink (sorry about the horrible color in the picture) Easter grass that I bought on sale last year. Used my glue gun to attach it.

I hope this gives you some more ideas if you want to make your own Valentine Topiary. Thank you so much for stopping by and if you have any questions just let me know. Hugz, Diane

Coke Bottle Bracelet

2011-01-13T09:02:00.000-08:00

I am so honored that Bella over at Bella Before and After featured these little bracelets. Thank you so much Bella Ÿ I hope all of you will visit Bella's great blog and see all the great crafting items she shares.

Hello and thanks so much for stopping by today. I ♥ having company Ü

Have you had a chance to buy and play with the cute, cute zebra print and leopard print duct tape? I lovvvve that stuff Ÿ I've had it for awhile and just now playing with it.

I came up with the idea of making a bracelet and wanted to use the duct tape. I haven't seen this idea anywhere, but I'm sure someone in blogland has probably already thought of this.

Anyway, I had some diet Dr. Pepper in the pantry and finished one off and used the empty bottle to make my bracelet. As you can see by the pic. above I just wrapped a piece of paper around the bottle so I could make a straight line with my black marker. Used the knife to start the cut and used the scissors to cut out the circle.

I then cut a length of the duct tape to go all the way around the bracelet. (be very careful with this part because if the tape touches itself you can't get it apart, don't ask me how I know this, lol). I cut the bottle 1 inch wide for the zebra bracelet and then centered my tape on top and since the tape is 2 inches wide that gave me ¼ inch to turn to the back and give my bracelet a finished edge. The leopard print bracelet is 1/2 inches wide.

I used one of the cute brads from Spare Parts to add a decorative element to my bracelet. I then took a 1/8 inch hole punch and made a hole to put the brad into. I also ran tape around the inside of the bracelet to give it a neat finished look and to hold the brad straight in place.

The above picture shows the hole I punched to add the brad. If you click on the pic you might can see the hole I made.

Here they are all finished up. My wrist is small so you might have to use a larger bottle. I think the next ones I make I am going to use a tin can. The tape puts such a nice finish that I think a can would work perfectly when you covered the sharp edge. Also, my hubs suggested cutting the bracelet into and adding velcro as a closure.

Well, I hope you like the bracelets and will give it a try. If you do I would love to see it.

Thank you so much for stopping by. Please let me know what you think. Hugz, Diane

Valentine Sucker Box

2011-01-10T11:19:00.000-08:00

Hello and thank you for stopping by today. I hope you find something here that will get you inspired to make something cute Ÿ I'm terrible with inst., but if you have any questions about anything on my site, but email me or leave a comment and I will get right back to you.

I saw the cutest idea at Taylored Expressions and thought I just had to make a couple of my own. I made my own suckers so I had to make a bigger box than hers.

What do you think? Aren't they the cutest??? I made the suckers using Wilton's chocolate that you just melt in the microwave using a Pyrex measuring cup. Used cute pink and red sticks bought at Hobby Lobby. I also "glued" a piece of candy decorations that I bought at the grocery store. I used some melted chocolate as my glue.

The picture above shows some of the elements of this project. The wilton sucker mold was purchased at Hobby Lobby years ago. That taken apart box in the picture is one that came with some scented sticks I received for Christmas. I just took the box apart and used that for my template. I have included the template at the bottom of this post if anyone wants to use it.

Here are the suckers when I took them out of the frig. They are soooo easy to make, but you could buy Valentine suckers and do the same thing.

Just love the suckers with the candy added to them. Really dressed them up Ü

Here they are all boxed up. I think I might add a ribbon to the stick as well. But, then you would have to untie the ribbon to get the sucker out. Wellll, we'll see.

Let me know what you think. I love comments. Thanks so much for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Valentine S'mores

2011-01-04T16:43:00.001-08:00

Thanks so much to Krafty Kat for featuring this project. It means sooo much to me. I hope everyone will visit over there and even join her great link party. Thanks again Krafty Kat Ü

This little project was featured over at Swainstonvinyl. Thank you so much Ÿ

These S'mores were also featured over at Boogieboard Cottage. Thanks so much Mary. I really appreciate it Ü

WOW, the s'mores idea was featured over at Simple as 123's blog as well Ü Thank you soooo much. Be sure and check out this beautiful blog and see all the Valentine stuff she is sharing.

OMGosh, this little s'mores idea was featured again over at Keeping It Simple. Thank you sooo much. It is such a good feeling to share something that is appreciated and enjoyed by others. That is my goal Ü Please visit over at Keeping It Simple and see all the great projects that are entered in her link party and the others that she featured. Some great stuff there Ÿ

Well, guess what these s'mores was also featured over at Cup of Delight's blog. Thank you April. You have made my day Ÿ I hope all of you will stop by over at April's blog and visit her and see all the great ideas she has in store for you Ü

WOW, I just found out that this little s'mores idea was featured over at Treasurista. Thanks so much. I am so glad you liked this. So many great things featured over there. I hope all of you will drop by and see for yourself Ü

Hi and thanks for stopping by Ÿ I'm so glad you are here. Today I wanted to share a cute little Valentine craft project with you.

Isn't this the cutest? I ♥ s'mores and this one would be so cute to give as a Valentine favor and really easy for them to make in the microwave.

All I did was take a zip lock bag and added a graham cracker, 2 marshmellows and 2 mini Hershey bars. Aren't the marshmellows cute? I made them by taking a large pink marshmellow from Wal Mart and putting it between 2 layers of wax paper. Took a rolling pin and flattened them slightly. I then took a heart shaped cookie cutter ( the metal kind with a sharp edge) and cut out the heart shape.

If you would like to use the same bag topper you can find it HERE. Thanks so much Tricia for the cute labels!

Thanks again for stopping by and please leave a comment to let me know what you think about the project Ÿ Hugz, Diane

Valentine Carton

2010-12-29T07:01:00.001-08:00

This carton was featured over at Santa's Gift Shoppe Ÿ Thank you so much. I am so humbled.

Hello everyone. I'm soooo happy you stopped by today.

Are you excited about Valentine coming up??? Wellll, I am, lol. I love that holiday. Everything is pinks and reds and lots of chocolate... my favorites Ÿ

I thought I would share a "milk" carton I created as a Valentine treat for someone special. I just took it into my favorite graphics program and added the cute graphics that I purchased at pccrafter.com . Or you could go on the web and find many cute graphics that are free.

The template I used for this carton can be found

It was really easy to make and I just added some cute marshmellow candies. You could use use any candy that would fit into the carton. I altered the template a little bit by adding a cutout as a window and put a piece of transparency over the opening.

Let me know what you think. I lovvvve comments and answer each and every one. I have found soooo many cute blogs to visit this way Ü

Have a great day and drop by again soon. Hugz, Diane

Valentine Favor

2010-12-20T15:02:00.001-08:00

Hi... I'm so glad you stopped by Ÿ

Okay, I'm officially tired of making Christmas gifts and decorations, lol. I made soooo many gifts last week and didn't take pics of all of them, but they all turned out well and I'm happy with them and have them wrapped and ready to give. Yipppeeee Ü Don't get me wrong... I'm not a scrooge, I'm just through making Christmas goodies for this year Ÿ

This week I thought I would share a Valentine favor I made a couple of years ago and thought I would share with all of you. It is soooo simple to make, but sooo cute and a hit with the little ones.

All you need to purchase for this little project is the 6 pack of squeeze juice ( I chose the red flavor for Valentine). You will need Hershey kisses. I had these red and silver ones from Christmas, but you could use the silver kisses as well. I also added a little tag I made using curling ribbon. Schroll down and you will find a printable version of the tag that you can use for making this project if you want.

This picture shows a closeup of the Hershey kiss after I attached it with my cool melt glue gun.

Here is the tag if you want to use it. Just click on it to get it larger, right click and save to your computer. Print it off on cardstock, cut it out and use a hole punch to punch a hole to run the ribbon through. Tie the ribbon to your bottle and you are finished. Sooo easy and fun to make. This would be great party favor to take to school for your little ones to give in place of Valentines or for you to give out to young visitors that might visit you during the Valentine season.

I hope you don't mind me jumping to Valentine projects, but I really am tired of making Christmas things :o(

Thank you so much for stopping by. Let me know what you think. Hugz, Diane

Santa Tissue Box

2010-12-15T05:38:00.000-08:00

My little Santa Tissue Box was featured over at Someday Crafts. Yipppeee Ÿ Thank you so much Michelle Ü I hope all of you will go over and visit Michelle's great blog and see the other featured items. They are awesome. I am just so humbled to be featured among such great crafters.

Hello everyone and thanks so much for stopping by. I thought I would share a little tissue box I made. I think it turned out soooo cute. I had seen this somewhere on the net and can't remember where, but it stuck in my mind. I thought I can do that if I just knew how to make the box. I found instruction that was soooo easy and went together really fast.

You can click on the pics to see larger Ü

And what good southern Santa would be dressed properly if his suit wasn't made out of a fleur de lis background, lol. I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the cardstock after I cut the box out.

Okay... what do you think? Let me know and thanks for checking out my Santa Tissue Box.

I will be joining the blog parties found the left side of my blog. Check them out and join the fun.

Hugz, Diane

Flavored Butter Gifts

2010-12-04T14:14:00.000-08:00

I know some of you are like me and like to take a little hostess gift when you are invited to someone's home to eat dinner so I thought I would share what I will be taking next Tuesday night.

This picture shows what it took to make this quick and inexpensive little gift. I had bought the Warm Delights minis the other day and they are oh so delish Ÿ If you follow my blog at all you know how I love reusing the little boxes and cups. I ♥ to recycle when I can. You might remember THIS little project from a beer carton.

After cooking and eating the little cakes (yummmmmy) I washed the bowls and saved them until I thought of this project. I layed the box on a piece of cardstock and made a template. Ran it through my printer so I could add the wording to the front. Made a paper flower and used a cute piece of ribbon purchased at DG for $1.

This is a picture of the garlic butter that I put in one of the bowls. I put cinnamon butter in the other bowl. Use the press and seal glad wrap to seal them. That stuff really seals well. It looks like it was bought that way when you finish with it. I just cut my wrap larger, ran my finger around it to get a tight seal and then trimmed it up with scissors. Refrigerate overnight to firm up the butter.

I just went on the internet and found some recipes I liked. The ones I used are as follows:

Cinnamon Butter

½ cup butter (I used 1 stick) or margarine
½ cup powdered sugar
½ cup honey
1 tsp. cinnamon
Let butter come to room temp. and mix well with rest of ingredients.
This is great on hot biscuits, pancakes or waffles Ÿ

Garlic Butter
2 sticks margarine or butter (any brand) or 1 cup

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

¼ cup Parmeson cheese

Let butter come to room temp. and mix well with other ingredients.

This is great to use to make garlic bread.

Wrapped the carton I made around the bowls, added a paper flower I made, added the ribbon and called it good. Both of these flavored butters taste great.

What do you think? Let me know and thanks so much for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Christmas Ornament Exchange

2010-11-30T14:56:00.000-08:00

OMGosh, did I ever enjoy the ornament exchange over at Sassy Mini Dolls. Just click on the name of her blog to read all about the fun ornaments that everyone received and see the prcious virtual Christmas Tree. Just toooo cute for words.

My exchange partner was Jackie and she really outdid herself. Not only did she make 2 ornaments and send me, but she sent them in the cutest envelopes along with other cute surprises.

These are the ornaments Jackie sent me. She also sent me the cutest calendar. How lucky am I Ÿ You must skip on over and visit JACKIE. You will get lost in her sweet blog. She tells the cutest fairytales and guess what... they are allll true. I soooo enjoy my visits there and I know you will as well. Just click on her name and enjoy your visit.

I want to thank Marsha over at Sassy Mini Dolls for hosting this great swap. I really enjoyed it. Hugz, Diane

Snowflake Ornament Quick Gift

2010-11-30T13:55:00.000-08:00

Do you ever find yourself wishing you had a little gift that you could give just because? I know I do. I love having something on hand just in case and I love giving something to my neighbors and the little older ladies at church... well you get the idea.

This year I am making ornament cards to hand out. They are cute and super inexpensive.

I bought these snowflake ornaments at Dollar General. They came 5 to a pkg. for $1. They are 4x4 inches and they have glitter on them. Soooo cute.

I just printed out the card using graphics from Bluedream Designs that she so generously shared for free. You can find them There are several backgrounds and lots of cute elements so you can design your own.

I just used double sided tape to hold the ornament on the card so the recipient can remove the ornie from the card and hang on their tree or they can just hang the whole card on the tree with the ornie attached. I punched a hole by the ribbon so they can add a hook.

This is the poem I added: (Not sure who the author is. If you know please let me know and I will give them credit Ÿ)

Although a simple snowflake

Is all I seem to be

Please take me home &

Hang me upon your Christmas tree.
I'll remind you of the blessings
That come from heaven's way
Just like the little snowflakes
Upon a winter's day.

Here is one I did a few years back. Also super easy and quick. I found the icicles at the dollar store 10/$1. The poem reads:

Friendship Icicle poem:

The beauty of an icicle is so like the heart of a friend

We behold it with awe, our amazement never ends

This icicle is special, just like you are to me

It is everlasting, it will never melt you see

So like our friendship it will endure both good and bad

It will glisten in our laughter and shine when we are sad

It will not melt away, so hang it on your tree

As a holiday reminder of what your friendship means to me

I hope this gives you some idea of a simple, quick and inexpensive gift you might like to make and have on hand.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Let me know what you think. I love comments. Hugz, Diane Ü

Coloring Ornaments

2010-11-22T13:47:00.000-08:00

My little ornament was featured over at Simply Sweet Home. Thank you so much Jerri Ÿ Be sure and visit Jerri's blog. You will be glad you did Ü

My ornament was also featured over at Katie's Nesting Spot. Thank you so much Katie. I hope all of you will visit her blog really soon and check out her blog party. Lots of fun to be had there Ü

I wanted to share a Christmas ornament I made. This one of for my granddaughter Chelcey. I wanted to use pretty pink ornaments and use black vinyl in my cricut to cut the name and guess what... I couldn't find pretty pink ornaments, lol.

I had plenty of pink paint and some clear ornaments so I thought why not paint them Ÿ So that is what I did. Just had to make sure they were clean of residue on the inside so the paint would stick.

These are the elements I used to make the ornament. One clear ornament, some craft paint and a small piece of maribu fur that I bought at Hobby Lobby. It costs about $6 for a 6 ft. piece. You can get this fur in a multitude of colors.

I took the end cap out of the hole and poured a good amount of paint into the ball and swirled it around until it was completely coated.

Then I just set the ornament with the hole facing into the bottle and let the excess paint run back into the bottle.

I added the year to the back of the ornament. I glued the fur to the top with my glue gun and then put the end cap back into the hole. I tied the ribbon to the end cap and the ribbon will be used as the hanger to hang the ornament on the tree. Or I might give her the little gold holder pictured here and she can display it in her room. I found that at HL as well and it cost about $2.

This is the front of the ornament with her name showing.

I also made a little box to present the ornament. If you would like to make one the boxes you can find the inst. HERE. This should make a nice little something extra for her this Christmas. Problem is I have 4 granddaughters & 3 grandsons, lol. Well, now I'm off to make some more ornaments and boxes. For the grandsons I think I will made N.O. Saints ornaments for them.

If you need any certain color ornament be sure to try this method. It works great and with the paint on the inside of the ornament you don't have to worry about it being scratched or nicked from one Chritsmas to another Ü

Thanks for stopping by and be sure and let me know what you think. Hugz, Diane

Poster Paper Tree

2010-11-16T08:48:00.000-08:00

My tree was featured over at ME MAKING DO. Thanks so much Ÿ

My tree was featured HERE. Thanks so much.

I wanted some trees to put around my house as accents and this is what I came up with.

Love the size and I might add ornaments to it. Haven't decided.

In case you want to make one of your own this is how I did it. I started off with a piece of regular white poster paper that I bought at the Dollar Store 2/$1. I had the tensil/garland stuff already. You can buy this stuff super cheap in soooo many pretty colors and textures.

I rolled the poster paper into a cone shape and taped along the edges. I then measured from the top to the shortest distance on the bottom which was 22 inches. I just made little dashes with my pen and then cut along that line. If you click on the picture I think you can see the marks I made.

This is the cone with the bottom part cut off to make it even around the bottom so it will stand up.

I then just started at the top of the cone and using my glue gun added the tensil/garland to the cone.

Here it is again all finished. Like I said before, I am going to make more of these. I want a silver one. Not sure I will add tiny ball ornaments to the tree or just leave as it. It really is pretty.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you like the tree and make some of your own. Let me know what you think. Hugz, Diane

I have added all the blog parties that I enter each week over in my sidebar. Just click on any of the buttons to be taken there. I hope you will visit these sites and join in the fun.

Candle Gift

2010-11-09T15:17:00.001-08:00

Just thought I would share a candle that I decorated for a friend's birthday. I bought this candle at Michael's and it smells soooo good Ÿ I used my cricut machine and cut the vinyl for the front and the back. I added a bow that holds a cross ornament that the recipient can take off and use for her Christmas tree. I think it turned out pretty cute. I hope she likes it.

This is the before picture of the candle.

I used an SVG file that I found on the internet. I can't for the life of me remember where.

I added her last name to the back of the candle.

This cross ornament was bought at Dollar tree and is real glittery. I wish I could have bought more of these, but that was the last one they had.

Hope this gives you some idea of how you can decorate a candle jar. Let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Thanksgiving Favors

2010-11-02T12:49:00.000-07:00

This little project was featured over at Under The Table & Dreaming. Thanks so much Stephanie.

Have you seen all the "test tube" favors on the internet? Cute, cute, cute Ÿ My problem was I couldn't find any of the test tubes. Or they were more than I wanted to pay :o( I found some great prices on the internet, but with shipping it was still pricey.

Soooo hubby to the rescue. Terry said he often used something in his electrical contracting business that I might could use. He brought home the perfect thing. As you will see in the last picture it is an 8 ft. piece of fluorescent lamp sleeve. It cost around 5 or 6 dollars. I could get 16 little test tube knockoffs for so little money. Yipppeeee!

As for sealing off the ends Terry had an answer for that as well. He brought home packages of little silver caps called knock out caps. He bought ¾ inch size and they were 60¢ each. You could also use cork stoppers for the top cap. Terry had to bend out the little prongs on the caps to make them fit tighter.

Terry also told me to share with you another used for the tube. He took a piece of it and measure the length of our shower curtain rod, cut the tube the same length cut a slit down the whole length and put it around the rod and now the shower curtain opens soooo much easier. I know... this has nothing to do with Thanksgiving favors, but just as added FYI Ü

I have had so much fun playing with these. Terry just cut the tube into 6 inch pieces and I went to work decorating. I added a matching sticker to the top of the cap.

I just used a pretty fall scrapbook paper and rolled it up and placed it inside the tube. Added a sticker and a hang tag with ribbon and there you have it.

I filled these with candy corn left from Halloween, but you could use any small candy to fill your tube. For the rest of the ones I made for Halloween favors I am going to use the fall color M&Ms.

For this tube I pained the silver cap a pretty fall color to better match my theme. Terry said to be sure and clean the caps with vinegar or acetone so they would better accept the paint. Men are so technical, lol. But I've learned to listen to him. Don't ask me why Ü

Here is a picture of the tube and the caps.

I hope this gives you an idea for making the test tube favors without having to search for test tubes and at a good price. These could be decorated for any holiday, birthday parties, etc. Let me know what you think. Hugz, Diane

Altered Candle Jar

2010-10-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

Do you like to burn candles in your home? I thought so... so do I Ü And if you are like me you hate to throw those beautiful jars away. There are soooo many pretty shapes and most of them are heavy glass perfect to reuse.

This is one of my favorite candles and I'm ashamed to tell you how many of these I have burned throughout the years. When the candle has all burned down then I always remove the metal thingy in the bottom of the jar, stick the jar in the microwave and when the wax begins to melt I just use a paper towel to remove the little bit of wax. I then fill with warm soapy water and wash the jar.

Now the jar is ready to decorate anyway you want. I just used my cricut and added some vinyl for this one to use for Halloween. I also removed the rubber gasket around the top so the grands wouldn't have any trouble opening the jar for the candy. You could leave the gasket on of you wanted a tighter seal.

Here is a closer view of the finished jar. Maybe I will add a ribbon... what do you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you will leave a comment so I will know you came by . I always return the favor and visit your blog. Never just an email ;o) Have a great day. Hugz, Diane

Wild Pampas Grass?

2010-10-10T15:29:00.001-07:00

I've been featured over at Bella's Before and After. Thanks so very much . It is an honor and means so much when someone else likes something you've done Ü

I love decorating with free and found items Ÿ With that being said...

Terry and I went out for a Sunday afternoon drive and I saw this gorgeous wild pampas grass, or at least I think that is what it is. It was growing everywhere along the roadside. Of course I had to have some of it so Terry, being the good hubs he is, stopped and cut some of it for me Ÿ

The picture above shows the grass on the roadside. Isn't it pretty.

We brought it home and this is what it looks like sitting on my table. I love it. I have cut pampas grass before and it lasted forever. It just eventually gets dusty and then out it goes. But for right now, I'm loving it. What do you think? Is this wild pampas grass or something that just looks like pampas grass.

Thanks for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Candycrow

2010-10-06T11:15:00.001-07:00

How would your little trick or treaters like this treat? Mine loved it last year. I made these for children of friends that came by my house and they loved them.

They are pretty self explanatory. Just glue your candy to the box with quick set glue and add a little raffia bow at the neck, arms and ankles and there you have it. Instead of a scarecrow you have a candycrow Ü You can also add a piece of yarn and make a necklace out of the little candycrow.

You can use any candy you like. I have also seen the body made using those tiny boxes of raisins for a healthier treat. Let me know what you think and thanks for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Gift Bag to a Card

2010-09-30T06:59:00.001-07:00

UPDATE: I have had some requests for the template for this purse without an email for me to send the file so I'm adding it here. Should have done it to begin with, but didn't know there would be any interest Ü Just click on the template and save to your computer. Enjoy!

Thought I would share a card I made from a gift bag. Sorry that I forgot to take a picture of gift bag before I cut it up, but I think you will get the general idea. This bag had an ugly flower right in the center of the front of the bag. I just pulled it off and it didn't even leave a mark. Yippee because that gave me 2 sides of the bag that I can use later on.

As you can see from the picture above I decorated an envelope to match using my Martha Stewart border punch. This card fits perfectly into a 5¾ x 8¾ envelope.

I just cut the bag apart down the side seam, removed the ties and flower and cut out the purse template that I had. I used one of the bag's handles as a handle for the purse.

This picture shows the front of the finished card. I embellished the front using a striped notecard I had on hand. Just cut it in an round shape and centered it over the front and back of my "purse" to look like the flap of a purse. I also embellished the front with a cute black and white gel sticker I had. Printed her name out on my Cricut and added that to another piece of the notecard that I added to the front of the bottom of the card.

This picture shows the side view of the card. I used plain typing paper to print out my sentiment for the inside of the card, printed it out and cut it to the shape of the card. I used a hole punch to punch 2 holes for the handles going through the card and the lining all at one time. I then ran the handles in and tied knots on the inside.

This picture above shows the back of the card. I just printed out who it was made for and by whom and the date.

This picture shows the inside of the card. I hope she likes it. If you would like the template of this card just leave a comment making sure I can find your email addy and I will be happy to email it to you.

Hope this little card gives you some idea of what to use that is a little different to make a card for any occasion. The gift bags come in such pretty designs and are very thick and glossy. You could also buy 2 gift bags just a like and use one to make a card and the other for the gift. Would make a cute set Ü

Let me know what you think. Have a great day. Hugz, Diane

Just won this neat blog award from Kat over HERE. Thanks so much for the award. I love blog awards,

Altered Paper Bag

2010-09-23T07:23:00.000-07:00

I needed a gift bag and thought about this idea. Some of you might can use this sometimes so I thought I would share it. Really simple, but cute Ü

You Can Click on Pics to see Larger

You can buy these lunch bags at your local craft store and some grocery stores. You can even use the plain brown lunch bag if it matches your paper better.

I then took a piece of scrapbook paper and cut it to fit the front of the bag. Decorated it and then glued it to the front of the bag. I also added a piece of the paper to the back of the bag so it would stand on it its own. Cut a hole in the top for a handle (you could use cording like a gift bag you buy for the handles instead of the holes). There you have it. A gift bag for any occasion. You are only limited by your scrapbook paper on hand :o)

To go along with a theme I decided to make my card & envelope to co-ordinate with the gift bag. I had plenty of the paper and it already had the glittery effect to it so I just added bows, stones, etc. and there you have it.

Hope this gives you an idea for a quick gift bag and card the next time you need one. I will be linking this to the parties listed on my sidebar.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great week. Hugz, Diane

Halloween Parfait

2010-09-16T07:52:00.001-07:00

Are you ready for a yummy Halloween treat? I made this the other day and it was not only cute, but tasted soooo good. The color didn't turn out very well in my pictures, but it was a pretty orange and black.

I used different glasses to see which I liked best so when I make these for holiday guests I would know which glasses to use. I opted for the smaller glass. Just toooo much pudding for one person in the larger glasses (or is that possible, lol).

These are the main ingredients I used. Next time I will keep searching until I find a plain chocolate wafer cookie instead of the chocolate filled chocolate cookie. That was all they had at DG and I didn't want to fight the crowd at the grocery store sooooo. If you would like to make this cute little parfait here is the recipe:

2 boxes instant vanilla pudding (I used French Vanilla)

enough to made 12- ½ cup servings

1 tsp. red food coloring

¾ tsp. yellow food coloring

1- 9 oz. pkg. plain chocolate wafer cookies

3 cups milk

1 can Sweet Condensed Milk (not evap. milk)

Combine pudding mix and milks in large bowl. Add food colors and mix well. Crush cookies (I used a food processor, but you can crush them in a zip lock bag just as well and layer. Top them off with crushed cookies and decoration of your choice... Halloween peeps, etc.

This is the dish size I liked best. It holds about 1 cup. I made the little umbrellas to stick in mine out of halloween paper and popcycle sticks purchased at Hobby Lobby in the cake decorating isle. This would also be cute decorated with Halloween peeps or the little candy pumpkins.

To make the little umbrellas I just used a 2½ inch circle cutter and cut the circles from Halloween scrapbook paper. Cut a ¼ inch pie wedge shape out of the circle and used a small hole punch to put a hole in the center. Bring the 2 ends of the paper to meet and glue or tape together. Thread this over your stick and there you have it.

I hope this gives you an idea for a fun holiday dessert for your family and friends. Thanks for stopping by and please come again. I love all your comments and will answer each one Ü

I will be joining the linky parties listed on my sidebar. Have a great week. Hugz, Diane

This little project has been featured over at Craft Envy. Thanks so much Nicholette.

Book Pumpkin

2010-09-08T12:52:00.001-07:00

Check out my sidebar to see the blog parties I'm linking up to.

I'm entering Melissa's 3rd Annual Fall Nesting Party Here. Run on over and join the fun or at least check out all the gorgeous fall decorations that are being shared Ü

Also joining this link party: Color Outside The Lines (couldn't find a button for my side bar so I just added a link)

Just thought I would share some Halloween/Fall vignettes I have put together and a pumpkin I made from a paper back book. You'll find that later in this post.

This first picture is of a table in my foyer. The witch is one I bought at Hobby Lobby years ago for $2 each. It is 25 inches tall. Great size. Actually I bought 2 at that great price. Yep, it was an after holiday clearance. Don't you just love those Ü

This little vignette is on my microwave cart. I just draped an old bracelet over the stem of the plastic gourd to give him something festive for the holiday. The black pumpkin was an old orange pumpkin that I had in the attic and painted it black and decoupaged a rooster onto it that I printed off the internet.

This vignette in behind my sofa. There is the other witch I was telling you about. This one has orange hair and the other has black hair. The orange pumpkin was an old one I had and I added the hands and the monogramm with vinyl. The other pumpkin was painted white and I used zebra print tissue paper to decoupage it and then sat it on top of an old brass candle stick that I painted black.

The vignette above is at the end of my desk. I took several pieces of glass objects and glued them together to make the tall candy dish and filled it with halloween candy. You might remember the pumpkin from THIS POST. I know the blue flowers don't scream fall, but I love that arrangement because my daughter gave it to me :o)

Now on to the book pumpkin. I made this from a paper back book. You can find the inspiration I used and tut HERE. The book was bought at Dollar Tree. The leopard pumpkin was just a pumpkin I had and painted it beige and then decoupaged leopard tissue paper on with Modge Podge. The stem is a stick from the yard and the eyes, mouth, and nose were cut out of black cardstock. The leaves are just some I took off an old silk arrangement.

Hope you like the little bit of Halloween/Fall decorating I have done so far. I will be decorating outside as soon as I think it is safe for the neighbors to not thing I'm crazy for decorating too early for Halloween, lol.

French Inspired Pillow, Wine Glass Lamp & Pumpkin

2010-09-02T05:44:00.000-07:00

Becky over at "Beyond the Picket Fence" featured this project. Thanks Becky. Be sure and check out her cute blog and enter her linky party.

Thanks to Rebekah and Bridgette over at All Thingz Related who featured this project. Thanks so much. Be sure and check out this great blog. Sooo many cute things to see there Ü

Now isn't this an odd combination of items, lol. I just love the French graphics over at The Graphic Fairy and I wanted to make all these items using some of her graphics. The pillow will be placed in a wing chair in my living room, I have the little wine glass lamp on my desk and the pumpkin sits in my kitchen.

The first thing I did was designed my layout in PSP and printed it out on fabric that I had placed on some sticky back paper. I added painter's canvas to the paper and cut it to fit the 8½x11 inch paper. Ran that through my printer, cut it out and used fabric fray check on the edges. Then I used fabric glue and glued the image to my pillow. Added trim, made a cute paper flower and called it good.

This shows the fabric when it came out of the printer and before I trimmed it up.

I did the same thing with the wine glass lamp template. I used soft muslin fabric (same color as the painter's canvas). Cut the fabric the same size as my sticky back paper and ran it through my printer. Cut it out, added fray check and glued it in the back to form the lamp shade. It just sits on the top of the wine glass. I also added the same black trim as I had added to the pillow using my glue gun.

I thought about potpourri and it was a nice fragrance, but then I decided on a votive candle because it looks so cute when it is lit at night.

The pumpkin was just a glass pumpkin that I had and I painted it black, printed out the graphic and decoupaged it onto the pumpkin using Modge Podge. I then cut out a vinyl fleur de lis and added this over the graphic.

Hope you like my little pieces and yep, you can run fabric through your printer. I was so afraid the first time I did that because I didn't want to mess up my printer, but then I thought it is old and I would just go buy a new one and not tell anyone how I messed it up, lol. So if you have the nerve go ahead and try it. Just make sure your fabric is adhered to the paper real well. Some people use spray adhesive, but you can buy "label paper" at Wal Mart.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day. Hugz, Diane

Rooster Tassel

2010-08-25T16:37:00.000-07:00

I know tassels have made their way around bloggerville for ages now, but I'm just getting around to making one. Not exactly happy with how it turned out, but it satisfied the want of having one of these, lol.

These are the supplies I used to make my tassel.

I loved this rooster that I found at Dollar Tree, but not the fact that it was such a stark white. So I took a little burnt umber paint and rubbed it all over it and then took a paper towel and wiped it down. Now it is a pretty antique looking rooster.

I first glued the fringe to the little plastic cup ( one of those plastic cup that chopped fruit comes in). I also used a tassle I already had up in the cup along with a crystal ceiling fan pull. Before I glued the rooster to the top of the cup Terry drilled a little hole in the middle of the rooster and I inserted an eye hook to attach the ribbon to hang the finished tassel from.

Here is the finished rooster hanging off a lamp.

I then moved the tassel to another lamp and liked it better there. Yep, I'm happy now that I have one of the cute tassels that I've been seeing everywhere. I want to make more of these and hopefully get better at it or at least better satisfied with the finished product, lol.

Let me know what you think. Have a great week. Hugz, Diane

Getting a Jump on Halloween

2010-08-18T14:46:00.001-07:00

Join me over here for Pretty Packages Pary #2.

Yes, I know... awfully early to be starting on Halloween, but I thought this would be one less thing I will have to do when the holiday gets here Ÿ

I always make Derrick something for each holiday and I saw these great beer cartons at Terry's friend's bar and grill and thought this would make a great container for Derrick's gift this year. Always trying to find new ways of presenting his gift. And hey... these are free :o) And always great to recycle.

Can Click On Pics To See Larger

This first pic shows the beer carton before and then when I covered it in scrapbook paper and filled it with goodies.

This pic shows some of the goodies I will be filling the carton with. I will add more as the holiday approaches. Can you see the cute Halloween pencils I had left over from last year?

I bought this cool health drink at the dollar store and added a cute Halloween graphic to it.

This is a Halloween sucker I found at Dollar General and made a personalized graphic to add to the front of the sucker.

This is a giant size Hershey bar I wrapped using a free graphic offered by Laurie Furnell that you can get Here . Thanks so much Laurie for sharing this cute, cute wrapper.

This is picture of the back of the box.

Here is the box all filled, but I'm sure I will squeeze in a few more goodies as the holiday gets closer.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope this gives you another idea for packaging a gift. Have a great week. Hugz, Diane

Little French Bench

2010-08-12T06:26:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to Pittypat Paperie. Soooo glad to have you stop by. Please leave a comment so I will know you were here.

Today I wanted to share a re-do of an old bench I have had for many many years Ü

I painted the bench, which is about 4 feet long and seats 2 adults. I lovvvve black so of course the color was a given.

I had found this little metal sign with the cute, cute fleur de lis' all the way around it. Love, love, love a fleur de lis. (Is that a Southern thing???) Doesn't that classify my bench as French Ÿ I tacked a small nail in the bench and hung the sign on that. I thought "Relax" fit the bench perfectly.

Also added a turquoise pillow with a beautiful cross encrusted with really pretty rhinestones.

I love how the bench turned out... soooo much cuter than it was. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a wonderful and crafty day. Hugz, Diane

Cute Bow from Wrapping Paper

2010-08-04T16:47:00.001-07:00

Just thought I would share a bow that I have been making for years and it is always a big hit. I couldn't remember where I got the inst.

I made these particular bows back in 2007, but since I wasn't blogging back then I thought I would share them now :o)

The bow on the left is one I made for my DGD's 18th birthday. I just printed out what I wanted the bow to say on plain typing paper and then made the bow per the inst. She loved it. The bow on the right was made using gift wrap that I had purchased at the Hallmark store in the mall. Instead of wrapping the gift in the paper I used it to make a little purse type bag to hold some baby goodies and then used the same paper to cover a Hershey candy bar and covered the front of a little notepad for the mom to record vital facts about the new baby.

Can click on the pics to see larger.

So now I hope you will give these little bows a try and let me know what you think. Hugz, Diane

Faux Plaques

2010-07-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

I made these faux plaques, or that is what I'm calling them :o) I used graphics fromBeautiful vintage graphics. Thank you so much Karen for sharing all the graphics for the rest of us to play with.

Can click on any of the pictures to see larger.

This is the faux plaque I ended up with. I love how it turned out. I just wish I had had the ribbon I would rather have used. I had to make do with what I had which was tuile cut and used to tie the bow which was also the hanger for the plaque.

I just used things I had on hand... very thick cardboard ( the back of a scrapbook paper pad I had), black craft paint, a sponge brush and a pad of distressing ink. I ended up not using the ink.

After I cut the cardboard (8x10 inches) I punched holes with my hole punch. Used double sided tape to adhere the picture to the cardboard.

After threading in the tuile I hung it on this wall, but didn't like it there. I hung it by a picture in my kitchen and liked it much better there, now I needed another plaque to hang on the other side of the picture. Hmmmm... this was so easy to make I'll just make another one. I used another graphic from the same site only this plaque I made to hang vertically.

This is the one I made to hang vertically.

Here are both plaques and I'm very happy with them hanging here by the large picture in my kitchen. What do you think?

Baby Gift and Unity Candle

2010-07-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

These are a couple of gifts that I was asked to make this past weekend. First of all my granddaughter needed a baby gift to take to a shower. The parents are big LSU fans so of course the baby shower theme was LSU.

Melani bought a changing pad at Toy's R US that came with a wet wipe box. I added the new baby's name in vinyl using LSU colors. Isn't Addalynn an unusual and beautiful name?

I also took out the cardboard insert and added a label to the blank side and then put it back into the zip pouch it came in. That way the new mom can have the inst. about the pad, but it made a cuter presentation that the picture that came with the pad :o)

Then Lauren, a friend of Melani's, wanted a unity candle for a wedding. She brought me the blank candle and I used vinyl to add the bride and groom's names and wedding date and then wrapped it for her to give to the couple.

So, that is what I've crafted this week. Let me know what you think of them. Also, you can click on any picture to see larger Ü Have a great weekend. Hugz, Diane

Teacup Bird Feeder

2010-07-15T14:36:00.001-07:00

I know most of you will remember these from a few years back. They were all the rage at craft fairs. They cost about $20 each and I thought "I can make that", lol.

The first picture shows the finished cup with a little bag of birdseed added and a little tag with a cute poem. I have posted a tag that you can save and print out if you want to make one of these and give as a gift.

And guess what???? I made one for me, too since mine has long since been broken by a tree limb falling down on it :o(

As you can see from the picture I just glued a ½ copper coupling that you can purchase at the hardware store and they are really inexpensive. You can use a piece of copper pipe to put it into the ground or do like I did and use a piece of pvc pipe that I had on hand and cut to about 3 feet long. Just use your hammer to drive this in the ground and place the cup onto the pipe. Easy, inexpensive and oh so cute.

You can tell by this picture that the coupling was glued to the bottom of the cup and the cup was glued to the saucer using Goop glue.

This is a picture of my little feeder with the birdfeed in the saucer and the cup is full of water. I tried to get a picture of a bird sitting on it, but wasn't fast enough.

This is a picture of the area where I put the feeder. You can barely see it by the arbor, but I wanted you to see the little old house in my backyard. I just love the vintage look of the picture. I did that HERE .

Hope you like the little teacup bird feeder and you will make two and share one with a friend :o)
Have a great week. Hugz, Diane

Below is the tag that you can click on and save to your computer, print out, cut out and add to your bird feeder.

Popcorn Theme Gift

2010-07-03T06:13:00.001-07:00

Just thought I would share a birthday gift I put together for my grandson's 13th birthday. He loves popcorn so what better theme to go with.

First of all I made a pinwheel with his name and age on it. Yes, he thinks he's too big for pinwheels, but he got a good laugh out of it because he remembers how much he loved to play with them when he was younger ;o) I have included a template I made at the bottom of this post if you want to make one. I found my inspiration HERE. I cut mine 6x6 inches.

The first picture shows the gift ready to give. I found the cute popcorn bucket at Dollar Tree. It was pretty big and very sturdy. I used vinyl and put his name and age on the sides of the bucket.

I also made a little wallet (shown in the very front of the bucket) in the popcorn theme and included some money.

Also included in the bucket was the old timey Jiffy Pop popcorn that I used a circle generator to make a circle of text wishing him a "popping" good birthday, 2 different flavors of popcorn salt, a can koozie that I used vinyl to add his name and a wild hog image (he loves to help his dad with his wild hog hunting club), a tub from Wal Mart that has popcorn in the bottom that you just put in the microwave and cook, a plastic popcorn box again from Dollar Tree and filled with microwave popcorn and of course the pinwheel.

This pic shows the other side of the bucket.

If you want to use the pinwheel template just click on it, save it to your computer, print out onto cardstock, cut it out and bring in everyother point. I hope the template is pretty self explanitory. If you have any questions just let me know.

Thanks for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Card Fold Challenge

2010-06-30T06:48:00.000-07:00

I decided to enter a challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments. The challenge was to create a card with a twist. I love this card because of the slide out card within a card if you will.

I made a band to go around the card that is accented with a paper covered button glued to the top of a big plastic button. I used a brad to hold the 2 co-ordinating ribbons which also serves as a pull for the little inside card. I stamped the inside card with a bible, heart and flowers and this is where I wrote the sentiment.

Last thing I did was use the same co-ordinating paper to accent the envelope. You can click on the pictures to see larger.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day. Hugz, Diane

Baby to Bride Gift Idea

2010-06-26T09:19:00.000-07:00

I had to have a baby gift and I thought of this little bracelet idea that I had used a long time ago. I just bought the bracelets in the mall at one of those costume jewelry stores. I have made my own bracelets in the past, but didn't have time to do it this time. All you do is use elastic jewelry string and pearls that you buy at any craft store. String them on and tie a good knot. Add a blue ribbon and your finished.

Can click on any pics to see larger

This picture shows the bracelet after I packaged it. I bought the little cello packages at a local craft store as well. I designed the tag and printed it out at 4 inches by 6 inches. Folded it in the middle and stapled it closed. I cut a slit in the hight heel shoe to add a penny and tape it in the back. I always use a penny that was made the year the baby was born.

I have included the topper below. Just click on it, save it to your computer and print it out following the measurements above. Hope this helps some of you when you need a baby gift for someone special. I made one of these for each of my granddaughters and I hope to see them use it someday in the farrrr off future, lol. Have a great day. Hugz, Diane

Award I Received

2010-06-25T05:03:00.000-07:00

YIPPPEEE... I LOVE AWARDS

This is a blog award I received from: The Answer Is Chocolate. Isn't that a cute name for a blog. Visit over there sometimes... you want regret it Ü

Okay, there have to be rules and here they are:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Pass this award along to fifteen bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason!
4. Contact the bloggers you’ve picked and let them know about the award.

7 Random Things about me:

1. Probably the most important thing to know about me is that I lovvvve chocolate and to get on my good side ANYTIME just give me chocolate ÿ

2. I have 2 children and 6 grandchildren.

3. I love to collect roosters, silver picture frames ( yes they have to be silver ;o) and anything with a fleur de lis.

4. I have to mop my kitchen, laundry room and both bathrooms EVERY day or nothing is right in my world.

5. I want wear anything that isn't ironed and wrinkle free.

6. I love to try new recipes.

7. I drink a chocolate milkshake at least once a week from Sonic.

And now I am passing this award on to some other bloggers that I lovvvvvve to frequent their blogs. Some of the cutest designed, named and full of great idea blogs out there. "In my humble opinion". Hope you can stop by and visit them and tell them Pittypat Paperie sent you. So on we go:

1. Deb's Doodles

2. Life On Old Savannah

3. Embellished Bayou

4. Cute As A Fox

5. Scene of the Grime

6. Sparkle and Shine

7. The Autocrat

8. Thrifty Decor Chick

9. Under the Table and Dreaming

10. The Persimmon Perch

11. Miss Mustard Seed

12. Trendy Treehouse

13. Santa's Gift Shoppe and Ideas

14. A Little Lovely

15. And last, but certainly not least: I Heart Naptime

Hope you will take the time to pass this on and enjoy it with the spirit it is intended. Have a great day. Hugz, Diane

Book Page Wreaths

2010-06-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

I know I am late getting on the bandwagon for these wreaths, but better late than never :o) They are made from the pages of a book I bought at Dollar Tree. Just tear out the pages and fold into a cone shape.

I love how they turned out and was my inspiration and also a great tutorial.

This one I did a little differently by making the back layer fan folds. Not sure you can tell about the newpaper flower I made for the center of this wreath, but there is a.I didn't have those scissors and just cut my newpaper with plain scissors and it worked fine.

I used a layer of cardboard and a layer of scrapbook paper for the center of the first wreath. I then added a vinyl fleur de lis.

You have to make a bunch of these.

Glue them to the center of your cardboard.

This shows the back of the one with the fanfolded pages. I just added a clip to the back to hang it because it is super light weight.

Haveing a scor pal really helped in making the fanfolds a uniform size, but you can do it without the scor pal. If any of this is clear as mud and you want me to explain more just let me know.

This really is a cute, fast, easy and inexpensive wreath. I loved making them. Thanks for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Money Box Gift Idea

2010-06-11T16:03:00.000-07:00

This project was featured here: Thanks Stephanie.

Also featured here. Thanks Jerri.

Featured here. Thanks Brambleberry Cottage.

This is a gift I made for my grandchildren a long while back and thought some of you might also like to use this idea. It makes a fun gift for any age actually.

I bought a plain white box at the party supply store. Cut a hole in the top just big enough for the money to feed out of.

I took 20 $1 bills and taped them together at one end making a long chain. I rolled the bills up and placed them inside the box with the last one having an arrow taped to. This arrow was left outside the box and when the gift was open the recipient saw the "pull here" tab.

It was soooo funny watching their sweet faces as the money continued to come out, lol.

Anyway, I have included the clipart for the $1 bill and the arrow that I used in case any of you want to use this idea. Just right click and save to your computer. I added my sweetie's pictures to the bill and printed it out on sticky back paper, cut it out and then adhere this to the front of the box.

I know I'm not too good at explaining things so if you have any questions please email me.

Have a great day. Hugz, Diane

I just noticed this dollar bill has a white spot in it so if you want a better version of this just let me know and I will email it to you.

Gift Set

2010-06-05T06:31:00.001-07:00

Just a quick post today of a gift set I put together. As you know from previous posts I am already working on Christmas gifts :o)

For this set I just took a wine glass from Dollar Tree and added outdoor vinyl... meaning it can be washed, but not in the dishwasher. I will add a little tag to that effect. I added the same viny to the candle. I used my on both of these and the gift bag, but you could use any paper punch you had and do the same thing. The vinyl can be purchased from any sign shop.

I used decorative scissors to make the scallop border around the candle and 2 different size circle punches for the circles on the glass and the candle.

This set fits perfectly into the tall gift bag that is usually used for bottles of wine. I bought this bag at Dollar Tree and added the vinyl fleur de lis to the tag that came with the bag and the message.

The bow on the glass is 2 different colors of tulle.

I hope this gives you some idea of another fast, simple and cute gift idea. (Have you seen what these glasses cost in boutiques???) I've made several more that I will share later.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by. Hugz, Diane

Can click on picture to see larger.

Giveaway Prize

2010-06-01T14:57:00.000-07:00

This is the umbrella that I am sending the winner from my blog giveaway.You can read about it HERE Congrats to Myrna for winning out of 44 entries. Thanks to all that posted. This was so much fun and I hope to have another giveaway soon.

Desk Set Tutorial

2010-05-28T08:10:00.001-07:00

Personalized Umbrella Giveaway

2010-05-21T15:07:00.001-07:00

We Have A Winner!

Terry drew a name from all those that entered the drawing for the personalized umbrella. Inserting drum roll here, lol.

The winner is : Daylily777

Visit her sometimes and congratulate her over at :

My Enchanted Home

This blue umbrella is the one I will be giving away personalized with the winner's name or initials.

I am already planning gifts I am going to make for Christmas :o) I think any of the ladies on my list will like having an umbrella that is personalized just for them as a little extra gift. I think I will do monograms for most and something that they like as an accent. I love fleur de lis, but I know not everyone does :o)

You can click on any of the pictures to see a larger version.

I found the unbrellas at Dollar Tree and bought all they had, lol. They are very sturdy and are 42 inch diameter. I used outdoor vinyl and have used my umbrella for about a month and the rain hasn't hurt the vinyl at all. I even held it under the faucet and it has done fine.

I made myself 2. One for my car and one to keep in Terry's truck.

This is how I am going to package the umbrellas. I have been saving the little transparent boxes that my Cricut© vinyl comes in and the umbrella fits perfectly in them. I just used scrapbook paper to cover the existing label that was on the box.

Now comes the fun part. I will draw a name from all who post a comment and that person will receive an umbrella that is personalized with the name or initials of their choice. This can be for yourself or to give as a gift. Sorry, but due to the high cost of postage this will be for USA entries only.

Thanks for stopping by. Oh yes, a winner for the umbrella will be announced Sat. May 29, 2010 Hugz, Diane

Linking to:

Met Monday

Messy Mondays

Making the World Cuter Monday

Motivate Me Mondays

Just Something I Whipped Up

Blue Monday

Toot Your Horn Tuesday

Come visit all these great sites and get lots of inspiration.

Flag From a Bag

2010-05-14T15:19:00.001-07:00

I wanted to make a new flag for the front of my house. You might remember this one I made awhile back. Well, I wanted another one, lol.

You can click on any of the pics to see larger.

But, what could I make it out of??? I got to looking through my craft closet and found this 50¢ bag from Dollar General. I cut it the size I needed.

I added the fleur de lis (my favorite thing to decorate with) out of vinyl and thought it looked just toooo plain. So I added a flourish to the bottom of the flag and the "welcome" to the top of the flag and still thought it looked too plain. Soooo, I added a gold fleur de lis over the white one and was much more pleased with it. Can you tell from the picture?

What do you think? Hope this gives you some idea of making a flag from a bag :o) Hugz, Diane

I have linked to lots of blog parties and hope you will check them out for more great ideas. The link buttons are on my sidebar. Have fun.

Mother's Day Gifts :o)

2010-05-10T07:31:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share some pics of my Mother's Day gifts. Gosh did I make out like a bandit, lol. I hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day. Mine was great :o) Not because of the gifts, but that I was able to spend it with Terry and my family. Thanks so much to Ann and Donald for the great hospitality.

This purse was a gift from my DD. I love it. It has soooo many pockets inside and a big pocket on the outside.

This is a picture frame from my DGD Melani Diane. I love it and will fill it with pics of my grandbabies. I have 6 of them you know Ü She also bought me some rolls of vinyl. She knows what I have been busy crafting with lately.

This is a gift basket that my DD's MIL gave me. She is the sweetest person. It was their house that we went to yesterday and had a fish fry. My goodness. Everything tasted soooo good. The weather was perfect as well.

But, the best thing I received was this picture of my brand new grandbaby Taylor LeeAnn. Ann had this in the basket of goodies. Oh my! She included lots of goodies in the basket, but this was my favorite item, lol. And yes... she is just as spoiled as she looks ö

Again, I hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day. Hugz, Diane

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-08T13:29:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post my Mother's Day post today in stead of tomorrow because knowing me I will rush right into the day and not get it done.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day. I am going to a fish fry at my son in law's parents. I love to go there. They are the sweetest people and they love my daughter very much. I am very happy about that :o)

can click on pic to see larger

I thought I would share pics of my and Terry's moms on this Mother's Day. Weren't they beautiful. Most of you have seen the pic of my mom. That is my favorite picture of her. Probably because she was pregnant with me when she had this made :o)

Again, I hope all of you have a wonderful day. Hugz, Diane

Mouse Pads Before & After

2010-05-07T05:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I didn't take a before picture of the first mouse pad. It was a new plain black mouse pad from Wal Mart for $2. Out came the Cricut and some vinyl and there you have it. I am giving it to my DD's MIL. How girly is the pink and black???

This is how I packaged the mousepad to give it to Ann.

Are you tired of your old, dengy (is that a word, lol), & in my case dirty mouse pads??? Well, I was so , again, Cricut and some vinyl to the rescue. What do you think?

The picture on the left is my old ugly mouse pad and the picture on the right is my "new" one. All pretty and clean... don't ask, lol

Hope this gives you an idea of how to refurbish your old mouse pads :o)

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by and letting me know what you think of these. Hugz, Diane

Cabinet Redo

2010-05-05T07:42:00.001-07:00

Just thought I would share a cabinet redo that Terry did for me last year. He had this old cabinet in his barn and I found it and told him I would love to have it to put some of my paper crafting supplies in. He frowned and said of course I could have it, but he didn't think it was worth fooling with.

After he sanded it, added new wood to the sides, removed and painted the hardware and then painted the finished cabinet he was very pleased it. He had to admit that I saw potential where he didn't, lol.

The first 2 pics are before shots and the last 2 are the afters. The last pic shows the inside of the cabinet.

I love my little cabinet. What do you think?

Can click on pics to see larger view

Cake Mix Cookies

2010-04-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would share some yummy cookies with you. I made these very simple, but yummmmmmy cookies today and they tasted sooo good I thought I would share the recipe for those who might not have made these yet :o)

You can use any flavor cake mix. I happened to have this German Chocolate on hand. I first melted a stick of butter or margarine. Add 1 egg and mix together. I like to add half a bag of Heath brittle candy bits to mine(found in the cake mix section of your grocery store). Add the cake mix, stir and that is it. Soooo fast and easy. My favorite kind of cooking.

I even used parchment paper on my pans so there was very little clean up. I got about 40 cookies from this batch, but you can get more if you use smaller amts. of dough per cookie. I like mine BIG, lol.

Just drop them by teaspoon fulls onto the paper leaving a small amt. of space in between. I take them out of the oven when they rise fat and plump. They will flatten when they cool.

You can use any flavor cake mix. I have made the confetti cake mix and then iced the cookies with the canned confetti icing. They are cute to look at and taste great. I think that cake mix is by Pillsbury and is called Funfetti. How cute is that name ö

Give these a try and let me know what you think. I hope you like them. Hugz, Diane

Can click on pics to see largerŸ

Another Trash Can

2010-04-23T11:50:00.001-07:00

This was a plain little white trash can that I added gold vinyl to. Hope this gives you some idea of how something so simple can be changed to something with a little more interest :o) And since I love fleur de lis and flourishes then that is what I used, but you could add any embellishment that you liked or that matched your house. Talk later. Hugz, Diane

Spruced Up My Window Shade

2010-04-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

This is a window shade that hangs on my back door going out onto the carport. It was just a boring white so I thought I would spruce it up with some vinyl. You can click on the picture to see it larger. Hugz, Diane

Trash Can Redo

2010-04-17T08:20:00.001-07:00

This is a plain white trash can that I bought at the dollar store to sit by my desk. Of course I couldn't leave it plain white. How boring! I had to add some vinyl :o) You guessed it... my grandchildren call me Nana.

Hand Sanitizer

2010-04-16T08:08:00.001-07:00

This is a small purse size bottle of hand sanitizer I altered for my DGD to carry in her purse. I took the front label off and added the vinyl. I left the back label on because it has all the "facts" on it. She can refill this as needed.

Have a great day. Hugz, Diane

Ryan's License Plate

2010-04-15T10:24:00.001-07:00

Just thought I would share a picture of a license plate for the front of my grandson's truck. He said he wanted anything to do with roping. I hope he likes it and yes... I used vinyl. Let me know what you thing. Hugz, Diane

Can Click on Picture to See Larger

Turtle Dove Update

2010-04-10T06:19:00.000-07:00

Remember awhile back when I posted about the turtle doves making the nest on my front porch in a wreath? That was 10 days ago. Here is the post if you missed it HERE.

The picture below shows the babies now. Aren't they growing and just the cutest! I will keep an eye on them, but I'm sure one day I will look out and they will have flew away :o)

Click on pics to see larger

Just wanted to add this pic that shows the mama bird. She was gone this morning when I took the other picture of the babies. Didn't see her all day and was beginning to worry that something had happened to her. Glad she's back.

Tissue Box Before & After

2010-04-06T12:56:00.000-07:00

This is a plastic tissue box cover that I bought at Bed Bath & Beyond awhile back and I thought I would spruce it up a bit and give it to Terry for his house. Yes, I used vinyl, lol. I added a flourish and monogrammed it with an "N" for Terry's last name.

I just showed it to him and he loves it... or is he just humoring me??? Anyway, I liked how it turned out. Let me know what you think and remember you can click on the picture to see it larger. Hugz, Diane

Easter / Baby Shower ö

2010-04-05T06:45:00.000-07:00

Linking to Met Monday. After you check out my goodies hop on over there and see all the other talents shared :o)

Yes, you read that right... we celebrated Easter with a great cookout and egg hunt, but with a twist, lol. We also had a surprise baby shower for my DD & DSIL, Trina and Bryson :o)

Terry & I enjoyed a great time at Bryson's mom and dad's house. Remember they are the ones I posted about that have the pretty home on Long Lake. Such wonderful people and the hospitality was second to none.

We had such a fun time. The food was wonderful. Donald grilled burgers and boudin. How is that for a cajun lunch, lol.

We also surprised Trina with a baby shower. Nothing big, Trina didn't want a shower, but Ann and I did, lol. We had fun and Trina did, too :o)

The first picture is the dining table where the gifts were.

This next picture is of a gift bag I altered by adding the new baby's name using vinyl.

The next picture is of a trash can I added Taylor's(the new baby due any day) name to using vinyl. You can't tell in the picture, but the name is in brown vinyl. It looks black in the pic :o(
Her nursery is done in pink & brown. Be watching for a post soon on that nursery. Soooo pretty.

The last pic shows the cupcakes I made all decorated in a girly theme. The cupcakes were pineapple with cream cheese icing. Tasted great if I do say so myself :o)

And that is how we celebrated Easter. Hope you had a wonderful day as well. Hugz, Diane

Happy Easter Everyone

2010-04-04T06:47:00.001-07:00

Hope all of you have a wonderful day planned and the weather is great where you are. It sure is cloudy here, but not supposed to rain.

I thought I would share some of the things I put together for Derrick for Easter. The first picture is of the gift bag I purchased. Just a plain silver bag.

The second picture shows the bag after I added gold vinyl to it. I bought the vinyl off Ebay and it is soooo pretty. Much prettier than it shows up in this picture.

The next picture is the Easter card I made for Derrick.

This next picture is of was a plain notebook that Terry took the front cover off for me because I have soooo much trouble with the wire. I never can get it back in properly. Anyway, I laminated a piece of cardstock and then applied the vinyl for the new notebook cover.

The next picture is of a plain little wood box that I purchased at Hobby Lobby. Terry painted it and I added his name and and a rosary with vinyl.

This is the finished box. I was happy with how it turned out. I think Derrick will like it because he loves boxes to put his treasures in :o)

Hope you've enjoyed seeing the things I fixed for Derrick. I have it all bagged up along with the little gumball machine I posted here

And of course I added candy to the bag. Have a great day. Hugz, Diane

Ryan Goes to the Prom

2010-04-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

Yep, this is my sweet grandson Ryan's first prom. He is 16 and in the 11th grade. The first pic is of him and his date. My Ryan is the one on the right with the orange tie and yes he insisted on wearing that cap Ü

This next picture is some of his friends that rode in the limo. I couldn't get them all in the picture, but the car was full, lol.

The last picture is of the limo. as the driver was getting ready to leave my daughter's house. We really had fun taking pictures. It does not seem possible that my sweet grandson is 16 and going to a prom. Where does the time go??? Thanks for letting me show off my "baby". Hugz, Diane

can click on pics to see larger

Gumball Machine

2010-04-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

I found these cute little gumball machines at Wal Mart filled with gum. They were kind of plain so I dressed them up with vinyl. I will add this one to Derrick's Easter gift bag.

I put a cross on the front of the machine and his name on the back. These can be refilled, too. How cute is that??? Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a great day. Hugz, Diane

Can click on pics to see larger Ÿ

Flag I Made

2010-04-01T13:40:00.001-07:00

Just thought I would share a yard flag I made using vinyl. I always hang a flag out for the different holidays and thought I would try my hand at making one.

I used a rectangle cut from a shower curtain for the flag itself and then cut a fleur de lis using some wood grain contact paper that I purchased at Fred's. I cut it out using my cricut. Love, love, love playing with vinyl :o) What do you think???

It has been hanging out for almost 3 weeks now and is holding up fine. Wasn't sure how the viny would do in the weather, but so far so good.

Remember... you can click on any picture on my blog to see it bigger Ÿ

Surprise house guests!

2010-03-31T07:49:00.000-07:00

We have been seeing a turtle dove fly out of the wreath on our front porch and decided we would check it out. Yep, you guessed it she had a nest built in the wreath. On closer inspection we found little tiny newborn turtle doves. Soooo cute!

The first picture shows the wreath on the porch.

The second picture is looking out the living room window. We had a good view without disturbing them.

This next picture shows the little babies all snug in their nest waiting for mom to get back with some food.

The last picture is of the mom as she sits peacefully with her babies.

I'll keep you all informed of their progress :o) Have a great day. Hugz, Diane

Decorated Plates

2010-03-24T11:10:00.001-07:00

Here are 4 plain plates that I decorated to hang at Terry's house. They are pretty plates, but are very heavy. I haven't hung them yet, but will post pics when I do.

The next pic shows the plates decorated.