Thursday, March 31, 2011

Ultimate Blog Party! You're Invited.

The title speaks for itself. I learned about this just in time for the first day and this is no April Fool’s joke. It is a huge link party (actually multiple links with varying categories) that is hosted by a great blog I wasn’t familiar with until today called: 5MinutesForMom.
The best part is that it runs from April 1 through April 8 so you have several days to participate!

It started in 2007 as a way for bloggers ( mostly but not exclusively moms) to get to know each other and has grown from an impressive start of 1000 links to last year’s 2300 links! It kicks off tonight and the hosts will tweet about it when the links are up so the best way to know the minute the party starts is to follow them on Twitter: @5minutesformom and/or watch for hashtag: #UBP11

All of the party deets can be found here: http://www.5minutesformom.com/34651/ultimate-blog-party-2011/ and if you decide you want to join the fun you can add a button to your party post from those found here: http://www.5minutesformom.com/34650/ultimate-blog-party-2011-badges/

Oh and did I mention there are PRIZES? I’m participating because it sounds like a fun party but prizes are always nice too! The party starts at midnight Eastern time but I'm putting this post up early to share :) 

To those who are visiting The Answer Is Chocolate from the party, WELCOME!

Grab your favorite beverage and a chocolate chip cookie. I am Carol, mom to a soon to be HS graduate, thick in the throes of college decisions and  soon to be an empty nester. I started my blog almost a year ago to connect with other people who get waaaay more excited than my husband does about Mod Podge, papercrafts, scrapbooking supplies, jewelry making,thrifty vintage finds and transforming what some would call trash into treasures. I combined my love of handmade things (those I make and those I admire) and my passion for all things chocolate into this little corner of the internet where I’ve met some amazing and talented women.  I’m really excited to be participating in The Ultimate Blog Party and look forward to meeting even more wonderfully creative people.

Guest Posting At" Bella Before And After "

Happy Thursday and I’d like to give a shout out to the newest followers of The Answer Is Chocolate. I’m so glad you found something interesting enough to keep you coming back!

The lovely Bella, from Bella Before And After, invited me over to her place to guest post so that's where I am today.


I'm sharing a project there that's something I haven’t shown here before…I’l give you a hint. It involves these:
Dollar Tree Washers
and the end result does not involve plumbing so if you're curious, come on over! 

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Tissue Paper and Twine Egg Tutorial

Thank You:




for featuring my egg! 

Tissue Twine SIde
Last year “BB” ( before blogging) I made some Easter eggs covered with scrapbook paper and Mod Podge. True to my deal hunting ways, I picked up several more of the eggs I used after Easter when they were on sale for $.49. Michaels has them again this year and even at regular price they’re $.99:
IMG_5288
I had an idea in my head ( uh-oh) that I wasn’t sure would work but I figured the most I was out was $.49…not a big price to pay. I slapped some Mod Podge on the egg and then smooshed some torn tissue paper on. Continue the slap and smoosh. The tissue drinks up the Mod Podge and it’s really easy to blend the edges so you don’t have seams. Better if you tear your tissue. Just regular old tissue that some stores give you way too much of and you don’t throw it away tissue.
Tissue Paper Egg
For this one I only covered the top half of the egg because the plan was to cover the bottom half with twine. Once this was dry, I painted it with acrylic craft paint in a robins egg blue and then dry brushed it with white and taupe. After that was dry I started in the middle with a dab of hot glue and started wrapping the rest of the egg in cotton twine. That took the longest but it’s pretty self explanatory.
Twine Wrapped Egg
To finish, I tore a strip of muslin, wrapped around the middle and tied a dragonfly charm to the knot with more twine. I added Prima paper flowers, a button, and a self adhesive rhinestone.
Tissue Twine Flower
I made a second egg using the same process only this time I covered the whole egg with tissue. I went around the middle of this one with a K&Co scrapbook border ( Flora and Fauna) , a strip of muslin, another brass charm, and small paper flowers ( Kaiser Scrapbook) and coordinating rhinestones:
Tissue Flower Bowl
Here are both of them in an alabaster footed bowl ( cobbled together from Salvation Army finds) :
Tissue, Twine, Bowl (2)
I’m “egg-static” with the outcome!
Linking Up At: 



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Sunday, March 27, 2011

Galvanized Metal No Soliciting Sign

Or what happens when a non-gardener finds a tomato cage. We are not big on solicitors. Not that we’re mean people but we’re just not people who like other people coming to our door uninvited, and if we need something we tend to go seek it out.  And yet it’s taken me this long to actually put up a “No Soliciting” sign.
No Soliciting Closeup
I had some sheets of galvanized metal I picked up on one of my strolls through the HW store, and for reasons unknown, I always look at tomato cages as “what could I do with that” material. I don’t even love tomatoes, and Martha and I part ways at gardening. But naturally it made sense to use a tomato cage as a stand for my sign right?
IMG_5274
I thought hmmm let’s put a finial on top. OK why not! And yes Mr. Lowes man, you do carry finials, and no Mr. Lowes man I’m not some silly woman lost in the HW store making words up! So glad I could help you learn your inventory.
Lowes Wood Finials and Jute
I painted one of the finials taupe and dry brushed it w/ white.
Painted Finial
Then came the uh-oh moment of exactly how are you securing this to the tomato cage genius? So I wired it.
IMG_5278
I stuck the screw from the finial in the middle of the three prongs of the tomato cage and then went round and round with some wire. I went over that with some jute twine. This thing doesn’t have to withstand gale force winds so I think it’s OK.
I cut the letters and designs for my sign from white vinyl using my Cricut Expression and then made rolled burlap rosettes and a burlap bow:
No Soliciting Sign
Just to make sure my finial was even more secure I wrapped a couple of strips of torn muslin around it and remembered I had another skeleton key from a Michaels trip in my stash:
No Soliciting Top Closeup
And I also had this little birdcage from Michaels “used to be a dollar” section that I thought would like cute hanging from my stand so I wrapped a bit of jute around it and tied it on:
No Soliciting Birdcage
Now when solicitors are turned away, at least it will be pretty!
Linking Up At: 
The Girl Creative
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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Scrapbooking Supplies Ring

SO excited to be able to add this button!
Crafts & Sutch
Scrapbook Ring Front
What happens when you have ring forms, flattened bottle caps, scrapbooking paper and dimensional adhesive in your stash? You make a ring of course!
I bought some ring forms at a bead store but hadn’t done anything with them until now. When I made the medallion for my altered bottle, I got the idea that I could easily make a ring using the same idea. So I did!
DCWV La Creme
Started with a pad of Die Cuts With A View scrap paper “LA CRÈME” and picked a pattern I liked…this kinda quatrefoil:
Bottle Cap and DCWV Paper
and one of the flattened bottlecaps. Punched a circle from the paper and put a dab of Diamond Glaze dimensional adhesive in the bottlecap and pressed the punched circle on it to get it down really flat. Then I covered it with more Diamond Glaze making sure to get any air bubbles out w/ a pin. Let that dry overnight.
Scrapbook Supply Ring Blank
This is a ring form I picked up at a bead store. After the dimensional adhesive was set I glued the two pieces together with:
Liquid Fusion
I like this glue because it doesn’t smell and aggravate my asthma. And that was that!
IMG_5270

Scrapbook Ring Top

Linking Up At:  
UndertheTableandDreaming