BFF Open House HAPPY NEW YEAR !

 

Courtesy of Gina C Creates

New Year's Eve Greetings everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. One of my son's packages finally arrived YESTERDAY! Still tracking the other. It was the one w/ all the homebaked goodies which managed to survive in tact. It was special when he opened one container that was filled with a cookie I only make at Christmas and to see his face on ZOOM as he said "Smells like Christmas". 

While I always marvel at the end of a year and wonder how we got there so fast, I don't think many of you will argue about saying "Good Riddance" to 2020. Gina C Creates has some fun NYE props like the "Happy New Year" graphic above if you're looking for last minute ideas. We are doing "Nacho New Year" tonight and will I'm sure be asleep by 10! Whatever you do, Happy Happy. 

Let's see some ideas from last week's party!

Satsuma Designs has a great post on ways to celebrate NYE with kids. Love these Faux Fortune Cookies! 

Got burned out bulbs? Or maybe pick up some on sale post-Christmas, but Mary Jo from Masterpieces of My Life has THE perfect use for them. Maybe a New Year's Day project to get a jump start on next year!

With all of the extra boxes from this holiday season, that's a lot of cardboard to recycle or re-purpose which makes this idea from Howling Liz just perfect! Cardboard Canal Houses or you could start now on a Faux Gingerbread House for next year! 

If you need a last minute dessert for tonight or want to plan ahead, check out this "Death By Peanut Butter and Chocolate" (my preferred way to go) from Marilyn's Treats! 

Thank you ALL for making 2020 bearable by sharing your creativity and talents here each week. I don't get to comment on every link but I look at them all and am so honored you choose to share your work here. 

Be safe! Mask Up! Here's to 2021! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

First Post-Christmas Cards: Cream Gray and Turquoise

 

I hope everyone who celebrated had a wonderful Christmas celebration.We Zoomed with our son on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and fingers crossed, his packages will arrive today. Grrr. He took that in better stride than we have! 

I started on my "catch up" New Year's cards ( a couple people I inadvertently missed with Christmas cards) and January birthdays. After making the snowflake card using some Christmas papers, I really liked the color combination so I used it to make the first of my January birthday cards. 

For this one, I used a snowflake patterned paper from Recollections "White Christmas" stack and then an icy bluish / light turquoise Craftsmart glitter paper. I cut snowflakes using my Cricut Explore Air2 from cream glitter paper, and layered using foam dots as shown. To finish, I added an iridescent snowflake sequin and light turquoise snowflake sequin. Simple but fresh and clean for a new year!

I liked the color combination so much I went with it for the first 2021 birthday card I needed. I used the same glitter papers to make the party hats. I'm an "ecumenical" crafter so for this one I used my Silhouette Cameo and an image from the Silhouette online store. It's a layered image so I cut out of three different glitter scraps and then layered to make the hats. I think I'm going to do more of these in other color combos so I have party hats at the ready for future cards. I mounted these on a gray Echo Park Paper and used the Craftsmart light turquoise glitter papers. The sentiment is also from the Silhouette online store, and I cut it using Cricut silver adhesive foil, applied it to a cream cardstock scrap, then a light turquoise glitter scrap, and finished with some silver star sequins. 

Happy last days of 2020. I don't think any of us will be sad to see you go! 

 

BFF Open House Merry Christmas!

 

Happy Merry Christmas and Friday Eve all! Wishing the happiest of holidays to all those celebrating. It will be a different Christmas for many of us. Our first without our son since we made the collective decision to not have him travel right now. It's all good (except for the fact that his presents may not arrive on time..."out for delivery" is vague) but they'll get there. As he was growing up, I vowed not to send him off to college without cooking survival skills and he's only continued to develop them in grad school, especially during this pandemic. He will make himself a special Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meal and I can't wait to see the cookie recipes he's trying! 

Putting the party up early and then spending the rest of the day doing some baking and maybe even relaxing! What's that?! Let's take a look at some ideas from last week's party! 

If you're still looking for a last minute idea, printables are your friend and Kathleen from Our Hopeful Home has some cute ones.

Especially this year, it's possible celebrations are smaller and if it's just one or two of you, there's no reason not to make it special. Grab some things and make your table special. Mantel and Table has a great post! 

I think it's an understatement to say that we'll be glad to say goodbye to 2020 and The Apple Street Cottage has a great way to say goodbye! 

Finally, you've seen Charcuterie Boards, but how about a Dessert Board for New Year's Eve? Yes please! Check out this idea from Lindsey's Sweet World. 

I want to thank you all for sharing your creations here this year. You all have inspired and kept me going through this crazy year and I can't wait to see what 2021 brings! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

BFF Open House

 

Happy one week until Christmas Eve Friday Eve all! How on earth is it one week until Christmas? Although that puts us closer to the end of 2020 which isn't a bad thing. You've been busy elves so let's see what you've been up to. 

I love vignettes and how you can incorporate everyday decor items into seasonal decor. Mary Jo from Masterpieces of My Life shows exactly how to do that with her post on baubles in crates. Giving a wider view and a closeup view. 

You really need to check out the whole post to appreciate!

Artsy VaVa is back with another gorgeous painted and stenciled sign and the grain sack accent stripes and boxwood "O" really make it pop! 

Two Chicks and a Mom shared this bright and fun wreath made with supplies from one of my go to places, the Dollar Tree. Perfect to leave up all Winter! Not only is it fun and festive, it has a special story. Please read the whole post. 

Naush from Doodlebuddies shared these Simple and Elegant Christmas trees you can still make for this year or pin for next. 

Thanks as always for sharing your creations here each week. I love seeing what you've all been up to even if I don't always have time to comment. 

OK let's see what you've been up to this week! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Holiday 2020: Gifted Cards

Like most Makers, I have a stash of supplies. Mr. Chocolate lovingly teases me about my paper addiction  which, as a result of its existence, has produced cards he's asked for "like that" ! And you know what? I make no apology! Because what it enables me to do is combine my love of making things with giving back. I wasn't even going to post these because I wasn't happy with the pics and I don't like to come off "look at me", but then I thought others might relate so here we go. 

Also like many Makers, I have moments of self doubt. "Do people really like what I make or are they just being polite?" Be honest. Have you felt like that?  Nonetheless, given the Pandemic That Stole 2020, my love of making things, and my paper stash, I risked the self doubt and decided to make some cards for my health care provider, The Mayo Clinic. 

No one has worked harder this year than Healthcare Workers. Doctors, nurses, admin staff, cleaning staff. EVERYONE! So I thought I'd make some cards to show my appreciation. Literally, beyond masking up and distancing, the least I could do. I made three dozen, packaged them up, and dropped them off, letting them decide whether to use them for patients, staff, volunteers...or at all! 

Last night, I got the nicest email validating I'd made the right decision not listening to that little voice that sometimes makes me doubt myself. The point of all of this? Trust your instincts. Have confidence in yourself. Know that doing something for others may be the one thing that day that helps them. 

I made sets based on white, green, and red cardstocks and coordinating papers: 

These pics don't do justice to the foiled goodness on some of the papers! 

 

I wish I'd bought more of these little wooden stickers I found at Dollar Tree!

Packaged them up with envelopes and put them in sealed bags. 

The email said they will be used for the staff which I absolutely love! 

BFF Open House

 

Yikes! It's Friday Eve, the first night of Hanukkah, and almost the middle of December already. Blink and a week goes by. I'm loving that for the first time in 39 years, I'm neither working retail nor a corporate job where the words "year end" are a source of anxiety. I've been on a bit of an ornament making binge which you can see here: Paint Poured Hanukkah Ornaments, here: Paw-norments, and here: Pandem-ornaments! 

You've all been busy elves! Let's take a look at some of the wonderful creations from last week's party! 

If you have a bunch of mis-matched, scratched up, or just ornaments you want to change up your look, then this DIY Ornament Upcycle from Niky at House on Silverado is a post you want to check out. GORGEOUS transformation! 

Priyam from Simple Joys is back with her incredible paper cutting skills. These Paper Cut Candleholders are "simply" GORGEOUS! 

Another creative ornament idea was shared by Hello Sewing. Love these Pyramid Triangle Trees!

Maybe you're empty nesters like us. Or, with this year being "this year" maybe your holiday celebrations call for smaller desserts. Or, maybe you just want to make something special for yourself  (which everyone should do because YOU are worth it). For any and all of these reasons, you need to check out these Tiny Chocolate Cakes from Mantel and Table! 

Happy Weekend all! Let's see what you've been up to this week!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Holiday 2020: Pandemic Humor Ornaments

 

My humor tends towards the snark side so when I saw this collection of Pandemic themed quotes on Designbundles.net it was perfect! This is actually what began my love of making Tile Ornaments. You can see more details here and here. Tis the season to make sure recipients who read your blog get them before you post! 

Supplies: 

• Satori Arabesque Tiles (Lowes)
• SVG File ( Designbundles.net)
• Glossy Black Vinyl and Transfer Tape ( Cricut, JoAnn)
• Ribbon
• Glue Gun and Glue

• Remove tile from backing, clean w/ alcohol or glass cleaner
• Size and cut vinyl in your cutting machine's software...I used Design Space / Cricut Explore Air2
• Weed vinyl and apply transfer tape
• Apply to tile
• Finish with ribbon hanger and bow

I kept these simple using black vinyl and black glitter ribbon. I was sending to different friends and black and white goes with any color theme. 

This one hits close to home since due to the pandemic, this will be the first Christmas we won't spend with our son because we are all in agreement about not traveling! So we each get one of these. I didn't include the laurels on his because he's kind of minimalist. Ours is on the tree. 

If you can't beat it, laugh at it!