Showing posts with label Oriental Trading Company. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oriental Trading Company. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Haunted Halloween Mantle and Halloween Spooktacular Giveaway from Oriental Trading Company


Surprise! It’s been a while since I’ve posted any projects but I’m excited to share my Haunted Mantle with you. (Disclosure, products for this post were provided to me by Oriental Trading Company) .

I’m sharing the overall mantle and in the coming days will share some tutorials of projects in this post.

I’ve been moving to a more gothic spooky look and when I saw these DIY ceramic skulls from OTC. I painted, crackled and gold leafed these for an elegant but spooky look.


To enhance the spookiness, I turned a large vase upside down and placed one of the skulls under it like a specimen in a lab.

I fell in love with this silver glitter fabric the minute I saw it and it was the perfect thing to simulate a magical spider web. I covered the mirror on my mantle with it and I wove more  of it on a side table.


I covered plain DIY wood photo blocks with paint, gold duct tape and scrapbook paper from a Poison Paper Pack  to make holders for signs to go with my spooky vignette.





Now here’s the best part of this post. Oriental Trading Company is having a weekly giveaway through October 17 with a chance to win $250 in Halloween products! They're also giving away a $25 gift card DAILY! Between craft and party supplies and Halloween decorations, think what kind of a party you could throw! Here's how to enter:

Spooktacular Giveaway from Oriental Trading
Visit www.spooktaculargiveaway.com today and enter to win their weekly prize -- $250 in Halloween products of your choice from Oriental Trading. Plus, they’re giving away a $25 Oriental Trading gift card every day! Contest ends October 17, 2015.


Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Hats Off To A Happy New Year !

NYE Table 1

We don’t do a lot for New Year’s Eve and haven’t gone out for it in years. Still, I do like to make it festive and while I don’t switch out all of my holiday decor, I did re-do my Christmas table for New Year’s.

As a blogger for Oriental Trading Company, I had a great opportunity to have some fun with some of their party planning products, and to plan a party of my choice.  I went with a black and white Parisian theme, perfect for New Year’s Eve.

Centerpiece:
NYE Centerpiece 3

For the centerpiece, I decided to make a New Year’s Hat ( similar to the Snowman hat I did for Christmas) using a coffee can and scrapbook paper.

NYE Centerpiece

For this you will need:
  • Empty Coffee Can
  • Scrapbook paper ( Black and White Paper Pack, OTC)
  • Paper Straws ( Black and White Stripe, OTC)
  • Glittered cardstock
  • Mirrored Cardstock
  • Die cut letters
  • Adhesive
  • Embellishments
Measure and cut paper to fit around the can. Adhere with strong adhesive ( I used a strong double sided tape). Cut a larger circle from the glittered cardstock for the brim and hot glue the bottom of the can to the brim.

NYE Centerpiece 1

Once your basic “hat” is constructed, embellish however you like! I used some leftover ribbon, pipe cleaners, and a button. I used more paper from the stack  along with mirror cardstock and my Silhouette to make the signs that went into my hat.

NYE Centerpiece 2

In keeping with the hat theme, I made these mini top hat table decorations. You could also make these wearable by gluing to a headband.

Mini Top Hats:
  • Heavy Cardstock
  • Hot Glue
  • Embellishments
Mini Top Hat

I found the pattern here: Mini Top Hat Tutorial and cut the pieces out of silver glitter cardstock

Mini Top Hats

To finish off the mini top hats, I added bows made from ribbon leftover from Christmas and little pennants I made on my computer and adhered with the striped paper straws I used in the centerpiece:

NYE Pennant Straw

I also made little party hats out of these polka dot treat cones from OTC:

NYE party cones

NYE Table Decor 

I used some leftover tinsel garland to embellish. The galvanized pails are also from OTC and were perfect for holding napkins  and utensils (both from Oriental Trading Company). I used some Paris themed washi tape and gold vinyl to decorate the pails.

NYE Galvanized Buckets

And even though no one in my house will actually eat the black eyed peas, since they’re a symbol of good luck for New Years ( and they matched my color theme) I used them to weigh down my buckets.

NYE Black Eyed Peas

Wishing you all a safe and happy New Year’s Eve . Thanks for being part of the fun here at The Answer Is Chocolate in 2014, and looking forward to new adventures in 2015!

Oriental Trading Company products used in this post ( I was provided with products used in this post but ideas and opinions are mine)



NYE Table 1

Monday, October 20, 2014

Halloween: BEWARE Banner and Ghosts of Projects Past

Beware Banner

We have a 2nd  fireplace without a mantle that was sitting there all naked and bare and I decided it needed a Halloween banner.

For this project you will need:
  • Chipboard
  • Scrapbook paper ( I used a black and white pack from Oriental Trading Co)
  • Textured Cardstock ( Core’dinations)
  • Paper Straws ( Oriental Trading Co)
  • Glitter Tape
  • Self adhesive rhinestones
  • Jute twine
  • Adhesive
Bewarer Banner 1

For the banner, I cut the letters from a textured cardstock using my Cricut.  Cut the pennant shapes from chipboard (4.5 x 6.5) . I did these the old fashioned way using math and everything! Determine the center point of your rectangle ; draw lines to the bottom corners to make a triangle and cut. Same for the scrapbook paper layer reduced by 1/4”. Layer scrapbook paper pennant on chipboard , cut photo corners from glitter tape and apply, adhere letters and finish with rhinestones.

Beware Banner 2

I got the idea to use the paper straws both to embellish each piece of the pennant because that's how I roll.

Cut straws to width of pennant pieces and attach with hot glue.

Beware Banner 3

Using another piece from the scrapbook paper pack, I made rolled paper roses for each of the letters. To hang, thread jute through each straw and attach with washi tape.

Also sharing some of this year’s Halloween décor using past projects (active links go to tutorials):

Haunted Mantle

Haunted Mantle 2

Halloween Decor
  1. Paper and Vinyl Owl
  2. Pressboard and Paper Pumpkin (I didn't do a post on this but it's a leftover pressboard "page" from a shaped album, covered in scrapbook paper using Mod Podge)
  3. Gothic Coffin Boxes
  4. Halloween Snow Globe (Halloween take on Christmas snow globes; old jar, Halloween figure, glitter )
  5. Glitter Decoupage Pumpkin
  6. Tissue Paper Pumpkin


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Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Halloween Archive : Vintage Witch Hats and Spooktacular Giveaway

Vintagey Witch Hats

This is a re-post of a popular project I shared last year, inspired by the  Three Witches from Macbeth. Supplies I used last year were from Oriental Trading Company.Project idea 100% mine.


One reason I thought to re-post this is because to get ready for Halloween this year, they're having a spooktacular giveaway that you definitely want to enter: 


The Grand Prize is $500 worth of stuff ( $500!!) but they're also giving away a $25 gift card to their site EVERY DAY until 10/18! Who wouldn't want to enter to win?

Oriental Trading Company

If you're not familiar with Oriental Trading Company or haven't been there in a while, in addition to a great selection of party supplies and project kids that are great for kids, they have really really expanded their crafting supply section. I was able to go through the ordering process which was straightforward and easy, and my shipment arrived quickly.

The hats themselves are not actually hats. They started out as these:

Paper Mache Cones

Plain paper mache cones. I covered them using torn and twisted kraft colored butcher paper and Mod Podge  and glued them to a cardboard circle base.

PA010958

Since I knew I wanted them to be old looking, I wasn’t precise and just kind of went over the form until it looked like a witch’s hat. When dry, painted with black paint. Now for the fun stuff!

Oriental Trading Co Papers

I chose some of the Halloween papers from Oriental Trading Company along with epoxy poison labels. I used the papers to make layered flowers that I scrunched and crumbled. After all, the witches from Macbeth would not be seen in pristine new hats.

Halloween Paper Flower

Using some of the die cuts and stickers I also received, I made accessories for my hats, keeping with a poison potion theme.

Witch's Brew Hat

Arsenic and Venom Hats

Waste not want not, so I used from of the scraps of paper to embellish the hats going around one of the cones, and one of the brims.

PA010962



Bewitching Hats

Monday, November 25, 2013

Christmas Card Making Made Easy with Coordinating Papers

Merry and Bright Cards 1

Products in this post were supplied to me by Oriental Trading Company. Project ideas and opinions are my own.
I love making cards and some of my favorite cards to make are Christmas cards. Since I make a lot of Christmas cards, I look for ways to make them unique but not too time consuming. One way to do that is to use coordinated papers like the Bright Christmas pack from Oriental Trading Company. 100 sheets of light cardstock weight scrapbook paper in coordinating patterns for $16.
Merry and Bright 5 Papers

I chose 5 different papers from the pack and since all of the colors coordinate, I just went with a combination of patterns and prints. A couple of the sheets had images perfect to use as focals for the cards. This is a great way to make cards if you don’t have a lot of cardmaking supplies and you don’t even need to be a stamper since you’re using the images from the papers.

Oriental Trading Findings

Santa was in the corner of this green polka dot paper so I cut out a panel, and layered him to a slightly larger piece of black paper. Using coordinating embellishments ( also from OTC) I added a little candy cane brad to Santa and finished him off with a couple of dabs of glitter glue on his hat and holly berry.

Merry and Bright Cards 2

For other cards, I combined papers using some as borders ( top and bottom here) and then as the focal point of the card.  I used more glitter glue in places to give the pieces more dimension.

Merry and Bright Cards 3

I made 8 cards with combinations of the 5 papers. I did some stamping on a couple of the cards but used one stamp and one ink to keep things simple. I had so much fun playing with the papers I can’t wait to sit down with them some more.

Merry and Bright Cards



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Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Winner: Oriental Trading Company Gift Card

Thanks to everyone who entered to win the $25 gift card giveaway to Oriental Trading Company that I hosted last week. The Rafflecopter thingy-ma-widget has chosen the winner and she is:


Congrats Lauren! I've emailed you so as soon as I hear back, I'll get your GC on its way. Happy shopping! 

Monday, October 7, 2013

Batty-Licious Halloween Earrings

Bat Charm Earrings

Just a reminder that today is the last day to enter to win my giveaway from Oriental Trading Company. Go here to enter.


I posted last week about some of the items I received from the. Included were some soldered Halloween themed charms. Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Post by Oriental Trading Company. Project Idea and opinions are my own. 

Oriental Trading Company 1

They have an image on one side and text on the other. I thought they’d make fun earrings to wear throughout October. The earrings are  big and bold but not as heavy as they look.

I grabbed some findings and beads from my stash and played around, stringing a fire polished black crystal bead, some metal spacer beads, and the soldered charms on beading wire. Attached to a square pendant piece and adhered a clip earring back with jewelry glue.

Batty Earrings

People may think I’m batty, but I’m loving my batty-licious earrings!

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