Happy Friday Eve Creative Peeps! I hope everyone is managing to stay cool since it's HOT everywhere. Even though we think we're acclimated to the desert, for some reason we're both feeling the heat more this year. 

I also hope everyone who celebrated had a nice Father's Day and the fathers in your lives felt loved and appreciated. We took a day trip over to Tombstone (that one...I'm Your Huckleberry Tombstone) which is a fun drive from us and picked up some fudge from our favorite place there FALLEN ANGEL SWEET SIN PARLOR and then spent a quiet day at home on Father's Day talking to our son and with Mr. Chocolate getting his favorite Nachos for dinner. 

It's hard to believe that July Fourth is around the corner but it is! Here are some fun ideas from last week's party to celebrate!

Darcy and Brian shared these fun Popsicle Stick Rockets, fun for adults and kids alike to make!

Sonata Home Design shared a perfect for Summer entertaining idea: Reversible No Sew Placemats! 

Walking On Sunshine Recipes shared yet another twist on Charcuterie with these Patriotic Charcuterie Cups! 

Finally, how cute are these Red, White, and Blue Pudding Shots from Ann's Entitled Life ? What a great dessert and/or addition to a dessert table! 

Thanks to everyone who linked up and wishing you a wonderful weekend! Stay hydrated. 

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Happy Friday Eve, all! I hope it's been a good week for everyone. We've been under a heat advisory a bit earlier than normal so I think we're all in for a hot hot Summer. Looks like the East coastis next. Stay as cool as you can and HYDRATE!! 

To everyone celebrating Father's Day this weekend, have a happy one! I lost my dad young so it's always a day to remember him but also to celebrate the wonderful father Mr. Chocolate is. Truly, a wonderful father, teacher, adviser, and since our son is an adult, friend. Couldn't have asked for a better partner to parent with. I love you! 

Steph Creates shared another gorgeous Dollar Tree transformation. They always have these trays and she both kept it simple and made it beautiful with this Floral Painted Tray!

Simple Everyday Mom shared a fun Minion Father's Day Card. Perfect for Father's Day and the newest movie that's out soon. 

 Ann's Entitled Life shared these Hamburger Cupcakes that would be a great Father's Day dessert or perfect for any Summer gathering. 

Hunny I'm Home shared a modern twist on a classic dessert with these Strawberry Shortcake Kabobs. also great for Father's Day or Summer!

Thanks to everyone who linked up and can't wait to see what you've been up to this week! Again, wishing all celebrating, a Happy Father's Day!

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BFF Open House

Happy Friday Eve all! Hope you've had a great week. We're under an earlier than usual heat advisory so while the calendar may not yet say Summer...

What a lovely surprise  to find my Metal Flower Bottle Toppers featured over at Our Hopeful Home during this weeks VINTAGE CHARM PARTY #442 hosted by Kathleen and Cecilia from My Thrift Store Addiction. Thank you! 

I did some more metal embossing this week which you can see here: Embossed Metal Southwest Decor

As always, lots of fun ideas were shared at last week's party so here are a few that caught my eye!

Fresh Vintage by Lisa S shared GORGEOUS Tea Bag Art! It's peak iced-tea season so save those bags and play! 

Christine's Crafts  shared these easy and fun to make Gift Tags using Repurposed Book Pages.

My French Twist shared this amazing Macrame Screen that would spark up any space. Macrame is having a moment! 

Finally, The Kitchen Is My Playground shared a recipe for Mr. Chocolate's all time favorite pie: Strawberry Rhubarb. Trust me, we have stalked fairs and farmer's market for it! 

Thank you to everyone who linked up and can't wait to see what you've got to share this week! 

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Embossed Metal Southwest Decor

 

I mentioned when I share my Metal Flower Bottle Toppers that I had some other metal embossing projects to share. Like all of the things I get into, I fell into this while attending a Scrapbooking convention and discovering Ten Seconds Studio which specialized in this. I haven't done it in several years and have rediscovered my love of it! 

Supplies:

• Aluminum Embossing Metal 
• Embossing Metal Tools
• Embossing Mat
• Wood Pieces
• Double Sided Tape
• Utility Knife / Scissors 

The two sets of embossing tools I have are shown. You can also use the kinds of stylus' that have round balls on either end, or wood sticks like cuticle sticks, or even dried up ball point pens. Whatever's hard enough to make an impression but not pierce the metal. 

I knew I was going to mount the metal piece on wood so I used a piece to create the outline on the metal. You need something like the rubber mat shown to place under the metal so when you press tools into the metal it absorbs the shape. You can use craft foam or a magazine. 

I found a cactus image I liked, sized, and printed it to use as a guide. Lay your image down and trace around the outline using an embossing tool or a pen. I used a ball point. 

Depending on the areas you want raised vs indented, trace your image on the front or back of the metal. I did mine from the back so you can see the image reversed on the metal. I chose another tool from my kit to do the cactus lines, then other tools to make designs. You can also use embossing folders with metal. 

To attach the metal to the wood mount, I applied a few strips of double sided tape, then laid it down on the back of the metal and folded the sides and top around the back. 

I wasn't even sure what I was going to do with this until I finished. I decided to use my thrifted tiered tray, along with more metal flowers I cut out and white rocks. I had so much fun reconnecting with this craft, I made another sign. This time just freehanded the lettering.

We found this cactus candleholder at a thrift shop and I painted it white and silver. 

I also did a piece with the state of Arizona design. This one I muted a bit by wiping some black paint over it. Alcohol inks also work well on embossed metal projects.

I'm really glad to have reconnected with an old friend! 

Sharing At: 

Sundays on Silverado

 

BFF Open House

 

Happy Friday Eve all of you Creative people! Hope you've had a good week. So thankful that things are settling down and my Mom, "The Mumster", is fully mended and has had great at-home Physical Therapy. She is very adamant about maintaining her independence. She's always been tiny and associated exercise with losing weight, a problem she's never had. So it's been an adjustment to get her to understand that strength training exercises are a key component of her maintaining the independence she so fiercely protects. 

I found some time this week to make something! Check out my Saguaro-inspired Metal Flower Bottle Tops, here. 

As always, LOTS of great inspiration was shared at last week's party so here are a few of them! 

Blue Sky At Home shared a fun and festive and perfect for Summer, How to Decorate Glass with Paint for Your Home Decor.  

Steph Creates shared this perfect for Summer Succulent Birdhouse. 

We love Asian Food, especially dumplings, and we love Tacos.  Homemade on a Weeknight has the perfect fusion in these Pork Dumpling Smash Tacos! YUM!

Finally, Fun A Day shared a twist on S'mores: S'mores on a Stick! 

Thank you to everyone who linked up and can't wait to see what you've got in store this week! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Embossed Metal Flower Bottle Tops

 

I finally had a chance to play! It's been a minute with a lot going on the past month and a half or so. I popped in Dollar Tree last week and found these cute bottles. Sea glass looking with the twine and the bee. Had to get! For whatever reason, they remind me of Saguaros which are blooming like crazy right now so that was my inspiration for these. 

Supplies

• Sea Glass Bottles (Dollar Tree)
• Embossable Metal (Amazon)
• Die Cutting Machine (Analog...used my Cricut Cuttlebug)
• Floral Die (Tim Holtz)
• Glue Dots 

This is the Tim Holtz cutting die I used. I've had it forever and still get tons of use from it. On the left is the roll of aluminum embossable metal I've had in my stash. 

My can't justify getting a newer one Cricut Cuttlebug because it's a workhorse. Lots of brands make similar and as much as I enjoy my crafting tech, sometimes analog is the way to go! 

These bottles are so cute!

I cut the embossing metal to size to fit the die, then ran it through the Cuttlebug. Originally, I planned for this to cut the metal as you would paper but this proved a bit too thick. It embossed the metal nicely so I just finished by cutting around each flower layer with scissors.

Then I attached each of the layers using Glue Dots.

To finish, I put two more Glue Dots directly onto the top of the bottle and then attached the flowers. If I decide to use the bottles / flowers differently, they come off easily.

I remembered how much fun metal embossing is so I'm off to work on another project I'll share when it's done! 

Sharing At

Sundays on Silverado