Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Superhero First Aid Kit

I got this idea when I was at Old Navy the other day and saw a “Superman” lunch box . My son may be going off to college but he is a lifelong superhero fanatic and comic book collector. So even though he won’t be taking his lunch, I couldn’t resist this lunchbox:

jigsaw12519ee5fa26d2b35667e89c0602a90b21344ea9

(I also couldn’t resist playing with BigHugeLabs again!) Mom that I am, I couldn’t help but think about practical things too. Like the stuff that we Moms keep on hand….cold medicine, bandaids, anti-bacterial ointment etc. You know…the stuff that’s just magically “there”?

P8091636

Vitamins, anti-bacterial wipes, nail clipper, Ibuprofen….

P8091637

P8091632

Of course I had to go with the Spiderman bandaids! I was hoping he wouldn’t think I was being a smother mother and he didn’t. He really liked and appreciated it. I am not however, allowed to decorate the dorm room Smile

Monday, August 8, 2011

BFF Link Party#14 : Wrap Up, Features, and FYI

Thanks everyone for continuing to link up to the Blog Feature Friday Open House here at The Answer Is Chocolate. I love going through the links and seeing familiar blogs and new ones.

First, the FYI…the BFF Open House link party will be up for the next few  Fridays without the blog feature portion. During those same weeks I won’t do the Monday wrap-up. The combined blog feature and link party will resume week ending 9/9. Just too much going on trying to get a kid off to college and spend some family time! Thanks for understanding. Now for this week’s features!

You MUST check out this incredible felt flower pouf at JandJ Home!

I love everything about it. The flowers, the colors ! YUM.

I’m so drawn to fonts and typography and if you’ve never visited Aimee at Sprik Space, you are cheating yourself. She has created so many collections of amazing printables and generously shares them. I adore this alphabet:

Alphabet Mosaic - 11x14 - Sprik Space

You will definitely want to check out her multiple series of patterned pieces while you’re there!

Becky, at Buzzy Bee Creations linked up the cutest mason jar project.

Functional and pretty. A combination that can’t be beat! And finally , Suesan from Frou-Frugal linked up this gorgeous chair / bench makeover that will make you want to curl up with a glass of iced tea or lemonade and a good book:

[0708011948c%255B3%255D.jpg]

Just looking at the fabric, I feel Mediterranean breezes! 

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Fat Quarters Aren’t Just For Quilting!

I’m not a quilter, but I can’t keep myself out of the quilting fabric. I especially love “fat quarters”….they’re about 18”x18” pieces of the same fabrics you can buy by the yard. They’re also a perfect size to wrap a wine bottle.
P8071617
Starting this week, the first wave of my son’s friends  leave for college. We were stopping by one goodbye party and I was trying to think of how to wrap a bottle of wine and didn’t quite have time to make a wine bag. Fat quarter to rescue! I just placed the bottle in the middle, gathered up the edges wrapped a rubber band around the neck and finished off with some ribbon!
P8071620
The tag is one I had on hand for just such an occasion (it was really a card and I cut along the score line to have twice as many tags and embellished with some paper scraps, KandCo scrapbook borders etc.) I just threaded some of the same ribbon through the holes in it and tied to the bottle.
P8071630
I also wanted to bring some cupcakes but with everyone so busy didn’t want to worry about getting a container back etc. Enter aluminum pans from Dollar Tree along with a plain white flour sack towel from the same. The hostess can use these for something else and not have to worry about returning.
P8071622
The paper flags I simply made using my Printshop Deluxe Program and printed on a patterened scrapbook paper in the Freshman’s school colors.
P8071625
And I’m still using up the edible gold glitter stars I bought for my son’s graduation which seems like an eternity ago and now they’re all leaving for college! YIKES! Maybe I should have bought two bottles of wine.
Linking Up To: 

Thursday, August 4, 2011

BFF Link Party#14 and BFF A Fish Who Likes Flowers

TGIF! Whew. Can you believe it’s August already? And it’s not going by any slower than June or July did. This week, I’d like to introduce you to a fun blogger named Bethany and her blog A Fish Who Likes Flowers. As she puts it:
I'm a creative Pisces girl that loves to sew, knit, and create beautiful things.
And she does exactly that! Look at this cute pillow she made for a friend’s birthday ( and isn’t that sentiment the truth?!)
You might remember some of her other pillows which were recently featured as part of one of my previous party wrap ups:
Bethany did these for a wedding gift but you have to see the other things she did for this wedding!
I love these table markers made from thrift store finds and chalkboard paint:
And these cute moustache and eyeglass accessories on a stick she did when the bride, her niece, saw a similar idea in a wedding magazine:


Guests could take one ( from the equally cute mason jar) and take pictures with silly faces. I love this idea. And since it's still Summer, check out this beachy wreath she linked up last week: 


Much much more to check out over at Bethany’s so I hope you will go visit!

Now, I’m not going to go into a long party intro…you know the drill! Link to your blog post and not your main page and no advertising or selling please. Party on!






Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Black and White Anniversary

Friends of my in-laws will soon be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. I think that’s such an awesome accomplishment!
P8031615
They’ve been so sweet to my husband and me since we got married and I wanted to do a little something for them even though they said no gifts. The wife has always been known for her passion for black and white. So while the traditional 50th Anniversary color is gold, I had to honor her color preference. Plus hello… I love black and white so no brainer!
I had another wood plinth from when I made my Paris Plaque.
Wood Plinth
I painted it black and then Mod Podged a tone on tone grey damask print paper from Deja Views Sweet Romance collection on the back and a torn piece on front:
Decoupaged Plinth
Cut out “50” on black vinyl using my Cricut Expression ( Wall Décor and More cart)  and put on top of the torn side after my MP was dry. Went over the painted sides with white and silver RubnBuff and finished with black and white paper flowers, gold rhinestones ( there’s my traditional color!) and a vintage black and white button I’d picked up thrifting.
Mod Podge and Vinyl Plaque
P8031614
For the card, I used a black and white flourish print paper from Me and My Big Ideas and layered chipboard accents from Colorbok’s Nocturne collection with a KandCo Elegance adhesive scrapbook border. Finished off with Recollections rhinestone swirls.
Black and White Anniversary
Black and White Anniversary Card Closeup
Linking Up At:



Monday, August 1, 2011

Memory Candle

P7241492
One of my BFF’s recently lost her brother unexpectedly. Flowers are great but they’re temporary. I wanted something that would last. Candles have always brought me solace, probably fostered by my Catholic upbringing and candles being everywhere.

I’ve shared a few altered candle projects before so that was an idea that seemed perfect. I chose to call this a "Memory" vs "Memorial" candle because I want my friend to reflect on good memories of her brother.

I started with a plain glass candle from Dollar Tree and some wonderful handmade paper I picked up because I loved it, but didn’t have a specific purpose in mind when I bought it:
P7211462
I tore a strip of the paper and Mod Podged it onto the candle, and then tore a strip of paper painters tape and MP’d it on top. Added a KandCo adhesive scrap book border in a coordinating color.
P7211475
I poked around in my embellishment stash and chose a 1.5” memory frame and glass slide from Ranger, and cut out a square from KandCo’s Life’s Journeys Stamp Collage paper that says “Always”. Glued the paper to the glass with Glossy Accents.  I also selected a heart and key charm. Always to remember that he will be in her heart and was a key figure in her life. Finished with coordinating beads and wrapped the top with twine.
P7241491

P7241489
Linking Up At:

BFF Link Party#13 Wrap Up and Features

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. We really enjoyed exploring our local arts fair.  Once again, great creativity linked up to last week’s BFF link party and here are just a few of the fantastic ideas. Hope you’ll go and visit these ladies if you haven’t already.

We’ve seen lots of burlap ideas and I continue to love them but his corduroy wreath from Art Is Beauty just caught my eye. I love the texture  the corduroy gives the rosettes!

Need to keep those recipes visible and handy while cooking? Christine at ChristineandCo has a pretty and practical way to do just that!

Perfect for beating the heat or just because , Screaming Sardine has a copycat recipe for my absolute favorite Dairy Queen Blizzard flavor: Oreo Cookie!

And for chocolate of another variety, we end where we began back at Art is Beauty with this incredible drop leaf table using a graphic from The Graphics Fairy:

Hope to see you all back again this Friday for another BFF Open House Link Party here at The Answer Is Chocolate!