Restoration HW Inspired Mantle Clock Project

I’m definitely going through a timepiece phase right now. Everywhere I look I see clocks and clock ideas. I am in absolute LOVE with the oversized railway station and vintage clocks at places like Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn. I’m not in love with the prices.

$995 and $1545 um NO!

Still I like the look so I got one of those ideas that you aren’t really sure how or where you’re going to end up?

Come with me on my little journey!

I started out with Elmer’s Foam Board and the lid to a cookie tin. Traced the cookie tin on the foam board, cut out a circle and them smooshed the circle inside the tin. You want a snug fit.

That little gouge doesn’t matter because I cut another circle from some textured cardstock which I glued on top.

The clock face is black vinyl cut using the Tim Holtz Weathered Clock die. I put that on top of the cardstock layer and then mixed up some Envirotex Lite resin which is super easy to use but you need to use it immediately. You can read more about Envirotex here.

Painted the back and sides of the lid with black acrylic paint and painted a furniture leg I picked up at my favorite architectural salvage place for $1. I added a silver bottlecap and wooden ball to the top.

Once the resin was set ( several hours…not patient!), I glued the “clock” onto the “stand”. I added the hands of the clock afterwards on top of the hardened resin for no particular reason. Just did.

It doesn’t tell time but I think it tells a story. I can look at it on my mantle and imagine I’m somewhere on a trip, waiting  in an old railway station on my way to sight see. My imagi-cation is about as close as I’m going to get right now!

I also got to play with my new portable / collapsible light box that Mr. C got me for Christmas! I think it will be a so much fun I won't even miss not going anywhere :)

PS...if you are trying to win a Silhouette Cameo, peek over at my sidebar.  Expressions Vinyl is giving one away!! GO . ENTER. NOW!  Ends 1/25.

Sharing At:

 

Pottery Barn Inspired Prints Made Super Simple by The Graphics Fairy

This was the laziest project ever but it’s because The Graphics Fairy makes things so darned easy!

I was flipping through my latest Pottery Barn catalog looking for things to knock off ( it’s what we do right?!) and came across this page:

Mr. C is crazy for time pieces and I’m going though a clock phase myself as you could see from my New Year’s Eve party hats. I decided to continue that theme into the New Year and when I saw this display in the PB Catalog, knew I could adapt it. These will go on my mantle but we haven’t put away all of our holiday stuff yet.

12x12 frame from Aaron Brothers Art and Frame which is a very dangerous place right now because they’re having their semi-annual $.01 sale. Buy one frame for regular price and get the second of equal or lesser value for a penny. It’s easy to go a little crazy. 

I used Basic Grey’s “Little Black Dress” collection for the background paper, and printed out the clock from The Graphics Fairy.

The Graphics Fairy also has this wonderful graphic with times from all around the world that I’ve been wanting to use:

And since I had another frame that I’d bought for $.01…..

I have a couple of other clock projects in my head so I’ll post those (assuming they come out of my head and into reality the way I want them to!) soon.

Sharing At: 

BFF Open House Link Party #34 Wrap Up and Features

Welcome 2012! I hope everyone had a safe and Happy New Year’s. Ours was a quiet evening at home trying hard to stay awake until the countdown but we did it!

The last BFF Open House of 2011 was, as always, a fun one with lots of creativity shared. Here are just a few highlights:

New Year’s may be over but there’s always a need for creative party ideas. Homespun With Love shared these great New Year’s horns that could easily be adapted to birthday parties or other celebrations in 2012:

I’ve seen some great tea staining ideas but Lynette from Casa de Luna offers a new twist by tea staining lampshades for a fantastic chandy makeover.

This is the time of year where my thoughts ( THOUGHTS not always actions!) turn to organizing.

Donna at loopyloopcreations has a bright and simple idea that makes storage pretty and practical.

And finally, Katie from Creatively Living, shows how to take two wall sconces and turn them into one piece of fabulous:

You really have to see how this started out!

Thanks as always to everyone who linked up and look forward to seeing your creativity at this week’s BFF Open House.

PS The winner of the My Memories Suite digital software is :

Marilyn from The Artsy Girl Connection! 

My Word For 2012: FOCUS

Starting last year, I decided that rather than make a list of resolutions, I’d have a word that would be my theme for the year and I’d try to apply it to all the things I wanted to do.

For 2011  it was “DISCOVER" and I think it worked well. It was a year of lots of new things…son’s graduation from HS and starting college ( and discovering how to let go!) ; changing jobs ( discovering new skills); all kinds of blogging discoveries like new bloggy friends, ideas,technical how-tos etc. You get the idea.
I decided I’d stick with this idea for 2012 and pick a new word.

2012’s word for me is FOCUS:

This word just fit into all the things I keep thinking about for the year ahead. I want to FOCUS  on me. Not in a selfish way, but in a healthy way. Taking better care of my physical and mental health. Ensuring that I’m in good shape so I can be there for those I love.

I made this printable to frame and hang outside my office door as a daily reminder.

I also want to FOCUS on things I want to do in blogging. Continue to grow but stay authentic. FOCUS on why I started blogging and have it be part of my creativity but not dictate my creativity. FOCUS on expanding realationships while maintaining the ones I already value and treasure.

You know I can't resist an opportunity to make a pun so I also want to FOCUS on taking better pictures. I'm excited to play with a portable light box I got for Christmas!!

FOCUS on the US in my relationship with hubs. We celebrated our 20th Anniversary this year and yet it seems like just yesterday that we got married. We’re still adjusting to this whole empty nest thing but as hard as it was to adjust to our son being gone for long chunks of time, we re-DISCOVERED what it’s like to be a couple again, just the two of us. In 2012 I want to FOCUS on that some more in 2012. Love you so much Mr. C.

I want to FOCUS on the things that are really important and not dwell on the things that aren't. That's something I know I need to work on...just a little OCD sometimes!

So you get the picture. This just clicked for me as a word that encompassed everything. Do you have a word that describes what you want from 2012?

BFF Open House Link Party #34: New Year's Eve Edition

I'm late to my own party! Welcome to the "I can't believe it's the last BFF Open House of 2011" link party! I want to kick off the party by expressing my gratitude and appreciation to everyone who has chosen to be a regular part of The Answer Is Chocolate. Blogging has been such a wonderful experience for me in 2011,  and it's because of the friendship, support, humor, creativity, generosity and talents of brilliant talented bloggers. You all enrich my life beyond measure and I can't wait to see what 2012 brings. 

Now, let's see what everyone's been up to. I've seen some wonderful New Year's Eve ideas that even an NYE Grinch like me can love, and I'm starting to get excited about the clean look that usually comes to my house after the holidays ( not the putting away of the decorations part!). If you made it, link it and no advertising or shops please. And what better time to make a new friend than the start of a New Year so won't you go and visit at least one other person? Party On!

PS Don't forget I have a giveaway going for My Memories Suite digital SW...seriously it's FREE and it's fun program to play around with.  

Even A New Year's Grinch Can Celebrate: Easy Party Hats

We are not big New Year’s Eve party people. I joked with my mom that I’d celebrate on Australia time which means I could mark the New Year a day earlier and not even attempt to pretend (or pretend to attempt)  I was going to stay up. 


I don’t have anything against New Year’s Eve…I love thinking about the year past, the year ahead, goals, memories etc. Just have no desire to dress up in stuff I’ll wear once, and/or be out and around people who’ve had too much to drink.

So it’ll be another cozy night at home. But we’re not total Grinches! We’ll have a special dinner and of course there will be chocolate, and we’ll have a movie or On Demand TV series marathon. Living on the edge I know, but even homebodies can be festive! Especially with a trip to Dollar Tree, supplies on hand and the amazing Graphics Fairy!

I found the basic paper top hat at Dollar Tree…variety of colors but I liked the silver and gold. Except they only had two. Well they had three but one was smashed in. So I got blue for college boy since it goes with his school colors.

Remembered I’d downloaded a great antique clock graphic from The Graphics Fairy. Printed several on cardstock in various sizes and cut them out.

I have the Tim Holtz Weathered Clock die by Sizzix so I cut out several in silver and gold and used up scraps from my Christmas cards to punch glittered silver and gold foil stars.

I used 3 chenille stems for each hat, bending each one in half to make a loop and hot glued them to the hat. Then stuck the clock faces on, embellishing some w/ self adhesive rhinestones. Just kind of stuck stuff
wherever.

Not too bad for a $3 investment by a New Year’s Grinch right? 

Don't forget, I also have a great giveaway of My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software going on through New Year's Eve!

Sharing At:

Capture Holiday Memories With A My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Giveaway

Something I’ve been wanting to do is play more with digital scrapbooking. Even if you’re not a scrapbooker , there are so many things you can do with digital scrapbooking software. Printables, signs, buttons or graphics for your blog.

I was so excited when My Memories gave me the opportunity to try their digital scrapbooking software and have been having so much fun playing with it. Even better, they’re giving me the opportunity to let one of my readers download their own copy! More on that in a minute.

One of the first things I created was my dinner menu for Christmas.

I used one of the templates (Holiday Snows)  that came with the software to make it.  You can use as is or modify by deleting, moving, or re-sizing elements. This was a very basic project that I did in about 5 minutes.

I used  pages from the album Holiday Simplicity in the post I did on the ginger bread cottage I made for Christmas. The designer albums allow you to use all or as few of the pages as you want and it’s super easy to drop pictures in.

In addition to all of the templates that come with the software, you can buy or download free templates from the My Memories website. They also offer some exclusive downloads on Facebook.

I also love that you can export your album or pages from your albums as JPEG files just like you would any other picture.

So now for the fun part! My Memories is offering one of you the chance to get your own copy of  the My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking program, a $40 value.

To be eligible (leave a comment for each thing that applies)

• Go to https://www.mymemories.com/store/category_search?search[category]=72 and tell me what you favorite digital album is
• Be or become a follower of The Answer Is Chocolate via GFC
• “Like” The Answer Is Chocolate on Facebook
• Follow The Answer Is Chocolate on Twitter
• Share this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, or Twitter

The giveaway will be open through New Year’s Eve and the winner announced on New Year’s Day 2012. What better way to start the new year off than by making a memory!

If you don't want to wait to see if you win , or if you see this after the giveaway closes, you can always use my My Memories code and get $10 off your purchase of My Memories Suite PLUS a $10 credit to the My Memories online store. Just type in STMMMS58014.



*While I was provided a copy of the software to use, the opinions expressed are my own.