Thursday, March 25, 2021

BFF Open House

 


Happy Spring, officially! It's kind of hard to tell here in the desert but I guess it's when it's still below 100! I used to tease my Mom and friends who lived here before us about being cold in temperatures that other parts of the country would consider far from it. Now I'm on the receiving end when I tell our son that "it's cold" as he lives in Chicago and reminds us what cold really is.  Karma!

Easter is early this year and I haven't really done any decorating or new Easter projects. I did a little roundup of different ways to use plastic eggs here.  

But, I did grab this free cut file from Creative Fabrica today that I'm going to play with! If you don't know , they have daily freebies but they are only free for one day. Fonts, graphics, SVGs. It's a great way to build a library. They also have a weekly freebie and periodically offer free bundles. I'm not an affiliate so this is just me sharing. 

OK! Let's take a look at some of the wonderful projects shared at last week's party. 


MaryJo from Masterpieces of My Life shared her gorgeous Easter Tablescape, the centerpiece of which are beautiful Mercury Glass eggs! I love the moss bunnies and accents. 


Penny, from Penny's Vintage shared her festive Spring Kitchen so you have to check out the whole thing but I especially love these fabric carrots! This gives me some ideas how to use up lots of scraps I have from mask making! 


Lisa from Fresh Vintage by Lisa S shared a treasure trove of German Paper Mache Easter Eggs she found while thrifting. What wonderful vintage keepsakes! 


Finally ( and we're all adults here right) I give you these "Better Than Sex" cupcakes shared by the Lou Lou Girls! I think they speak for themselves! 

Alright! Let's see what everyone's been up to this week! Happy Passover to those celebrating!








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Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Plastic Eggs Aren't Just For Hiding. Creative Ways To Use Them

 


Over the years I've had fun with decorating plastic eggs...creating home decor projects etc. So I thought I'd round them up since we're in peak plastic egg season!  The links are in bold text. 

Tissue Paper, Twine, and Paint 






Use large plastic eggs, cover with plain white tissue paper, then paint and/or wrap with twine. Details at link



Using the tissue paper technique, again cover plastic egg, then paint with a few coats of glitter paint, embellish with a vintage looking paper border and paper roses. Details at link

I love Old World European Chocolate eggs so I emulated one using a foam egg, some paint, a French Chocolate label and embellishments! Details at link.






Choose some complementary plastic eggs, add felt leaves and paper flowers and make a Spring Wreath. Details at link





Stock up on those plastic eggs now for Fall. Paint,scrapbook paper, twine and sequins are all you need. Details at link


I hope you've found some inspiration! What are some creative ways you've used plastic eggs? 





Saturday, March 20, 2021

Cardmaking: Easy Card No Fancy Tools

 


This week's link party continues here!

As I've written before, I love my amazing crafting tools like my Cricut Explore Air2. But sometimes I also love the simplicity of making something that doesn't require tools.  Here's how you can make an easy card with just some pretty papers and a few basics. 

Supplies: 
  • Scrapbook Papers (I used the Let's Wander Stack by Recollections from Michaels) and some paper scraps from previous projects. 
  • Cardstock. I used 110lb Cardstock, Recollections, Michaels
  • Stickers. I used one sticker from a pack by Crafter's Square from Dollar Tree
  • Embellishments. Crafter's Square, Dollar Tree. 
  • Double sided adhesive or tape runner
  • Paper Trimmer or craft knife
  • Scoreboard / bone folder or if you don't have, you can use an empty ball point pen


First, choose your papers and what you want to use for your card's focal. Stickers are great for this, especially those on clear backgrounds. I found these at The Dollar Tree and for $1 you can make multiple cards. 


Trim your cardstock to 7x10 inches then score in the middle at 5 inches. I use a scoreboard for my cards but you can easily place your cardstock on a magazine , use a ruler as a guide, and use an empty ballpoint pen or something else pointed enough to score your fold but not cut. 


To make the focal for your card, place the sticker you've chosen on a piece of cardstock then trim it to size. If you don't have a paper trimmer, again a ruler and a craft / utility knife and easy peasy. 

Cut the main decorative paper you've chosen to 4.75x6.75 (I used a pink swirly sheet) then mat your trimmed sticker focal on another piece of the same paper and mat with a solid ( I used a scrap of black cardstock). 

Since I've been at this a while, I have a TON of paper scraps from other projects but if this is the first card you're making, choose some coordinating sheets from the paper stack and play around. I grabbed some of my scraps and cut to sizes that worked with my trimmed focal. 

Assemble. Hint: I always assemble my layers before I attach to the card itself. So in this case, I put my matted focal on top of the scrap with the bows on it, then attached to the silver dotted paper, and finally on the pink swirl background. Then attach to your card. 


I always like to finish with some bling or some dots of glitter glue etc. In this case, I used a sheet of rhinestone embellishments by Crafter's Square from The Dollar Tree. They are really expanding their line of crafting materials and you can't beat the price! 


Lots of cards to make with all of those rhinestones! Most of the teardrop shaped ones have the little round ones attached. I used these for the bigger bows. For the smaller bows, just dotted with some other smaller rhinestones in my stash. This part is completely optional. 

But see? Easy, no fancy tools, and when you can get a beautiful stack of papers like the ones in this Let's Wander pack (currently on sale at Michaels 70% off!) then you don't have to spend a lot to make some pretty things! 









Thursday, March 18, 2021

BFF Open House

 


Happy almost Spring officially! I hope those of you who changed your clocks last weekend have made the adjustment. For me, I'm still getting used to the fact that Arizona doesn't but it still throws me off because now we're the same time as Pacific and 2 vs 1 hour behind Central and back to 3 hours behind Eastern. I'll be confused again in the Fall. Suffice it to say, I stay confused! 

I was up to some jewelry projects this week, making some Coffee themed earrings and a bracelet inspired from the adorable GROGU character from Disney's "The Mandalorian". 

Let's take a look at some Spring ideas from last week's party! 


Kathleen from Our Hopeful Home created these stunning Chinoiserie Eggs. They are just absolutely perfect!


Equally beautiful is this Easter vignette from Niky at The House on Silverado. You have to see her tutorial for making the seed packets! 


Amy, from Heritage Home Ec shared this beautiful Farmhouse "Wagon Wheel" clock made from...Embroidery Hoops! 



Finally, Faerie Projects are so popular and you can do so many creative things with gardens or projects under glass cloches etc. I am enchanted by this magical door from Condo Blues. A world of imagination awaits behind that door! 

Thank you to everyone who linked up and let's see what everyone's been up to this week !











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Tuesday, March 16, 2021

DIY Jewelry: GROGU (The Mandalorian) Inspired Bracelet

 


I have watched both seasons of The Mandalorian on Disney Plus, and like so many others, am totally smitten by the character named GROGU aka "The Child" aka "Baby Yoda" . If you're not familiar he's the same type of being as Yoda ( whom I also love ) but is not in fact the baby version of him. 


While going through my bead stash, I remembered I had some Kiwi Jasper beads that were PERFECT for a GROGU inspired project.  This is an easy bracelet to make using stretch cord. 


Mr. Chocolate surprised me with one of the animated toys as one of my Christmas gifts. They were almost impossible to find but he did and he is so cute. Our dog loves it when I activate him and just cocks her head at all of his movements and sounds.  I gathered up the supplies I thought I'd use and I ended up not using the white beads. No worries. They'll get put to good use! 

Supplies: 

  • Stretch Magic Bead & Jewelry Cord 1mm ( Michaels)
  • 10mm Kiwi Sesame Jasper (Shipwreck Beads...no longer on their site but Etsy, Amazon have)
  • 10mm Matte Black Glass Beads (Michaels)
  • 10mm Silver Beads (Michaels
  • Bead Landing Rhinestone Dangles ( Michaels)
  • Charm Along Metal Tags (Michaels)
  • Loctite Gel Control Glue
  • Head Pins and Jump Rings

Since I tend to make bolder jewelry, I like the thickness of the 1mm Stretch Magic cord. If you're using smaller beads you can use thinner versions. 


I like to spread the beads I'm working with out so I can easily grab them and a piece of felt works great to keep them from rolling away. 


Cut a length of the Stretch Magic a few inches longer than the finished bracelet size. Some people try to measure exactly which maximizes your cord, but I like ends long enough to not cause me to swear when I'm trying to tie the knot and things go wrong and beads go everywhere, which may or may not have happened one too many times. 

I bought these clamps at Dollar Tree forever ago and they work great for clamping one end so you don't have beads to chase. 



Measure your bracelet once you have your beads on. I know from experience 7.5 is the right length for me. Tie with a basic knot. Dab a little Loctite or jewelry glue onto the knot, then tie another knot and trim. 



I usually add a little dangle on my bracelets, especially when I'm giving as a gift, and especially since I found some cute charms that say things like "Made With Love" "Handmade" etc. I also love these little rhinestone dangles to add just a touch of bling. 


To create the bead dangle, thread one of the jasper beads and one of the silver beads onto a head pin and close with a wrapped loop

Then, attach your tag, rhinestone, and bead dangle onto your bracelet using jump rings. 



I love how the jasper represents GROGU, the black beads his eyes, and the silver is for Beskar, the elite armor worn by worthy Mandalorians. Geek Alert! 


This is the way !

Sharing At: 
Our Hopeful Home 
The House On Silverado 



Sunday, March 14, 2021

DIY Jewelry: But First Coffee Earrings

 



As a Seattle girl originally, I am an "OG" Starbucks customer. I'm talking from the days when there wasn't one on every street corner, in every mall or grocery store or Target. And my drink has always been a Mocha. Hot, usually iced, always a Mocha. While I make my iced Mochas every morning at home and most evenings as well, Mr. Chocolate knows that if we're out...there's a stop involved. I live for the mobile app which has been my lifeline during this pandemic! So when I found some coffee themed charms at JoAnn, it was a no brainer that I was getting them! 

These instructions are the same for clip earrings or pierced with the only change being using an earwire instead of the clip bases. 




Supplies: 
  • hildie & jo charms (JoAnn)
  • Clip earring backs ( Michaels
  • Clip earring "base" (eg something to cover the backs... had these in my stash)
  • Jump rings (Michaels and Jo Ann)
  • Connector Links 
  • Jewelry Pliers
  • Glue ( I use Loctite Gel Control Super Glue)

If you're making clips, the first step is to glue the clip back to the base with a good drop of the Loctite Glue. I like this because it's thicker and doesn't run. Use clamps or clothespins to secure and let dry while you assemble the other pieces. If you're making pierced earrings, see below for when to attach the earwire. 


I chose to go with these two charms and make a par of asymmetrical earrings. The bolder jump rings on the right (also hildie & jo) I had in my stash and used to connect the larger connector links shown at the bottom. I used three connector links for each earring. 


To connect the connector links, open one of the jump rings, thread all three onto it, close. Repeat for the other earring. Add another jump ring to each set of now joined links. 


Repeat the same process to attach the charms. 

If you're making pierced, at this point use one more jump ring to attach an earwire. For clip earrings, attach a jump ring to your completed clip base and use one more to attach the body of your earring. 

This is an easy process to whip up a pair of earrings that can be worn with anything! 





and Iced Mochas too ! 

Sharing At: 


Our Hopeful Home
The House On Silverado