BFF Open House

 

Hello and Happy Friday Eve to all my "Chocoholics"! I hope everyone's had a great week. Mine has been one of those "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans" weeks. Actually a couple. The Mumster (aka my Mom) took a fall last week and ended up in the hospital. The good news is, it wasn't as bad as it could have been and she has been home since Saturday. I've been staying with her to help get her back up to full strength, so haven't been doing any making. As such, this will be a week where there aren't any features. 

I will take a moment, especially for those of you who are younger, to issue a PSA that it's never too soon to have conversations with your parents about finances, decisions, directives etc. If COVID year has taught us anything it's "we don't know what we don't know" so ASK and discuss! You and they will have better peace of mind. 

OK end of PSA and party on my Creative Peeps! Thanks for understanding! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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BFF Open House

 

Hi all and hope everyone's had a great week! In advance, Happy Easter to everyone celebrating this weekend. Passover also comes to a close this weekend. 

Let's jump straight into seeing some of the ideas from last week's party. 

Unique Creations by Anita continues her Steampunk creations, the latest example of which is this Steampunk Gnome! 

Cecelia from My Thrift Store Addiction shared this beautifully simple and perfect for Spring Moss Wreath. 

Artsy Va Va shared these pretty Spring candles with a tutorial not only on how to decorate the outside, but how to make the inside! 

Finally, check out these Chocolate Bunnies from Studio 27 by Jennifer Adams. Are they though? Chocolate that is...you tell me! 

OK let's see what everyone's been up to this week! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Papercrafting: Mod Podge Keepsake Eggs

 

I had a couple of large plastic eggs in my stash so I decided to add to my Keepsake Egg collection that I didn't even know was a collection until I realized how many I've made! All you need are some plastic eggs, pretty paper, Mod Podge, and some embellishments. 

Supplies: 

• Large Plastic Eggs (Michaels)
• Decorative Paper ( Paper Source)
• Mod Podge (Michaels)
• Ribbon and Charms (Stash)

Matte Mod Podge is my go to for almost everything although I have and love the other formulas. It works really well with handmade papers. They absorb it and dry really nicely. 

I just drew an oval bigger than the egg on the back side of the paper, cut, then cut around the edges to make it easier for the paper to lay down. 

Flipped the paper over, coated the back with Mod Podge, then wrapped the egg. I covered most of the eggs this way, then just tore pieces to cover the remaining exposed spots. 

With a heavily patterned paper like this I wasn't too worried about any crinkles most of which you can smooth with your finger but even those that remain just kind of blend in. If you're using a less patterned paper where wrinkles may show more, you can be more precise about applying the paper. 

Once the eggs were covered, I coated with more Mod Podge and let dry.  One reason I love Mod Podge is it stays wet enough to get your paper where you want it yet dries fast so a project doesn't take forever. 

After that, it's up to your imagination! I grabbed some gold satin ribbon and some tissue paper like yarn I had in my stash, along with some Fleur de Lis Charms that worked with the colors and style of the paper.  Cut a length of the satin ribbon large enough to fit around the egg and make a bow, anchor on the bottom of the egg with a dot of hot glue, then wrap and tie a bow. Cut a length of the ribbon yarn, slide under the bow, knot,  then cut some more strands and lay atop the knot and use the ends to tie on the charms. 

I like that these aren't explicitly Easter and can be left out for Spring since eggs are a symbol of renewal. 

I've heard people say they're intimidated by decoupage but don't be! Start with a project like this where it's not about precision. Once you make one thing, you'll be hooked! 

Papercrafting: Layered Egg Easter Cards

 

I will singlehandedly keep the Post Office in business because as much as I love and use technology, I will always make and send handmade cards. And since no matter how hard I try, I can't make cards that only require basic stamps, I'm their best customer!  

I had fun with my newfound knowledge of creating layered files in Cricut Design Space and did a series of layered Easter Eggs in a pastel palette. 

Supplies: 

• Let's Wander Paper Stack ( Michaels ) 
• Ethereal Gradients Stack (Michaels) 
• Pastel Glitter Stack ( Michaels ) 
• White Cardstock (Michaels)
• Foam Tape
• Tape Runner

I will also singlehandedly acquire every Michaels Hot Buy Paper Stack which, did I mention...are buy one get two free this week? 

Since all of the papers complemented each other, it was easy to play with different combinations. I ended up doing some in blues/turquoise, pinks and lavenders, and yellows/oranges/green. 

I cut the top layers of each using the glitter paper, layering using foam tape on either one or two layers of coordinating plain paper. 

For this one I used two layers of glitter paper. 

I had some paper butterflies in my embellishments stash but I didn't have enough so I made some more by cutting them on my Explore Air 2 and adding self adhesive pearls to match the original!

The Post Office employees hide when they see me coming! WHAT is she mailing now?! 

Sharing At:

Our Hopeful Home

Dollar Tree Crafting: Easy Twine Carrot Wreath

 

You never know what you'll find at The Dollar Tree. And if you're me, when you do find things, you may not know exactly what you're going to do with what you do find until you do! I found these twine carrots when they first started putting out Easter stuff and was not sure what I was going to do with them but they were the kind of thing you just pick up, because. 

Supplies:

• Twine Carrots (You could do this with plastic or fabric carrots as well) I used 3 pkgs
• Small Wire Wreath Frame (8 inch)
• Ribbon 
• Glue gun and glue sticks

I save good ribbon such as this twill ribbon that a beautiful new blanket Mr. Chocolate gave me for Christmas was wrapped in. Who knows when it will come in handy? 

The first step was to wrap the wire frame. I love these smaller 8 inch wreath frames that Dollar Tree carries and they come in packs of 2!

I anchored the ribbon with a dab of hot glue, wrapped the frame, and then secured with another dab of hot glue. 

Then I added my carrots, making sure that the tips all aligned as I went around. 

I knew I should have bought one more package because as you can see, I didn't have enough to go all the way around. No worries. I had leftover ribbon so I just made a bow to fill the gap. I didn't bother to iron the ribbon because I figured since the carrot tops were not perfect, the bow shouldn't be either. I like that it looks vintagey and old. 

And done! I have this empty frame on my cement accent wall in my office that I like to put seasonal accents in so that's where this is. 

Et, Voila! 

Sharing At: 

The House on Silverado 

Follow The Yellow Brick Home

Our Hopeful Home

Papercrafting: Layered Bunny Mandala

 

This week's party continues here .

This post contains a referral link for which I may receive free products. 

I mentioned in this week's party post that I love Creative Fabrica as a source for fonts, graphics, and SVG cutting files and that they offer one of each of these for free each day. I downloaded this one when it was free the other day ( it's still available here but no longer free). 

I was excited to play with it and I'm excited to show you how it turned out!

Supplies: 

• Scrapbook papers 
• Electronic Cutting Machine ( I used my Cricut Explore Air2, these files also work in Silhouette Design Studio)
• Spray Glue
• Frame

Downloaded the file to my computer and imported into Cricut Design Space as follows: 

Click on image on the left side of the design panel, Click on Upload Image. 

Click browse to go to where you've stored your file, and then select the SVG file. 

Your file will appear in your recently uploaded files and then select Insert Image. Once it's on your canvas, then you can re-size as desired. I sized mine 8x8 for a 12x12 frame. 

All three layers will be shown . For me, it's easier to work with one layer on the screen at a time so I can keep straight which layer I want in which color. To hide the layers you don't want to work with, click on the eye icons until only the layer(s) you want is shown. Then you can send to cut each layer. 

I did the background layer in turquoise glitter The middle layer in pastel turquoise. The top layer in cream. 

Since each layer is so detailed and delicate, I used a spray adhesive to attach them. I like the repositionable kind in case you need to adjust. 

Here are the first two layers glued together. Repeat the process to attach the base layer. 

Since this file is so intricate, I kept the background simple to let it stand out, using the same cream scrapbook paper as I'd used for the top layer. Framed in a 12x12 shadowbox frame!

And now I have this very cool new piece to add to my Easter decor and I love it! What do you think? 

Sharing At:

The House on Silverado 

Follow The Yellow Brick Home

Our Hopeful Home