Dollar Store Candy Dish

I have been making dollar store cake stands and cupcake tiers for some time now with these candlestick holders.  But, I found these super kitsch bowls during my last visit and plopped on a candlestick holder and voila--a super cute candy dish.  Here's what you need:

Dollar store bowl

Dollar Store candlestick holder

E-6000 glue*

Here you can see the ornamental detail in the glass bowl. 

and



Next, add some of your E-6000 glue to the top rim of the candlestick holder.  *It is important to use a glue that is intended for glass such as E-6000.  If you try to use Super Glue, it won't hold and it also creates some type of vapor that gets trapped between the open area of the candlestick holder and the object you are gluing it to (which makes it appear white.)

Then, slap the bowl on top (centering of course), and there you have it--a fancy new candy dish!  Enjoy!

Candy Wrappers

I can't belive it's been over a month since I've posted!  Recently I came across a fabulous website that had oodles of ideas for wrapping different candies with scapbook papers (splitcoaststampers.com.)  I needed a cute idea for favors for my daughter's first communion party and I decided to wrap Hershey bars.  They are super easy to make and would be great to wrap with ribbon in sets of 3 to give as small gifts or stocking stuffers for the holidays.  I love the way the crimped edges look like they came from the factory wrapped this way!

First, gather your supplies.  You'll need scrapbook paper, adhesive, a crimper, cutesy embellishments and, of course, your CaNdY!

Cut your scrapbook paper to size.  For Hershey bars, paper should be 7.75" x 5.75".  To wrap a Kit-Kat, the paper should be 6" x 6".  Once you have cut your paper, you will want to run a strip of adhesive around all four sides of the wrong side of the paper.

Next, place your candy in the center of the paper.  Fold the long sides around the candy bar, pressing firmly to adhere the paper to the candy bar packaging with the adhesive.



Then, press the ends shut by hand.

Next you are ready for the magic!  Run the ends of the wrapped bar through the crimper--enough to get 3-4 "crimps."

Now is the fun part!  Embellish your wrapped candy with stickers, flowers, ribbon, etc.  You can make these so pretty that nobody will want to open them!

Paint Sample Bookmarks

March Madness is over and now it's back to business! 

I have a craft show next week and I always like to have a little gift to put in the bag of each customer.  These bookmarks are perfect and practically free.  And with paint color names such as Peas In a Pod, Stealth Jet, Marmalade, Mint Fizz, and Caterpillar, you're sure to find a color to go with any themed party or event.  Here's what you'll need:

Paint Samples (I prefer Behr from Home Depot)

glue (spray or glue stick)

hole punch

decorative corner punch (optional)

fun ribbon

First, select your paint samples:

Next, cut your samples in half lengthwise (for Behr samples, cut 2 1/2"):

Now that you have two pieces, apply spray glue (or glue stick) to the back of one of the color pieces.  With wrong sides together, firmly press the two pieces together and let the glue dry (10 min.)  Once the glue is dry, trim your samples to a desired height and width.  You may also wish to punch the corners with a decorative punch as I have below.  You'll then want to punch a hole in the top for your ribbon.  All that's left is to find a matching ribbon (I usually cut mine 6 1/2") and tie a knot!

I thought it was appropriate to find a sample named "Carrot Stick" in time for Easter!

Have fun making yours!



Seam Ripper Sunday--Towel Revamp

Seam Ripper Count:  1/2 (I caught myself before I started stitching at one point)

I found at Target 2 packs of hand towels on sale.  I knew I could do SOMETHING with them--and here it is.  I found some coordinating fabric in my stash and got to work.

And, here is the after!  You'll notice that the aqua polka dots didn't make it on.  This was to be a ruffle.  I'm still going to add it, but this was as far as I could go before someone started yelling for Mommy!  But I was able to crank out another one for the girls' bathroom.

Craft Room Redo

I don't have many "before" pictures, meaning "before destuction."  But I do have pictures of the carpet rip-out phase.  It should be noted that the whole upstairs looked similar to this nightmare.

Before:

And finally, some peace has been restored!

After:

My foldout cutting table (down)

My cutting table (extended)

Yes, I still need to do some painting.

Itsy Bitsy Paper--Dollar Store Craft

Check out this fabulous dollar store craft from Lindy at Itsy Bitsy Paper.  I know what I'm doing tomorrow!  Check out her great blog at Itsybitsypaper.blogspot.com!

http://itsybitsypaper.blogspot.com/2011/02/dollar-store-craft.html

Fat Quarter Frenzy

Well, I made it through another Fat Quarter sale at Among Friends Quilt Shop.  The prep work for this sale is second only to the day after Thanksgiving sales.  I ended up with 53 total fat quarters.  Here is a sample of my findings. 

And, if that wasn't enough fabric for the day, I also found these prints.  My daughter loves peace signs and it is hard to find peace sign material that isn't "cheesy."  This was my compromise.

Trash to Treasure--Cassette Holder

Does anyone know what the item below is?  If you were born prior to 1990, then you should!  It's a cassette holder.  Yes, it brings back memories of having to hit fast forward to go to the next song . . .not quite there--more FF . . . nope, almost--more FF . . . crap, too far--rewind.  Great times!  And look, the previous owner left a small token broken inside.

Before:

I'm sure there are a million great uses for this (besides holding your Phil Collins' No Jacket Required tape.)  I decided this would be perfect to hold my fat quarters which are quickly piling up.

After:

Trash to Treasure--Fax Box

This is the fax box we used to sort out incoming faxes at the office. 

This had too many great cubby holes for me to let it go to waste and be thrown away.  So, I found a foam brush, my Mod Podge and cut up several sheets of scrapbook paper.  My final goal was to use this to sort my fabrics.

And here's the final version below!  I know the modem and router do not go with my theme.  However, their previous home were on the floor. I can't wait to use my new treasure!

Seam Ripper Sundays

Seam Ripper Count:  2

For my first installment of Seam Ripper Sundays, I decided to make the Mod Jacket from the book, Sew Serendipity by Kay Whitt.

One of my favorite shops in Columbus, Sew to Speak, was having a sale on Saturday and I found the cute fabrics below:

Here's my progress Saturday evening:

And, finally, voila!

Trash to Treasure--OTP Mirror

I love great finds and repurposing them.  Check out this mirror I got at Old Time Pottery.  It was originally $50.00.  It was in the 75% off area.  I refuse to do math on the weekends, so I took it to the checkout line and politely asked "Can you tell me how much this is?"  After scanning it, the cashier said "$1.68."  Now, even being a Sunday, I know that's not 75% of $50.00.  I pretended like I had to think about it for a while before saying, "OK, I guess I'll take it."  A coat of paint later and Voila!  I can't wait to find my next treasure!

Before.  (And Miss Kitty checking it out)

After. Love this blue.

First Project of the Year

My first project of the year is going to be to spice up these laptop and Ipad sleeves I bought at Target for $5 a piece!!

Designer in training!

My daughter got a 400 piece (that's right, I said 400) Project Runway Design Center for Christmas.  I think at 7 years old, this girl has skillz!