Christmas Hug

I know I've been sporadic with my blogging. I have aspirations to be a daily blogger, but that's probably never going to happen. I'm ok with that. I hope you are too!

Anyway, here's another layout I did. This one is super simple. The challenge (at PPM) was to use a large photo, covering at least 2/3 of your layout.

This is one of my favorite pictures I took at Christmas. I printed it in 8x10 - that took up plenty of space for the challenge.

And I just wanted to keep the rest simple so the picture would be the focus. Yes, that is our little tree in the background. We opted to just put up a small one again this year for several reasons. But I'm looking forward to having a real tree again next Christmas. I miss the smell!



It's hard to tell, but the punched flowers at the bottom were punched from the same patterned paper. Simple, but I like it

My Favorite Gift

OK, so now I will post the gift I had the most fun making this year. It is actually a set of things. I forgot to take a picture of them all together, so I will have to post each picture seperately.

My Mom is in the process of redoing her kitchen with the Italian Chef theme. I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

I got these ideas from all the wonderfully talented ladies at SplitCoast Stampers.

First up: Recipe Tin



I love how this turned out. I was trying to match the colors in her kitchen. When she opened it, that was one of the first things she said was that the colors matched! I included dividers inside and a bunch of my favorite recipes. I still have more to add to her collection, but I ran out of time before Christmas!

Next: Coasters



I'm really happy with the way these came out too. I used the unglazed tumbled tiles. Then I colored them in with sharpies. I tested these, and they didn't leave a water ring, but if I spilled something like coke or coffee on them, they stained. So I sprayed them with a sealer to prevent that. I used thin sheets of cork, cut to size on the bottom of them.

Refrigerator magnet/post it note holder & beaded pen.



I used one of the acrylic frames and turned it around so the "foot" was in the front. Then I adhered magnets to the back (front!) I did this so it would hang on the refrigerator and have a little shelf for the pen. It is pictured hanging on my fridge.

Dry Erase Tile:



I used one of the ceramic tiles for this. What makes it so easy, is if you mess up, you can wipe it right off and try again. After stamping the image, I heat set it with my heat tool. Then I colored in with sharpies and heat set again. I read on SCS that to keep this image "in place" that they covered it with Crystal Effects. I didn't have any but I had some Liquid Embossing by All Night Media, and from what I can tell, it does the same thing. So I used it, and it worked perfectly.

And Next: Menu Board



I picked up this little chalkboard at Michaels. I painted the edges to match everything else. Then I stamped right on it. The image was a little too faint for my liking, so I outlined it with a silver sharpie. It made the image not be quite as crisp, but it still works. Then I attached a piece of ribbon tied to a stick of chalk. (Hey Mom, I forgot to give you the box of chalk! I'll bring it next week!)

And lastly. A Birthday Card
Her birthday was a week before Christmas. I have to admit, I pretty much copied this card exactly from a SCS'r. You can see her original card here. I just loved it so much and knew it was the perfect card.



And there are actually a couple more things that were supposed to go with this set, but time just got the best of me, and I ran out of it! So once she has the other things, I'll post them here too.

This was absolutely the gift I enjoyed making the most. I couldn't wait for her to get it. And she loved it. At least, I'm pretty sure she did. After all, she is my Mom, and she'd NEVER tell me if she didn't like something. But I can read her pretty well, and she really did seem to love it!

And hey Mom - I LOVE YOU!!!

More Hershey Tins

I really love how quick and easy these are - not to mention yummy!
I made a few more, but I didn't take pictures of them all - since they basically look the same.

I really liked the candy cane tin and wish I had picked up more of these. I didn't really have any stamps small enough to use. So I found a candy cane graphic and printed it on the labels. I like the way they came out.


Then I had a very special one to make. I have a dear sweet cousin who ADORES Elvis. I mean, he's been singing Elvis songs for as long as I can remember. (He and I are the same age.) So I made a special Elvis tin for him, using some photos I found online.
I was telling my Mom about this and she informed me that he was diabetic, so I needed a new plan. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any sugar-free candy in the right shape to hold the labels nicely. So I just did the best I could and wrapped the chocolates I found with the labels. It may not look quite as nice as the nuggets, but I'm sure he will like it.


I've been so busy making things that I haven't had much time for blogging. But once Christmas is over, I'll be sharing more of the things I made.

I hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Cards

This year I sent out a photo Christmas card to family and friends. But for hubby's buddies at the station I needed some "regular cards". So I made six of these:



I kept them very simple, as I needed to do them quickly. The image and sentiment are both $1 stamps from Michael's. And I finally got a scallop punch which I obviously used here. (I can't wait to get these in the other sizes!)

I also needed a couple more cards to go with some gifts, and so came these:


That's more $1 stamps - love those things! And I kept them quick and simple too. Gotta love simple!

A Couple of Holders

Here's a couple of holder-type things I made. The first is a chap stick/lip balm holder. I saw these on SCS and thought they were so cute. And the ladies there are so wonderful at posting directions and template for so many different projects. I am very thankful for that!

I made these for a couple of the teenage girls in the family in which I needed just a little gift. I may be making a few more of these.

This shows the inside and the outside.


And then I found the M&M Christmas Story on SCS as well. I really liked it and since I had a couple bags of Christmas M&M's I decided to do something with them. I needed a little treat to send with CJ for his Friday Science class. I used small bags to put the M&M's in, so making a topper with this poem was a bit too big.
So I printed it out, scored it in a couple places and make a little tent to hold the M&M's. I had seen things like this done all over the place and it was easy enough to adapt to be the right size.

These two go along with the chap sticks above. I made more for CJ's class, but they were in green. I didn't think to take a picture of them, but other than the color, they were exactly like these.


I'm trying to take pictures of everything I'm making as I go along. I'm just slow getting them posted because I've been so busy! And some of them I won't be able to post until after Christmas anyway.

I'll be so glad when I'm all done! But I'm having fun!

My First Nugget Tin!

I've been seeing these for a while now and have been wanting to make one. I saw a cute one on Wanda's blog where she used a gift card tin from Michaels. I had been looking in all the wrong places for one. Then she posted a message and told where to find them. Right up at the registers! They had been right in my face the whole time!

She used an adorable snowman tin, I really wanted one like that, so I searched every register. But to no avail. So I picked up this one and a candy cane one. The picture of the candy cane one is still on my camera. I will post it later.

Using these tins couldn't be easier, because you really don't need to do anything to them! And with using labels to go on the Hershey's Nuggets is so easy - and fun!

So here's my first one.

Then I just made a band using cardstock, to go around it and hold it together. It slides right off.

I see many more of these in my future, as they can be used for any occasion! And these Christmas tins? I plan to check Michaels right after Christmas and hope to find them marked down so I can stock up for next year!