Last minute Easter Table Decor

 I am always wondering why I wait until the very last minute to make my table look marvelous.  Then get disappointed when it doesn't look magazine worthy.  So here I go again.  One week until Easter and I want little decorations on my table.  First as you saw in the last post are the napkin rings.  Well guess what?  Do not wait until one week before Easter to get cake plates and napkins.  I hopped ( ok guess that's not really funny bunny) over to Joannes, Michaels and Hobby Lobby and failed at all 3.  I could either get plates or napkins but not both.  Or Both in different patterns which I did not want.  Then I stopped at this Antique Mall place we have that also has small business in it.  I was there the week before and saw a real cute table decoration I thought I could get.  Surely they'd have napkins and plates within all their Easter stuff.  Nope!  They did have the decoration though but only 1 and I wanted at least 5 so each separate family could take one home.  That's ok I can make them right?  After all I have a week.  LOL  Now I have 2 missions.  Napkins/plates and craft stuff for table scape.  

Well this was bombing fast. I gave up on the napkins/plates to focus on the craft and realized I had to pivot.  First there was no way I could eat 5 cans of soup fast enough for the craft so little buckets will replace those, second the buckets only came in 4 colors so to avoid having 2 of 1 color I pivoted to making only 4 for the table, third, there were no rusty flat bunnies to be found so cloth ones will have to do and  fourth, faux carrots were scarce in the size I needed so smaller have to do.  Got home and realized I still needed foam and moss but decided to search the garage for leftover foam insulation from a different project and cut that up and I had some of that colorful basket shredded paper that will replace the moss.  It'll work,  I'm sure.  Exhausted after all that planning I came home and took a nap.  LOL  After all "Tomorrow is another day" Or so Scarlet says hahahaha.

Lucky for me my husband went out to the grocery store and lo and behold he found napkins/plates that will work perfectly.  Good job hubby!

After gluing foam into the buckets I stuck shish kabob skewers into the bunnies and carrots to stick into the foam.  The tinier carrots at first just laid on top of the colored shredded paper but I was pretty sure they would just roll off when they tried to take them home so I used tooth picks to just sort of stick them into the shredded paper a bit better.  The front still looked a bit empty so I stamped an Easter greeting on some yellow cardstock and used the cut offs of the skewers to poke them into the front.  These are not exactly what I had wanted but as a last minute thing I think they will look pretty cute on the table and each of the 4 different family's will be able to take a little something home (besides food) lol.

They will definitely look cute on the table.  I'm also pretty sure the girls will all love their little take home gifts too.

Til next time.................................................

Cute Little Napkin Rings

 Ooooooo................Easter is nearly here!  I just now took down St Patty's Day......whipped up Easter decor and need to get my butt in gear getting food bought and table decorations made.

Not sure how much I will manage to get done considering how close Easter is to St Patty's day this year.  Geeze, you'd think they'd plan this better lol.   Anyway I may not get everything done but I think I just might be able to get the napkin rings done.  Thanks mainly to Maymay.  Ok....I know ...again I'm not original but heck Pinterest is just so easy to NOT have to think. Hahahahaha!  And..... Maymay keeps sending me these emails!  Okay......  Geeze.............I know ......I signed up for them.  But if I didn't I'd have to think!  So there!  Method to my madness.

Ok back to napkins.  Maymay sent out an email recently with 3 easy Easter projects and the one that caught my eye was of course the napkin rings.  It would only take 3 sheets of 12x12 colorful card stock for me to make 18 needed rings.  Each sheet makes 6.  From each sheet you will be cutting out (12) 7  3/4" x 1  1/4 " strips.  Following Maymays instructions cut each sheet of 12 x 12 down to 12 x 7  3/4.  then score with the short end at top of scoreboard and score at 1  3/4 and at 5  3/4.  rotate and have 12 " at top of cutting board and cut into 1  1/4 x 7  3/4 strips.  You will get 9.  From the leftover pieces of card stock cut the same size and scored strips.  Mountain fold all your strips.  

Above photo shows the process.  Strip on left is the size and scores.  Strip in center has the mountain folds.  2 strips above yellow egg shows that you glue the 2 together at the short folded areas.  Colored one above it shows how it should look when the short areas are glues leaving the longer areas above the other fold ready for ear forming.

With your bone folder you will be taking the straight piece just below the fold on the left one and curling it do the same to the other side and it should look like the piece on the right.  Now look closely to the piece on the right.  The very tip of the left hand strip has a very thin line of glue.  Attach that (right sides together) to the strip on the right.  It will kind of make it look like a heart.  See below.

Once dried tie a string around the card stock to bring the ears together. Accordion fold a napkin and slip it in the opening and then fiddle with the ears to open them up a bit.  I obviously need some prettier napkins and probably some prettier string but I wanted to get this project out ASAP since Easter is right around the corner.  LITERALLY! I hope this wasn't too confusing.  If it is you can always check out Maymay made it on YouTube.  I think the table settings are going to look adorable even if these are the only thing I get done this year.  My family always expects something cute on the table no matter how small and this just may be it for this year.  1 down....17 to go!

Til next time........................................................................

G45 POP OUT CARD

My excitement over fancy folds seems pretty obvious right?  I have been searching both Pinterest and YouTube to find Fancy folds that I haven't done or at least haven't done in a long time.  Now that I make so many of my own embellies, even my old fancy folds are looking fresh with homemade embellies.

So over last summer I bought an 8x8 pad of G45 papers called: Wild and Free.    I never did open the pad to look the papers over (nor did I open the other 2 collections I bought).  I needed a Birthday card for my niece and she's a bit of a wild child (lol) who loves animals and this collection just suits her.  I decided to do a card similar to the Bee card I did earlier except instead of it having a double pop this one only has a single.  It's a simpler card and doesn't take as much paper but is still hefty in the thickness.  The directions can also be found on Sams YouTube channel just as the Bee card was.

I think now that I look at it I should have played around with the belly band more.  Make it more, not sure how to put it, enlarged?  The piece with the Born to be Wild ephemera on it looks small to me like it needed another larger layer behind it.  Thats why I add the sequins though they didn't thrill me.  But this one will do as is and maybe I'll be happier with the next one. 

Til next time.......................................................

TIPS AND A TIP FOR TIPS

 Have you ever just done things automatically and then realized that other people never heard of your methods?  I thought about it the other day when I decided to fill a small glue bottle with some tacky glue.  With the big hole of the Tacky glue and the tiny hole of the mini glue bottle you are always bound to get glue all over the place.  Well  💡 idea.  I dispose of alot of syringes from saline flushs I have to do for my son.  These cannot be recycled and there are no places that take them.  Once in awhile I have found an animal rescue that will take them after I clean and sterilize them to use for feedings.  But what if I took one of those and filled it with glue to fill my mini glue bottle?  Well by golly it worked like a dream!  I can either re-clean them or just toss them.  I choose to re-clean.  Plus I donated to a few card making friends to use too.

Another great light bulb idea is think foam insulation from your local Home Improvement Store.  My Daughter-in-law bought 1/4 of a sheet for a project and had my husband cut some shapes for her.  Out of the scraps I had him cut me a few 3" x 3" squares.  Not very pretty (I'll work on that another time) but I am always losing my pin from my glue bottle on my table.  Now when I pull it out I just stick it in the foam.  TaDa no more lost pin.

Speaking of pins.  I really love using those small bottles that have the tiny metal tips.  I tend to buy the Crafters Companion brand on  Amazon .  They are easier for my hands to squeeze.  But I am not a fan of losing that pin.  Alot of people have made those long beaded thingies for their pins which are cute but in my opinion just get in the way of my travel bag when I'm traveling and since I use those mini bottles they make the bottles topple over.  So I found that knitting needle point protectors work perfectly!  With the pin already in the metal tip...firmly force the point protector over the head of the ball of the needle.  It takes some effort because the hole of the protector (depending on which ones you buy) are smaller than the ball but it will go on.  Then you have this cute little doodad on top of your needle that is alot easier to locate on the table.  I got a bit carried away with mine and bought a bunch.  I'll link my 2 purchases but what I did was use a different top for different glues.  Example the purple bear is for my Bearly Art Glue, the blue hedgehog is for tacky glue, The lamb is my granddaughters school glue, and the frog is my dollar tree glue.

Another bit of info for all you glue people.  We all have our favorite.  To be honest mine is actually one that is only called "Liquid Adhesive" and I get it at the Dollar Tree.  They changed the recipe a bit and it is runnier but I just leave the cap off for a day or two and it thickens up to where I like it and then I transfer it to my little glue bottles.  Anyway that is not what I was going to say...........I was going to say that if you intend on using Aleen's Tacky Glue in one of these fine tip glue bottles the fine tip will get well kind of stuck.  Not really clogged because the pin is there but because the glue is so thick it doesn't go down into the bottle all the way and sticks to the sides.  The pin goes in but after a few uses it builds up and then the pin doesn't want to come out and you have to work at it.  I still like using it in these little bottles but I now take the extra time after each day of use to remove cap,  run hot water through it, wipe it off and then return the pin.  I know..extra work but the smaller bottle is easier to work with so I don't mind the extra work.

I re-use old Cricut mats for gluing projects too instead of tossing them out.  They may not look great but they keep the table un sticky lol.  

Well those are my tips for now.

Happy Crafting!!

Amazon.com: Yzzyemn Adult Knitting Needle Stoppers and Knitting Accessories Kit with Bear and Sheep Design in Size 0-5

Amazon.com: ZZXLLRO 8Pcs Knitting Needle Stoppers, Cute Animals Knitting Needle Point Protectors Frogs Elephants Hedgehogs Turtlesfor Beginners Knitting Crochet Hand DIY Supplies Accessories : Everything Else

Hap "BEE" Birthday

 Oh I am so finished with winter and mother nature is feeling the same.  Back in the beginning of February our local groundhog "Woodstock Willie" predicted that we would have an early spring and February has been the warmest on record here.  We of course believe in Woodstock Willie here because he makes his appearance every year from the location of the famous movie "Ground Hog Day" with Bill Murray.  It was filmed right here just a wee bit from me and we visit the Square frequently.  So with it feeling like Spring I was excited to bring out this lovely Bee paper I have had for a long time and put it to some use.  Not exactly sure where it all came from but I know a sheet or two came from DCWV 12 x12 pad that I picked up at Joannes maybe 4 no maybe 2 years ago.  I never found the right card to use these papers on until lately.

While cruzing through YouTube I came across Sam Calcott.  Now I do watch alot of her videos for inspiration.  Many of her fancy folds are done with dies that she sells but I tend to like to make my own bases and leave the dies for the embellish pieces.  Well this card did not use dies and seemed rather easy yet looked elegant.  OMG I can't wait to try it on multiple paper lines and seasons but for now I chose Bees and Birthdays.  While I was there I noticed an even easier non-die base card and of course I had to make that one too.  So today I'll be sharing both of them.

This first one is my favorite.  Its a large card.  A 5"x7" when finished.  Its a sturdy card that I used good Bazzille Bling cardstock for the base.  The tinner card stock I do not think would make such a lovely card but that being said....due to the fact that I used heavier cardstock this card will cost extra postage come mail time.  So keep that in mind when you decide what you are going to use.  If the person you give this to like to display your cards for long periods of time I would invest in the heavier cardstock.

This is call a Double D card.  You will be needing 12 x 12 sheets of solid cardstock for the base of this card.  Now I will admit I have yet to figure out why it is called a Double D card unless it's because of the 2 square panels on the front.  When you look down upon the open card it does not look like a D at all in fact it's more of a diamond shape but it is what Sam called it.  I really love this card.

Next up is the Vertical stepper card.  You will also need 12 x 12 paper for the base of this card.  I am showing you 2 samples of this card.  One I made with thinner Bazzille paper that I bought from Hobby Lobby and the other with a much thicker Bazzille Bling paper to show how it looks sturdier.  I know...I know...slight difference but I am picky and if its humid out or the card is on display for a period of time it does make a difference.  Again it is your decision.  Of course now looking at the picture you really can't tell the difference but trust me.  My husband picked up the yellow one and said "why is this one so floppy?"  Plus believe it or not both of these cards are EXACTLY the same size even though the one on the left looks smaller.  It is the tighter cardstock.  The yellow is so thin that it just stretches out.  if pushed closer together it falls over.  But if it's for a child who will probably toss it or someone who you know does not usually display your hard work, go ahead and use the Hobby Lobby stuff.  But if your anal like me or if your receiver displays your work use the best you can get.

  Now I did use a bigger piece for the center on the left card so it's easy to get different looks with the same design just by changing the center size.  The finished size of this one is a 6"x6"and as you know square cards require extra postage so be aware of that too.

Now about that BEE.  Funny story about the BEE's on my cards.  I had this Bee die I was going to use.  Finished card #1 and cut the Bee out.  OMG!!!!  SCARY!!!!!  This was the freakiest thing I had ever seen!  There was no way I could put it on such a beautiful card.  So BAM off to Amazon to find a quick Bee die for immediate delivery.  As you can see I found an adorable little guy and used him instead but.......would you like to see what could have been?  Of course you would LOL.    READY?????

I KNOW RIGHT????  SCARY!!!!    Now who's idea was this?  This had to be made by a group of Halloween lovers!  This die was from a set that I had used before.  It had other things that were really cute.  I just never made the Bee before.  The set was from Paper Wishes Hot off the Press Paper Artist cutting dies.

See the Bee in the lower left corner?  He doesn't look awful there! LOL.  Well that's the story of the Bee that almost made it to a card.

Til next time...................................................................................................

Sams Double D

Sams Vertical Stepper

A C.A.S. from Maymay

 Boy I love surfing the internet.  Ok by internet I really mean Pinterest, ok by Pinterest I sometimes mean video's  on YouTube  and by that I mean mainly by people that I follow who send me emails saying "HEY Look at the video I just sent you!"  Well I subscribe to Maymay Made It and the other day I got an email just like that.  One that totally caught my eye.  She had in the subject line that it was probably the best thing she ever did with a 12 x 12 sheet of card stock.  Well of course I had to check it out.  Well!!!  I'll be darned!  Genius!

Now I will not take any credit for her idea nor will I give any directions for how to make these.  You will have to head over to her blog to make them if you so desire butt I will tell you hers are made with simple solid black card stock.  There are no embellishments.  That is where my tweak comes in.  In Maymays video these storage sleeves were meant to store those 6x6 paper pads and the scraps you get when you use them so that you keep everything together.  I love the idea.  It just so happened that at the time I saw the video I was prepping card kits for my small ladies group get together over the weekend and thought "Oh my goodness what a cute way to hand them out!"    Usually I bag everything into cello bags tied with ribbons but I decided to do these instead. 

As you can see the grayish one has a paper pad inside as the item is meant to be used as.

I used doubled sided thicker cardstock.  Don't use too thin or it won't hold up.  I always test new folds before I use the paper I want for the project and I had found real quickly that the Packs of 12x12 #65 Recollection cardstock is way too flimsy so make sure the DSP you decide to use is thicker than that.  I do not remember what brand these papers were as I had them loose in a bin but they may have been a combo of K&Company..... DCWV......and I know g45 for the envelopes.  Speaking of envelopes.  I had decided to make the envelopes to hold a few embellies as well as be an embellie for the storage sleeve.  Clever right?  I then put together a cluster to embellish the envelope and to attach it to the storage sleeve I made a mini envelope on a clothespin.  I thought just incase the gals really wanted to use the sleeve for storage you didn't want a bulky embellishment on it so it should be removeable.

So hop on over to Maymays and check out this video.  Such a cute idea that I think your going to love.

Til next time.............................................

Maymay's video