I made this pillow as a gift for my nephew, and shared my how-to on GeekMom. Link here for the tutorial for this Power Button Pillow project.
And last month, my family and I visited the Chicago Toy and Game Fair at Navy Pier. Check out the fair through my first-timer eyes at GeekMom.
Surprise visit from my sis-in-law, birthday project, works-in-progress… no wonder I missed posting on Monday! Well, not totally. I did post my mugshot on Instagram. But here’s an “outtake”.
Here I have a mug of Café Maté from our favorite tea shop … a delicious alternative to coffee, lovely with milk. Almost enough to wake me up from the Daylight Savings stupor. What it as bad for everyone else? Awful.
Speaking of TeaLula, we did the Harlem Shake! Crazy tea shop friends.
So, what’s been churning in the craft room these days?
Here’s the finished nursery art project for my niece. I went with a monkey theme after the burp cloths I made for her, and she just loves her monkey “binky”. My daughter made the quilled bananas, and I found the little bugs on sale at Michael’s. I added some bling (what girl doesn’t like bling?) and buttons to add some interest. Want a closer look? I posted a picture at the Facebook page.
A Chicago Bulls fan, quilt in progress, read on!
What I thought was just a week or two has turned into a month! I promised a tutorial on this, um, a month ago? Sorry about that. To quote the great Alan Parsons Project, “Time keeps on slippin’ (slippin’) into the future…”
I wanted to make some cool upcycled (recycled) wine bottle glasses for some gifts. So I started hoarding collecting our wine bottles specifically for the project. After lots of You Tube viewing on cutting wine bottles, and a failure to purchase or make a glass bottle cutter, I decided to switch gears and try something else… etched glass.
Continue reading…
(I appreciate you reading this whole post. Happy Valentine’s Day. –Julie)
About a year and a half ago, I had an idea (and I have lots of ideas) to make some goodies, sell them and give some money to a good cause. Tons of people do this, but I wanted to do this in honor of a terrific girl out in California for her 10th birthday. She turned 11 last September. OY!
The big idea: 10 for 10. I thought I could make ten blankets or maybe one item for ten months… for Claudia, the little girl in California. Proceeds from those ten items would go to the CdLS Foundation. They serve people with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome and their families. Why the CdLS Foundation?
Claudia. She lives with CdLS. She is my cousin’s daughter. My list of cousins – ridiculous! My mom, oldest of seven, and my dad is #9 (or #10) of 14. Compute.
So, Claudia’s dad – think back and remember your very first best friend. That’s who my cousin is for me.
Yes, I look like a boy in Swiss Miss gear. (1977)
How are we in February already? And, how am I so behind in sending out thank you notes from the holidays? Am I the only one who falls behind? (Probably, because I’m the nutty girl who wants to make everything herself.) But these… these are way cool. I’ve thought about doing this for a while now.
The possibilities are endless with your camera, willing family members (i.e. children), blank white boards or cardboard, Sharpies and blank cards. I took about 10-15 pictures of the kids and picked my favorites. Uploaded and printed them out at the photo center for very little cost. If you print them glossy, you get the coolest effect.
I love my Sharpies. Use them and turn these blanks…
… into any card you want! For 4″ x 6″ pictures, you could purchase empty photo card frames. I have extra cardstock laying around so I just cut it to size for my blank cards. (See first picture.) They measure at 4-3/4″ x 6-3/4″. I get weird when it comes to the borders… I don’t like them too wide.
And to stick them on the card, use double stick tape or glue dots. If you want to get fancy, use photo corners or with an X-acto knife, cut slits on a diagonal at each corner and feed the corners of the photo through.
Don’t limit yourself to just saying “Thank you.” You can split it up like, “Cool! Thanks a bunch!” Or “Happy / Birthday”.
My daughter thought the pictures “freakishly” looked like the words were already printed on the boards.
Yes, I could’ve printed the cards out at the photo center as folded cards (for a whole lot more money), but what’s the fun in that? Enjoy… let me know if you’ve done this or if you might try it!
Two giveaways in one post! AH!! Sorry I missed yesterday, but I was finishing a project. Overextended me. Typical. Let’s see what this giveaway is all about.
I love paper… not for scrapbooking (mentioned before) but for just about any other type of paper crafting. These sets from K&Company just get me in the Christmas mood.
They’re cute background for these little gifts for my kids’ Sunday school teachers. This was a Pinterest inspiration, but I pieced together the gift bag. (Teachers, if you’re reading, would you skip the picture or cover your eyes. Sorry for ruining the surprise.) All you need are clear party favor bags. I cut the scrapbook paper into 3-3/4″ x 9″ strips, folded one end twice to make a little bag “bottom”. Stuff into the party favor bag and place your goodies.
Here are the last of my giveaways… two pretty sets of K&Company specialty paper (double-sided!) and accessories, and then two sets of Jolee’s Stickers. All these products are available at art and craft supply stores like Michael’s. Follow the raffle instructions below… and if you would prefer NOT to enter through Rafflecopter, just e-mail me at jtiu(at)comcast(dot)net with “K&Company raffle” or “Jolee’s Christmas sticker raffle” in the subject line. Good luck!
