Just wanted to share the LO we will be making at our next Meet-up....So a little something for the Gals!

Here is the Post Card! Cute right!

Cheers,

Jackie

Valentine's Day- How do do Crafting Party

Hi Bloggers!  Here some inspiration to get your girlfriends together and have some fun Valentine's Day crafting, complete with delicious treats, decorations, and plenty of holiday inspiration.

 Host a Valentine's Day Celebration

There's no better excuse than Valentine's Day to get your friends together for some crafting fun. Grab your gal pals and share the valentine-making with this simple guide to what to serve, craft, and have on hand.

 

Valentine's Day Snack Buffet

Edibles at your crafts party should be easy and portable. Champagne, nuts, candies, and cookies on a self-service buffet are simple for the hostess to serve and easy for guests to nibble as they glitter and glue.

Paper Heart Garland

String a paper heart garland anywhere you like for a sweet touch. Trace and cut out about seven hearts from 8-1/2x11-inch pieces of construction paper or cardstock. Punch two holes about one inch apart in the center of each heart. Thread a festive ribbon, string, or yarn through the hearts as shown, and then hang.

 

 Valentine's Day Flowers

Fresh flowers are perfect for Valentine's Day decor. Gather a bunch of pink roses or tulips and place them in white vases for a quick and simple display that looks elegant.

Jackie’s  Tip: Use floral foam or a floral frog (also called a kenzan, it's a metal device with lots of sharp pins pointing upward) to keep flowers upright.

Dessert Tower

Create a decadent dessert tower. Use festive baking cups to hold an array of bite-size treats, such as yogurt-covered pretzels, nuts, chocolate, popcorn, and more. Or serve homemade treats and choose a color scheme that fits your personal style.

 

Chocolate Cherry Stack Cake

This scrumptious chocolate cake with cherry frosting makes a beautiful display as well as a tasty treat for all of your crafters-in-residence. Chocolate-dipped cherries provide the perfect garnish for this sweet dessert.

Jackie’s  Tip: Dip extra cherries in chocolate and serve them as bite-size treats, or bundle them for tasty party favors your guests can tote home with their crafts.

  

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Red velvet pies with cream cheese icing set a Valentine's Day mood. These individual pies are just as tasty as a large cake but easier to eat while crafting.

 

Valentine's Day Truffles

Keep your treats simple and delicious for this crafting party. These decadent pink coconut and triple chocolate truffles fit the sweet holiday theme and taste as good as they look.

 

Valentine's Day Cookie Decorating

No Valentine's Day celebration would be complete without heart-shape cookies. Serve some them already decorated, but also leave some plain to let your guests exercise their creativity. Send any leftovers home with guests as party favors. Use your favorite sugar cookie recipe, or tweak the traditional and try a fresh spin, like puffed-heart lemon cookies.

  

Beverage Station

Bottles of your favorite champagne, soda, or any other beverage can nestle in ice near the snack buffet. Having the self-serve drinks close at hand allow uninterrupted time with friends.

 

Organizing the Valentine's Day Crafting Party

Good organization is the glue that holds a fun party together. Try these tips for hosting your own crafts get-together:

-- Start small and keep it simple. Invite up to five enthusiastic friends. You can always expand later if you want

-- Create some examples before your guests arrive to inspire them and to make the crafting process easy.

 

Valentine's Day Crafts Table Organization

To get the most out of crafting time, cut paper to card size and lay out supplies before guests arrive. Or set up a separate area for supplies so the crafting table doesn't get cramped. Include decorative-edge scissors to allow guests to snip their projects to perfection.

 

 

Use Simple Containers

Gift tags and cards are popular Valentine's Day crafts, but all the glitter, glue, and string can make a mess. Use simple vessels to contain crafts supplies and to keep the crafting table as organized as possible.

 Jackie’s Tips:

-- Provide guests with cups to fill with crafts items that catch their eye.

-- Have some premade tags ready to decorate to get the crafting started.

 

Crafting Supplies Station

Crafts and conversation will be entertainment enough at this Valentine's Day crafting party; just be sure to have enough supplies on hand. We recommend: markers, string, ribbon, yarn, felt, glue sticks, hot-glue guns and glue sticks, buttons, beads, rhinestones, markers, hole punches, plenty of colorful paper, and decorative and plain scissors as well as anything heart shaped (stencils, cutouts, etc.).

Jackie’s Tip: Have one person buy the craft supplies, keeping the tab at $10-$20 per person. Others can reimburse her. This will ensure a wide variety of supplies and less complication over who¿s bringing what.

 

Share Valentine's Day Crafting Ideas

Have crafters show off their adorable gift tags and cards as they go. Encourage friends to bring some of their favorite homemade or purchased Valentine's Day crafts for inspiration.

Jackie’s  Tip: Craft for a cause. Make Valentine's Day cards for local business owners, nursing homes, shelters, and nonprofits in your area. You also can decorate donation tins or send valentines to soldiers abroad.

 

Valentine's Day Cards and Tags

Using a three- to four-hue color palette will ensure a professional and impressive look for your projects. Keep reading for instructions for the projects you see here.

 

Striped Heart Card

A simple pink card trimmed with decorative-edge scissors serves as the base for this project. Top a slightly smaller rectangle of white cardstock with strips of ribbon and colored paper. A cutout heart decorated with red glitter and adhered with hot glue adds a finishing touch.

Jackie’s  Tip: Use sparkly or shimmery ribbon in lieu of strips of glittered paper. Your project will be less of a mess to make, give, and clean up after. Rhinestones also add a bit of bling.

 

Bow-Tie Heart Card

Use decorative-edge scissors to cut out a white background. then glue a rectangle of blue paper cut slightly smaller on top. Apply glitter to a heart cutout and adhere with hot glue. To complete the card, wrap it with a decorative ribbon tied in a bow.

 

Wrapped Heart Tag

Cut a heart from felt or paper (felt provides a more dimensional look) and adhere it to a tag with hot glue. Place a brad near the top of the heart to keep it secure. Use decorative-edge scissors to cut a contrasting color of felt or paper to embellish the heart.

 

Red-and-White Heart Gift Tag

A graphic background makes a bold impression on this heart gift tag. Use a premade tag or cut one from a bold-pattern paper. Punch a hole in the top and attach string. Trace and cut a heart with an empty center from felt or paper. Attach it to the gift tag. Cut a smaller heart to place inside the first heart.

 

Button Heart Tag

Rhinestones add a bit of bling to this handcrafted gift tag. Cut out a gift tag shape from striped paper, or choose a premade tag with a cute background, punch a hole in the top, and thread with ribbon. Hot-glue a small felt heart to the center of the tag. Attach rhinestones in a vertical line above and below the heart. Use a sturdy needle and thread or hot glue to attach the heart button to the middle of the felt heart.

 

Striped Gift Tag

Start with a plain white tag, then make the stripes with markers, ribbon, and paper. (Use a ruler if you'd like perfect lines.) Use a variety of widths for the stripes to punch up the fun factor, and adhere the ribbon and paper with glue. Don't forget to punch a hole for the hanging ribbon and add a sweet pink heart to give the tag gift-worthy status.

 

Pink Paisley Gift Tag with Blue Heart

The blue felt heart accent is a standout on a pink paisley background and makes this Valentine's Day gift tag really pop. Cut a tag out of paisley-print paper, or use one that's premade, and thread a string through a punched hole.

 

 

Cheers,

Jackie
Credits: Better-Home & Gardens

Vintage Clothespins -DIY

Hello lovelies!  I hope your week is going swimmingly so far.  Today I'm bringing you a little tutorial to show you how to make some sweet Decorative Wooden Clothespins that you can use to adorn inspiration wires, gifts and more.  I hope you will enjoy making your own variations of these pretty little clips. 

Gift giving idea: Clip a row of fancy pins onto a manila tag, strip of decorative cardstock or pretty ribbon and present as a wee gift to someone special.

Version one - Fabric Pom Pom Flower Clothespins:

Supplies needed:

• Standard wooden clothespins - generally found in the laundry supply section at stores such as Target (about $3 for 100).
• Fabric scraps in solid colors or prints - light-weight cottons will work best.
• Needle and thread - color should match the fabric you will be using.
• Colored pencils (optional)
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Scissors

To begin with you will need to follow this awesome tutorial to create your fabric pom pom flowers (follow Tutorial II).  They are rather addictive to make and super easy (even my 11 year old daughter made some.  She turned hers into floral hairbands by stitching the finished flowers onto hair rubber-bands - and I'm planning to make a garland for my bedroom with the extra heap I've been making).

It should take you only about 3-5 minutes per flower.  For a small circular shape you can use an object in your home as a template to trace around, such as a milk cap or spool of thread.  I like how the flowers turn out when the circles are a bit more random, so I cut most of mine out without a template.  Tip: For a speedier project just accordion fold strips of fabric and cut your circle shape through all the layers to create multiple circles all at once).

1. Rub the side of your colored pencil all over the surface of your clothespin until it is coated with color and then smudge with your fingertip to soften.  This will give your clothespin a charming effect that looks a lot like vintage paint.
2. Apply a small dab of glue with your hot glue gun onto the clothespin as shown in the photo above.  Carefully attach your pom pom flower onto your pin by pressing it onto the hot glue. 
3. Clip on inspiration wires, use as gift tag holders on presents, place card holders at your wedding reception or next party, etc.

Version two - Fabric-covered clips:These clips are even easier to make than the first version.  A set of 10 can easily be made in less than 10 minutes.  Fun!

Supplies needed:

• Standard wooden clothespins - generally found in the laundry supply section at stores such as Target (about $3 for 100).
• Fabric scraps in solid colors or prints - light-weight cottons will work best.
• Double-sided tape - permanent
• Scissors

1. Pull out a strip of double-sided tape that is as long or slightly longer than your clothespin.  Attach it to the surface of the clothespin making sure to keep it free from bubbles or creases.  The tape should be lined up evenly along one long edge so that the excess hangs off the other sides (seen in the photo above).  Trim off excess using your scissors - this works best when the tape-free side is facing towards you while you cut.
2. Place your prepared clothespin tape-side down onto the back side of your fabric (make sure the right side of the fabric is facing down for this step so that it will be displayed correctly when you are done).  Turn over and use your finger to press and smooth the fabric onto the tape.  Cut excess fabric off all sides - this works best when the fabric-covered side is away from you while you cut.
3. You're done!

I hope you will enjoy making your own fancy clothespins.  And please feel free to share this project with your friends and family (and blog readers)...maybe you can have a little craft party and make a bunch!  Enjoy!     

Vintage Clothespins- DIY

Black and White PhotoSHop Element Class

Hello Everyone

Here couple of photos from my today's meet-up!  The weather super cold...but I tried to take some pictures the i can....so I can apply what we learned today!

What do you think??  The reality is that Plymouth is a beautiful Town....

So, Here is how it started..Me all bunble-up and ready to tackle the weather! it was like 8 degrees !!

Here are some takes...From Color to B&W

These 2 on top were my favorites!

Our Handsome Boy!

This is our handsome dog...his name is Tiny and he his 24mouth mod!  Yeal I know he is a mix of Shar Pei & Labrador...But dont you think he look sooo cute!!

He keeps me company and love to play! He is a sweetheart!

More - Trees and Branches Projects!

This project was posted at one of my favorite sites Everyday Mom Ideas..and i need it to do it! is just so easy and so beautiful..and I have so many little leftovers of scrap paper that I thought ..this was a perfect way to use it!  

This simple project uses paper leaves to create a bright and cheery Spring ambiance for your home. You could also use these beautiful trees in a wedding, baby shower, bridal shower, birthday party... the possibilities are endless!

What You Will Need:

Scrapbook paper  
Branches (from your patio or even your neighbor LOL)
Floral Wire (I used 24 gauge wire)
Glue (You can use scrapbook or tacky glue, but I just used good ole Elmers)
Scissors
Cardboard/cardstock/chipboard 
Vase or Pot to place your branches in
Newspaper 

The awesome thing is - you probably already have most of these supplies on hand. I only had to purchase the floral wire for a little over $1 (with a coupon). What an inexpensive way to bring Spring into your home!
 Let's Get Started:

First, drag out your assortment of scrapbook paper scraps. If you don't (yet) have a unreasonable amount of scrapbook paper (and everyone should), then just head over to your local craft store - Jo-Ann, Hobby Lobby, or Michaels and pick out your favorites. (actually today & tomorrow today Michele's have a great coupon on your entire purchase)

Cut out a template of your leaf from the cardboard (you can also use chipboard or card-stock). I used two different sizes of leaves - one small and the other a lot larger. Try to make the leaves as symmetrical as possible (which I did not realize until later). This will help with pairing up a back and front leaf later on. Using your template, cut out as many leaves as you want. Cut them in even numbers because, again, you will be pairing them up later on.

Take your floral wire and cut strips anywhere from 5"-8" long. I know that's a big range, but I'm taking into account the different size leaves. If it's a larger leaf, you will want a few extra inches of wire. 

Lay down some newspaper next to your workspace. Take one of your leaves and put a thin strip of glue down the center. Place a piece of wire on the glue. Find a leaf of the same size and same scrapbook paper (or different paper- this is your project!) and place it on top of the glue, sandwiching the wire and forming a "vein" down the center of the leaf. Place your newly made leaves on the newspaper. Keep going until you've made all of your leaves. 

Now for the fun part! Start placing your leaves on your tree by wrapping the floral wire around a branch. You can arrange them in a natural way (as pictured above)...

...or make them funky. 

And you're done! This project is so easy. You can make a huge tree or just make a small, simple one. Do ten of them for an event, or just create one for your humble abode. Either way, take this idea and run with it. You can create some Spring magic using only a few supplies!


Cheers,
Jackie :)