Today I prettied up a plain notebook…super easy and a complete transformation in just a few minutes!

Supplies needed:

• Sarah Jones – Smitten
• Plain Notebook
• Ribbon
• Punches
• Adhesive, foam dimensional
• pads
• Sentiment Stamp – I used Take Note from Papertrey Ink.

1. Gather your supplies and print out papers and elements in your software. I used Photoshop Elements for mine.

2. Cover front of notebook with adhesive. I used double sided sticky tape.

3. Lay paper over the sticky tape to adhere.

4. Trim around patterned paper with scissors or craft knife.

5. Trim more patterned paper and cut ends so it look like ribbon. Then adhere to the front of the notebook.

6. Trim and add pretty ribbons.

7. Punch out 2 scallops using a 2.5″ scalloped punch and punch out element with a 2″ circle punch.

8. Using a small hole punch, punch out holes around the scallop circle, then lay pink scallop onto black scallop and adhere.

9. Stamp sentiment onto punched circle element and adhere to the front of the notebook with foam squares.

There you have it!!  What a transformation of what was once a very plain notebook!!

Here is the digital kit I used.

Have a great day!

Hugs, Bonnie x

Coming up with a boy-approved project has been harder than I expected. I wanted something that would be easy to create since I’ll be making dozens of them. I also wanted something without all the pink and frills that often come with V-day celebrations.

When I saw Sarah Jones’ Smitten Kit in the shop, with such great papers in red, aqua, and yellow, I knew I’d found a winner with lots of boy appeal.

To get started, I designed my heart shape in my design software. I’m working in CS5, which has a heart shape built in. I drew my shape, adjusted it’s size to fit two on my 4×6 canvas, then dropped papers and text on until I was happy.

I have a big supply of 4×6 photo paper, so that’s what I printed my hearts on. I love the thickness and sheen the photo papers gives to the project, but regular cardstock would work well, too. I’m a big fan of using what you have on hand!

Next, I carefully cut each heart shape out.

Then, I punched a hole on each side of the heart. This is where you’ll slide the pencil through. If your hole punch isn’t big enough to fit the pencil width, make a second punch that overlaps the first one. Now your pencil will slide right in!

And now you’re done!

Personally, I’m not ready to think about Easter and the DigiChick designers haven’t started creating their Easter kits yet, so today I’m going to show you how I altered this simple little white lantern into a sweet little Valentine’s Day decoration for my home.

Supplies used

• small Rotera lantern from Ikea
• Valentine Retrospect digital scrapbook kit by Quirky Twerp
• Fiskars paper trimmer
• stylus or bone folder for scoring
• Zots sticky dots adhesive
• scalloped border punch
• scalloped circle punch
• small circle punch
• Epson matte presentation paper

First, I measured one pane of the lantern to determine how to create my document. The pane measured about 3″ high by 2″ wide. I created one clipping mask on my document that was the size of four blocks, and one that was the size of two blocks. I also created a clipping mask that was 11″ high x 1.5″ wide to use as my strip of paper for my accordion flower. Finally, I created a 2.125″ square that contained the letters LOVE and the white paper from the kit.

I printed the document and then cut apart each piece. I turned my scalloped circle punch upside down so I could make sure my letters were in the center of the circle.

To create my accordion flower, I started by punching one long edge of my paper strip with the open scallop border punch.

Next, I used my stylus to score in between each scallop. I used the groove on my Fiskars paper trimmer to guide the stylus in a straight line.

Once the whole strip had been scored, I folded the strip up as though I were making a paper fan. Then I placed several small Zots sticky dots on one end of the strip.

I attached the short ends of the strip to form a circle. Then I pushed the middle together and held it in place by adding a Zots 3-D Sticky Dot to a small circle I had punched out.

I attached another circle to the front with the same 3-D sticky dot. Then I attached the LOVE scalloped circle on top of the accordion flower. I set the completed embellishment aside while I fitted the inside of the lantern with the paper I had printed out.

I took the 8″ rectangle of paper and scored it at 2″ intervals. I folded the paper and then placed it inside the lantern. It was a little too tall, so I had to trim a tiny sliver of paper off the bottom. I placed the paper back into the lantern, and used sticky dots on the four outer corners to adhere the paper inside.

After that paper was secured, I took the smaller rectangle and fitted it to the door of the lantern, adhering it in the same way, with small sticky dots on the outer four corners of the paper.

The lantern looks pretty sweet with just the pretty paper inside the glass, but I wanted to take it a step further in its beauty, so I added the accordion flower. I also decided at the last minute to add a ribbon and flower cluster to the top of the handle.

I just tied a bow with some ribbon, added a red felt brad to the center of two six-petal white flowers, and then added a flat-backed pearl to the top of the brad. I placed a sticky dot on the back of this cluster and added it to the handle.

And there you have it – a sweet little lantern all dressed up for Valentine’s Day! This project was so quick, easy, and inexpensive and I love how it turned out!

Supplies:

• Every Day of the Year by Sugarplum Paperie
• Scissors
• Punches
• Glue
• Frame
• Stickles

The first thing I did was punched out my shapes. I am using a hexagon punch I have had for forever.

Once I knew I had enough punches to cover my 4×6 piece of cardboard, I poured out some glue and grabbed my brush. I spread enough glue to put down a few punches and just kept gluing and sticking them down as I went.

Once all my punches were glued down, I trimmed the edges to make it all look pretty.

I then took some of my stickles and spread a layer of it over my paper to give it a little sparkle.

Once my picture was dry, I inserted it into my frame. I punched out a couple of butterflies and adhered them to the outside of the frame. I found a few nails and hung my frame.

I never have enough magnets on our fridge to hold all my kids’ artwork, my endless to-do lists and all the little bits of life I want to keep handy. Bottle Cap magnets are a fun and useful solution, adding a seasonal pop of color and cheer, and helping me stay a little more organized this Christmas season.

Here’s what you’ll need to make a set of your own:

• Holly Day Wishes Page Kit by Pixel Gypsy
• bottle caps (I used six for my set, acquired from the empty Jones Soda and Blue Moon bottles in my recycling bin)
• 3/4″ round ceramic craft magnets
• 1″ circle punch
• E600 glue or other superglue
• Diamond Glaze or ModPodge Dimensional

I began by creating a 4×6 canvas in Photoshop. With the papers and elements I wanted to use open, I created six 1″ circles, clipped my paper to them, and added my elements on top. Print this 4×6, either at home or at a local 1-hour photo (my preferred method), and punch out your circles using your 1″ punch.

Set your punched circles aside for now and glue magnets onto the back of  your bottle caps. A little dab of E6000 or Superglue will have those babies stuck for good!

Now flip them over and add your punched circles inside. I like to use a double-sided adhesive to tack them to the bottom of the cap. This way they don’t float up once I add my top coat of glaze. With all your punched circles fit snuggly into your caps, add a thin layer of Diamond Glaze or ModPodge Dimensional glaze to the top. I like to make a circle around the outer edge, then fill in the middle. Use your finger, a toothpick, or an opened paper clip to pop any small air bubbles you might have floating in your glaze (and DON’T shake the bottle before you open it. That’s a sure recipe for lots of bubbles on your project).

Let your glaze dry completely and you’re done! I added mine to a baking sheet to create a little memo center for my gift lists and favorite cards.

MATERIALS

• Comfort and Joy: Evergreen designer kit from Sugarplum Paperie
• paper cutter
• glue
• brown ink (ink dabber optional)
• scissors or paper distresser
• 3 inch circle punch
• baker’s twine
• jingle bells
• small red clothes peg
• mason jars
• hot chocolate powder
• small marshmallows
• milk chocolate chocolate chips
• candy canes or peppermints

Cut a 3 1/2 x 2 1/4 inch rectangle from both the green polka dot and green herringbone paper and glue them together. Ink the edges of the green paper and the red tag with brown ink.  I like to use an ink dabber as it gives a softer application of the ink {see picture 1. below}. Glue the red tag on the front.

Using the cream paper, print out “Candy Cane Hot Cocoa” {I just used a word processing program with the font Budmo Jiggler in red} and trim to approximately 1 1/2 x 1 7/8 inches.  Ink the edges as above and mount on the dark brown paper.  To give the edges a more distressed look, use a paper distresser {picture 2.} or the edge of your scissors {picture 3.} to rough up the edges. Glue this on an angle to the front of the tag and glue the word “magical” just under the right top corner.

On the back of the tag, I printed out the following instructions on the cream paper: “Directions: Mix all ingredients together and add to 1 cup of warm mil or boiling water. Store remaining ingredients in an airtight container. ENJOY!”. This was trimmed to approximately 2 inches x 1 7/8 inches and mounted again on the dark brown paper. The edges of the brown paper were distressed and glued onto the back of the tag.

Wrap brown twine around the bottom of the tag and tie. I added a small red clothes peg and a small candy cane sticker to the back of the tag for a little extra embellishment.

{Please note that the green papers are reversed on this tag compared to the tag shown above}

To make the hot chocolate mixture, layer hot chocolate powder, crushed candy canes or peppermints, marshmallows, and chocolate chips in a mason jar.

Print out the red snowflake to cover the jar lid {I printed mine just a little bigger than 3 inches and punched it out with a circle punch}.  Glue this on to the lid.  Punch a small hole in the corner of your tag, string with baker’s twine, and add a jingle bell.  Tie to secure.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Supplies:

• eyes from Spookie Dookie kit by Karen Lewis Designs
• Standing Pillow Box template and cutting files by Kelleigh Ratzlaff
• Sweet and Crafty kit by Quirky Twerp (papers and element for the reindeer’s nose)
• Autumn Leaves by Kelleigh Ratzlaff for the reindeer’s ears
• Epson Premium Matte Photo Paper
• Photoshop
• black ribbon by May Arts
• ribbon buckle by Memories
• red line tape (also known as Terrifically Tacky Tape, or TTT)

I started by adding the pillow box png file to Photoshop. I wanted to fit two boxes on one 8.5×11 canvas, so I duplicated the pillow box layer. I clipped a red paper to one box and a brown paper to the other. I added the leaves for the ears to the canvas, and clipped the brown paper to those as well. I flipped one of the leaves horizontally by going up to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. I added the eyes from the Spookie Dookie kit by Karen Lewis Designs, and used a red brad element from the Sweet and Crafty kit by Quirky Twerp to create the nose. I added a slight shadow to the nose to make it stand out a little.

Here is what my canvas looked like when I was done with the design portion of my project.

I printed my document and then cut out each box. I scored along the scoring lines and added red line tape to the side flap.

Before assembling the box, I should have drawn a mouth using a Sharpie marker, as it is much easier to write on a flat box! Next, I adhered the sides of the box together and then folded up the bottom. I added red line tape to the bottom of each leaf and attached them to the top corners of the box.

Look at how cute he is! My daughter is thrilled with him and wants to claim him for her own. I could have stopped here, but I wanted to keep creating!

I decided to make a Santa-esque box next. I cut the box out and scored it. I learned my lesson with the reindeer mouth, and before folding up this box, I added a strip of red line tape across the entire box, about 1/3 of the way up from what would be the bottom once the box was folded.

Then I slid my buckle onto my ribbon, and adhered both to the box by laying the ribbon and buckle down on top of the tape and then pressing down firmly. I made sure my buckle was in the middle of what would be the front of the box.

After that step was complete, I added red line tape to the side of the box.

I finished assembling the box and giggled to myself at how cute it had turned out! The buckle does make it tip forward while empty, but it was not anything a few pieces of strategically placed chocolate couldn’t fix!

This pillow box is so versatile. I could have used it to make an angel, a snowman, an elf, a cat, a pig, a bunny, an owl… you get the idea! As I said before, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination!

If you use this pillow box to make a little creature, be sure to leave a link so I can check it out!

SUPPLIES USED

• DIGITAL PRODUCTS – ROSETTES SET 1 by THE CUTTING FILES
• ELECTRONIC CUTTING MACHINE
• PATTERNED PAPER
• GLUE GUN
• ALEENE’S TACKY SPRAY, GLITTER
• RIBBON, LACE, PAPER FLOWERS, PEARLS
• SPELLBINDER FLORAL DOILY MOTIF

The small floral pattern from ROSETTES SET 1 was cut at 2 1/2 by 11 1/2 inches.  Each ornament used TWO of these strips.  This kit is so great because you don’t even have to score the fold lines, they are already made for you when the piece is cut out. 

Next, make hills and valleys along the score lines skipping one each time. This makes each side of the fold about a half inch.  Trim off one side of a fold from each side of just ONE of the strips as shown. This is done so that when they are put together the folds continue in the same pattern.

I tried several different glues and found that the glue gun was the best way to put the ornament together because it adheres so quickly. You can use another type of glue but it takes a while to stick and I am all about fast! Lay the trimmed side on top of the other strip as shown.

Attach the other side forming a circle.

Gather the circle together and flatten it out. Squirt a little glue down into the center to hold it in place.

I wanted a little (ok a lot) of sparkle so I sprayed the entire ornament with Aileene’s Tacky Spray and dipped it in glitter.

For the hanging portion, a one inch satin ribbon was folded in the center and pressed down about half way.  The entire piece was about 24 inches long.

A bow was tied about 4 inches down from the fold of the loop and a little dot of glue was placed in between the two to hold it in place.

I punched out a flower shaped circle (you can hand cut a circle if you like) to attach over the center and to have something to attach the ribbon.  The ribbon was then glued to the back of the ornament as shown.  The bow was pulled over the top of the ornament towards the front with the know laying just within a fold.

The front of this of this ornament was decorated with some lace and a paper flower.  I also dipped the flower in glitter. One can never have too much glitter.

For the next ornament, I used the Spellbinder die to cut a shaped layer for the front.

Some pearls, a ribbon bow and simple ribbon hanger were added to finish it off. Oh yeah, more glitter too.

I chose to go Victorian on my ornaments because they are going to my mom who has a Victorian themed tree, but the base can be decorated in any theme you choose.  Make a bunch and give the kids some bits of lace, ribbon, buttons, whatever and see what they come up with!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great, handcrafted holiday!

I’m not sure about you but I absolutely love Christmas!  One of my daughters, Miss Molly, was born on Christmas Day too, so Christmas is extra special around here!  I decided to make some sweet tags. These are one of my favourite things to create. I always make tags for gifts at Christmas…they can really make a present!  I packaged them all up in a sweet Christmas pocket!  I hope these Christmas tags get you in a festive mood!

Supplies needed:

• Kelleigh Ratzlaff’s Fat Envies Template Set and Cutting Files
• Mari Koegelenberg’s 12 Days the Kit
• White Card & distressing ink (I used Antique Linen by Tim Holtz)
• Twine
• Hole Punch
• Adhesive & foam dimensional pads
• Craft supplies to decorate tag – bells, rhinestones
• Sizzix Framelets and Die-Cutting Machine for shaped tag (Not needed but adds that little something extra) You can just cut out tag with scissors if you don’t have a die-cutting machine.

1. Gather your supplies and print out papers and elements in your software.

2. Cut out your Fat Envie using your cutting machine or you can print out the PDF file and cut by hand. The add tape to two edges to adhere later.

3. Using two different size dies – large die for the cardstock and a smaller die for the patterned papers, cut out using die-cutting machine (I have a cuttlebug).

4. Distress tags and fat envie using distressing ink and sponge applicator.

5. Adhere paper to cardstock.

5. Punch a hole through the top, then string with some twine. Cut out printed elements and adhere to tag with dimensional foam pads then decorate and make pretty!

6. Wrap twine around fat envie and I decorated mine with another tag (I added my own text on the label that I did in my software) 

Have a great day!

Hugs, Bonnie x

Supplies:

• Happy Holly Days Designer Kit by Karen Lewis
• scoring board with tool or ruler and scoring tool
• 2 inch punch
• marker
• ink
• ribbon
• adhesive
• gems or other embellishments

I started by printing out my designer papers from the kit I chose to use along with any of the elements I thought I might use for embellishing. Since you will only need two 2-inch circles from each pattern, you can print them out two to a page at 5×7 size. This also makes the pattern a little smaller since we are working on a smaller scale project! 

Cut out twenty circles with circle punch. I used the 2-inch size.

Then, you need to determine the size of the center triangle.  I’ve already done this for you…for a 2-inch circle, each side of the triangle needs to be 1 3/4 inches. I made a template from a piece of thick cardstock.

Since I wanted my triangles to be outlined, I used my template and traced each one with a thin marker so the lines would show. I also inked the outside edge of all the circles with brown chalk ink.

Next, you’ll need to score each line and fold along the lines.

Do this for all twenty circles. 

The next step is to arrange your circles into four rows of five, varying the patterns and colors. 

Apply glue or adhesive to the back of the three folded tabs and begin to assemble the top row of your ornament.

I find it easier to insert my ribbon hanger at this point. Fold the ribbon in half and carefully pull it through the top where all the triangles meet to the desired length.

Tie a knot and cut off the excess.

Continue adding two more rows of five…it will look like this.

Add the final row, attaching all the triangles in the center like the top of the ornament.

Embellish your ornament as much or as little as you like. I added the holly element from the Designer Kit and a couple of red gems for berries. I also added a green gem at each intersection where the triangles meet.

Since I had lots of extra designer paper and I just loved the kissing birds from this kit, I decided to make a matching card!

Imagine the endless possibilities for making fun ornaments for everyone in your family. You can use different size punches for smaller ornaments and there’s a ton of possibilites to customize the ornaments using the recipients favorite colors, characters or themes!