Impress your teacher with a Money Machine!

It's been a long hard school year! But take heart the finish line is in sight. There's just a little hiccup end of the year teacher gifts. As a homeschooler, it seems kind of silly to give a gift to myself, (although I've been known to 😉) but my children do participate in cooperative classes at times and I need to find gifts for those teachers.

So enter in the need to find gifts for two very special ladies. One of them put together an entire government/constitution class for two of my kids (and 15 others) and the other opened her home to us to have that class for 12 weeks! The families of the students wanted to get together and bless these ladies in some way. After tossing around several places to give gift certificates to, it was decided cash would be the best gift and since I never want to just "give cash" I had to find a creative way to present it. So enter in

"The money machine"

 

I saw several of these "premade" boxes online ranging from $5 to $17 dollars (plus shipping.) Who wants to spend money to give money. So I tried making one myself. 

Supplies needed:

 Money- $1 are fun (because the roll is longer.) but any denomination of bill works.  

Reposition-able Tape- (Scotch- Matte' Finish)

Small Box

Scissors/trimmer

Craft knife

Fake Money- Or use fake/play dollar bill images printed from online.

Letter Stickers

Mod Podge-Plaid Crafts

Computer/Printer

To create your "Money Machine"

• Start by taping your bills together end to end (I used a small piece of tape on both sides for extra strength.) The "matte finish"  tape came off the bills nicely as long as the tape didn't over lap the entire edge of the bill.

 

• When your money chain is finished rolled up the bills and place in a box that will fit not only the roll but big enough you can cut a slit in the top to feed your chain through.

 

• Using the craft knife, cut a slit in the top of the box. Then take your play/fake money and Mod Podge to the surface of the top of box.  Add your letter stickers. If you want a title on your machine.  I gave it a final coat of Mod Podge to act as a sealer to make sure the stickers stayed in place.

• I added some directions on how to use the money machine that I printed out.  I also realized I wanted some type of "pull tab" to thread through the top of the box so this I also printed off and then taped to the end of the dollar bill roll.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Then it's wrapping your gift and "patiently" waiting for your favorite teacher to open!

Bottle cap earrings!

At a recent party, friends served several styles of craft sodas. These sodas (and some beers) had fun names and cute bottle caps that I couldn't let go to waste! So I did what any crafter would do! I saved the caps.

This is what I did with them.

Washing them to remove the soda/beer residue,  I then used my trusty, We R Memory Keepers, Crop-a-dial to punch holes. I threaded small glass beads, onto head pins and added the bottle caps to the head pins. Topping with more beads and finishing with earring wires and I had a cute pair of up-cycled earrings!

As you can tell the Capt'n Eli's soda was popular ;) I loved the way they turned out and will make great gifts for my daughters and their friends for Christmas!

Adorn It Blog Hop!

Hello! Welcome to the ADORN it, blog hop!

If you have been following along the hop, you should have joined us from Susan's blog, if you are new and want to start at the beginning, please visit ADORNit's Blog to start from the beginning.

The wonderful gals from ADORNit sent me a huge box of goodies to play with to feature their new Art Play Paintables line. The Paintable line features wonderful drawings for you to fill in with paint, marker, or even leave as is. The designs are printed on a nice heavy art paper (#80 cardstock weight), to help prevent curling when (if) it gets wet with your chosen medium.

I loved this line. I have always wanted to be able to draw but never inherited the skill of my mom or my sister, this allowed me to be an artist by simply coloring (painting) in the lines ;) Two of the images from the Home Paintable line just spoke to me, I had the perfect people to give them to! I decided to simply paint and frame them. 

After using watercolor pencils and crayons to fill in the images,  I softened the lines with water. I accented the drawings here and there with stickles, glitter glue and smooch inks just to give the piece a bit of shimmer and sparkle. Loosely cutting them out,  I mounted the images on paper from the ADORNit!  Blender Basics collection pack. After framing the pieces I still thought there was something missing,  so to make the images "pop-out" of the frames,  I accented them with some jute twine and matching buttons I had on hand from my stash. I loved how quick these gifts came together!

Next, I created a couple of cards using images from the "Be Awesome" collection.

Again I used watercolor pencils and crayons to fill in the images and softened them with water. To get some of the brighter accents on the piece, I dipped my watercolor pencil directly into the water then dabbed the drips off on paper towel. The wet pencil allowed for a precise line burst of color as seen on the "Be Happy" and the frame around the 2nd card. I mounted the images again using paper from the Blender Basics collection pack, this time punching out a lacy border with a Little B "honeycomb" border punch that was inked with Ranger distress ink in "Vintage Photo".

My final project is a wall hanging.  I used an image from the "Life's Journey" Paintable.

Here the image served as the focal piece for a 12' x 12' canvas. The canvas itself was edged in blue, green and gold Faber Castell gelatos then I off set the background paper ("Chapter Two" from ADORNit's Storybook Collection.) Before mounting, my background paper was zigzag stitched along the edges and stenciled with the gold lines with some watered down gelatos using the Crafter's Workshop "Swirls and Flowers" template. My house paintable was colored with watercolor pencils, and accented with candy red stickles, then framed with an inked paper doily.  The larger hearts were created freehand with some scrap cardstock that were inked and heat embossed. The title consists of random chipboard letters from my stash that were also inked and then accented with white pen stitching. A simple double length of grosgrain ribbon was used as a decorative hanger.

I can't wait to play more with the Paintables line. It was relaxing to put on an old movie,  pull out the watercolor pencils and crayons and color and paint and have something fun to create with when finished. To see the full Paintables line visit the ADORNit!  store. Thanks ADORNit! for allowing me the chance to play with the collection.

Before heading to the next stop on the blog hop...

How would you like to win a complete set of the ADORN it Art Play Paintables collection and an original piece from the artist behind Paintables,  Linsey Ostrom? Well to do so you'll need to collect the all of the clues along the hop and my clue is:

Collect all of the clues along the way and then email your answer to  janet@adornit.com, to be entered to win the prize.

The next stop along the blog hop is my friend, the uber talented Michelle Cummings at Faire Dust Dreams. (http://faeriedustdreams-michelle.blogspot.com/2015/02/craft-room-decorative-wall-plaque.html)

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you will subscribe using the box to the right to keep up on all my adventures!
                     and remember...you'll drive towards what you focus on, so AIM HAPPY!

When Home Depot Comes to Visit!

We are a part of a fabulous homeschooling cooperative called Potter's Hand. In addition to regular activity days, field trips, and spelling bees, one of the events our family looks forward to every year is our Christmas Activity Day.

This year instead of the parents teaching individual project classes for the day, Potter's Hand invited the wonderful gals from the Home Depot Kid's Workshop to come in and do a woodworking project with the kids. They were awesome! Not only did they instruct the children on creating their projects, they brought in all tools and supplies as well.

The kids worked diligently, gluing, hammering, and then painting and decorating, and had fun doing it.  The projects ranged from painted holiday yard stakes, to tool boxes and coasters.  Even our "hard to please" pre/teenage boys group got into the projects enjoying the fact it wasn't your typical "cut and glue" Christmas craft.

Due to the "sensitive nature" of the projects created, my children would not let their "finished projects" be photographed. But I did manage to get a picture of some of the projects from an earlier class while they were drying! (They turned out adorable!) A huge thank-you to the ladies from the Frankfort, IL Home Depot!

Easy pinwheel embellishments!

Are you looking for an easy gift? These simple pinwheel embellishments are a quick and fun way to decorate a store bought flower pot for a "touch of handmade" sure to make any gift special. 

The process is simple, start with a square of paper. (I used 4" x 4")  Then from each corner make diagonal cuts in towards the center but not completely to the center point (see example.) You need to leave about a 1/2"-1" area in the center that is uncut. You will now have a square cut into 4 "almost" triangles. Place a pop-up glue dot in the uncut center of the square. Starting with one side gently push one point of the triangle into the glue dot continue with the same side point of the next triangle, then the 3rd and the 4th. 

 When finished, you will have a pinwheel shape. to cover your center point use a punch out circle, or stickers to embellish the center. Add a stick and you are good to go!

These pinwheels are easy to make and a simple way to spruce up a flower pot for yourself or to give as a gift.  The pinwheel shape translates well into "poinsettias" for Christmas by using red with yellow or green centers, or create a wreath by making green pinwheels with red centers and adhering them to a precut wreath shape. 

Arm Knit Throw!

The arm knitting crazy hit full force at my house with both of my daughters joining me in learning how to create scarves. I decided to up the challenge and create an arm knit throw. I was attending a party for a friend, and wanted to create something special.

Choosing 3 skeins of yarns, I cast on 30 stitches. Creating a larger project it was a bit more difficult to keep my place and I had to "tink" (in other words unknit) several times.

I was quite please with the finished project. After casting off I added some fringe to either end of the throw. 

The loose open weave doesn't lend for much warmth, but it will add an extra layer to throw over your shoulders when reading to reading to the grandbabies! As you can see from the photos my friend loved it! 

Transformed

As I said I have had a "craft crisis" with many of my supplies unavailable to me to play with. That being the case I have been playing a lot with paint, canvases, and Faber-Castell gelatos. Within my mom's painting treasures was "texture paste" I have never played with it before and wanted to experiment.

I thought it would be cool to make another gift for a friend. She is an amazing person and the Lord has done such a transformation in her life. It's awesome to see!

So I started out with a Gelato background, when that was dry, I outlined the word "Transformed" and then filled it in with texture paste, building up layers. I colored in the paste to blend in slightly with the background but then outlined it with a black sharpie to give the letter's more definition.

Wanting to have something to symbolize a transformation, I stamped butterflies on vellum and then heat embossed them. When cool I colored them in with painted on Gelatos and then cut out the butterflies. Bending them slightly at the middle I was able to hot glue them on just down the middle to give the look of the butterflies being "in flight" as well as landing on the word "Transformed."

After adding a scripture reference I called it done. It looks much cooler "in person" and my friend Erica loved it!

Showers of Blessing

As you may know, my daughter Winter graduated from High School last night. Today we celebrated HER with a party. A friend of mine gave Winter the most adorable gift.

She was told to save the money for a rainy day! How cool is that!!! Thanks MaryLee!

Craft Fantastic Bracelet.

Two years ago, at the St. Charles, IL Scrapbook Expo, I met a fabulous company called "Craft Fantastic." I loved the simplicity of making jewelry with their pre-sized images, and realized the endless possibilities with my own images. This past CHA I was surprised and pleased to run into them at the show as a manufacturer offering wholesale for the first time. Needing someone to fill in and demonstrate for them, I spent a few hours teaching make and takes at their booth.

Working at the Craft Fantastic booth at CHA this year. 

The coincidence was that on my desk waiting for me when I got home from the show was a Christmas present in progress for a friend, yes it is January, no I had not finished it yet. Christmas was a rather emotional time for me. I love (and I mean LOVE) making Christmas presents, but it was my first Christmas without my favorite recipient so making gifts this year took a back seat to just allowing the holiday to be and deal with the emotions of the day. So by the time January rolled around I was ready to get back into the creative swing of things and decided to attempt to make something that I had been toying around with in my mind for awhile.

The gift was for my editor. I work for Chicagoland Scrapbooker Magazine and being that I work with our social media I get sent the cover images for the magazine. The idea was to use Craft Fantastic glass and glaze & glue to create a one of a kind charm bracelet using the cover images of the magazine.

Close-up of the cover charms.

By reducing the images to a bit smaller than 1 inch square I was able to use the 5/8" square glass pieces to make the charms for the bracelet.  I added beads I strung on head pins and then a cute scissor charm as an accent. I love the way it turned out and hope that Carrie enjoys the memory celebrating our first year and a half as well.  

Finished bracelet.

Supplies used: Craft Fantastic 5/8" glass squares, Craft Fantastic Glaze & Glue, bail plates, E600, scraps of patterned paper, glass beads, silver chain, T clasp, jump rings, head pins.

Blanket for Grandma

So ya know when you walk into Hobby Lobby needing one item for a project you are trying to finish and wind up getting something to do an entirely different project. That's how it was a couple of weeks ago. I went into pick up something and my daughter found music polar fleece. This wasn't just ANY polar fleece with random music notes no, this at the ALTO clef sign on it. (My mom plays viola, viola plays alto clef, the way she explains it is "ya know the notes in the white space between the treble clef and bass clef...that's what the viola plays, that's alto clef." Because it's such a rare symbol when we find things WITH that symbol we have to get them, only this time it involved an entirely new craft project.

So the girls and I set out to make a no-sew polar fleece blanket for grandma. These are a lot of fun to make and warm too. The girls couldn't resist getting a quick snuggle in under the blanket before wrapping it up for Grandma for Mother's day!

The perfect gift

Growing up was an adventure. Mom was a single parent raising two daughters on a modest income so we learned to not just improvise but create what we didn't have. Being a school teacher, mom made sure we were never short of crayons, and paper and pens. Having the initial desire to go into commercial art we were never short of art and craft supplies as well. 

My sister and I were constantly "making things." Doll houses out of boxes, paintings, finger weaving, I even recreated "Charlotte's Web" in my bedroom-granted it was connected to the dresser, and the bedpost, and the table, and the desk. My goal was to be able to crawl across it to get to things in my room. (It didn't work.) Mom helped us with school projects and making costumes and doll clothes. 

Mom also filled the house with music. Having played the viola through college, mom loved classical music and wanting to rekindle that flame took the instrument up again when I was young.  For my sister and I this led to music lessons of our own. Piano, flute, and bells for me. Oboe, Bassoon, and Cello for my sister, plus both of us were in choir and enjoyed singing. 

Our faith was also a big part of our lives. Mom was active in our church serving as Sunday School director, a member of the alter guild and vestry. Because of mom's involvement, my sister and I were acolytes, worked in the nursery. I even led the Jr. High youth group when I was older. But my mom's faith was more than just being active in church. My mom believed that what she did with her talent was a gift back to the Lord. She one time shared with me that even her music was her prayer.

So much of whom I am is because of my mom naturally the news we received in November was earth shattering; the cancer had returned, in her spine. They gave her 4-6 months without treatment 6-8 with.  I walked around in a daze, I think we all did, just letting the news sink in. I know none of us are guaranteed our tomorrows but to be told someone you love is even closer to death is devastating. 

After I came to terms with that news, another realization hit me…this might be mom's last Christmas with us! What do you get a person that means the world to you when this might be the last present you ever give them?!?

So I started really thinking about who my mom is, what she has taught me, and what she means to me. I knew I had to make her something (she loves handmade gifts) I also knew I wanted it to revolve around her music and maybe her faith as well. 

I rejected one idea after another and then I found "IT" not just any it, but the most gorgeous violin paper. I was at a craft warehouse sale and found two sheets of Autumn Leaves paper from 2000. (11 year old paper in the paper world is probably itself considered vintage.) 
I knew this was to be the foundation of my mom's Christmas present. Looking around the sale I found some 12" x 12" tiles and I knew a decorative tile was in the making.

I wanted the emphasis to be on the violin and the quote I chose so I kept decorations down to a minimum; antiquing the edges of the paper with ink then adding a touch of gold here and there. Using Mod Podge I adhered the paper to the tile and then added the quote I cut out with my die cutting machine. Another layer of Mod Podge to seal everything in finished off the piece. 

To display the tile I found a gold book easel that coordinated with the gold accenting the violin. I loved the way it turned out. The project itself was simple to do but the results were very elegant. The end result was a gift for my mom that was totally "ME." Something handmade from the heart (which she loves) and something that celebrates not only her music but her faith.

Needless to say she loved her gift. She even cleared off a spot on the piano to display it. It has even become the focal point when she teaches viola. While trying to get her students to add more emotion to their music she says, "read that," (pointing to the tile,) "now pray with your music."  So the decorative tile I created for her even helps her to pass on her musical legacy as well.


Supplies used: Supplies used: 12 x 12 tile, Patterned paper Autumn Leaves, Ink, Ranger-Vintage Photo, Stampabilities-Gold, Cricut Cartridges- Jubilee, Plantain Schoolbook, Lyrical Letters, Base Camp, and Alphalicious. Mod Podge