Pantry Overhaulin

Happy happy Monday!  Once again, it has been a while since I have updated my blog.  This weekend, my goal was to tackle the pantry.  We had soooooo much stuff in their we could not find anything unless it was up front and visible.  I pulled everything out, purged expired products and consolidated duplicates.  I made a list of the items I wanted to buy containers for and then I was off to TJ Maxx.  I have been in love with the OXO pop storage containers ever since I saw them on an epsiode of Hungry Girl.  They were my goal.  I loaded up my cart with every size imaginable (except the tall spaghetti container which I picked up at Kohls) and back home I went.  I was lucky enough to have my son offer to help.  Needless to say, it was a huge task but I am very happy with the outcome.  Hubby came home from being out of town and was very impressed.  All items are easy to find, spices are organized and duplicates are neatly shelved in a stockpile downstairs.  TFL

The Empty Pantry

All the "stuff"

The finished Pantry

Love these containers!

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween.  Due to the Hurricane, I was able to stay home from work on Tuesday and be crafty!  I set up an assembly line for some candy filled coffins and Hershey bar bats to give to friends and neighbors who came trick or treating.  I also placed one on each of my coworkers desk before they got in on Halloween.  For the coffin, I used the CTMH Cricut Artiste cartridge.  I cut the coffins at 6 1/4 inches.  I also used this cartridge to cut the spider web.  The trick or treat is stamped using a $1 section stamp.  The bats were also cut from the Cricut Artiste cartridge.  Inside is a hershey bar.  I don't have the Halloween face stamps, so I just used what I had.  I think they turned out cute!  Now on to Christmas!  TFL

Happy Fall!

I love Fall colors!  I am a summer girl, but there is something about Fall colors that I cannot get enough of.  We were invited to a friend's Fall gathering.  She is a decorator extraordinaire!  I wanted to make something crafty for her and decided to go with a Fall banner.  She displayed it on her chili bar table.

Sorry, the colors don't show well in my photo.  I used Gypsy Wanderings to cut the leaves.  I always forget about that cartridge being on my Gypsy!  TFL

Homecoming 2012

On Saturday, my son attended his first Homecoming dance at the high school.  One of his friend's parents hosted a sit down dinner at their house for 30 Freshman.  I was asked to make the table centerpieces for the dinner tables.  Here is what I came with:

I used the Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge to cut the flowers and attached them to styrofoam balls with pins and buttons.  I used George for the banner and Varsity Letter for the letters/numbers.  They were a lot more tedious than I had originally expected, but I am thrilled with how they turned out.  Here is a picture of them in the room:

And here is a picture of my not so baby anymore boy:

The kids had a great time and the food and company were fabulous.  TFL



Altered CD Case/Gift Card Holder

Wow, it has been a long time!  I made this altered CD case for my good friend Debbie so she could treat herself to some Starbucks coffee.  She is going through some tough times these days and is handling things much better than I ever could.  I am proud to call her my friend!

I have about 500 CD cases at my house from a marketing plan gone bad.  I used the
"My Creative Time You Are Perk-fect" stamp set which I fell in love with at first sight.  I cut the flower in different sizes from the Cricut Accent Essentials cartridge.  I stuck the gift card to the center cd button with a pop dot.  1 down, 499 to go!  TFL

Happy "Itunes" Birthday Kyle!

I was finally able to be crafty again.  My friend Debbie's son Kyle turned 9 and I wanted to get him an Itunes gift card for his birthday.  I decided that I wanted to put it in a holder shaped like an Ipod. 

I measured and cut the Ipod by hand and used the jump rope from Cricut Everyday Paperdolls to make the headphones.  I added a "B" to the headphones so they were similar to the Dr. Dre Beats headphones that the kids are all into.  My 14 year old loved it so I guess it turned out pretty good.  TFL

Staff Appreciation Week

It's Staff Appreciation Week at my son's school.  I found this cute idea on Pinterest to make a little treat for the teacher's using a peppermint patty.  I cut the outer scalloped circle with Accent Essentials and then used George for the inner circles.  I stamped the A+ on the front and the Thanks on the back using clearance stamps that I picked up at Joann's.  I mounted everything around a peppermint patty and this is what I got.  TFL

Super Bowl Sunday-FunDay

Happy day after the Super Bowl.  We were invited to a Super Bowl party and I wanted to make a fun craft.  My good friend Deb designed a lollipop holder in Cricut Craft Room and emailed it to me.  I imported it into my Craft Room, changed the top to a football and made 40 of these lollipop holders.  I used Sports Mania for the football and helmet.  The kids at the party enjoyed them.  Deb is a Tebow fan, so I made her one with the Broncos helmet.  I also attempted to make chocolate covered football strawberries.  The dipping was easy, but the piping was a little more difficult than I thought.  They tasted good!  TFL

Holiday Gift Tags-Hostess Gift

Gooooooood Monday morning.  Two day work week for me, then I am off until January 3rd.  Can't wait!  Yesterday, my family attended a Holiday Open House at some friends and I stole my crafty friend Debbie's great idea to make a set of gift tags to give to the hostess.  I cut the tag from Tags Bags Boxes & More and the Santa is from Doodlecharms.  I think I will make some more this week to have on hand.  And to make the day even better, Santa went by on a fire truck.  I was the only one home at the time, but I waved to him enough for everyone!  Gotta love Santa on a firetruck.  TFL

You Rock - Itunes Gift Card Holder

We are having our annual gift exchange at work today.  Instead of doing the usual Secret Santa, we opted for the White Elephant this year.  Since most of my coworkers listen to music during the day, I thought an Itunes gift card would be perfect.  I have been wanting to make a 2 liter bottle gift card holder so this was the perfect time.  I filled the bottle with a pair of headphones, pop rock candy and the gift card.  I cut an Ipod off of the Paisley cartridge and the You Rock from Jubilee.  I also found a Beavis & Butthead button that says This Rocks on it.  I pinned this to ribbon bow.  It was so easy and fun to make (even last minute)!  TFL.

Party Success!

Happy Monday.  Our annual party was this weekend and it was a huge success.  All the food was ready on time (phew!) and the decorations did not fall down!  It was a lot of work, but well worth it.  We enjoyed having all of our friends and family together before the holidays.  Here are pictures of the different food stations around our house.  TFL

TIKI BAR

STARTERS

SALAD BAR

MEAT & POTATOES

SWEETS & TREATS

Dollar Store Crafts

I wanted some tall containers to hold salt water taffy, sweedish fish and caramel corn on the tables at our party.  The ones I wanted were too expensive, but I saw this idea on Dollar Store Crafts and gave it a try.  I glued a candle stick holder to the bottom of a couple different vases and voila.... I have what I was looking for for less then the cost of one of the more expensive ones.  I also made one with a votive holder on the bottom to keep the dipping sauce warm for one of my appetizers.  Everything (except the E6000 glue) was purchased at the dollar store.  TFL

Piece of Cake Gift Card Holders

Saturday night, my son attended a joint birthday party for two of his friends.  I just recently purchased Sweet Tooth Boxes and thought the cake slice would make a cute gift card holder.  I made two of these and think they turned out great.  The moms loved them!  All these birthday parties are breaking me!  TFL

Altered Binder Clips Food Labels

Happy Hump Day!  Since the food tables are spread out around the house at our party, I like to have food labels so people know what they are eating.  I saw some really cute altered binder clips on the internet and thought they would make great food label holders.  I covered the clip with paper, tied on a piece of ribbon and cut a tag using the Art Philosophy cartridge (on center).  I think they will be a nice addition to the food tables.  TFL

Party Table Decorations

Happy Tuesday!  Once again, I am working on crafts for our Summer in December Party.  Since the massive array of food that I make will take up most of the table space, I wanted some small decorations.  I made paper pinwheels to go in dollar store glass jars.  To hold the pinwheels in place, I used dollar store sea glass, even though I would have preferred to go to the beach and find the real deal!  I think they will add a nice summer touch to my food tables.  TFL

Tiki Bar

I want to have the island in my kitchen as the bar for our annual party.  Since we are having a summer theme, I thought Tiki Bar!  I made this Tiki Bar top to hang from the ceiling over the kitchen island.  I used a cardboard box, some wrapping paper and grass skirts.  TFL

Party Banners

As I posted earlier, my husband and I are hosting our annual holiday party in December (Summer in December Party).  I made six banners over the weekend for the food tables and front door.  Here is the one I made for the Salad Bar.  The others are the same design, but say Welcome to Paradise, Starters, Meat & Potatoes, Sweets & Treats and Tiki Bar.  I used several different cartridges including Art Philosophy, Accent Essentials, Lifes a Beach and Celebrations.  I strung each letter together with ribbon.  I also finally used my Peachy Keen stamps on the sun.  TFL

Quick Gift Card Holder

Happy Monday!  My son was invited to a classmate's birthday party over the weekend.  He wanted to give the boy a gift card as his gift.  Since he plays football, I thought it would be nice to use the football textured paper to cut a pillow box and tie some football ribbon around it.  I used one of my $1 stamp sents for the sentiment.  We went to Modells to buy him a football designed gift card, but all they had was baseball.  I couldn't put a baseball gift card into a football themed gift card holder so we ended up with a Target gift card.  TFL

Summer in December Party

Every year, my husband and I host a holiday party at our house for friends and family.  I try each year to come up with a theme (which is getting harder each year).  This year, since we love summer so much, we (or maybe I) decided that the theme will be Summer in December.  The first thing for me to do is get the invitations out.  Here is what I came up with by searching on the internet.  The details for the party are on the shovel that pulls out of the bucket.  It was a lot of work, but I think it was all worth it.  I have so many ideas for decorations and will post them as I create!  TFL

Trick or Treats

Happy day after Halloween!  We attended a family Halloween Party last night.  I made some special treats for my son's friends.  Sour cream containers filled with m-and-m's and pillow boxes filled with smarties and a pencil.  Driving home yesterday, I got the idea to stick the pencils into a piece of styrofoam and layer the sour cream containers around the outside.  Turned out nice.  TFL