out with Christmas, in with Valentine's!

It's never too early to start working on the next holiday! I fell in love with the Spellbinders Nestabilities Heart Circles!! These work very well with the Big Shot...!

Christmas cards galore!

Here are a bunch of Christmas cards I worked on recently, most of them this weekend! I am almost done... then I have to mail them out!!











Not sure which is my favorite... I love the sleigh - in person it's so much nicer!

Which is your favorite?

** all ideas were either CASEd or inspired by online projects, creations were not my own.

working on christmas cards

I am diligently working on my Christmas cards right now!

We are also having weekly Christmas card making workshops at work. This is the card we are making today :)



I love the big gluttery snowflakes! :) Snow makes me smile!

More Halloween party prep!

Here are a few more of the Halloween goodies I have been working on for Maelie's Halloween party this year. A cello bag with 4 eyeballs in it:



Here are little itty bitty boxes with a spider web wrapped around them (Marthan Stewart punch). I used a die to make the rosettes. It's a lot of worh when you make a ton of them!



The inside of the box contains 4 swiss chocolates from Costco (big tall bags) wrapped with some Halloween patterned cardstock. I like buying graphics off of Etsy. The one I have been using the most is from Amanda Parker. I just have them printed off at Bureau en Gros on cardstock and they are easy to cut out or punch out. The strips that wrap around the chocolates fit perfectly.



One deal I like to pick up is some Pocket Bac at Bath and Body Works when it is on clearance! They always have seasonal stuff, so once the strawberry pocket bacs were on sale, I stocked up for the party. I added an orange ribbon and stamped the "Eek" image on top. The sanitizer is red so it looks like blood! Turned out cute! You always need clean hands to munch on some candy! :)




I really liked this cute "book" style treat. The inside is actually the box that comes from the matchbox die. I don't have the source of this idea at the top of my head, but if I find it, I will come and edit this post.



Here it is when you pull the strap out



and here it is opened up. It was actually a real easy craft to make! and I find it looks amazing :)



A while ago, I got some flarp putty on sale at MIchael's. When I see a good deal like that, I can't pass it up because I know it will be useful for Maelie's Halloween party treats! I just added a Happy Halloween strip around it and voila!



I'm not done.... I still have 4 days before the party, so there IS more to come!! At the end we'll see how it all pulls together!

Earwax for Halloween?

I saw this idea online and immediately wanted to make it! I was put in charge of the gross tasting table at Naomie's party, so I had to come up with a few gross ideas.

What I did was microwave a few marshmallows for about 10-15 seconds. Then I dipped each tip of the lollipop stick in the marshmallows. They harden up pretty quick yet remain sticky.

After that, I melted some butterscotch chips and then dipped the Q tip into it.



Doesn't it look gross??? (sorry for the bad lighting... 5 am pictures tend to not look as good!)

Halloween treats

For weeks now we've been working on a few Halloween projects for Maelie's party. Here are some of the treats!

Candy corn in a 1 X 8 bag. I copied this idea from here.



I love this little tag!



Here are some witch hats made with the petal cone die from Stampin Up. We just took off one of the sides and then added a scallop at the bottom. It's filled with Jolly Rancher candy. I also copied this idea from someone online but i forget who.



We made the buckle with glitter cardstock.



Here are little candy holders made the the two tag die. I've been putting my dies to use this season!!



Here you can see the inside. Two small chocolate bars stacked one on top of the other.



Last one for today, this is made with another die - the petal die! I just wrapped up a bag of M&Ms inside. I bought those little tags from Shindig Parties to go. I chose a few different patterns I wanted, then sent them online to Bureau en Gros and had them printed in color on 65 lb cardstock. Turned out perfect!! I just punch out or cut out the shapes I want. It's a much cheaper alternative than printing on my own printer since the ink is so pricey. Plus the finish is a bit glossy at Bureau en gros. They don't have service charges when you order online!



I am very pleased with the treats so far! I have plenty more to go! If you saw my craft table ...... ooooof..... scary!!

Halloween invitations 2011

Here are Maelie's Halloween 2011 invitations. They are little owls made with the Sizzix pillow die. There are a few rows of punched out circles as his feathers.



On the inside of the pillow box owl,the invitation is attached with a Halloween bakers twine and there is a little owl on the corner of the paper.



Once you open it up, there is another punched out Halloween owl which is actually back to back with the other one.



I love these! They were time consuming but not as bad as some other invitations I've done over the years! LOL

I found the owl idea online from another blog so it is not my creation. I modified it to look Halloweenish though :)