off on a whim

Glitter Baby!

Check out this cool glitter carrier my friend Riki made:

This cute little wooden toy tool box has been painted and decorated to store 30 Martha Stewart or Recollections glitter vials.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a photo from the top of the box.  I stored the vials of glitter upside down so it is easy to see the various colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sooooo Dang Cute!

Holiday Fun!

 

Work was so crazy this summer and fall that I really didn't have any time for crafting!  Since I work for an amazing firm that thinks highly of its employees and closes down the week between Christmas and New Years, and thanks to a 2011 and 2012 calendar that stretched that break out a few extra days I had some time to create.  So the following photos are how I spent my Christmas vacation (after the family left that is).

Exhibit #1:

Connie K's Advent Calendar

This class was taught at Scrapbooks Etc. in November but I was unable to attend so Connie graciously sold me the kit. Here is a close up of the fantastic date markers:

Connie was great and added instructions, all the goodies were ready to be inked or glittered and all I had to do was glue them onto the magnets.

I had lots of fun making this while catching up on half a season of "Chuck".

 Exhibit #2:

Thank you Pinterest!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw some cute craft blocks on Pinterest from the Embroidery Garden Blog pinned sometime before Christmas and knew that I could put my Silhouette to good use this season!  I decided to use some Glass Etching Cream from Armour Products. So I etched the front of the glass block and cut some patterns out of adhesive vinyl, inserted a small string of white christmas lights and added a bow and a festive pick and voila!  Fun, Festive, Holiday Lights!

Exhibit #3:

Also compliments of Pinterest

I saw this great pin from Eddie Ross's blog that taught you how to make beautiful christmas wreaths out of 80 ornaments and a coat hanger and I knew I had to try it.  I bought the ornaments at Michael's the day before christmas at 75% off (such a steal) the additional bonus is they are plastic!

Using a glue gun you adhere the metal cap to the ornament. Then you take a regular coat hanger and bend it into a circle.  Here I ran into a bit of trouble and I think it was due to the weight of the plastic ornaments.  I strung them all onto the wire hanger and they looked more like an egg than a wreath.  So off to Home Depot we went for some heavy guage wire.  That did the trick and now I had a more pleasing round wreath shape.  I finished off by adding a cute bow (ribbon was also 75% off at Michaels) and another holiday project was completed and ready to be used next year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exhibit #4:

Silhouette Advent Calendar

I also saw this advent calendar before the season and new I could not live with out it. I got it on sale and it came with the patterns to cut the boxes and drawers on the Silhouette.  My BFF graciously purchased several pattern papers from this seasons DoodleBug Design's Santa's Workshop collection.

One box and one drawer were designed to fit each compartment in the box so you had a choice of which to use. Cutting the boxes took longer than I had anticipated since I had to decide which pattern paper to use and if I wanted a box or a drawer.  Boxes were more difficult as you had to choose a coordinating paper for the lid and the box.  It was so much fun choosing but I couldn't wait to start decorating the boxes.  Each of the numbers were cut with the Silhouette using the LDJ Martian Mania font. I used stickles to "dress them up" a bit and used jewels, ribbon and other embellishments from my stash to decorate the boxes.  I think they turned out so cute that I haven't yet put this display away in the Christmas closet but still proudly display it in the living room!

 

 

 

 

 

I hope your holiday season was joyous and you had some time to spend with family and friends and maybe got your creative juices flowing a bit also!

Happy New Year!