Crafty Christmas!

As most of you know, I participated in my very first craft show over the weekend.  I stressed and worried and worked myself to death trying to get everything ready.  In the end, there were several projects that I had worked on that just didn't get finished, but that's OK.  I can use them for other things or for Christmas presents.  It's funny, the things that I have been working on forever didn't sell that well, but the things that were literally spur-of-the moment ideas, got a ton of comments and/or sold well.  I guess that just goes to show that you never know what people will like!

I didn't know until the night before that most of the vendors would be set up outside.  I wasn't too happy about the prospect, but in hindsight, that was the best place to be.  When we got there, the temperature was in the upper 40's (yeah, I know, laugh all you northerners.  HAHA) and I was seriously not liking the idea of being outside.  But, the sun came out and the temperature quickly rose to the 70's.  It could not have been a more beautiful Fall day!

The show was supposed to start at 10:00 am, but we had a steady stream of patrons starting at 9:00!  Thank goodness we got there early and had almost everything set up and ready to go when everyone started stopping by.  I was worried that there wouldn't be much of a turn-out because it was the first time our town decided to do something like that, but was thrilled when tons of people showed up! 

I was also thrilled that a great friend and her family set up right next to me. Our husband's kept each other company and our kids had a blast playing together!  And of course, we talked each other's heads off, too!  LOL 

Now on to some pictures!

These frames were HORRIBLE when I bought them.  They were black with gold crowns and some sort of phrases all over them.  With a little paint and a lot of elbow grease, this is what they ended up looking like.  I know they look a little odd in the photos, but in person, they look much better.  LOL

The tags say 'The bell still rings for those who truly Believe"

These next couple of shadow boxes were the hit of my table.  This was one of the spur-of-the-moment things I made.  (Like literally making these at 11:00 Friday night).  The kids loved to pick them up and shake them....as did a lot of the adults.  HAHA!  I sold all the Christmas ones and I'm hoping I have enough materials to make another one to keep for myself!

I saw this idea on HomeTalk a few weeks ago.  I loved the idea and just had to try it for myself!  These generated a ton of positive comments, but only sold 3.

And these are just a few shirts I made to bring to the show.

Gorgeous fall day!

These next few pictures are of the table display.

Who needs a clothes rack when you have trees?

That snowman frame to the back left is supposed to be standing up, not falling! LOL

This was my friend, Jennifer's table.  She had a TON of awesome things!

And this was one of my very special surprise visitors!  This is Miss Emma!  Emma is the daughter of a teacher at Jameson's school, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor during the summer.  Emma was celebrating Saturday because she just finished her 30th (and LAST) day of radiation on Friday!  It really made my day to see her out and about!

Even though I was dreading this Saturday, it turned out to be one of the best Saturday's yet!  I'm not sure if I will do other craft shows in the future, but if I do, it's going to be hard to top this one!  Crafty Christmas set the bar high for any future shows!

-------------------------------------------

Don't forget:  You still have until Tuesday night to enter The Outlet Shops of Grand River $50 gift card giveaway!

------------------------------------------

I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Too many irons in the fire!

Why can't I say no?

I think it's inherited.  My mother is the exact same way.  A couple of years ago, my sister even bought her a shirt that said "Stop me before I volunteer again!".

From CafePress.com

The next few weeks are going to be crazy for me.  

I'm helping with a few things for the school's Fall Festival.  Nothing huge, but helping with signs, awards, games, etc.  I definitely don't mind helping, especially since there seems to be only a handful of people (other than school staff) who have lifted a finger to help.  I really hope, for the kids, the festival is a HUGE success!  Oh, and if you are from the Munford area, ANYTHING you can do to help will be GREATLY appreciated!

Then, the weekend after the festival, I am helping with Mallory's First Birthday Party AND my nephew, Matthew's & his wife Misty's, Baby Shower.  They are both on the same day, and the exact same time, so it's really going to be an insane 24 hours!  LOL  Also, a very special niece of mine, Shelby, will be turning 20!

This weekend, I have been working on Shower and Birthday stuff.  There is so much I want/need to do for both events, I just can't seem to finish one project before moving on to the next. 

Here is the almost-finished banner I made for the shower:

 

I still have to string it together and add ribbon, but the hard part is done.  I don't know if you can tell, but the black letters are actually cut from glitter paper.  The letters look so cool in person.

The shower colors are black, white, and blue.  I think it's going to be really cute when everything is decorated!  I hope Misty and Matthew like it!

I've also been working on something really funny and cute for Mallory's birthday party.  We got this idea from Pinterest (of course).

From Here

When we saw this, we knew it would be perfect for Mallory's party!  I've had the best time working on these.  Seeing Mallory's precious face has had my laughing my head off!  Here is what I've done so far:

Nothing is attached so far, and I still have to add the trim, but aren't these hysterical?  I cannot wait to get these finished and hung up!

Right between the Fall Festival and the Birthday/Shower, is Halloween.  Some time during the Summer, I found these on Pinterest and just knew I had to make them:

 From Here

I loved these SO much, I ordered the test tubes and corks as soon as I found them.  They have been sitting in a box, on my dining room table, since JUNE!  I also stalked Ebay for the exact stamps used, which (of course) have been discontinued from Stampin' Up!  I found them, and got into a bidding war with someone, and probably ended up paying three times what they cost brand new.   BUT, I will make these to give to all the kid's classmates, my co-workers, and my Sunday School kids.  I've already made the tags and bought the Skittles and ribbon, I just have to put everything together....you know, in all my spare time.  HAHA!

And since I have two kids who LOVE Halloween, I'm sure there will be several hours (and probably a few days) worth of Trick-or-Treating.  I miss the good old days when we would load up in a back of a truck, go to the middle of town, and everybody piles out and walks the entire town.  We always had the best time!  Not only did we usually end up with a pillowcase full of candy, but we also got to hang out with all our friends, and visit with all of our neighbors.  That was the life, wasn't it?

These days, we get the kids in the car, drive miles and miles, stop at one relatives house, get back in the car, drive miles and miles again, go to another relatives house....and continue until we run out of gas, or until the adults get grumpy the kids get sleepy.  The kids seem to enjoy it, but they don't know any different.

I also promised I would make some scrapbook paper Christmas ornaments to use for the Halloween Festival's silent auction. 

(Sorry it's sideways...lol)

I haven't been able to do those yet because I am waiting on some "official" Alabama and Auburn scrapbook paper.  I don't want to break any copyright laws, so I ordered the real thing.  However, all my my Auburn papers are backordered and I don't know if they will be here before the festival.

I know everything will eventually get finished (it always does), but I'm sure there will be a lot of sleepless nights between now and then.  

I feel like I've got too many irons in the fire, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

I hope you all have a wonderful and fantastic week!

My ribbons are organized!

Several months ago, I was desperate to find some way to store my ribbon.  I had a small plastic container that was just overflowing with spools and spools.  Every time I would dig through the container, half the spools would fall out, and the other half would unwind.  After a few attempts to find something, the container was a complete mess. I could never find what I was looking for.  I knew there had to be a better way to store them.

A Google search showed several different options, but none were right for my particular situation.  

This is a great, inexpensive solution, but I have WAAAY too many spools of ribbon for this to be practical.

This is a neat solution, but my spools are often several yards long, so they would be dragging the ground, plus, I really don't want to risk creasing the ribbon.

Again, great idea, but I don't want to have crease marks in the ribbon.

 

I love this idea, but I don't have anywhere to put something like this.

I actually tried this, and every single stinkin' spool of ribbon unrolled and puddled in the floor within a 10 second period.  NOT FOR ME!

 

After hours of searching, I came across this picture (I am so sorry that I cannot find the source...if it is yours, PLEASE let me know!)  This is perfect!  It holds a TON of ribbon, and is short enough to slide under the bed!

So, I went and bought the stuff, and hubby put it together for me.  I managed to get most of my spooled ribbon in it, and have just a small, manageable amount in another box.  You have no idea how happy this little contraption has made me!

You may notice I have a "thing" for red and green ribbon.  Well, most of it will be used for Christmas decorations that I am giving as gifts and selling.  But, some of the identical ribbon is because my old ribbon storage was so bad, I had no clue what I already had.  I hope all my friends/coworkers like red and green!

Yes, some of the rods are a little crooked, but it still works fantastically!

And speaking of Christmas ornaments, I've actually just finished my first official paying order.  I hate charging anyone for them, but since these are for people I don't personally know, I did.  It feels really weird getting paid for something I made.

About half-way through putting everything together, I realized I was short some colors I needed, so hubby decided to try his hand at cutting and rolling the papers.  He did a great job and it helped me tremendously!

I managed to get 10 completed tonight, but I have about 45 left to do over the next couple of weeks. (And TARA, I haven't forgot about you...tell hubby I will get his mailed out this week!  So sorry it has taken me so long!)

My fingers are going to be sooooo tired!

Christmas Ornament How-To

Since my last post was so long, I thought I would do a "How-to" in a separate post.

This Christmas ornaments are so cute and so easy....it just takes a little time to do a large number of them.

I will definitely be making them again....if not for everyone else, for my own tree! I have been so busy making for everyone else, I only have one on my tree...lol!

I bought this book of scrapbook paper last year after Christmas at 60% off. The paper in here is cardstock and even has glitter on a lot of the pages. This is by far my favorite papers I had. Regular scrapbook paper is easier to curl, but the cardstock holds it shape better. I used a combination of both in all my balls.

Here is just some regular scrapbook paper I bought.

Cut each sheet of paper in thin strips. They all don't have to be the same size, but you don't want them too large, or they will be too big to go in the balls.

This is a quilling tool. It has a tiny little slot in the top. You slide your strip of paper in this slot to help hold it secure while you tightly twirl the paper. I found this one at Hobby Lobby in the Scrapbook section. I looked in Micheal's, but they didn't have any tools. You don't have to have a quilling tool to do this....it looks just as good if you do it by hand. I already had a tool, and I needed to make a HUGE amount, so if was almost a necessity I use one.

It was only $3.99 before I used my 40% off Hobby Lobby coupon, so splurge on one...your fingers will thank you!

Slide the paper in the slot.

Don't 'cha just love my beautifully manicured hands?

Don't answer that....

Start tightly wrapping the paper round-and-round.

When you are finished, remove the quilling tool, and this is what the paper will look like.

Once you release the paper, it will spring open like this.

Make lots and lots of curls...

Next, take your glass balls and start stuffing!

You have to twist them back up pretty tightly to get them to fit inside the balls, but once they fall in, they open back up.

Use a variety of colors and patterns if you have them. That's one reason I LOVED using that book of scrapbook papers. They all are different, but have the same color palate in all the papers.

Get the ball really full, and put the top back on.

I used these sticker monograms. They did pucker some on the round balls, but they worked OK.

Now drag out your bag of ribbon and try to find something in there that matches all of your papers.

This one is cute, but it needs more.

THAT'S more like it!

Now it's ready to hang on the tree or to give as a gift.

I hope you enjoyed this little craft project!

I also wanted to wish everyone a great Christmas week!