The dishes make me drool (not the food!)

There are several items at Rosanna's that I absolutely love. These plates are on preorder for next year and luck for my pocket book too because I so would have purchased them if they had been available. I just love the unique mix of images and patterns. Check out this site for lovely dishware and other lovely gifts!

I wish my pocketbook was deeper

Colorful, whimsy, aborable. These are Charm & Grace made by Nicole Bowen. You can find these and other wonderful finds at earth angels. Having started this blog I really have loved sharing other people's artwork, searching endlessly. I have never seen these things before and so maybe posting here I'm sharing something with you that you'll love as well. Honestly in the last few days being bored at home I have explored so many talents! Well Nicole you've impressed me.

Whimsical Dog fun

This is from dogblogtv, these are soooo cute! if you need a smile on your face today check them out!

Sweet

If I can think of one world to describe this artist I would say "sweet". This is some of the items from Jennifer Murphy inspired by vintage animals. They are new but look like they have had many years of love. Here is the link to Martha Stewart website where you can watch Jennifer make pom pom bunnies and get the instructions. One can also alter the pattern or instructions for making mice, chicks, and other charming lovelies. These are adorable and I hope to have some made for myself. FLICKR has a number of artists who have made their own. Please check out Jennifer's website called bears and other silly things. I just found her stuff while searching Bayberry Cove**. I bought a few of her licensed designs that I'm waiting eagerly for :) !! She seems like an adorable person.
P.S. I thought I would pass on that I recently found Bayberry Cove. If you like Bethany Lowe's artist group or looking for a wonderful gift for yourself or heck even someone else ;) then check out their large seelection of lovelies.

Tim Holtz

I've found several blogs over the break so far but wanted to put one up. After the holiday I'll be on overload with these things. Tim Holtz Christmas tags. These are amazing and include some directions so I thought even if you aren't making Christmas tags made you can think about the techniques. I personally don't do scrapbooking or a lot of these paper projects just because of the cost of these projects and I'm not sure how you start simple on these projects. But I drooled over these and maybe its time to begin :).... So anywho, check him out they are fantastic.

Merry Christmas to all and to all....

Hello, Thanks for everyone who has dropped by my blog. I love hearing feedback and reading comments! Also, my crafts and finds have been posted because I am a DIYer at heart, with a love for beautiful things and just want to share with and inspire others who hold these same things dear :) (and as always, Give some love to those who have intigued myself).

If anyone has been entertained and has some other sites or would like to show off their own projects by all means let me know!

With this, I am off till the new year. I am home with the family and waiting for Santa! Hope everyone stays warm and has a great Christmas !

Yummy

So the entries are in. The first house is my boyfriend's. I'll add that he stole my idea about the wreath and the marshmallow men are mine too. He said he bought them, but I guess he forgot who bought the actual house kits. His entrance is very good though and he came around in the last leg of the competition.
The second is my house with the gumball snowmen guarding the house from evil children with sugar teeth. Fun little project. I would recommend either kit. The icing in the Wilton's kit was much thicker and needed to have more water added than the recipe called for. Also one kit came with a star tip and the other with a round which had benefits and disadvantages. The Wilton's it also had less even edges making it difficult to construct and was thicker gingerbread. Food network just had the gingerbread competition on and well :-p.....

Where is Hansel and Gretel ?

This is the week before I head home. I'm baking some Christmas goodies for holiday gifts. That I will let you know about later. But involved in these treats I decided to make some gingerbread houses. I've never made a gingerbread house that I can remember. I was a big sister in the big sister program and this was one of the events me and my little sister attended, but I can't say that was the same. Now I have to say that I didn't do any baking for this but rather bought a kit. I bought two kits and wanted to share what was out there. Green sticked version: From Cobblestone kitchen (large version) purchased at TJ MAXX for 12.99. This kit is unique from the other one because the gingerbread has patterns to resemble bricks and shingles. I also got four large white gumballs that are suppose to be made into snowmen ( I need some gummi worms for a scarf). I also got chiklets gum, sprinkles, and small gumballs. Second version: The other set is from Micheal's onsale for 8.99. I got gum rings and another set of gumdrops that aren't in the other set. Both sets include the icing, an icing bag w/tip, directions, and the bakes gingerbread. We will see what the outcome of each house is later in the week but I imagine that I'll mix and match from both sets. I think these sets are great and I might go buy the other gingerbread set to take home or maybe save for next year. I'm Very excited!

Chenille sticks

So Martha stewart said you can get chenille sticks (aka pipe cleaners) in terry cloth. Anyone know where?

Christmas leftovers and Christmas Alley

So a few nights ago I saw these reindeer ornaments on Martha Stewart .com and decided they were cute enough to make a whirl at. She actually has santa clause and snowmen too but went to Walmart to find some buttons and they had an assorted pack of brown for $1.50 which one can't beat that price on buttons. So that is why I just did the reindeer. These are INCREDIBLY easy to make so I might try the other characters. You can find the directions on her page but its pretty self explanatory. I think they are in the kids craft ideas and would definitely concur. No hot glue, minimal scissor. EASY EASY EASY ! The next is a project I threw together with some leftovers I had--a santa garland. I ordered the clip art from ArtChix and thought I'd use it on my advent calendar and they were just too large for that. (Advice: when you order stuff online to save on shipping order extra or order for future projects or to inspire future projects). Then I had all these pipe cleaners and so I strung them together with hot glue. Another easy project. (opinion: Craft projects add up quickly in cost. However, rarely will one project use up all the material you bought and thus the leftovers can be used for future projects.

Klimt, The Weepies, Stars

Oh Chritsmas Tree

So I showed you my tree and I thought Id share a link to some different takes on the traditional christmas tree, there's more click away. (link)

Oh so Pretty

So it is a lazy Sunday and thought I'd check out whats out there in the WORLD WIDE WEB. So I came across Teresa McFayden's My Minutia blog. I have here a few samples of her work just in case one does not believe it is worth the click to view her fabulousness. Her Blog is sensory overload with lovelies and I'll have to rampage into it over the next week or so. I'll also link to her paper bella page. Talent envy here.

Wikihow!!!

What is this ! I love Wikipedia, the idea of a culture group creating and writing history. Now WikiHow!

wikiHow is a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. With your edits, we can create a free resource that helps millions of people by offering solutions to the problems of everyday life. wikiHow currently contains 27,657 articles written, edited, and maintained primarily by volunteers. Please join us by writing on a topic not yet covered, or editing a page that someone else has started.

How creative. Some ideas I saw are a miniskirt made out of duck tape and dealing with bad kissers. I found the site looking at this though:


Cute winter snowflake . Instructions anyone?

Blueprint

Here's the item I wanted to blog about from the Blueprint magazine. These are just regular candles coated in MS glitter. The only concerns I had about these is A) that glitter is expensive so how much would you need? and B) is this a fire hazard? What happens to the glitter when the candle starts burning?.. I would recommend using a candle with a similar color to the glitter and only coat the sides with glitter. P.S. check out Blueprint. I'm not sure the concept but its a MS magazine and appears to be geared towards a younger audience. Though this is speculation. Magazine subscription was $9.00 on one of the fliers and I was hooked!

Last of the O Winter ideas

I would honestly have this deer in my room all year! I think it is that cute. I'm sure this is something one either thinks its TACKY or adorable. The deer is actually a gun target for hunters that has been painted this whimsical ice blue. I dont have the the starch white walls and staircase or the chandelier with match ornaments to pull this look off but OH WHAT FUN! On the mantel I wanted to point out the garland its made with silver baker's cups, beads, silver construction paper, etc. There aren't any instructions so how you would go about making this I do not know but very neat.

O magazine

O magazine had some great ideas for christmas decor. I think they went a little unrealistic but gorgeous never the less. There were several ideas that they gave a basic idea of how to accomplish but it was really a tease for the most part. Anyhow, the tree the left is put on a board cover in pink silk duponi (You won't find this at Wal-mart!). Christmas cards are added in the shape of a tree (they must have a lot of friends at O who give really elegant Christmas cards). Finally the tree is embellished with garland from jamali garden and ornaments. The idea that I really liked on the mantel was candlesticks. They used Umbre picture wire clips and stuck them a candle holder and added Christmas cards and ornaments! Adorable!

TREE ORNAMENTS

I actually bought the Martha Magazine for the beaded ornament instructions. I think they are striking. I have heard some discussion boards talking about how they are too simple but I've never beaded and would think a tree in these would be beautiful. Try here for some other ideas in beads from Martha Stewart. The only problem is that some of the beads are from KD vintage. You can't buy these off her website so they may be difficult to find and probably very expensive. This is why I probably wont be doing this craft this year.

Last the icicles in the trees are very whimsical. The instructions are in the magazine. They basically are just pieces of wood wrapped with Christmas lights. I would imagine they would add to any outdoor party.

I don't know who really decorates their gifts like this. Unless a store does it I have never seen anyone actually give or receive such a present. I think it is knowing that in 2 days all of it will be ripped to shreds and in the garbage. But these instructions seem really simple. You just cut felt pieces in the template they provide and then thread the ribbon into the jingle bell and tie the felt holly leaf to the bell and WAH LAH! I really do like Martha's magazine for their great ideas, simple instructions, and templates. There have been times reading the website for instructions that I could have used one or two more pictures but overall I've been pleased.

Magazine finds

So the next couple of posts will be related to some ideas that were in the winter edition of Martha and O. I had wished to include some ideas from Blueprint but I can't find my copy. I would suggest that if anyone is interested in these magazines they usually have some Holiday subscription specials in their magazine for Christmas. You should be able to click the pictures and be able to read the instructions. If not, they are probably online or you can leave me a message and I'll get you the instructions. The doily snowflakes would be cute around door frames and these ribbon garland would be great around the mantel. I like the unexpectedness of these two ideas.

Advent Calendar

So this is what is to be my last Christmas craft for the year, an Advent Calendar. There is no chocolate in this one. Rather in each of the box have mini christmas/nativity ornaments I picked up at Micheal's. The inspiration and the lovely Christmas angels and girls came from ArtChix. They are decorated with tinsel/Christmas berries/artificial evergreen/ and mini star garland. The instructions for how given by Art Chix are here. I actually covered all the match boxes with Christmas paper I got from Archivers . They are attached to thick Rick Rack with star nail heads that can be found in the Jewelry section at Micheal's. I had first intended to sew on buttons and stars but the thought of sewing 25 buttons by hand was less than appealing. I imagine all treasure this for many years.

Carpet / Candle Wax tip

The power went out last night so I rushed to gather every candle in the house. This is but a small fraction of the candles we had lit last night. The problem was that I may have had too many on a plate and by the time the lights were back on wax had dripped onto the carpet :-O! Just wanted to spread a tip that worked for me. Scrap off as much off the carpet as you can. Once this is done place a brown paper bag over the spill and then gently iron the spot. You will see the wax begin absorbing into the bag within a minute. Continue until all the wax is absorbed.

Charming Cody Foster

This year I fell in love with these Cody Foster winter villages. Apparently his company really became popular in 2003 when his houses were featured in the Mary Englebreit magazine. I haven't been in the complete woods about this guy though, because I have known about his stuff just didn't know he was the artist I bought these in bulk ! from ken at KNOTTY WOODS. I would definitely direct one to his site, or e-mail him if you're looking for a specific Cody Foster product. I feel like I've been manic in my e-mails to him and he has been nothing but professional and friendly. So these 3 are above my bookshelf. This is not my ideal place but I put the cart before the horse on this one and ordered these without thinking about where they would all go. They are sitting on cotton (aka snow, but if you buy it as cotton it will be cheaper). Over the snow is dried gold netting that I got at Micheal's and hanging from the ceiling is blue beaded garland also from Micheal's.
This is my Renaissance Church that sits on a small table under my window. Outside the church is an adorable little angel and I think this is one of my favorites. The Madonna and child is from Shari's Angels and is a Joseph's Studio figure. I first saw it at Moxie and thought it was so detailed and striking. The Trees are glass from Moxie and the figure is also available at Moxie. This is the last of the Chirstmas houses and I really don't know where to put this one. It turned out to be the most fragile during shipping but all the houses are really very charming. I have only ever seen one of the Cody Foster houses in a store and it was actually after I purchased all these. I am more than happy with them and until you see them in person you probably won't believe how lovely they are.

DIY Beautiful star

Here is a water color star that you do yourself. The website, Jasco, has templates and instructions. I've always thought these paper stars were gorgeous. I don't think I'll make one this year however, because I have one more large craft project and my cody foster houses arrived today. My apartment isn't big enough for all the Christmas decorations I have. I'm a knick Knack collector I was not prepared for all the fun stuff I've gotten this year. Well, the stars would be beautiful any time of the year and would make a great handmade gift. Just wanted to let you know where to find them.

Kits

Cute huh? I found this on Holly Doodle design website/blog. I think her site is especially cool because she isn't selling this item but rather the kit for you to put together yourself. I haven't seen a kit like this anywhere else (but I haven't looked). I only came across this in my incessant search for things Cody Foster. But check out her site for other lovelies.

Trees

Here's my tree with some tinsel and then my three retro tree that I have above the fridge keeping themselves cold. I went crazy on Christmas this year. I have one more craft and a few more finds to show you later. I just needed a break from life and need to find some life in crafts. I also have this desire for the warmth of Christmas: Family and Christmas spirit. Life gets lonely.

CrackerJax

I got these two lovelies at a local CrackerJax store in Dekalb. When I moved to the corn fields to get me an education I was impressed to find these charming stores in the middle of it all. CrackerJax and Moxie are really great stores. ( The retro trees I have are from Moxie and I also ordered a Madonna that I saw at Moxie during their Winter Open house.) I have another house that matches the Church. I thought they looked like the Cody Foster houses so I got a few. I have some Cody Foster winter wonderlands ordered but they probably wont be in this week. Maybe the UPS man will bring me lots of Christmas cheer this week. Ill keep you updated. Anyone know a good deal on Mica Flakes and German tinsel?

Nativity HOMEGOOD FIND!!

One of my other Homegood finds. Did I say I loved Homegoods? The set is actually is a Dept 56. It had some lame greenery and some silly basket. So I took those off put on some angel hair I got from Walmart (looks something like hay) and then I added the star that I got at Target. Looks a lot better! I had been looking for a nativity set and couldn't be happier with this one.