Cute Home Made Glass Vase

Have you ever craved something weird? like say....a color?? yes you read that right, a color. Yellow to be exact. I think the heat got to my head because today all I wanted to eat was something "Yellow". I know, it sounds a little off but, "the more yellow the better!", I explained to my confused and worried husband. And I'm not anywhere near pregnant (I know that's what you were thinking!!!! don't pretend like you weren't ; ). I have yet to find something yellow to eat today. On the otherhand, it could be a good diet. When my body automatically gets up in the middle of the night, like a robot.....and goes directly to the fridge, I'm going to tell myself, "I want to eat something polka-dotted!". I'll let you know if it works!


My craft for today is a project where you can use those cute glass bottles you get when you buy specialty drinks like the small green Perrier bottles.


Here's what it will look like when finished:

Here's what you'll need: glass bottles, acrylic paint, painter's tape (different widths), a paper punch(I used a flower)

Removable Adhesive (can find at Michael's or office supply store)

Hole punch or you can freehand a design with a pair of scissors and a large width painter's tape

First, take your paper punch and punch out your decorations, I chose a flower. Use your Removable Adhesive and apply it to your decoration. Apply this to a clean and dry glass bottle. Use Painter's tape to block off areas you don't want to color.

Next, paint on the acrylic paint with a brush

When the paint is dry, carefully remove the paper decoration and the Painter's Tape.


Next, take your wide strip of Painter's Tape and tape it to your clothing and remove, do this several times. This will make it less sticky so you can insert it in your paper punch easily and it will not stick to it. Punch out holes with your paper punch and apply it to the bottle.

Apply paint inside the holes:

Let dry and peel off the tape, place some pretty silk flowers and wah-lah! a pretty little vase you made yourself!

This post is dedicated to Pink Saturday Miracle Makeover.
Beverly at How Sweet The Sound is hosting Pink Saturday Miracle Makeover Party
By posting a comment on the websites mentioned below, Design Gives Back will donate $1 for each comment posted. The donated money will go towards a room makeover for someone in need.


KATILLAC SHACK


FACEBOOK GUIDEPOSTS


Collete Gauthier was the first recipient for Miracle Makeovers. Check out her story and makeover at Katillac Shack. You can also read more about it in the September issue of Guidepost Magazine.


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Joining these fun linky parties:

How To Decoupage A Cigar Box

Today I'm joining Beverly of How Sweet The Sound for her Pink Saturday linky party and Melissa of Those Northern Skies, thank you ladies for hosting such fun linkies.

For today's craft, I'm going to make this cute little box.

Here's what you'll need: a cigar box, some pretty scrapbook paper

 My favorite magical medium: Mod Podge

A paper cutter, scissors, acrylic paint, large brush and detailing brush:

 First, paint your box edges, the areas that you will not decoupage (decoupage means to glue paper to a surface).   I painted around the hardward so that It can match the paper when I position it there.

Next, after it dries, trim your paper to size, use a paper trimmer or a pair of scissors will do

Next, with a sponge brush, apply the Mod Podge to the surface of the box, one side at a time

then, position the paper on top

gently, with your fingers or a brayer, press paper down gently to ensure that there are no air bubbles

If you damage the paper, like I did here, see the white spot? the paper rubbed off

Don't panic! it's fixable.  Just cut a piece off a spare sheet and using Mod Podge, glue it on top

and like nothing happened, see:

Next, brush the entire box with Mod Podge, it will look white but don't worry, it will dry clear.  This Mod Podge layer will seal and protect your box

Set it on top of something to dry:

Once dry, you can embellish it with something that matches....or not...totally up to you.  I place a flower on top with matching paper.  Decorate the inside as well with matching paper.

What will I use this pretty box for???

my Sharpies, of course!

Today I'd like to spotlight April at The Abramyan Family.  She has a fun and creative blog with tons of ideas.   She is also a participant of Pink Saturday and wait 'till you see what she posted today.....




Now, take a few minutes and visit these linkies.   You'll find other fun and interesting things.

A Table For Four

A very special occasion for four. Just because we LOVE August

And this beautiful vintage Pyrex a neighbor gifted to me when she moved out of state:

seating place cards made from a greeting card that I received from Samantha at Mommy's Timeout 


I made four copies of the front of the card and folded them in half and added the name of the guest



Beautiful napkins and rings I won from Bill at Affordable Accoutrements.



And these cute wine glass rings my beautiful niece, Christina, made for me



Thanks for stopping by,



Today I'm joining Susan of Between Naps On The Porch:

How Do You Say Thank You?

Cindy at Whimsical Musings has made something special for me!  yes, for me! and just for being me!

You can read all about it here

It is so kind of her to make this special gift just for me.

I have received such nice things from fellow bloggers, like Bill at Affordable Accoutrements who sent me these pretty table napkins and napkin rings from April Cornell, have you seen her collections? they are Beautiful! she has the most amazing collection of table linens.

 And Samantha from Mommy's Timeout who sent me this pretty card.  She made my day when I received this in the mail the other day:

I liked it so much that I made copies of the front and turned them into seating name tags, they go perfectly with my napkins:

Saying thank you is just not enough to express how I feel.  I feel like the only way I can really say thank you is by doing the same for someone else.  Actions speak louder than words sometimes, and this would be one of those times.

I decided to do the same as Cindy did, by giving something away to my readers, as a way of showing my gratitude for her thoughtfulness.  Since I could not make 84 gifts, it would be insane for me to try, I decided to put all 84 of you in a paper bag and have my seven year old pull out a name.

As he pulled out a name, his "Ta-da" gave way to a big applause from my little family.......

Congratulations Sandie, of Chatty Crone.....YOU WON!!!

Please email me your address so I can send you your special gift.  

Brown Bag Album

First a little Thank You

I first started blogging to share my crafts with my friends and family and was not really thinking beyond that. Little did I know that there was a whole world waiting for me called Blogland and that there'd be so many people interested in what I made and the stories I tell.

Fellow crafters who take the time to write me comments to encourage me.   Little did I know that I would develop friendships with incredible people whom I may not have ever gotten to know otherwise.  I have been told that I'm like part of the family, I have been told that they see me as a neighbor, and many refer to me as a blog friend.  I feel like I came to Blogland with little to offer but in return have received so much from all of you.  

There are many blogs in Blogland that have captured my interest and from time to time I mention them on my posts. Some for their creativity and others for their inspiration. It is quite surprising to me when my own blog gets mentioned by a fellow blogger.  It's the most amazing feeling when someone takes time off their day to mention me. I am truly thankful to all of you who have left me messages and to those of you who have posted about my blog. I want to share a more recent post that Sonia Barton of Modista Modesta shared on her blog.

You can read it here

Now on to my Brown Bag Album:
before I get into the pictures, I want to apologize.......once again.  My rinky dink camera broke in the middle of my project and had to use my seven year old's, Toys R Us camera!!! don't laugh, he thinks his camera is better than mommy's.

 You would never think this photo album was made using brown lunch bags!
And I am not that creative to have thought of this on my own.  I was actually surfing Ebay and came accross a vendor who sold paper lunch bags "ironed" by the dozen!!! I said, whaaat?!!! Yes, curiosity got the best of me.  Why would anyone on earth want to buy ironed pressed lunch paper bags? I guess it would be the same people who would iron their under clothes, pajamas, socks and towels right?

 Well, after a little research  I found that some crafters are making albums out of these lunch bags, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Here's what you'll need:
lunch paper bags

also, double sided tape, ribbon

and a crop a dile or any tool for an eyelette setter

 A few eyelettes

And lastly, some scrapbook paper

First, you'll need to fold your first bag which will act as your front page and also last page of your album. This bag will end up being a different size than the rest as I will explain later.
Fold like this:

 keep going

 To look like this:

I will write on it FRONT and LAST PAGE as a guide for viewing but you don't have to.  The area that says FRONT, is the area where my fingers are placed on the picture above.  The black line indicates where you will sew....yes, there's some sewing involved but not too much. 

At this point, you'll want to create the hidden pockets in your album.  This is where you'll need an eyelette setter.  Take your bag and lay it down bottom side up like this:

 next, use a whole punch to punch out the whole where the eyelette will go.  You'll need to go through the first two layers:

 Then set your eyelette

 When you're done, it will look like this picture below, see the hidden pocket?

Next, You'll want to gather all your bags layer them facing opposite direction for interest.  Notice that the one you place in the very back will be both your front page and your last page:

Fold them in half.  This is the area you will sew, where they all fold in half.  But, once again, remember, your last bag will not be equal length as the rest.  You'll need to glue it to the one before it when you're done and cover with scrapbook paper. 

Also, notice how the last bag will be a little shorter than the rest, it's okay, you can just glue it to the back of the previous bag.

Sew down the center, make sure you sew along the half way area of the bags (remember, your last bag is not the same size as the rest because of that fold we did earlier).

Sew the bags together and then iron them so they lay nice and flat.

Next, decorate your bags using scrapbook paper, here's how the front of the book looks.  Notice how the back page is concealed by the front page:

 

 

you can add your pictures to all these pages with double sided tape

 

some cute pockets for love notes.

And don't forget the bags for mementos

I'd like to spotlight a blog I stumbled upon sometime last week.  Susan is the creative author of My Place To Yours  .  Her pictures say a thousand words and they will captivate you from the moment you arrive.  Visit Susan so you can see for yourself what a fun, creative and inspiring blog she has.  



I'm sharing this in the following linky parties: