Teacups and Teapots Made of Paper

As seen in my Dream Tea Party, 

and White Elephant Gift Basket Exchange

we handcrafted teacups as one of our activities after lunch.

Cuz what's a party if you don't craft something??

I also included a handcrafted teacup and teapot as part of my gift basket.

Each of my 9 party guests and I chose a separate theme to create a beautiful basket full of goodies that we'd exchange in a white-elephant-rules type of game.  

I chose Tea Party, cuz hey, I was already totally in that mode.

I filled this basket with so many delightful goodies,

the teapot and teacup,

as well as several other paper handcrafted tea-themed items.

(I made an extra set for myself to keep cuz I loved them so much!)

Tea Party White Elephant Gift Basket Exchange

This is all about the delightfully fun and beautiful

 gift baskets that my guests and I created

for my dream Tea Party.

I think this is what first got us all so excited 

and so into the spirit of it.

Way ahead of time, each of us chose a separate theme to 

create a beautiful basket full of goodies that we'd exchange 

in a white-elephant-rules type of game.  

I chose Tea Party, cuz hey, I was already totally in that mode.

I filled my basket with lots of  'British' goodies!

The first rule was to keep it around $30, so I didn't want to spend much on a container.

I found this perfect hat box at Goodwill for only a few dollars!

Cake Plates Made From a Chandelier and a Lamp

Chandy Multi-level Cake Plate

Lamp Cake Plate

Winter Wonderland Tree Centerpieces - Coffee Filter, Burlap, and Linen

In my last post I showed you our Polar Express ward party.

These are the centerpieces that we used to decorate our dinner tables.

I've had so many questions about the tree centerpieces,

so here's the how-to's on making your own

VERY SIMPLE and inexpensive trees!

We had tried other kinds of trees too, 

but nothing seemed to work out for us except these three.

Once we were done, WE LOVED THEM!

Our three kinds of trees were

LINEN, COFFEE FILTERS, AND BURLAP

Polar Express Ward Christmas Party

It's almost Christmastime again 

Ahhhh, that most wonderful time of the year.

Party In A Jar - A Fun Project Book For Everyone!

We've had a blast celebrating the release of my friend Vanessa's new book......

I have two words:

MASON

JARS

I adooooore me some jars!!!

It's all in the packaging, baby, 

and this book is full of fun projects 

IN the jars and 

special packaging on the OUTSIDE of jars!

Bottle Cap Necklaces - Come Unto Christ

Come Unto Christ is the 2014 Young Women's Theme 

for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

I haven't been in Young Women's for almost a year, however, I seem to be asked to sub in Relief Society a lot lately, and this theme went along perfectly with my Relief Society lesson on the Savior this month.  

I made this exact same kind of necklace a couple of years ago for girls camp when we had the owl theme.  The girls loved the necklaces and they are so fun to make!

I posted a picture on Instagram and Facebook recently that I had been making jewelry.

Since then I've gotten lots of questions on how I made these, where I got all the supplies, etc.

So here we are.

SUPPLIES:

As far as supplies go, it kind of depends on how many you plan to make 

as to where you should buy them.

If you're just making a few, buy in small quantities at the craft store.  

I saw these exact same bottle caps at Hobby Lobby in a 6-pack for about $4.99.

If you're making lots of them, then for sure buy online in bulk.

The basic must-haves:

Bottle caps (with the flat 1" surface in the center)

Get them with the hole already punched in them and the split rings already attached!!!

Epoxy dome stickers (mine came with my bottle caps)

Aluminum 18" (or longer!) ball chain necklaces

1" Round printable printed on regular paper

Modge Podge

Small paint brush

The fun extras:

Jewelry pins to string beads on

Beads

Special little jewelry ziplock bags to put them in

I got my bottle caps, dome stickers, ball chains and bags on eBay for cheap in bulks of 100!

My Come Unto Christ PRINTABLES I got on Etsy.  

I searched and searched printables.  This is my absolute favorite!

You can literally find any printable on Etsy.

The rest I got at Hobby Lobby.

I just used beads I had leftover from previous projects.

It's always nice to use up some of your stash!

First, print out your printable and cut out with your 1" punch.

Have everything laid out and ready to go before you start gluing.

Modge Podge dries fast!

'Paint' just the flat surface with Modge Podge.

She SPARKS!

If you know me at all you know that I basically worship the crafting skills of two women.

Rachele Funk, who's a great friend of mine, lives nearby, and I'm lucky enough to get to do stuff with her all the time.

and...

Margie Romney-Aslett.

I barely met her in person once back in the spring at the SNAP Handmade Market.

Margie, {me}, Becki of WhippyCake and Jamie...all amazing women!

I've been following Margie on Instagram (justagirl) for a couple of years now.

She creates her own paper lines.

She does the funnest, most creative SPARK classes online.

Plus she does a million other things.

Her constant flow of creativity blows my doors!

So when I heard that she was coming to Arizona and doing a couple of classes at Scrapbooks, Etc in Mesa, I SIGNED UP IMMEDIATELY.  

Do I dare even admit that I didn't even care what she was teaching?

Seriously.

There were no pictures posted yet of what we'd be making.

I didn't care.

Margie was going to be there......

that's all that mattered.

Yep, I'm a stalker.

By the way, all you 'friends' who never told me before about Scrapbooks, Etc are FIRED!

Especially any of you west-siders, cuz I'll just assume that all you east-siders take it for granted.

Anyway, not only are the projects S.U.P.E.R. C.U.T.E.-E.R.-I.F.F.I.C.,

but Margie is even way more fun in person!

LOVE HER!!!

LOVE her creative genius!

Oh, right, so you wanna see the projects?

Wrap your head around this, folks....

I used a sewing machine.

I know.

I sent this pic to my daughter Shelby and friend Kathy cuz they ARE sewers and I just wanted to blow them away.

This may be the first time I've photographed me sewing,

however, I'm not actually IN the photo

so I guess it can't technically be used as proof.

But just know, it was ME using that there machine!

Look what I made!

Halloween / Autumn: My favorite time to decorate!

Last year it was all about Black and White Halloween.

This year, it's all about the COLORS OF AUTUMN!

Funny how we're so fickle, huh?!

I am loving the Autumnlicious color of my mantel!

Get an eyefull of these owls!  

I recently made these in Margie Romney-Aslett's class 

(which I'll tell you about later.....it was a bucket list experience for me!)

I recently made the SPOOKY banner at Crop-A-Roo!  I love the fun it adds!

You can order the elements for it from Stampin Up!

And if you like the bunting below it, my neighbor makes these and you can get yours HERE.

She's an amazing sewer and makes all kinds of adorable stuff!

Card Swaps til the cows come home!

 Like I said before, I've had so many card swaps or card making lately, I thought it best to just create a whole new post dedicated just to cards!  :)

This first set is what I swapped with the gals at the Crop-a-Roo.

They are all very cute, and I thought it was interesting that they are all pretty much subtle.

Can you see what I mean?

Anyway, I love em!

Thanks Crop-A-Roo pals!

Love the sweet banner!

 This Christmas one made by Rachele!

Here is the card I made for the ladies.....18 of em!

Crop-A-Roo Hoo to you too!

Holy cases of TAPE-RUNNERS, Batman!!!

I recently signed up for several crafting events and they all pretty much fell within a week of each other!  Yikes!

First off, I had signed up for a Meetup group card-swap.....that, plus two other handmade card swaps or makes, I may as well just show them to you in a separate post because there are so many!

They are so cute, you won't believe it!

Secondly, my friend Rachele invited me to Crop-A-Roo, and it sounded too great to pass up!

It was SOOOOO FUN!!! 

We spent three days at a hotel just crafting ourselves into oblivion!

I had been out of town when the individual class signups became available, so I asked Rachele to just sign me up for whatever she had already signed up for.  

Um yeah, she signed us up for almost everything!  lol

(I'm glad she did!)

dotcha just love a blurry picture?

Seriously love my crafting friends!

A Sparkly and Fun Easter!

First and foremost, to us Easter is a religious and family holiday.

We celebrate the Savior.

We celebrate our wonderful family.

We celebrate spring and the newness and beauty of everything around us.

I love Easter!

{CRAFTS DOWN YONDER BELOW}

Neck Tie Wreath and Banner - Pies and Ties Party

Today I am delighted to introduce you to my guest poster Katherine!  

I've known Katherine a long time.  I mean, a LONG time!  

We met and became instant friends when we both bought our first homes in the same darling Provo neighborhood, back in the early 90's.  

In the past few years we've rekindled our friendship via Facebook, and now we're GREAT friends via internet.

Recently we've discovered something new about each other.....we're both SUPER CRAFTY!  

I am in awe of Katherine's creativity and since she doesn't have a blog of her own YET, 

I begged her if I could share this amazing idea of hers here on my blog.  

I am honored that she said YES!  

So here you go!  

If you have an inkling to make Father's Day extra special, 

or if you have a missionary {like Katherine's son who just left for Finland}, you will certainly LOVE these ideas!

Start planning now so you can track down plenty of ties!

The Glitter Academy Brings Friends Together...with glitter!

Welcome to The Glitter Academy Fiesta!  

Ole!!!

Life is short, so let's start with dessert!

Blue and Gold Banquet Centerpiece - Lollies In A Can

I love lollies!

I can't stop making them!  lol

FYI: the centers of the large lollies have no decorations in the centers because we will add circle-cut photos of our cub scouts.

How To Display Your Lovely Christmas Photo Cards

Don't you just loooove the adorable photo Christmas cards that everyone sends nowadays?

Used to be we'd get only a couple each year,

but now almost all of the cards we receive are photo cards.

I am incapable of throwing away a card if it is a photo.

I have a gajillion that I've been saving for years, but it seems kind of a waste to just throw them in a box and then never look at them again!

What to do, what to do?

Burlap, White, Silver and Gold Christmas Crafts!

My first Christmas post....

in mid-January.

I know.....

I. Am. Never. On. Time!

I've been shifting towards the naturals/neutrals/metallics and loving it!

{the sparkly fabric and the string of bells are from Dollar Tree!}

Cotton Pickin Wreath with a Burlap Bow

I've been wanting to make a cotton wreath for a while now.....

Inspired by....

the cotton from our farm!

{we have an abundance of it at the end of the year}

Yup, that's right, my big boys and I hand-picked our own cotton! 

The Rustic Wooden Box Autumn Centerpiece

So here's the rustic tool box I got at Junk In The Trunk last weekend, 

that I know you've been dying to see.

I'D LIKE TO THANK THE ACADEMY! {Glitter Academy recap}

Just the words
"GLITTER ACADEMY"
and you already know you're gonna love it, right?

There are a few truly awesome bloggy gals here in Arizona that organize these amazing events a couple of times a year.
This is the first one I was actually able to attend, and from what I hear,
IT WAS THE BEST!
It was definitely MY favorite!  ;)


Truer words were never spoken!