Re-purpose glass jars...

Glass jars can be used for so many fun things.  I save all kinds of glass jars.  I have jars coming out my ears...well not literally, but I do have quite a collection.  I have baby food jars, pickle jars, jelly jars, sauce jars, pepper jars...well you get the point.  I have used them for numerous projects.  My latest project was converting them to button & ribbon spool storage containers.

All I did was soak off the labels.  Be sure to scrape them good to remove all of the glue.  I then spray painted the lids, top & bottom, with Silver spray paint.  I filled them with the goods and displayed them on a shelf in my craft room.  They are fun to look at and easy to access.

Happy jar filling...

"Wonder what I will come up with next"...



 

Buckets full of hugs & kisses...

How many of you are looking for a simple teacher gift for Valentine's Day?  I have a quick and easy gift idea for you...and darn cute, if I don't say so myself.

 

I bought inexpensive tin buckets at Hobby Lobby and filled them with Hersheys Kisses & Hugs candies.  I wrapped the buckets in cellophane and put fun fluffy tulle & ribbon bows on top. 

 

 

Start by bunching the cellophane up around the buckets and tie the top with tulle.  Be sure to leave extra tulle to tie on the bow.

 

 

Loop the tulle & ribbon in your hand.  Loop it back and forth until you get the desired number of loops per side.  I made 3 loops per side on these.

 

Tie the loops onto the buckets, using the tulle already tied on the cellophane.

 

Cut each loop in half.  Mix up the ribbon & tulle for  the desired effect.

                                and...  "TA DA".  Valentine's teacher gifts are ready to hand out.

 

 

Happy bow making...

 

"Wonder what I will come up with next!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Tulle"tally awesome bows...

Oh tulle, how do I love thee!  Let me count the ways...  Seriously, tulle is so easy to work with and makes the MOST AMAZING bows!!!  Used by itself or added to other ribbons, tulle can enhance the beauty of any package.  Let me show you how easy it is to use.

 

Grab the ends of each roll of tulle.  I chose 3 "Valentine's Day" colors.

 

Loop the tulle on one side.  Make the loop the size that you want half of your bow to be.  You will then loop it again on the other side and that will give you the bow width.

 

Since I used 3 colors of tulle, I only looped the tulle 3 times on each side, giving me a total of 9 loops per side.

 

Tie the loops onto the package and separate each color of tulle, as well as open up each loop to "fluff" the bow.

 

Spread the different colors as you fluff.

 

 

Add stickers and you are done.

 

Shift the bow up on the package for something different, or you can center it.

 

Happy Valentine's Day...

 

"Wonder what I will come up with next"...

 

Heart "felt" purse...

I made these felt purses for my favorite Southern girls...you know who you are.  Auntie Weezy is gonna do some spoilin' when she comes to the Big D!!!  The purses are darling and were very simple to make.

 

I started with a piece of felt, cut it in half with a fabric cutter.  Then I pinned and sewed the 2 halves together, only on 3 sides, with a small zig zag stitch.

 

 

Punch holes in the top 2 corners of the side that is not stitched

 

 

Push the end of a super fluffy pipe cleaner through a hole and bend it together using pliers

 

 

Repeat on the other side

 

 

Cut out felt flowers.  I used a pattern to make my flowers and used different sizes.

 

 

Stack the flowers and hand sew onto the purse with a button on top.  Then glue a rhinestone to the center of the button.  I used E6000 glue, which sticks to just about everything.  I applied it with a small disposable paint brush.

 

 

Now the purses are ready to fill with treats...

 

 

Happy crafting...

 

I "wonder" what I will come up with next...

 

Valentine's Day simple decor...

Several years ago I had Valentine's Day "saying" hearts candies that were old and probably stale.  I decided to give them a second chance at life.  I added them to a glass hurricane vase with a candle.  What a cute display for Valentine's Day...

Do your kids love to make Valentine's crafts?  Mine do!!!  The challenge that I face is finding a place for ALL of them.  I like to use a stretcher rod, here in an opening between the kitchen and family room, to hang their creativity from.  I get the pleasure of looking at their handy work and they have the delight of having it on display to show guests.  I punch holes in each piece of art and open a large paper clip to hang with.  Very simple and quick to do...

Happy decorating...

"Wonder what I will come up with next..."

Butterfly kisses...

Butterfly clips added to the ribbon on top of a present can add an elegant touch...

Happy wrapping...

Pack, Wrap, Ship...

Now that I have made my stance on pretty bows on packages, you may be asking yourself, "What does she do with a present she is shipping?"  Obviously, a pretty bow would get smashed during transport.  I take a little different approach on these types of packages.  I still don't use a gift bag, though.  Ha-Ha-Ha.  In all seriousness, I DO use gift bags on occasion, but it is rare.  So getting back to a shipped package, I treat this package more like a scrapbook page.  I use ribbon and stickers to decorate the top of the package.

The present is still impressive even without a bow.  Now you are ready to cover the package in "brown packaging paper", which comes in a roll like wrapping paper.  I frequently purchase this at the Dollar Tree.  Be sure to tape with packaging tape.  Address and ship.  Your recipient will be pleased with your presentation! 

Happy shipping...