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Category Archives: Gift Ideas

A Happy Birthday For a Gaming Boy!

I have two nephews that are 12 and 9.  They love video games (like any boy their age) and this year the hubs and I went in with the grandparents and got the boys a Kinect for their 360.  Since it was such a “special and bigger present” we decided to give it to them on the oldest birthday and that would then cover the birthday present for the youngest that is in October.

All I can say was both were over the moon when they opened it and saw what was lurking behind the wrapping paper. I even got a few great candids of all the excitement!

To go along with the theme of the gift, I decided to break out a Cricut Cartridge I have not yet used and put it to good use !

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Thanks for coming and sharing a piece of “two happy gaming boys” pie with me!

Cricut Cartridge: Father’s Day

Paper: DCWV – Summer Stacker and Recollections

Stamps: $ bin special (super small font block)

Ink: CTMH (Close to My Heart – Winter White)

Stickles – Diamonds!

More Spring Time Bouquet

I made two more sets of flowers recently using flower watering cans I found in the dollar bin at Target!  Woot, Woot… love me some bargain bin specials!

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Recipe:

1/2 inch x 10 inch strips of paper (used 7 strips for each flower)

Clock faces – Michael’s

Brads – Michael’s

Watering Cans – Target

Baker’s Twine – Stampin Up

Rustic embellishments – Michael’s

Timeless Springtime in Paris Bouquet!

I saw this idea via Pinterst and decided that I was going to take this on for a birthday present idea for my Aunt.  Her birthday is on Monday and every year I get her flowers and we do a spa day together after tax season (since she is an Accountant and is swamped this time of year).  This year I made these in replace of my normal flower arrangements.  I think it will bring a bit of a Parisian flair to her office. . .

Thanks for coming and sharing a piece of “embracing my inner french girl” pie with me.

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Recipe:

Paper: K&Company – Life’s Journey Designer Paper (cut at 1/2 inches by 12 inches long and used 8 strips for each flower)

Paper Wire (for stems)

Vase (found on clearance at Michael’s in their Parisian home decor section)

Clock faces – Tim Holtz

Buttons – Tim Holtz

Keys – Tim Holtz

Baker’s Twin – Stampin’ Up

Brads – Recollections

hot glue

Mini Monograms Cricut Cart for hiding the backing of the flower. Set on scallop at 1.5

A More Up Close and Personal Look at Hello Kitty B-Day Party

Since I was limping along with computer woes last week, I decided to give a more detail post regarding the “almost death by Hello Kitty” I endured a couple of weeks ago. . .  and because I got a few more requests for more details! Ask and ye shall receive!

I actually really kept this party at a good and reasonable budget since we were going all out and doing the big Disneyland thing the next day.

Table scape:

I have glass containers I found at Home Goods that I use for these types of events.  I headed into my attic and dug through some Christmas decorations and found the fillers for them along with the styrofoam HK heads I made (I bought those online in a set 12- WAY cheaper than at Jo-Ann’s and Michael’s.)  I made the heads by cutting out felt bows and suing a sharpie to do the eyes, nose and whiskers. I hot glued the bows on.

Decorations:

The center pieces for the little picnic tables were larger styrofoam balls that I found online.  I cut out ears and bows and attached with hot glue and used sharpie for eyes and nose. I used black pipe cleaners for the whiskers (they easily stuck in the balls). I placed brightly colored M&Ms in the shallow glass bowls and placed the heads on top of it.

The outside banner and accents to the pom-pom were made out of white and pink foam.  I had my hubby cut out stencils using a print out from a coloring page of the head and bow in wood with his scroll saw which made for perfectly matched mass production. Cutting through foam was super easy and quick. I added finishing touches on the bows and attached with hot glue.  The whiskers were made out of black pipe cleaners.  I used a punch and ran it through fishing line for the overhead pom-pom decor and pink ribbon from the Celebrate It line from Michael’s.

Pin the Bow  Game:

A good friend threw out an idea of pin the bow game, so I thought about it one day and came up with  this game.  I thought of a felt board and went with that concept.  Again, using the wood stencil the hubs cut out for me, I made the bows for each kid that was invited and traced out the face on a felt white sheet.  I then attached two pieces of felt to a large piece of white foam.   On the day of the party I wrote all kids that were in attendance names on the back of the bows so we would know who’s was the closest to pinning the bow on HK.  It was a huge success!

HK Headbands:

The same good friend suggested making some kind of head bands.  So I thought up these.  I found the head bands via Ebay for $2 free shipping for 12.  I cut out ears and bows (yes, using the same wood stencil the hubs made for me).  I attached with hot glue. On the day of the party, I painted black whiskers on all the little girls and placed the headbands on their heads.  THEY LOVED THEM!

Boo-Boo Bags:

I am not a fan of cheap Chinese party favors to just fill a bag.  I decided to do something a little more personal and useful for this party and they were a  huge hit and not to time consuming.  I found the material via Jo-Ann’s online and it was $40% off and had free shipping.  I made 12 of them cutting 5 inches x 12 inches and folding in half inside out and sewing them almost shut.  After that reversing the material and filling the bags with flax-seed that I got from a bulk bin at a local store for $1 a lb.  I figured each bag cost about $1.50 when all said and done.  After they were filled, they were sown shut.  I placed them in a plastic favor bag and tied with ribbon and printed out instructions to use hot or cold on Avery labels and attached.  I made Goodie bags and added a lip gloss and some HK band aids to them.   They were a huge hit!

Party Craft:

I decided to set up a “mommy and me” bracelet making station. I found all the beads via ebay and even found HK beads! I spent no more than $8 on all the beads. I pre made packages so all they had to do was thread the beads and go.  It was super cute and a fun way for mommy and daughter to have a little time together.

Inside Banner/Cupcake Toppers:

 

 

This is my favorite thing to do for a party and like I said before in a previous post, I ordered HK die cuts via ebay and worked from there.  I found the heart garland via Michael’s on a clearance Valentine rack for $1.50 and bought two.  I used that as my base and then used Mini Monograms and Once Upon a Princess Cricut Carts to make the content and structure of the banner.  To add finishing touches I used my Cuttlebug embossing Happy Birthday folder and Swiss dots folder, stickes and ribbon for burst of color in between the rounds.  I attached the rounds directly onto the chain on the garland.

The cupcake toppers were just a bit of the same concept and cricut carts just scaled down and added to 4 inch Wilton sticks.

There you have it in a nut shell… Thanks for coming and sharing a piece of “Hello Kitty on a Budget” pie with me!

A Fun Challenge Card for a Special Green Thumb

I think I am liking this idea of participating in a weekly challenge since it MAKES me break away from what I have already cookin’ to just craft from my heart without it being under the confines of a “must do”project (even though I love crafting no matter what – right now I am up to my elbows in Hello Kitty party makin’ stuff for my almost 4-year-old). 

Here is what I came up for the Challenge Me Monday #99 challenge from Fantabulous Cricut and the for the first time to participate in  Die Cuttin’ Diva’s  Challenge # 54 .  I made this with someone in mind that will fit perfectly to who they are and what they have a true passion in doing . . . gardening! She is the type of person that can literally slap a piece off a piece of a plant in the ground and then step on it and walk away and it grows like nothing anyone has ever seen. She possesses the sixth sense of being a true green thumb.   I can’t wait to give her this card, because everything that she plants blooms right where it was planted!

Thanks for sharing a piece of ” having fun with my crafty thumb for a green thumb” pie with me!

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Recipe:

Cricut Cartridge: Walk in My Garden – Wheelbarrow cut at 2 inches – Garden tools cut at 1 1/2 inches.

Cuttlebug: Distressed Stripes

Paper: Die Cut with a View mini stacker – Harvest – Recollections Red and white cardstock

Ribbon Rosetts- (pre-made)

Baker’s Twine: Stampin’ Up

Glossy Accents (Clear and Black)

Stamps: My Pink Stamper – Everyday Life

Ink – Close to My Heart – Holiday Red

A QUICK and I mean QUICK Valentine Idea Afterglow!

So I am still on a huge high from having a wonderful spot on the CREAT Blog today!  My husband is a bit worried he may not be able to sleep tonight since I am beaming from all the excitement.  So to organize some of that excitement I decided to make a quick video!  NOOOOOO!  Not another one!  I promise not so much of the gabby gift that I have this time!

I found this idea via Pinterest and loved it! 

Thanks for sharing a piece of “too excited to do anything productive today, so why not produce a video” pie with me!

A Piece of Pie Video: Valentine Gift Box

 

 

Ok y’all, time come to belly up to the craft table for another helping of A Piece of Pie Video!  First I must thank you for being my lab rats with me learning this whole video thing, especially the editing.  I will have to admit, I was a bit LONG winded in the introduction, so if you are needing escape that and get on with the actual tutorial, you can fast forward to about the 6 minute mark.. . .  but you may miss out on all the sassy subtitles! 🙂 

Thank you for coming and sharing a piece of “progress in the video making” pie with me!

 

In Recovery Mode!

The holidays were a whirl wind!  I figured I logged about 40 hours in my craft room during the month of December!  That meant late, late nights after the kids went to bed.  Now I am in a bit of recovery mode from post holiday illnesses that took the family by storm and just getting my house back in order and us on a routine. 

I did manage to sneak in to my craft room to make a couple of birthday cards and a Valentine banner.  This weekend I plan on finishing up my craft space and starting a huge project of making scrapbooks for all the moms in my daughter’s co-op preschool.  Just shoot me for being over ambitions now! 🙂

 

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The banner was made out of felt and I picked up some ribbon and the heart string at Micheal’s

The card was made out of a new cart I just got called Life’s  a Party!  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the cart.  The paper was from “open stock” at Michael’s and I embossed it with circles and spots Cuttlebug embossing folder.  The sentiment is from My Pink Stamper, of course!

Thanks for coming and having a piece of “recovering” pie with me!

I Have Been Doing a lot of Pie Making!

 . . . well at least a lot of crafting.  Outside of the already posted holiday projects I was up to my ears in crafting over the holidays.  Since then we have been batteling the stomach flu, colds and trying to get Christmas and my winter “spring” cleaning done. 

Santa was good to me this year!  I got a ton of  craft store gift cards and The Cinch.  I am still holding off on the Imagine, just becasue part of my Christmas/Birthday present from they hubs was re-doing my craft room.  So all things in moderation and I LOVE how my craft room is truning out!  Deciding to re-do my craft room in the full swing of all the projects was a bit nutty, but if you knew me, you would get that I have a VERY high energy level that does not know how to stop until my body stops me:-).

I am on the hunt for the Hello Kitty Cricut Cart that has been retired so I can do my almost 4 year old’s bithday stuff, if you know of a place I can find it, that is not going to cost a million dollars, please let me know.  I have been looking on Ebay and they are going for about $80-$100. 

So on to my projects and thanks for coming and sharing a piece of “wow no wonder I am a wee bit  Christmas Cheered Out” pie with me! 

Project 1: Idea came from My Pink Stamper’s 12 Days of Christmas

Project 2: Another idea  from My Pink Stamper’s 12 Days of Christmas for the lady that does my hair.  She lives in the “Christmas Candy Cane Lane” neigborhood and has the Charlie Brown themed house. She sits out with friends and family almost every night greeting the hundreds of people checking out the lights and I thought this would keep those sheer cutting hands warm.

Project 3: I made these cards for my nephews who were getting gift cards.  They liked them!

Project 4:  I made these pack of cards for all the ladies in our family.  I ended up making 3 in each set which came to 21 cards!  I did this kind of last minute. I used My Pink Stamper’s Sweetest Cupcake Stampset I won from a Blog Hop Challenge back in August.  I also used Once Upon A Princess Cartridge for the cupcake. All the ladies LOVED them!

Project 5: I made this for a sweet friend that got married on December 9th.  It was a very small and close wedding at the beautiful Ojai Valley Inn, Ojai, CA.  I was one of the very few that were invited to the quiet and yet elegant event – I also made some tags for this event I posted about earlier this month.  I used a new stamp set I got from Close to my Heart, Cherish the Day! The cartrige I used was Storybook – Thank You setting.

Project 6:  My girls and I made this for my father-in-law’s birthday that was in early December.  He loves old cars, so we had fun doing some new tricks using Peachy Keen faces and Everyday Paper Dolls Cricut Cartridge.

[Project 7:  Christmas cards for some bloggging buddies I have formed this year.  I used a Christmas stack from Papertreyink, Christmas stamp set from My Pink Stamper and the ortament came from Simply Charmed.

Who needs and Ice Cream Cone when you have Hot Coco Cones!

Back in early November I decided that I was not going to make my shortbread chocolate dipped cookies for my Christmas goodies I pass out.  Instead I thought of the hot coco cones I saw at a local Harvest Craft fair back in October and thought I would take a stab at doing that. 

I forgot to purchase one at the fair to break down and see how it was done and the quantity they used.  Luckily My Pink Stamper did a whole tutorial on making these since she saw the same idea at a craft fair she was at… how random! 

I made over 5 dozen of these using a tag from Winter Frolic cut at 1 3/4 inches.  I used some christmas paper that I had in my stash from a million years ago (I am totally on this kick to be out with the old before I buy another sheet of paper). I used Stickles for the scarf.  For the stamping I used Close to My Heart and Stampin’ Up Inks and My Pink Stamper’s Winter Treats and Sayings and Christmas Wishes stamp set. 

The past week I have been passing these out and everyone is LOVING them!  I think I just found my new Christmas goodie tradition and it something that the kids love to help with!

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