Mother's Day Gift Weekend Project

As I was cleaning in my workroom I ran across a can I had saved.  Yup, you will find some interesting and odd things in my workroom!  I don't like to toss things out that I think I can use.  Recycling is always a great thing and I will often use things like cans, jars and containers at least one more time before I put them in the recycling bin.  And yes, I am aware that when I put them in the recycling bin they get made into new stuff.  But I am just prolonging the process for the item I'm keeping!!!  The item I kept this time was a short tin can.  I think it contained water chestnuts.  Those cans are always nice to use because there isn't anything stinky in them.  I do wash them in the dishwasher but sometimes I think some things (especially things with garlic) have smells left behind.

To decorate my can I just wrapped a piece of decorative paper around it to see how long and wide I needed to make it.  I cut the paper to fit and glued it in place.  I don't like to use tape on these because the tape leaves the paper with a texture where it is set.  Glue dries thin, plus I take a bone folder and slide it around the can to spread any thick spots of glue and to just even out everything.  And I set it aside to dry.

I moved on to the lid.  I made a round circle for the top of the can.  I cheated a bit here.  I used a piece of white label and punched out a big circle and stuck it on top of the lid.  Then I made the flower.  I used the Daisies #2 die.  I cut two of each piece and glued them together.  I punched out an Old Olive circle and glued that in the center.  I stuck the flower in place using a pop up glue dot.  Then I used the new blossom punch and the decorative paper matching the paper around the can and cut one flower out to cut up to use as leaves.  I glued them in place. 

To finish up the can I tied a piece of ribbon around it and added a tiny glue dot under the knot of the bow to hold it in place.  That was it.  A very easy and quick gift to make.  This is something even the kids can help with.

A note about the lid of the can.  The can was opened with a European can opener.  They open on the side edge instead of the top.  When you are done with your decorating you can add some candies and then take some crazy glue or Crystal Effects and glue the lid on.   It is now ready for gift giving. 

Thank you for visiting today,
Wanda

Being Frugal Card Holder

Ok, you know me. I just can't throw anything away before it's time!!! I was suppose to be cleaning off my one worktable to make room for a project I need to do and I need BIG space to do it. As I was cleaning off the worktable I had the container to the largest clear acrylic block Stampin' Up! sells. I tossed my cards and envelopes in it for safe keeping. Then it dawned on me I should just make a set of 4 cards and envelopes and sell it like that. What a perfect container for the cards. And the envelopes fit in there perfectly too. Now this container is tall enough (or thick enough) that you can fit more than 4 cards and envelopes in it. I'm guessing it would hold at least 6 or 8 cards and 6 or 8 envelopes depending on how many layers are on the cards.

It's a great way to use that container!! You can even fill it full of a variety of cards and give it away as a gift or make it a door prize. I didn't save the packaging that came with it. I wished I would have. I would like to make a background for the container. I can still do that but now I have to measure! But wouldn't it make a great gift for someone? A few birthday, get well, wedding and thinking of you cards and envelopes!!! That way you can fill it up too. I may just pull the cards I have in there and make it into a gift. I'm liking that idea more and more all the time.

Be creative with your "trash," you never know what you can do with it until you try!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Don't Toss Them! Weekend Project

I just LOVE it when I can recycle. These little containers from your brads, buttons, eyelets, etc. are a fun item to recycle. Getting the sticky off them is not so fun but it can be done. Just slowly peel them. I don't like to do it slow so I end up with a mess but baby oil helps remove the residue. You can also try putting the lid in the freezer for a couple of hours. I tried it and it works but it thaws out too fast and I'm back to a mess. And if you need a bunch of these you can always just order empty ones!

After I got mine all cleaned up from the sticky label, I washed it out and dried it. I filled it with some cinnamon gumdrops. I put the lid back on and it was ready to decorate.

I took a piece of red ribbon and tied a bow around the container. I was on my way. Now what to do next. I thought about putting a big heart or several hearts on the the top but I wanted something with a little more height.

I got out the "Flowers" Sizzix die and the new Stampin' Up! "Sending Love" Specialty Designer Paper. It's got glitter already on it and it's SO pretty! I cut out two sets of flowers and then put them together. I curled the petals a little with a wooden craft stick.

I added a jumbo vanilla brad to the center. But it looked too plain. SO I ended up using the heart stamp anyway. But just the small one from the "I (Heart) Hearts" set. I cut it out with a scissors. I don't have a small heart punch yet. I taped it on top of the brad. I used a pop-up dot to affix the flower to the container and that was it!

This was a quick and simple project (if you have the lids all done before you begin)! This is a great project for Stamp Camp, a Make n Take, Customer Appreciation gift, Hostess Appreciation gift, Teacher's gift, Craft Fairs and it's something even the kiddies can help make.

Now don't go dumping your brads in a box so you can make these!!! Oh and if you don't really care, you don't need to remove all of the label. That giant flower on the top covers it all. Just be sure you remove the side label/tabs, those will show. And actually that part of the label was the easiest to remove!

This is not a new idea. I made one a few years back. I had copied one that Sue had gotten from the ever SO talented Terri. It had a clear button on it and the tag punch was used I liked it because you could see more of what was inside than you can with this one.

I don't have a link to it and my blog has grown so big with all these posts that I wouldn't know where to begin to find it. I didn't label the items then like I so now. SO if you are looking around at my blog and find the other project using the Stampin' Up! containers please let me know!!! More than likely there is a prize awarded to you for finding it!


Have fun with these and thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Something Sweet Just for You! Weekend Project

On the December 29th post I showed you how to cover the Hershey Treasures. Click here to view that post and get the instructions to cover the candies.

This container is the packaging from the new Stampin' Up! clear blocks for the unmounted stamps. I didn't want to throw the containers away. I LOVE to try to recycle whenever I can and this is what I came up to do with them.

I measured the packaging paper that came inside the container and cut the decorative paper the same size. This paper is the new "Sending Love Specialty" from Stampin' Up! It's got glitter on it and it's SO pretty! I used the corner rounder so it fit in the space where the original packaging paper went. The words came from the "Teeny Tiny Wishes" set. I stamped them in black and punched them out using the Word Window punch. I also used the Modern Label punch for the layer behind the words. It's a cute way to recycle something you normally would have thrown away. Or should I say "normal" people would have thrown away!!! LOL I just feel it's important to try to use something at least one more time before it's thrown into the trash. With this container and they way it was decorated it can be stripped down and reused again by the one who gets it as a gift! Fun concept, huh?

Always take a second look at something you will be tossing to see if you can't make something out of it. I know, it' just delays the inevitable but it's still a good thing!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Gift Card Card!

Nope, I didn't typo stutter!!! I actually made a card using a photo copy of a gift card. There are SO many gift cards out there that have such cute scenes on them. Some of them you are able to cover up the store name on them and create a wonderful card. I needed a couple of gift cards for gifts and of course I was drawn to the adorable snowman. And look up in the sky, see Santa and the reindeer? How cute is that?

Well, since the gift cards were to be given away I wanted to see if I could make a card with it so I photo copied it onto 30# copier paper. I wanted some paper with a bit of substance like that of most decorative papers. I didn't want it thick like card stock and card stock and my printer don't always get a long!

After I made my copy and stared at the image for a bit longer I knew how I was going to do the layout for the card. Simple, I wanted a simple card.

SO, I rounded the corners because the gift card was rounded on the corners and the corners where were white. I could have kept them sharp and cut into the image more but I liked the rounded look. I tried to pick colors that were in the gift card. Real Red went with the scarf and Night of Navy went with the blues in the card. After I put it all together I thought it had a bit of a patriot look to it!! Not what I was going for but it's ok.

The Merry Christmas was done on the computer. The punches are by Stampin' Up! And the snowflake background was from the Cuttlebug "Snowflake" folder. One of my most favorite embossing folders!! I put it all together and this is what I got. I like it. I still LOVE to look at that adorable snowman. You can click on the photo for a closer view. You can do this with all images on my website.

I also have another gift card I want to make into a card but this time I'm going to use the actual gift card instead of a photo copy. And I'm going to use re-positionable tape. This way the gift card can be removed without ruining the card itself. And I may ask these people to save their used gift cards for me so I can make cards with them (using permanent glue/tape). Some of these gift cards are a real piece of art!! And it's recycling too!!! I LOVE to recycle odd things like that when I can!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

One Man's Junk....

Actually this was beyond junk, it was really garbage!!! Recycling garbage of course. And I punched up the recycling part of it.

Some months ago I had gotten a garden flag holder from my dear friend Ann. And a cute kitten flag that read "welcome to my garden." Well when I was out shopping I had found a fall one on clearance and hung that one up. Then I was out shopping with hubby and found this cute snowman one. Well.... you know me and snowmen!!! I just HAD to have it and it really wasn't all that expensive. Plus there was only one left and that alone tells me that I just HAD to buy it!!! SO I got home with this cute flag and I proceeded outside to the flag holder and put it on. It's just TOO darn cute!!! I just LOVE looking at it and in putting it up I was REALLY hoping that it would help make it snow here. I even wore my snowflake socks!!! But alas, no snow. Though we did get some last night and it's almost all gone today. That was just a tease.

Anyway, I came back indoors and was in the process of tossing the plastic part of the packaging and was going to put the cardboard part in the recycling bin when I got a brilliant idea that I could make a card with it.

I headed to my workroom (only to look at the BIG mess I had left from my last little project!!!) and I set the cardboard piece down and walked out!!! I cleaned up my mess later and then worked on the card.

I took out my album of SplitCoastStampers Sketch Challenges that I print out every week and I paged through it looking for a layout that would work with this little image! I found one close enough and I just worked a bit with the sizes and it turned out like this! I kept it simple. It didn't need words because it already had them in the picture. Adding anything else to it didn't make it as sweet looking as it is without any other embellishments. I like the simplicity of it plus I like that I made a card and didn't touch an ink pad. Something that doesn't happen very often at all.

The background matched the Almost Amethyst card stock perfectly! You can't ask for more than that when doing something like this!!!

So now you need to keep an eye on what you toss in the garbage or recycling bin!!!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Lizard Legs! EEEEK!!!

I never throw anything away before it's time. Well, things I think I can make something out of or use them somehow that is!! This jar had some pretty expensive pure maple syrup in it. I remember buying it. I needed to buy pure maple syrup and for a few cents more this one came in this adorable jar!!! SO we all know which one I purchased!

I must have had this bottle saved for over a year. And then while trying to clean up my messy workroom I ran across some Halloween Rub-ons. Now this rub-on does say "Lizard Legs Liquid Essence" and probably some type of green liquid would look better in the bottle. But what green liquid would you put in a bottle that could be consumed by children should this happen to fall into their hands? SO I went with the candy, "Sixlets." Now why do they call them "Sixlets" if there are 8 pieces in a package??? Something to ponder another day!!!

Anyway, I just filled the jar with the "Sixlets" and tied a ribbon around the little handle thing on the side. Not much to this jar but the rub-on pretty much takes care of the theme here!

Just some fun things you can do with the stuff you might toss out!!! It's a form of recycling. I like to try to use things at least one more time before they are tossed out.

Be sure to stop back later this week. I have some fun weekend projects lined up for you!!! You don't want to miss them!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Spice It Up!

Literally!!!  I am such a recycler.  I believe that you should use an item at least one more time before you have to put it in the recycling bin or toss it.  This spice jar is one of those "toss" items.  But it's SO cool because it's got a built in grinder on the top.  I removed the label and tossed it all in the dishwasher.  It came out nice and clean and I was happy because I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

I mixed up a batch of my chicken herb seasoning and put some in the grinder.  I wasn't sure how I was going to do the label.  I knew the computer and printer would be involved since I don't have a stamp that reads "Poultry Seasoning."  And I don't think I've ever seen one like that either!!!

I had just gotten the "Lots of Tags" die cuts and there was one in there that I was intrigued with!!!  It fit with the large oval punch so I was all set.  I printed out the words using the Always Artichoke RBG code.  Then I punched out the oval.  I ran the die cut through the Big Shot and I was ready to do the final details and put it on the jar.  I sponged the oval piece, it was just too white looking without it.  I used the Anywhere Glue Stick to stick the die cut tag part to the jar.  I wrapped a rubber band around the tag and jar and allowed the glue to set up.  Then I glued the oval to the tag and again I wrapped the rubber band around it until it was dry.  It's all set in place exactly where I want it but it was still missing something.  I added a ribbon and tied a bow and that completed the jar.  Now if I were to fill my spice rack with these I would certainly NOT put the bows on.  They would eventually get dirty and look awful.  But this one is for a gift so I thought the bow would look cute.  I didn't glue it so it can be removed.

SO try to recycle things at least once before you send them to the recycling bin or the trash can!!!  There's treasures to be found in everything.  Well, in most things!!!  LOL

These would make great gifts and even a great Stamp Camp item if you can get enough spice jars saved!!!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Trash to Treasure Valentine's Day Gift!!

When the budget doesn't allow for much you can resort to your recycling bin for some fun "things." Things you can now look at in a different light!!!

This is a short can that had sliced water chestnuts in. You can also find this size cans with sliced black olive, diced black olives and even mushrooms. I'm sure there are other food items in the grocery store using this size can.

I did use a Pampered Chef can opener. I believe they are called a Euro can opener. I am betting because they were first used in Europe. They cut along the side of the can and not the top. I find it more sanitary, the lid doesn't fall into my canned food, it just comes right off the top with a nice thick edge that doesn't cut you!!!

I usually rinse them out and run them through the dishwasher if I'm going to be using it for crafting of any type.

I took a scrap piece of my homemade decorative paper and glued it around the can with the Stampin' Up! Anywhere Glue Stick. I LOVE that glue stick for adhering paper to metals!!! It the best I've found for this purpose.

I filled the can with candies and "glued" it on with Crystal Effects. I was using Super Glue but I kept getting it on my fingers. I was able to avoid that by putting a bit of double sided tape on the center of the can lid. I'd add the glue to the rim of the can and then pick the lid up with my finger stuck to that tape I added. I'd push the lid on and set a large punch on top of it to weight it down. While the glue was setting I would do my punches and stamping for the top of the lid.

For the top of this lid I used some words I printed out on the computer, a scrap piece of Pretty in Pink card stock and a scrap piece of Regal Rose card stock. I taped the back of it and stuck it in place on top of the can lid.

I tied a bow around the can and it was done. It's a VERY quick project to do and depending on what you put inside the can, it's a pretty inexpensive one to do too!!!

You give this to that someone special and they can open it with any type of can opener, even a Euro one!!! Aren't they just adorable???

Thanks SO much for visiting today!
Wanda

It WAS Just a Gum Wrapper!!!

I needed a little box for a bracelet I made for Sue but I didn't have one on hand. I thought I'd dig for one when I got back from shopping but as I popped the last piece of gum in my mouth I thought I would alter the gum box! I wanted to use some decorative paper from the "Candy Lane" package by Stampin' Up! But the pink pieces I had left were too small.

I thought, "it can't be that difficult to make a piece of decorative paper now can it??" I opened up my old Print Artist program and started playing with the lines. And this is what I came up with. It took a little while to do but once I got going on it, it was just a matter of duplicating and pasting. I used the RBG color codes for the Stampin' Up! colors Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose. I have seen several RBG charts with the Stampin' Up! color codes and each one of them has numbers just a little off from the other. I figured these were close enough. They did after all go well with the card stock. Though I didn't use any card stock for the package part. But I did for the birthday card. I made sure I saved this paper to my desk top so I can use it again.

Then I figured I had plenty of time, the sun wasn't quite rising yet!!! So I thought I would do the same style in Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue and Old Olive. I'll show that one to you another day. I printed it out on 28 pound copier paper but I need to get some 32 pound copier paper. The gum wrapper did show through the paper a little. I think the 32 pound paper will be thick enough to cover it better. And the heavier the pound of paper the more expensive it is too!!! I need to do a bit of shopping around before I purchase!!!

I also did the pink stripes vertically too. The first pink ones I did horizontally.

Inside the little box is a bracelet I made for Sue. I forgot to take a photo of it!!!

The little cupcake in the center of the card is from the Stampin' Up! set "Holiday Blitz." I just love that set, it's SO full of fun stamps that pretty much cover the year of events!!! Click on the photo (or any of my other photos) to see a close up. The digi paper looks much better in person. From here you can not see the white stripes in it. But it does show up if you click on it. I have LOTS of plans for this paper!!! As long as there is Pink Pirouette card stock to play with!!! LOL

Thanks every so much for visiting today,
Wanda

Jelly Bean Bubbles?

I am SO into recycling things at least once. Here I have a bottle that was from my favorite coffee flavoring. Vanilla. Yup, plain old vanilla!!! But it's my favorite in coffee!!!

Anyway, I liked the bottle plus the label was very easy to remove. Gotta LOVE that!!! I ran it in the dishwasher. Somehow I believe that it cleans it much better. I don't want to know if I'm wrong about that!!! LOL

I filled it with a package of pink, white and red jelly beans. It didn't quite fill it up all the way but that's ok. The gal I'm giving it to will love it anyway!!

I kept the decorating simple. I took a scrap piece of the Stampin' Up! "Candy Lane" decorative paper and glued it on with the Stampin' Up! Anywhere Glue Stick. I LOVE that glue stick. It sticks to glass SO well. I put a rubber band around the paper until the glue set.

While that was drying I stamped the large heart out using the Stampin' Up! set "Love You Much." I used Riding Hood Red ink and I cut it out. Then I colored in the one flower using the Pretty in Pink marker. I used the glue stick and glued it in place too. Using a rubber band to hold it until it dried.

While that was drying I used the 3 hearts stamp and stamped them using Riding Hood Red ink and Regal Rose card stock. I glued them in place and used the rubber band to hold them until the glue dried.

The little red heart on top of the largest heart was set in place using a Dimensional. I thought it looked great with the jelly beans!!! My friend is going to LOVE it!!!

It was a fun gift to make and was not very expensive!! At times we need to be thrifty. Recycling really helps with that!!!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

From Trash to Treasure!!

Remember those AOL disks you'd get in the mail? I had some come in these wooden boxes. Well, I just couldn't throw them away!!! It's tough to do, isn't it Cyndi??? (you know who you are!!! *winks*).

I ran across one in my workroom and decided it was time to do something with it. I had just gotten my new 12 x 12 papers and thought I'd actually use them! They may expire after this 6 month catalog season. I just hate it when I have papers I haven't even opened and find out they retired!!! It's not like you can't use them but you just can't demo with them. SO, I'm trying hard to use my papers, embellishments and ALL the stamps in the set, not just one or two that I favor!!! That's a BIG challenge in itself!

Here is what I did. I started out with the wooden AOL box. I didn't remove any of their labels, I just covered it as it was. Except I did sand the surface a little to allow the glue to have something to adhere to. I wrapped the paper around the box and marked with a pencil where I needed to trim it. After trimming I used the Anywhere Glue Stick and got the paper attached to the box. I left the box open to dry while I worked on the matching cards. After I finished the cards I made a belly band for the box. Not that it really needed it but I thought the box needed a bit more finesse and I didn't want to make the front look just like a card so I thought the belly band was the way to go.

I took the Brocade Blue marker and colored along the edges of the box. It was raw wood but I felt it needed some color. I wasn't all that thrilled with how dark it turned out. I was surprised at how much color got absorbed into the wood. But it's ok, no one will notice unless I point it out to them!

I did use the little flowers Cuddlebug folder on the white card stock. If you don't have that and want to keep this all Stampin' Up! you can use the set "Little Pieces" and clear embossing powder and get a look similar to this.

Once I finished the cards I stamped the lower left corner on the front of the envelope. Stamping your envelopes is all a part of the presentation, right Ann? My friend Ann is the one who got me to stamp my envelopes. You don't make a card without stamping the envelope. I still do but I try to make a better effort to stamp the envelopes!!

Anyway, this is the finished product. It's now a great gift for someone special! It makes a great Hostess Gift, Door Prize or just a gift to give to a wonderful friend.

Thank you for stopping by,
Wanda

It's NOT Garbage!!!

I had gotten some brads that came in an interesting firm plastic package. It was easy to open and didn't ruin the packaging when it was opened. The first thing I thought of when I looked at it was, "those Hershey Nuggets look like they fit in here." I'm thinking two would fit but only one does. So I took the nuggets I had left from making the nugget boxes and used the "Petals" jumbo wheel with Pretty in Pink ink on address labels. Then I typed the wording into my word processor (Open Office, it's like Word Perfect Corel and Microsoft Office but it's FREE!!! And it works with the new Window's Vista. My son set it up for me and told me to use it instead of purchasing a current Word Perfect, which is around $250. OUCH! Hmmm $250 or free??? What to do??? LOL I will find out where you can get this software and post it on here.)

Ok, back to my project!! I took the inside factory label out. It was just a piece of thin chipboard that fit snug in that space, no tape or glue! Then I printed out my wording on the computer using the "Little Lamb" font by Stampin' Up! It's such a sweet font! I typed out my information and printed that on one side of the card stock and on the other I printed out the "thank you." To get the words to line up with the ones on the back I made sure I paid special attention to the margins of the one so I knew where to start the words for the other side. I printed it out and it was not exact so I did have to go back and move a few letters/words over and after 3 tries I got it lined up to where I could work with it. I measured the original insert and cut my card stock accordingly. I trimmed the corners just a hair. Then I wheeled on the color and put it inside the container. I had put the address label on the nugget and set it inside the container. I closed up the container and tied a bow in the center spot where a hole is made for hanging it in a shop. I think these will be a fun addition to my customer appreciation event coming up in July. I just thought they were literally "sweet!"

And finally a picture of both the front and the backs of the container. The nugget on the top covering my information is there not only to cover the information but to show you a more clear picture of it!

You'll NEVER look at your garbage the same again!!! LOL

Click on the photos to see them up close.

Thanks for stopping by!
Wanda