Valentine's Day Countdown - Day 10

Stamping on Candles

Stamping on candles is so easy! Wouldn't this make a sweet little gift? Start with a regular ol' candle. Stamp the image on white tissue paper and cut out the image, trimming close to the image. Take a piece of waxed paper at least as tall as the candle and long enough to wrap all the way around the candle with some left to grab on to. Wrap the waxed paper tightly around the candle (over the image stamped on tissue paper) and hold on to the excess in the back. Turn on your heat gun and gently heat the image. When it begins to slightly change colors as the wax melts, stop heating or you will melt the candle. Peel away the waxed paper.

I added some paper flowers and brads to my candle. I wouldn't recommend burning the candle with any additional decorations on it for obvious reasons. :) To attach the brads, just poke a hole in the candle and stick the brad prongs in.

Valentine's Day Countdown - Day 9

Coaster Treat Box


Give a sweet treat to someone special by putting together this little coaster treat box! You need five square coasters, paper, a Cropadile, and something to string it all together.


I used the polka-dot paper from the Jingle paper packet for this project. I covered the outside with red and the inside with the reverse of the same paper. Punch holes on 3 sides of four of the coasters; punch holes on all 4 sides of the last coaster. I only covered one side of the bottom (the side you can see looking down into the box) so I could use just one sheet of 12x12 B&T paper. My coasters were 3 1/4" square.


Once the holes are punched, lace the four sides together first, the attach the bottom. Decorate and fill!

Mojo Monday Sketch 125

Here's a sweet Valentine for my sweet husband. I used the Perfect Day Level 2 Paper Packet and the stamp sets "Authentic" and "Soul Mates."

Valentine's Day Countdown - Day 8

Nugget Tent

I made this cute little tent for Hershey's Nuggets in no time at all! I cut a piece of cardstock 3" x 9 1/2" and scored at 3", 4 1/2" and 7 1/2". Decorate as desired, then place the Nuggets in the tent and tie it shut with a ribbon. Tip: I ran a piece of adhesive where the candy goes so it stays in place. Easy!

Items used:

• Perfect Day Level 2 Paper Packet
• Juniper cardstock
• Dimensional Elements Hearts
• Cocoa organdy ribbon

Valentine's Day Countdown - Day 7

This is kind of a year-round project, but I wanted to share my February calendar page. I never can get my act together enough to complete an entire calendar at once, so I'm committing to making a page a month. I like projects I can do in smaller segments.

I'll list the items used at the end of the post. The layout is one from Reflections called "Sidebar - Original." I like to use Reflections for calendars because the layouts are all one-page layouts. Of course, you can mix and match them to make two-page layouts!



My pictures on this page weren't taken in February, but they are of a sweet memory of a day my husband and I enjoyed in September for our 24th anniversary.

I love the new E-size alphabet called "Posterboard." It's what I used to make the title. I stamped each letter on B&T paper then cut it out. The alphabet stamp has a thick border, so it makes the letter look like it was matted on a darker cardstock. Cool, huh!

Items used:

• Reflections Scrapbook Program
• 12" x 12" Monthly Calendar
• That's Amore Level 2 Paper Packet
• Winter Cozy Textured Cardstock - (Don't forget Hearts for Haiti!)
• Grown with Love
• Save the Date - English
• Soul Mates
• Friendship Alpha Small
• Posterboard Alpha
• Heartfelt Whimsy
• Ribbon Rounds: Chocolate, Blush, and Colonial White
• Pretty Pins
• Clear Craft Buttons (center of the flower)
• White Daisy Mini-Medley
• Just Blooms Big Pinks paper flowers
  
  

Valentine's Day Countdown - Day 6

Today, we're going to make a waterfall card. Those of you who know me also know that I'm very easily amused, so I LOVE interactive cards! This is a simple card to make and packs some "wow" factor. (Well, at least to me it does!) It does involve several steps, so I included lots of pictures.

Start with a card base for a standard-sized card (4 1/4" x 5 1/2"). I usually cover the front of the card with a piece of patterned paper. Cut cardstock in the following sizes:

Neutral cardstock:

• 1 3/4" x 1 3/4" (cut 4)

Colored cardstock:

• 2" x 2" (cut 4)
• 9" x 2"
• 3/4" x 4"
  

Score the 9" x 2" piece at 2", 2 3/4", 3 1/2", and 4 1/4". Fold along the scored lines. I forgot to score at 2" before I took the picture, so be sure you score in all four places.

Attach the horizontal strip (3/4" x 4") to the front of the card toward the bottom. Attach it securely with eyelets or brads, but be sure you don't put any adhesive in the middle.

Slide the longest section of the scored piece behind the horizontal strip. I know it's tempting, but don't use adhesive on this long piece -- it will be the part that slides.

Okay, now you can get out the adhesive -- put some on the back of the first 2" x 2" scored section, and attach it to the front of the horizontal strip. Remember -- no adhesive on the long part!

See? Like this:

Now decorate the neutral-colored squares (if you haven't already) and attach them to the colored cardstock squares. Attach the first square to the bottom scored piece, then keep going. My tip: put the adhesive on the scored piece, not the squares. The squares will overlap.

Keep going until all four squares are attached:

Now comes the fun part! Gently pull on the long part of the scored strip and watch the waterfall! (As I said . . . easily amused!) To make it easier to pull, you can attach some fibers or ribbon.

Ta-da!! The finished product:

Valentine's Day Countdown - Day 5

Today's project is a super-quick one and is perfect for little treats. The kids could even help make these for Valentine's Day parties at school.

Start with a piece of cardstock (or patterned paper) that is 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches (one quarter of an 8 1/2 x 11 inch piece of cardstock). If you use cardstock, random-stamp the entire piece. When you are random stamping, stamp in a triangular pattern, turning the cardstock as you stamp. Start with the largest stamp, then fill in with the smaller stamps. Be sure to make some stamps go off the edge of the paper. I used stamps from the Solo "L" set.

Adhere the short edges to make a tube:

Squeeze one end together and adhere. (Tip: I run adhesive all the way down the short side, then on one long side from one corner to halfway down. On the opposite long side, run the adhesive just in the middle portion. It will make it easier to put it all together.)

To make the end really secure, give it a couple of turns in the crimper. This makes it look like a real sour cream container, too!

Put in some goodies:

Finish by squeezing the open end in the opposite direction from the first, adhering, and crimping. (Make sense?)

Now, I think it's pretty cute as is, but you can certainly kick it up a notch with ribbon and a tag. Enjoy!