Do you see what I see?

Inspiration is everywhere you just have to have an open eye!

These containers were calling me to transform them and give new life to them. That I did!

Pop Tarts box = Santa

Ronzoni box = Rudolph

Panko bread crumbs = Frosty


See if you can recycle and re purpose a container to be something other than what it currently is. Get creative!


I made a card to match the Santa box. I happened to have belt ribbon-how cool is that?!
These are all the goodie bags I made up with clear lollipop bags and paper scraps as the toppers.
These are inside Santa and Frosty. Can you see the rock candy? When was the last time you had that?
Stuff them in and close the lid to hide the goodies until Christmas.
Rudolph got a pretzel bag stuffed with spice drops due to the length of the box. More goodies is always a good thing!
A closer look at Frosty. I used the Cuttlebug to emboss his nose so it wasn't flat. I tied on Bloomers as his scarf but that was just for pictures! I'll replace it with a felt scarf and save this for my layouts : )
The gold buckle is from K&Co glittered boxed set of alphas. It was a frame but now it's a buckle!



Rudolph got the treatment! I used core 'dinations paper on him and sanded the flowers to show up better. His eyes are punched with the SU oval punch (3/4 x 1 1/2)-white and the black circle on top is CM-3/4 inch. His nose was an adhesive circle (came in sheets) I bought long ago. The antlers were cut out using the Cricut-Christmas Cheer cart.


Hope this gets you thinking "out of the box!!!!"

Have a great weekend : )

Not a Creature was stirring....Eek, a mouse!!

Christmas Eve Mice

These little creatures are so cute and not that time consuming to make at all.

Ingredients:
1-Double Stuff Oreos
2-Marachino Cherries with stems on
3-Hershey Kisses-Dark or Milk Chocolate
4-Sliced Almonds or peanuts (for the ears)
5-Gel writers in green and red for holly leaf + berries or Icing tubes ( which is what I used for the holly leaf).
6-Mini red candy-for eyes
7-Chocolate Candy melted- I used Nestle mini milk chocolate morsels because that is what I had on hand.

Directions
First make sure you dry the cherry off really well with a clean paper towel. The juice from the first cherry made the chocolate run right off. Oops!
Dip a cherry(stem on) in melted chocolate. Place it on the white side of the Oreo.
hint: try to place the cherry close to the edge so the tail is hanging off the cookie.
Smear a little melted chocolate on the back side of the hershey kiss and attach to cherry.
Add ears with a drop more of chocolate. Carefully place red candy eyes on face.
I glued mine on with a bit of green icing. You could use chocolate so it blends in better ; )
Draw a holly leaf with green icing tube and add another red candy piece to center to make your holly berry!

Hope you enjoyed this sweet treat and please share pics with me if you decide to make them : )

And to all a good night!

Jenn

Candies,Lolipops and Truffles

Snowmen Lollipops and Snowmen Candy chunks

The kids made these snowman lolipops and candy shapes. I helped them with the microwaving part but they decorated them with the squeeze bottles and chose their own colors.

I was trying my hand at details. I really don't enjoy painting inside the molds much : ) I hate to admit it but it's true. Too fussy for me. I'm a detailed person but this is not my preference. They came out cute but solid chocolate is much faster and they taste the same.

Santa and Rudolph Lollipops

Cookie Dough Truffles

I will take my time to get these right though! You will be so happy you tried this recipe. It's like eating a chocolate covered chocolate chip cookie-oooh yeah!
The three candies you see at the top of the plate are a little different. They are made with candy molds. First, I poured a little chocolate in the mold, then I inserted a piece of candy (like a whopper) in each mold. Lastly, I covered it with more milk chocolate and placed them in the freezer for 5 minutes to firm up. Oh my goodness me oh my !

Milk and Dark Chocolate Covered Pretzel Thins
These are so yummy. Drizzled white chocolate on top then rolled in crushed candy canes make these a perfect minty,salty,sweet combo in your mouth: ) Various toppings I used are nonpareils, and hazelnuts.

Chocolate covered Oreos
Half or whole dipped oreos makes a nice sweet treat in combination to the minty filling of the holiday oreos, now found on store shelves. White chocolate drizzled across the tops looks fun and festive along with red,white and green mini nonpareils.
Each bite is just as crunchy as the first!

Homemade sweets such as candies and cookies make perfect gifts for those special people in your life. It doesn't take much time to prepare these simple treats, which leaves you time to make custom packaging. Personalization vs generic packaging is always so much nicer, isn't it?
I know I love it when I get something that looks like it was chosen for me instead of off the shelf and convenient. Adding monogram tags or a hand made card to go with it shows it was meant just for them.

Don't forget to make a few extra sweet treats for yourself :)

For your convenience I have added the Cookie Dough Truffles recipe below
Cookie Dough Truffles
Yield: 5 dozen
1/2 cup butter,softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1-1/2 pounds dark chocolate candy coating, coarsely chopped

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add flour, alternately with milk, beating well after each addition. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Shape into 1 inch balls;place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Loosely cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until firm.
2. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt candy coating;stir until smooth. Dip balls in coating;allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm,about 15 minutes. If desired, remelt remaining candy coating and drizzle over candy. Store in refrigerator.

My Fur Babies

Meet Hershey and Truffles Can you tell I love chocolate?! Lol!

Hershey is a highly energetic, lovable 1 year old Schnoodle (Poodle / Schnauzer mix).

Here is Super Doggie!!!

I love her eyes so much. My daughter and I had fun experimenting with all the bows!
We had fun, not so sure Hershey did! She tolerated it well ; ) She's a pretty girl.
Hershey,Thea and Truffles
I don't keep her hair cut like a typical schnauzer just personal preference. I like clean cut paws and face : )
Truffles here is supposedly a Bishon Frise. Our vet said she's a Maltese. Go figure. Maybe she is a mix. The only way to be certain is to do genetic testing and we figured either way we aren't going to give her back so why bother. She's her to stay. Regardless of her breed she is the sweetest little girl ever. I love her temperament. She loves to kiss and cuddle. When we brought her home she was only 4+ lbs. She fit in all Thea's doll clothes! Oh what fun we had : )
Hershey- sitting pretty and oh so well behaved ; ) I wish I could show you how she does her ballerina dance. She is on her tippy toes and goes around and around in circles for a treat! talented little schnoodle we have here!

Winter Wonderland

Sleigh bells riiiing, are ya listening? In the laaaane, snow is glistening-can you see the snow I made on this layout?

A beautiful siiiiight, we're happy toniiiiiight.... walking in the winter wonderland!!! I was a snowflake in this play when I was in 2nd grade : ) I have a soft spot for this song!

I started out making this 2 page layout for me but in the middle of the process I decided I'm going to surprise a friend of mine and give it to her!! So shhh!~ : )
Almost of all the cuts seen are from "A Child's year" Cricut cartridge.

The small snowflakes with the rhinestones and mini trees are MS punched. Fine glitter is MS too. The mom and child are embossed with houndstooth folder by Cuttlebug. The ice skate blades have Stickles on them to look slick and wet. The snow details on the page edges are brushed on with acrylic white paint. On the bottom edges I added Aleen's True Snow. If you have not used this yet-get some -it is the coolest stuff! I added it to their hoods as fluffy trim too!

The snowmen border came from Michael's as a 12 inch adhesive strip. Queen & Co-Felt Fusion.
I made the tree directly on the paper with white acrylic paint then added ultra fine glitter so it glistened a bit. The gold star is cut from The Joys of the Season cart.
The ribbon is sooo light and icy blue I had to embellish with it somewhere! Why not add another snowflake to it?
I wish you could feel the photo corners I made here. It is suede-ish ribbon. Soo smooth and cool feeling.
I love the trim on the title box. I had this trim for so long and it seemed perfect for this layout. Can you see the clear crystals dangling right over the word WALKING? Icy touch that won't melt!
Snowlady has glitter details that are barely visible-sorry for such poor lighting here-it's dusk already so I had to edit all levels and it does not do this justice but hope you can see. The little boy is holding a red heart up she has Lace Stickles on her apron! I tried to use real fabric but it covered up the pleat detail in the die cut so I opted for this instead.

I sure hope she likes the 2 page layout and maybe she can find some time to take outdoor snowy pics when it snows later on this year.

Let It Snow!

This snowman die cut is from the "Christmas Village" cartridge. He is ready for the big snow!
I am not!

Thanksgiving Cards

Happy Friday!

Hopefully you are well on your way with crafting, baking, and planning away for the holidays.

It's been a while since I posted so I have a bunch of cards to share with you. Hope this inspires you to make a few last minute turkey day cards for those nearest and dearest to you : ) You still have some time to customize place card settings or get a few last minute cards in the mail. Better late than never, right?!

Gobble Gobble!

I have a round table in my craft room that I love to set up or "stage" my cards on. I just need better lighting to rid the shadows. All die cut images are made using the Thanksgiving Cartridge.
I put a few plates out and a platter to set the tone : ) Can't wait until they are filled with food and wine-especially dessert!
I used "The Guy Stack" by DCWV for the paisley paper here. The clock came from Making Memories "Flea Market" clear and chipboard clock faces. Cornucopia is a die cut from the Thanksgiving cart for the Cricut. I embossed it with my Cuttlebug using the wood grain folder and then inked it up to distress it which shows the raised dimension a little better. Not sure if you can see the rim on the cornucopia but I used micro beads on it then set it with my heat gun-really cool in person!

FALL

Yay for MS Glitter!!! The Indian corn looks awesome in all the sparkly hues of fine glitter topped with colored gems here and there. They look like loose kernels to me!

AUTUMN

I tried a different way to use the corn on this card. Stickles makes the few kernels pop here. I put the wheat layered underneath the corn to make it look like something you'd hang on your door. I only applied glitter to the corn stalks top here with MS Fire Opal-deep dark orange-looove this!
tried to get a better shot here of the tops

Thanks

Turkey card-more glitter! Had to jazz up his feathers a bit-that is, before we eat him up: )

Harvest Blessings

OOOH! This came out nicer than I had hoped it would. I used Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in coffee to coat the card base using a wheat stencil I cut. No waste here- once it dried I used it for the Autumn card corn topper! The sentiments are all on the cart as well. I added glitter to the words here but added beige flock to the little wheat ends or flourishes.
If you have not yet used this mist-put it on your wish list because you will love it and become addicted once you do! Can you see the gold shimmer in there? Oooh sooo elegant and whimsy at the same time. Think of all the possibilities with the rainbow of colors they have available. I currently have 9 bottles and hopefully Santa will bring me more : )

Gobble
This turkey wins first place for golden color and crispy skin!! Can I tell you how much I love my Thanksgiving cartridge? I am soo Thankful I have it, really. This was such a fun cart to play with. I made some cards a bit more playful like this one. Earthy colors and realistic touches like a drumstick popping out at ya! The steam above almost lets you enjoy the aroma!

Thankful

Can you smell the cinnamon? Yummm! The background paper is from the luxury stack. I just saw the swirls on it and immediately placed my pie on top! Perfect like apple pie and ice cream :)

Have a healthy and peaceful holiday.

Blessings to you and yours,
Jenn

Haunting Halloween Cards

Can you tell, Halloween is my first favorite holiday?! Easter comes in pretty close because I looove bunnies so much. The creep factor gives such a thrill though--mwahahah!!!!!

My husband and I go nuts for this holiday. We dress up every year and the kids love it! I can't wait until they get a little older so we can have the adult parties with really creepy scary stuff all around. They are a bit squeemish still and I don't want them sleeping in my bed so I have to hold back a little for now!
I made these cards in September because I was so excited to play with the Halloween Cricut carts and punches I bought this year. The slimy MS punch is sooo cool!!! I had so much paper left from last year I really didn't get any new this year.

the witch is embossed with SU black powder. I bought the stamp at M's last year. The MS iron gate punch is really cool!!! Patterned paper is old Anna Griffin scraps.

The cauldron and bones came from the October 31st Cricut cart and then I layered on some slime punched from green embossed paper. I love the eyeball effect!

These quotes and sayings were printed for free from online somewhere. A whole sheet of them. Maybe SBE? I forget now,sorry. A couple of orange rhinestone eyes and the wise owl is good to go!


The paper stack is from last year-DCWV-Haunting Stack. Super cool! Almost all of these little cards came from the pp in the stack.

Felt numbers I've had forever.

This came from a new sticker sheet from Hobby Lobby.

Here I stitched the silk web as if the spider crawled down the card! The stitch below was also made with my Brother computer sewing machine. It has over 60 different stich possibilities-sooo cool and easy to use!

Eek! was embossed with SU black also. Stamp came from Michael's last year too.

Last, but surely not least...."Beware" was made by Theadora (my 8 yr old)

Hope we didn't frighten you away!!!! Have a super spooky Halloween !