DIY: You've Been Bugged!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea from Jen's Happy Place.  I'm doing this around my office place starting Friday.  What do you guys think??  Head to her blog for more!!

I think everyone will get a kick out of putting the

sign up by their desks that says "Don't BUG me!"

That will really show off our customer service- LOL!

One of the complaints from the boo'ed game in October was that people had to do two treats (and some people went overboard with what they gave), and also we started running out of co-workers to boo. So, I thought I would get it going by bugging two people, but then after that, each person would only have to assemble one treat. Hopefully this will work out better.

Here are my treats that I will secretly place on two of my co-workers' desks today:

This is how they will look when first given . . .

The pink mailbox!

Yep, still obsessed with vinyl! I had so much fun

with the mailboxes I decorated for Christmas gifts (HERE)

that I just couldn't pass up these Target dollar section cuties!

And the classic valentine red mailbox!

I will flip if my recipients win the $1000 a week for life!

This Target sticky note pad is so cheery-

much needed in our boring office! 

And could one ever go wrong with chocolate????

Here are the mailboxes dumped out . . .

Another fun sticky notepad from Target!

Supplies:

• Cricut Quarter Note cartridge for name lettering (welded on my Gypsy)
• Cricut Designer's Calendar cartridge for heart
• Cricut white indoor vinyl
• Metal mailboxes from the dollar section of Target
• A rolled up copy of the sheet shown above rubber-banded to mailbox flag (I forgot to add it before I took pics, but I did add valentine ribbon from Michael's and tied it in a pretty bow which covered up the rubber band-Oops!)
• Love Bug graphic found on the internet HERE
• GeoSlab703 XBd BT font for headings
• Kabel Bt BT font for body text
• DelRay font for "Happy Valentine's Day"
• Instant lottery tickets
• Ande's Valentine mint chocolates with sweet thoughts/messages on them
• Lindt Lindor chocolate truffles
• Reese's peanut butter chocolate hearts
• Sticky note pads from Target's dollar section

Hope you enjoyed and are inspired to start something fun like this in your own workplace! Help yourself to the sheet I created. All I ask is that you credit me and leave me a comment that you used it! I would love to see your take on it! :)

I am entering this fun "party-starter" in Decorate to Celebrate's Valentine Party challenge!

DIY: Thumbtack Art!

We will take a brief hiatus from holiday crafts to show you this wonderful DIY project from Things Bright's blog!  We can see all sorts of quotes, song lyrics, or just fun sayings that could be used here.  Perhaps even a variation that could be holiday themed?  We know you can get plain white thumbtacks from Wal-Mart for $0.88 and you could paint them with any color or even use polka dots, glitter, stripes, or anything!  Have fun with it.

Happy Monday, friend!
I made myself a bit of art for my wall completely inspired by Pakayla Biehn’s Neon which I featured this morning.
It was so fun!

Earlier that day I had gone thrifting and found giant graph paper and vintage thumbtacks. I had no plans, but as per usual, figured I’d use them for something, or put them in my vintage shop. (I’m working on some paper ephemera kits.)
Same for the canvas.  A friend who was moving didn’t want the art she’d made for her daughters old room and didn’t want the canvases either.  Guess who knew the canvases would get used for something sooner or later?
Then, idea! What if I made some thumbtack art?
I’ve been wanting to add some metallic shine to the living room. But what to make? I thought of a compass or star…but neither felt right for the moment. And then I remembered totally crushing over Biehn’s neon sign, wishing I could have it.
I love the simplicity and cleverness of the play on words!

Once that was settled, I put my new graph paper to work.  I outlined my canvas, then free-handed the words.  Me turned out perfectly sized and centered, and then I rewrote you and oui a couple times.  It took a bit to get the Y and Os the way I wanted them.
(I’m almost sure there’s some messed up psychology in there somewhere!)

I also played with the idea of painting our last name in gloss along the OUI at the bottom. 
When I first realized I had to remember how to spell Drouillard, I thought, “But I took Spanish!”  But even I knew oui was yes in French, so once I realized that, I was helped immensely.  Ever since then, designs with oui in them, like this bag, have made me happy.
But I think I was complicating the design.  I couldn’t figure out how to make it look cool because putting “dr OUI llard” on there, even in a hint of gloss, brought the OUI off-center.
Besides, now it leaves something for people to figure out, since I didn’t literally spell it out for them. 
(Except you, of course.)

After I spray painted the canvas olive green – because I like olive green and gold – I originally started thumbing the tacks right through the paper onto the canvas.

At this point I started realizing two things….
One,  I was not going to be able to just tear away the paper when I was finished.  Those tacks held it tight.

Two, those tacks needed something more to hold onto than just the canvas.
So I recycled a bunch of cardboard box pieces into the back of the canvas and taped them in with painter’s tape. 
I have nice brown packing tape somewhere that would have looked better, but I couldn’t find it.  I’m thinking my little urchins may have used it up. That is usually the cause of “lost” craft supplies for me. 
(But oh well, no one but will see the back anyway, right? Ahem.)


I also took all the Y tacks back out, firmly, and then firmly but gently traced all the letters over a few times and put dents in the canvas. 
I’m sure there’s a better way to transfer these with carbon paper or something, but this is what made the fastest sense at the time.  I forgot to get a good shot of that, but you can see the rest of the M and the top of the E at the bottom of this photo if you look carefully.

DIY: Party Animal Necklace

These are whimsical, creative, and we adore Flamingo Toes blog for putting them together!  What do you think?  Do you love them like we do??  We must find an occasion to wear one of these bad boys...

Here is what you’ll need:

• Animals (I got these at Michael’s – and I think they are the same animals they used. They were in a tube – take your 40% off coupon)
• Beads, chain, ribbon, fabric, rhinestones, wire, etc for embellishment
• 22″ chain and closure findings for necklace
• bails (to make the animals into pendants)
• Glue (I used E-6000)

We’re going to start with the elephant so you can see what I did, then I’ll show you closeups of all of them.
The beauty of these though is that you can dress them up any way you want!

Start by gluing a rhinestone spacer to the top of the elephant’s head.

Add a colorful bead on top of that.

I think he likes his hat. :)

Cut a piece of ribbon for his blanket.
(I got this gorgeous jacquard ribbon from my lovely sponsor, The Ribbon Retreat. I have a nifty project planned with it but this little scrap made a perfect blanket piece.)

Glue to the back of the elephant.

Trim the blanket with a small piece of chain.

Add a strip of rhinestones between the blanket and the tail.

Wrap a bit of wire around each foot.

Glue a bail to the elephant’s back, towards the top.

Let everything dry thoroughly before you add your chain.

Cut a piece of chain the length you want your necklace to be (I cut mine 22″).
Feed the chain through the bail.

Add the closure pieces to the ends of the chain. I used a lobster clasp on one side and a jump ring on the other.

Now you have a super cute Party Animal Necklace!!

Here are some shots of the others so you can see how they’re dressed up.

Our zebra has a crown (lucky him!) and a fabric blanket.

Our giraffe likes rhinestones and sequins. Snazzzzy.

Our tiger is wearing a pompom collar (all the cool tigers do) and some chain around his middle. He has a flat bail, which was easy to cover with the chain.
Here’s a pic before I wrapped it.

Aren’t they fun??

DIY: Muffin Tin Crayons

This tutorial from Kaboose's blog couldn't be easier, more fun, or cheaper!  Three things that we just love in any craft.  

What you'll need:

• Cupcake/muffin tin
• Non-toxic broken crayons
• Vegetable oil
• toothpick

How to make it:

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
2. Remove all the paper labels from crayon pieces. (Please check to make sure they are non-toxic crayons.)
3. Put ¼ teaspoon of vegetable oil into each muffin pan cup, no cup liners needed.
4. You will use the equivalent of 4 new crayons for each cup. Place broken crayons (no longer than an inch each) into the muffin pan. This will fill the cup about 1/3 full.
5. Place into the preheated oven and watch carefully, they melt quickly!
6. Bake crayons for 8 minutes or so.
7. When the crayons begin to melt, remove them from the oven and stir gently with a toothpick.
8. Crayon will look “ugly” and the colors may appear blended too much. Don’t worry! They look much better on the other side.
9. Let the crayons cool completely.
10. Once cooled, pop the crayons out of the muffin pan by tapping on the backside of the pan. Crayons should fall right out.

 

Tips:

• If you have any new crayons available, use one as a measuring stick. Lay broken crayon pieces along side of the new crayon to measure out 4 full sized crayons. This is how many you will need for each completed chunky crayon.
• Be sure to use extreme caution around kitchen utensils and the oven. Always use oven mitts and do not stick you fingers into the melted crayons.
• If you don’t have any broken crayon pieces, you can buy a large box of cheap crayons at the Dollar Store.

DIY Butterfly Rice Tosser by Posh Paperie + Jackie Wonders

Check out Posh Paperie for this fantastic tutorial on how to make Butterfly Rice Tossers!  Super cute, and super easy - we can think of other ways to use these great paper wrappers, can you??

Photography By / Jackie Wonders
Design By / Posh Paperie

Photography By / Jackie Wonders
Design By / Posh Paperie

Supplies needed to make these pretty, pretty Rice Tossers:

Butterflies (found at a craft store)
Cardstock: different colors and patterns (thinner works best!)
Photocopy of “Tags”
Hole Punch
Red Tape
Scissors

Photography By / Jackie Wonders
Design By / Posh Paperie

Photography By / Jackie Wonders
Design By / Posh Paperie

Photography By / Jackie Wonders
Design By / Posh Paperie

Photography By / Jackie Wonders
Design By / Posh Paperie

Photography By / Jackie Wonders
Design By / Posh Paperie

Photography By / Jackie Wonders
Design By / Posh Paperie

Photography By / Jackie Wonders
Design By / Posh Paperie

Tutorial: Super Simple Paper Stars

Incredibly easy, but incredibly cute tutorial from AnneKata!  These wonderful simple paper stars would be awesome for party decoration, or just around the house!

Here’s how to make your own:

Materials: - origami paper or other square paper (mine was approx. 6″)
- pencil
- scissors
- glue
- string to hang hem
How to:
Just follow the directions in the picture tutorial below.

Turn the paper over and fold as in the picture below.


Mark with a pencil a little less from the border to the middle. Do it on all four sides.

Cut with scissors from the edge to your pencil mark on all four sides.


Glue every other side on the folded flaps.

Pull the unglued side over the glued side.

One side is ready, but you need one more to complete the star.
Repeat previous steps to make another star.

Glue as shown.

The glue is missing in this image, but this is the way to attach the 2 stars together.