A quick and easy gift...

So I found these cute little candles while shopping down in Minot and decided they would be a cute and quick little gift.  To decorate them up a little more I took the sticker tags off and glued papers and stickers on them to create labels.

~A

Teacher gift idea...

So Preston's last day of school for this year was on the 16th so I can post this now...his gift for his teacher.  We created magnets in a decorated tin for her.  These are actually quite fun to make so I'll be creating a couple more sets and showing them later on.  The magnets I bought are super strong neodymium earth magnets so they will hold up lots of papers (which makes me happy because anyone that has had to buy magnets for their fridge must know it's hard to find good magnets).  I punched out paper to put into my bottle cap tops and then sealed it with embossing powder to preserve the paper.  I then decorated the tin with various papers.

~A

Christmas ornaments...

So every year I purchase ornaments for the boys but this year finding ornaments with the things they are interested in proved to be difficult and disappointing.  So this year I created ornaments for them instead.  These are super cute and take a little bit of computer know how to make the image into the right size to print them out.  The frames and glass are by Inkssentials.  I searched online for images of their favorite characters, resized them in Adobe Photoshop 5 and then printed, cut them out and put them into the frame. 
~A

Completing tasks...

So my loving husband has been asking and asking when will I complete my photo wall so I sat down today and picked some pictures to put into the frames I purchased garage sale-ing this summer.  I have to say I am pretty pleased with the completed project.
~A

Baby presents

So since I've been so productive this month I realized that I am behind on my baby gifts (oops).  So I dedicated this weekend to catching up and making some adorable baby beanies.  This is the first one I completed during the weekend.

~A

A couple more mini folding albums...

So I decided to dig deep into my scrapbook stash and pull out a couple of papers that have been sitting in the box for a while and make a couple more mini albums.  These are so fun and quick you can finish it in an afternoon!

~A

Snowman handprints...

So it was Petite Picasso day at the Expressway Family Centre and luckily I had just enough supplies left over from last year's snowman fingerprint mini canvas to do it again this year with a totally new group.  I think both the kids, parents & grandparents had fun with this one LOL!  We start by getting the kids to paint the background on the canvas, then once it dried we paint their fingers and then stamped them onto the canvas.  After that the parents & grandparents do the finishing touches (ie hats, scarves, eyes, noses, snow dots).  I wish I had taken a picture of all the pretty handprints as each one was so unique!
~A

And continuing with my theme...

I am just having so much fun making wreaths this year.  Unfortunately all the gorgeous ball wreaths don't fit between my 2 front doors to my store so I had to make a different kind of wreath for that area.  This is what I came up with.  Inspired by the pretty tans and browns that are out this year I bought a couple of ornament birds, some balls and pinecones.  I also happened across that neat feather plume in the home decor aisle in Walmart and thought it would be a great addition.

~A

My advent calendar...

Please excuse the poor picture but I just had to share my not-quite-complete advent calendar.  I bought a bunch of those magnetic tins and wrapped papers around them and then stuck hersheys kisses in them.  I have a beautiful vintage frame that I repainted that I will be putting these on once my awesome father gets to finding his tin to put in the frame.  I'll post a finished picture once I get it back. 
~A

Merry Christmas Mr Grinch...

So this is a recycle project with a little something new.  I purchased all the red and silver balls from a local thrift store (for $2 total) and then added the green balls and red & white bells.  I have to say I am very happy with the final product and may not be able to give this one away LOL!  It just reminds me of The Grinch and is just plain fun!
~A

Another non traditional...

So the wreath I donated to the Expressway Family Centre Twisted Tree Auction was greatly admired by a dear friend that I thought what other way to give a unique gift than use up the rest of the balls I had and make another one for her.  I had to switch it up a bit as I ran out of certain colors and was unable to pick more up as they were out of stock, but I think it worked out perfectly!
~A

Not your traditional Christmas Wreath...

I am loving these non traditional colors this year.  I just had to buy some to make a wreath.  To see the tutorial that I used click here.
~A

Advent Calendars...

These Kaisercraft advent calendars were a challenge, but the final product is sooo beautiful!!!!I found this website very helpful with lots of details. 
~A