Mini Gift Boxes

This weekend I'm going to a retreat. At the retreat everyone gets a word for the weekend, and since I'm the chairperson of the event, I got them all ready. I was looking for something small and easy to make because there are 30 people going. Last year I stuck with a simple mini card. This year I YouTubed (is that a word? Like Googled?) mini boxes and found this tutorial for Hershey Nugget boxes. They turned out cute and somewhat random, but I think a roomful of women will like them.

They are tiny!

There's someone's word sticking out...mystery...

All 30 completed

Sample of one of each design

Stationery Box

What a fun project this is! Thanks to my sister, she reminded me that you can find all kinds of great tutorials on YouTube, including this one! It takes about three sheets of cardstock, one of them extra heavy for the box. She also had some great ideas for teacher gifts, and you can see one of her beautiful stationery boxes here:
http://unrepentantcrafter.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-not-to-buy-teacher-or-so-ive-heard.html



The lid can be just regular cardstock.



Inside, the possibilities are endless. In the tutorial, she added a pencil holder and put stamps in one pocket. I put several different gift tags in one compartment, and a couple of mini cards in the other. The biggest pocket contains stationery pages for quick notes.



This little notebook is attached to the base and contains lined paper inside.



Cute little mini cards are perfect to attach to any gift.

Have fun with your own stationery box!

Rusty Star...Yes, More Decor

I wanted to do the Rusty Metal Star class at Simply Fresh Arts so much! I have always loved the stars that many people are hanging up all over their house, both inside and outside! Simply Fresh was doing a class at a great cost, so when I told my husband about it when we stopped in to buy some stamps, I was super excited when he said I should go for it! Then he surprised me by saying he wanted to make one too! So we spent Monday night from 6:00 to 8:30 cutting and pasting away together. It was great, and we ended up with two great stars! Thank you Sheila from Simply Fresh Arts for helping us get the details just right!

This star is mine! I knew I wanted some patterns in there to keep it countryish (thank you, Jess.) I wanted to stick with the red theme we have going in the kitchen, too. Sheila gave us the option of painting the stars to cover the rusty look, but all three of us in the class decided that we loved the rust and did not paint! These papers worked great for my theme. The one with the words on it is from Graphic 45 and fits a country theme perfectly! (Look closely. You will see an article about a washing "machine" on sale for $1.47 or something like that!) I also love these stars because they are really big! I might even try another!



Here is my husband's star. He picked his paper and had it all glued then added old images of people from his tribe for a really unique star. He says he is not quite finished since he is going to add some borders around the pictures. He even picked up some mod podge to work on a fly fishing project! I have the coolest husband ever!

What a fun project!

Bedroom Decor

I know these are not your typical wall hanging, but I guess all that matters is that we like it! Once I got started, (see post below), I couldn't stop myself! These papers totally lend themselves to an above-bed hanging in a group. One in the middle and one on either side of course!

Home Decor

About two weeks ago (well, much longer than that, but about two weeks ago seriously) we started thinking about trying to sell our house. There is nothing wrong with our house. In fact, we really like our house. It is a great location right across from cows and horses and water. We have 1260 square feet, a very tiny mortgage, a fenced back yard for the dogs, etc etc. So you say, well then why sell? We are tired of paying almost $400 a month in lot rent on a lot WE have to fix...as in, just check out our back yard. Reseeding is a pain!Anyway, we decided that we should check into selling it, which motivated us to put in some major hours of work. We gave away two truckloads of stuff! We also read on a "sell your house" website that you should take down personal pictures, so we did, then it looked really bare, so my husband said I should get to work. So I did! These were fun and are now hanging in the kitchen! It's like a card but hangable...if that's a word... And yes, these papers are from Simply Fresh Arts, or from Kristii before Simply Fresh was open. Some of them are Cosmo Cricket and some are October Afternoon. I love them!