A "SHOW AND TELL" PROJECT

Hello, everyone!  I told you I'd be back with my little project I was working on the other night and, ironically, Sheila allowed me to use this in lieu of my tutorial project today (which I'd totally lost track of).  I'm so glad I finished it in time to be able to share with everyone as a "Show and Tell" over at She's A Sassy Lady as well as with you!

Unfortunately, I'm still pressed for time and so I've got to speed away again when I've finished.

Being that my circumstances hadn't allowed me to craft for the last 2 months I hurriedly delved into doing this simple little project as soon as I found I had some spare time.  I had soooo much fun with this.  This project began with some Christmas ornaments  I'd purchased several years ago and never did anything with.  Knowing I'd need a few quick and easy Christmas presents, and not knowing when I'd have extra time for sure, I came up with an idea -- I'll tell you what the idea is after the presentation as it won't be just to exactly hang on a tree... lol!

Now I'll "SHOW" you what the ornament I began with looks like:

Just an ordinary glass ornaments (the flat-round ones you get from Michaels -- cheap!).  Now here's what I did with them (click on the pictures for a larger and more detailed view):

 

Here's a side view:

 

Aren't they pretty?!!!  Of course they are!!!  Okay, let me "TELL" you how I embellished them.  I glued pretty trim around each of the ornaments and then glued a row of bling mesh to the trim, next I glued on some paper flowers and leaves that I highlighted with Stickles, and lastly I just attached some assorted complementary ribbon bows to the ring on the cap of the ornament along with another paper flower to cover the knots in the bows.  That's it!!!

 

Soooo, what's my idea for them?  Well, I'm going to fill them with bath salts!!!  Yep..., then I'm going to tuck them into organdy bags with matching tags -- which I haven't made yet... lol!!!   I think the quick and easy bath salt ornaments are going to be fabulous Christmas gifts!!!

 

Well, I certainly hope to be back on schedule soon and not be away from you as I've been!!!  Keep the prayers coming!!!  My thoughts and prayers are with you all always!!!

 

I'll be seeing you!

A PRETTY LITTLE SOAP POCKET

Happy Friday, everyone!!!  Hope all's well in blogland!

Being so caught up in my kitchen-remodel, I'd actually forgotten until last night that it's my turn as DT designer over at Pam's today.  But first let me give you an update on the remodel -- THE WORK BEGINS TODAY!!!   We finally purchased everything needed, cleared out the kitchen, and now the real work starts!!!  YEAH!!!  I've survived so far although it hasn't been easy -- and it ain't over yet!!!  LOL!  Soon now I'll have before and after pictures to post for you to see.

Realizing at the last minute I had to have a project today, I had to come up with something really fast and easy, so I decided on a little ribbon pocket to hold a bar of soap. This one came out so cute I think I'm going to make a bunch of these to have around for unexpected Christmas presents.  Here are pictures of the pocket closed and open:

 

 

 

 

The ribbon I used for this project was 4 inches wide (to accommodate the soap bar).  I purchased it at Cosco's and it's a wired ribbon.  It is a beige and creme color ribbon with a suede texture, and the back side is like a gold satin -- very pretty.  I embellished it with a satin leaf, creme bow, flowers, accented around the edges of the pocket with bling mesh, and I added a polymer clay cherubs embellie that I molded some time ago and found in my stash to add to the cover-flap.  I painted the cherubs gold, and accented it and the flowers with gold Stickles.  The pretty soap bar comes in a pack of 3 and  I purchased them from a Tuesday Morning store -- they smell marvelous!

This pocket is certainly nothing new, is very simple, and probably doesn't require a tutorial but I'm going to explain and show you how I did it anyway -- just in case!

Without cutting the ribbon, I started by measuring out enough ribbon from the spool to cover the soap forming a pocket , leaving about a 1/4" allowance to fold a hem into the bottom; this will hide the raw edge opening of the pocket when folded over to encase the soap bar.  Pictures below are side and top views of pocket fold:

 Next I measured and cut off enough ribbon from the spool  to form the cover-flap, this time leaving a 1/2" allowance to fold 1/4th inch and double-fold another 1/4th inch to form a hem -- again to hide the raw edge.  Here are pictures of the first and then double fold:

 

Last, I hot glued down the hem folds and the side-edge folds forming the pockets, and cleaned up the pocket by cutting away any loose glue and/or ribbon strings:

 

 

NOTE: I do not remove the wire from this ribbon as it helps to maintain closure of the top flap; however, you can remove the wire and use your own desire closure.

 

 

Now how easy is that!!!

I hope my little project inspires you to do quick presents when needed too!  It can be sized to fit and hold any size gift as long as the ribbon is long and/or wide enough.  I'm also going to do several of these to hold hand sanitizers too!  We all need them, right?

Well, gotta run -- still really busy (and watchful!  The workers are still strangers in my home).  But thanks so much for stopping by and, I hope to get around to visiting with you all soon!

Love ya, and I'll be seeing you!

"BETTY BOOP" DECOUPAGED GIFT SOAP

Hello, everyone!  I'm here with a quick and easy project that is being presented as my DT project over at Pam's today.  To visit Pam's blog, just click her name which is a direct link.
Well, did you know you can decoupage a bar of soap without any special papers, adhesives, or other materials?  If you didn't know that, just take a look at my soap gift:

Here are pictures of the box closed and also a close up of the top of the box:

Isn't it just sweet and cute?!!!

Here's what you'll need to get started on yours:

1 - bar soap (standard size)
1 - 4.50 x 10.50" sheet of cardstock (for soap box)
Image of your choice for bar of soap and for the box (I found mine on the internet)
Embellishments for your box
Plain white tissue paper (the kind used for gifts): large enough to print image onto for the bar soap
Decoupage Glue (if you do not have this, use small amount of white glue thinned with water)
Small "soft" paint brush
Shrink Wrap or Saran Wrap
Heat gun

Okay, let's go!   First, determine how large you want the image to be on your bar of soap and size it accordingly (I played with the size, printing it on scrap paper until I was satisfied).  Once the image is to your liking, tape the piece of tissue onto a sheet of cardstock; print out the image and allow ink to dry completely; once dry, cut it out as close to the image as possible:

Using the paint brush, apply a very thin layer of glue to the back of the image being careful so as not to tear the tissue; carefully apply the image to the bar of soap using your index finger to smooth out any air bubbles; allow to dry about 20 minutes.  Once the tissue is dry on the soap bar, apply another  very thin coat of glue to the top of the image and use the flat palm of your hand to press out any air bubbles -- you do not want to rub because the wet glue will cause the ink to smear!!!

Allow coated side to dry completely and your bar of soap will look like this:

Time for do the box!  With the 4.50" side of paper across the top of the scoreboard, score at 1" and 3.50:

Turn paper so the 10.50" side is across the top of the scoreboard and score at 1", 4.75", 5.75", and 9.50":

On each side of the box, cut the  4.75" and 5.75" scorelines up to the 1" and 3.50 scorelines only -- this will create your center tabs which separate the top from the bottom of the box.  Next, cut out and remove a triangular section from each corner of the four (4) corner tabs: your box should look like this:

Bone fold all scorelines, fold and glue all tabs to the inside to form your box to look like this:

Print another image onto a sheet of cardstock and size it to fit the top of your box, and your box is ready to embellish any way you'd like.  I used stickles for the bath bubbles and 3D crystal lacquer to highlight Betty Boop and the hardware on the tub, and I completed the box with lace, beads, ribbon, and more stickles!

Before you put your soap in the box, wrap the bar with shrink or saran paper and give it a quick hit with your heat gun on all sides, top and bottom, to shrink and tighten the wrap to the soap; this will give it a nice, clean professional look!  Now you might even want to make add a small card or tag to go along with for a complete gift set!

You can alter your soap gift for a man, woman, or child and/or for any occasion -- it just depends on the image and embellishments you use.  I hope you like this and I hope you'll enjoy doing it!  I sure would love to see what you do with this, should you decide to give it a go!!!

If you have any questions, please just leave me a comment.  I'm always more than happy to help!

Thank you so much for stopping by, I appreciate you taking the time!

I'll be back as soon as I can, so...

I'll be seeing you!

DECORATE TO CELEBRATE BIRTHDAY HOP AND CHALLENGE!

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the birthday blog hop for  Rhonda and Amy!   Thank you for joining me and my wonderful friends who are ready to thrill you with their handmade creations in celebration of the birthday girls!!!

The birthday girls, Rhonda and Amy, are super-talented and gifted friends who met on-line and "clicked".  The lovely Rhonda had this incredible idea for a new twist on a challenge blog, so she contacted dear Amy and asked her to share in her idea.  For months now, they have enjoyed being able to Celebrate and share by involving others to participate together by presenting an on-going showcase of handmade goodies to use to Decorate for parties, special occassions, and all fun times!  Their union is how the Decorate to Celebrate Challenge Blog (aka DTC) all began!

To begin the party, we have a great group of crafty designers waiting to inspire you with the projects they've made in honor of Rhonda and Amy's birthday.  By clicking on their blog links you will be directed to their specific blog site.  To start from the beginning, you'll start with the first participant on the list who just happens to be one of our very own birthday girls, Rhonda:

Rhonda http://scraphappenswithrhonda.blogspot.com/ (Our November Birthday Girl!!)

Audrey http://cuteandsome.blogspot.com/
Kacee http://youhadmeatscrap.blogspot.com/
Norma http://pinkblingcrafter.blogspot.com/
Jean http://jeanscraftycorner.blogspot.com/
Liz http://www.mywhichcraft.blogspot.com/
Sherrie http://sherriescraps.blogspot.com/
Cally Ann http://callyanncraftycreations.blogspot.com/
Tracie http://trace-elementz.blogspot.com/
Brenda http://createbyburffrau.blogspot.com/
Amy http://amyscraftingspace.blogspot.com/
Lisa http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/
Sheena http://lilflowerslynne1.blogspot.com/
Peggy Sue http://icrea8cards.blogspot.com/
Carri http://doubleclickconnections.blogspot.com/
Amy http://www.lovetocrop.com (Our December Birthday Girl!!)
Decorate To Celebrate http://decoratetocelebrate.blogspot.com/

Immediately following the hop, you're invited to link your own "Birthday Party" themed project over at the DTC blog site.  Your project can be anything you choose/desire that's birthday related.  DTC will be awarding birthday prizes all month long and there will be a grand prize!  To be eligible to win you must enter at DTC.  Click on the DTC link at the bottom of the participant list get there for details and to enter your project(s)!!!  There may be additional "goodies" along the hop trail; if so, details will be available on each participant's blog.

The project I'll be sharing for this birthday celebration I'm calling "Friendship Is A Key That Opens A Heart To Sweet Things".   I think this is what Rhonda and Amy have did for each other!  The featured project is the plastic heart box filled with bath salts, which I'll have an easy recipe for you at the end of this post.  The holder box for the heart box is shown as an accessory and to bring to life the name I've given this project because that's where the "key" is:

Here are close-ups of the top of both boxes:

To do this project, I started with pieces clay to form the flowers and leaves:

This is what I ended up with:

Next I took the plastic heart box and covered the lid with glass glitter:

I finished it all off by painting the flowers and attaching them to the boxes; for the key on the container box, I simply took an old key and added glass glitter.  Finally, filled the container with bath powder, and I think it came out pretty good!!!  Here is the recipe:

• Sculpey Oven Bake Clay
• Glass Glitter by Marisa Frances
• Martha Steward Decoupage Glue and Sealer
• Mica Pigment Water Color Paint
• Plastic Heart Container (wedding section at a craft or Dollar store)
• Seam Binding
• White Colorbloc Cardstock (for box)

Now, my first giveaway (I have another one -- yeaaa!) is the easy bath powder recipe:

• 1 cup - equal amounts of Epsom Salt and Sea Salt (both can be found at your local grocery)
• 20 drops - Essential or fragrance oil (or favorite perfume to sense/taste)
• 1 to 2 drops - Food coloring (not too much -- a drop or so goes a long way)
• 1/2 tsp. - glycerin (found at your local drugstore)

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until you have a fine powder; let dry for 24 hours.  Now it's ready to add to a decorative container!  Easy!

My second giveaway is a pack of ten (10) all occasion pop-up cards by Paper Flair.  The lucky winner does not have to be a follower.  The requirement is that you leave me a wonderful comment.  Unfortunately, if you win and reside outside the U.S., you will have to be responsible for any additional shipping charges:

Now Kacee's waiting on you with another terrific project!  Hurry along and hop on over!

I hope you enjoyed my project; I certainly enjoyed sharing it with you!  And, I hope you're all having fun celebrating with Rhonda and Amy!!!

Oh, and don't forget to enter and link your own projects for the challenge!

Thanks for stopping by and I love you all!!!  And, of course, I'll be seeing you!

IT'S ALL IN THE PACKAGING!

Happy, happy Saturday!!!  Hope everyone is well (as always) and getting into a crafty spirit!!!

As I've mentioned, the DH and I are preparing for several Halloween parties this weekend, so I thought I'd get a word in, and a project to share, just in case I don't get another post in this weekend.  Of course, I'm still going to try -- LOL!!!

I don't know whether I've ever told you or not, but it's coming into the season to start my toiletry making.  These are the only items I sell!  I make toiletry baskets, containers, and products that personal customers buy for gift-giving, and I have several shops,boutiques, a couple of spa salons and  2 hotels here in the Chicago area I cater too.  The "andsome" in Cuteandsome stands for "Some Romantic Evening".  My entire name is Ain't That Cute and Some Romantic Evening.  I do romance baskets for Christmas and New Year's Eve for specific "romance" suites for 2 hotels.  However, my biggest obstacle is how to package small items I put in the shops/stores, so this year I'm trying to plan ahead.  As I was tearing through some boxes, I ran across several of these plastic bells which I'd used to create candy centerpieces for a friends anniversary, and I had plenty of them leftover.  So I wondered if I could use them to hold small bottles of the parfum/colognes I make.  So I gathered some velvet ribbon, the plastic bells, some gold Peel-offs, some stickers and a few $1 store ornaments:

And here's what I came up with to package my small bottles of cologne/parfum:

Isn't this cute?!!! I think I'll use them for soap ball ornaments too!   Last year, my friend sold over 200 little bottles -- alone --of my parfums, and one of the salons, sold about 100, because they make nice little quick stocking stuffers for people to just grab and buy.  Last year I'd packaged them in cute boxes but wanted something a bit different to try to get back the cost of what I put into buying my supplies after sharing the profits.  I'm hoping this is worth the dollar extra I'll be charging.  It's all in the packaging, you know!!!  I really don't like selling anything but it does give me extra money to buy craft supplies and not have to dig so deep into the hubby's pocket so soon after the holiday seasons!!!

Let me know what you think!!!  I really do appreciate your feedback!

Now, I wish everyone of you a very happy Halloween weekend!!!  I'll be back!

"TEA FOR ME?" BATH TIME GIFT

Good morning, friends!!!  Here I am again!  I'm up, can't sleep, dreading having to get out in bad weather later this morning to get to my therapy session.  Although the weather has warmed up a bit and it's not as cold , it's predicted to be stormy - lightning, thunder, hale -- the whole nine yards!!!  And it's not suppose to get any better throughout out the day!  It's raining and there's thunder now, but the weather channel says it'll get worse - and wouldn't you know right around the time I'll be leaving and coming back from therapy!!!  So, while I was up I worked on this little project to share with you.  I'd already had it in my head to do when I got home from therapy, so I just went ahead and put it together sooner.  It's really simple and except for the writing on the envelope and tag which was done using my cricut glitter pens -- of course -- the project was completed by hand easy-peezy! 

It's my version of a teabag and envelope.  Believe it or not, I actually pulled apart an actual plain ole Lipton teabag to see how it was put together (right down to the staple) and then mimicked the teabag and envelope too!!!  Yep, I wasted a perfectly good teabag!!!  Anyway, my teabag is, of course, larger.  It measure about 4'' x 4", give or take a few.  I used translucent paper to make my teabag and I've filled it with a fizzy Lavendar Bath Salt that I make myself and always keep on hand, and I'm going to give you the recipe at the end of this post.

I stapled decorative cord to attach the teabag and tag..  I think this will make a very nice gift when you need just a "little" something to make and give in a hurry.  So, go pull apart a teabag and make your own!!!  LOL!  Seriously, it's a perfectly perfect template.

Next time, I think I'll do smaller ones, closer to the size of a regular teabag and put several of them in a box -- just like you'd buy a box of Lipton Tea!!!  When I do, I'll show you!

Oh, I added Stickes to the cricut glitter pen writing and decor, and it's still wet, so be careful you don't get it all over yourself if you click on the picture for a closer view!

Okay, now here's the recipe for that bath salt, and you can make it in as small or as large an amount as you'll need and/or want:

• 1 cup - Epson Salt
• 1/4 cup - Sea Salt (found in your local grocery store)
• 1/4 cup - Citric Acid (if you can't find citric acid, alka seltzer crushed until powdered works great too)
• 1/2  cup - Baking Soda (any brand)
• 8 -10 drops - Lavendar essential or fragrance oil ( more/less to suit your sense of smell)

Mix well and let air dry for several hours before putting into a container.

Optional but fun:   add 1 drop red to 2-3 drops blue food color to achieve a lavendar color (test first for correctness); however, it you color your bath salt:  color the salts and let dry before adding EO/fragrance oil, citric acid and baking powder.  After adding remaining items, mix well and allow to dry again.  You can also add some pretty dried flowers and put in a decorative jar or bottle, add a pretty tag and you have another great gift!!!

Another option is to a add a skin moisturizer to your salts by adding 1 tablespoon of oil (olive, sweet almond oil, or any lite oil) to your salts.  However, you wouldn't be able to use a paper container!!!  The oil would seep through.

I hope you have fun with this one!!!  Play with it, add your own scent, color, oil, etc.!!!

Oh well,  putting this project together and posting has only taken me about an hour; now what I am going to do the rest of the morning?  I'm still not sleepy!  Well..., guess I'll think of another quick project!!!  LOL!!!

Thanks for stopping by, and I'll be seeing you!

LITTLE "FUDGIE" POUCHES

Hello, everyone!  Is everyone as ready for springtime as I am?  It's a beautiful day here today, despite the lite drizzle it's almost 55 degrees, and when I walked Buster this morning I could smell and feel spring in the air -- so exciting!

The pouch for this little project I'm going to share is not at all new, I'm sure you've seen these little tuck and fold pouches.  Anyway, I was looking at what I call my "fudgies" which I make to look like white fudge covered cookies but are really soap covered loofahs I've cut into rounds (yes, another of my handmade toiletry items).  Anyway, I was wondering how to package them to give as gifts for whatever occassion that came up; and, I thought about these little pouches.  So, I popped in one of my "fudgies", made a little matching card and now I have a cute little set for when some occassion does come up.  I think it looks so cute!

Thanks for stopping by and please come back soon!

I'll be seeing you!

LIFE'S SIMPLE PLEASURES

Good happy Friday afternoon.  Ready for the weekend?  I am!  The weather here in Chicago today is beautiful; the sun is shining and it's a whopping 40 degrees!  It feels like springtime!  I wish springtime this weekend for all of you too, my friends.

I'm sharing something with you now that isn't a paper craft... but still a craft.  Don't these fudge and fondue goodies look absolutely yummy?  Well, you can't eat them because they're my handmade soaps!

They are delicious in the bath though -- LOL!  I call them "Life's Simple Pleasures":

Go ahead!  Click on the picture for an enloargement if you feel like drooling!!!

I love making toiletries too, and I'm making boxes of goodies to give to all my "mommy" relatives and friends for Mother's Day and wanted you to have a "taste" of them too.

ENJOY!!!

Now in the meantime, don't forget to stay tuned in for my RAK details (that is unless you guess what it is)!

I'll be seeing you!

Handmade Toiletry Gift Set w/Card

I HAVEN'T GIVEN UP YET!!!

You wouldn't believe how hard I'm working on getting this blog together!  I've neglected my hubby (no "honey-do's" right now), my Buster (poor baby), family and friends, EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING!!!  And, because I'm doing this for you, I'm sure you'll appreciate my efforts, right?

Anyway, here's another handmade toiletry set I made over the holiday that was a customer request.  Isn't it pretty?  This one generated several more orders for me -- how exciting was that?!!!  I am sorry though that you can't make out the glass clearly because I etched the recipient's name on it.

Petals and Pearls Handmade Body Splash

Well, I hope you've enjoyed what I've done so far!!!

I'm still working on getting a better look for my blog, but I'm still learning how to get around here.  In the meantime, I'm posting a body splash I made for my cousin Marilyn.  I call it "Petals and Pearls" because I suspended gold leafs in the splash and decorated the bottle with pearls.  Her name on the bottom of the box was a really nice touch -- don't you think?  I cut the name out on my Cricut Expression (God, I love this machine).

Personally, I think this looks awesome!