I have always wanted to try my hand at making a straw wreath and this seemed like the perfect time of year to make one. First let me say that the photo of the wreath is incorrect as the design goes on the side of the wreath. When Rich hung it and photographed it, he turned the pattern to the bottom. Sorry for the confusion. To make the wreath, I tried to use green mesh for over the straw, but the mesh looked like a cast on someone’s arm and I couldn’t live with it. I covered the mesh with regular burlap ribbon. Next I took a long wired gold mesh ribbon and made looks that looked like ribbon candy and using greening pins, attached the loops to the wreath. Then I took 12-15″ long pieces of the plaid ribbon and pinching it in the center, made big pieces that looked like bows once I turned the ends under. I added 6: long pieces of both wire trimmed matching navy blue and green burlap ribbons (pinched in the centers as well), wherever I thought it needed some color. The wreath looks much nicer in person as it was really hard to photograph something this large and get enough light on it. I didn’t have any problems with the greening pins, but if you use mesh, you might put your fingernails through it as it is much more delicate than I expected.

Today Rich and I visited a local farm market that is right in the farmer’s backyard.  They sell the best popping corn straight from the field, and we always like to make sure we stock up because they won’t open again until mid July.  On our way home, we stopped at a cute antique/crafty furniture store that a mother/daughter duo own and operate.  The women are so interesting and sweet, you can’t help but buy things (even though I definitely don’t need anything.)  They did have some old postcards that I have been looking for.  I saw a video with a woman who bought a journal made from a vintage postcard and it looked so cute, I thought, I have to make one.  So I bought two from Hershey, Pennsyvlania, that featured the chocolate factory and of course, the chocolates.  I think they will make adorable mini journals and are so cute by themselves, I could frame them instead.  I’m contemplating what to do with both and might make one a journal and frame one.

The other thing that they sold that was so interesting was a scented decorated wax piece.  I can only describe it as looking like a small cake with a ribbon in the middle and spices pressed into the sides.  When I looked closer, I realized that the center is a roll of toilet paper.  Not the cardboard roll, the entire roll, toilet paper and all.  Somehow she melted the wax around the toilet paper and eventually it became this cute cake shaped scented masterpiece.  She says it’s messy and takes forever, but hers were so cute, I definitely have to give this a try.  The best part is that I could not find one video on YouTube showing anything related to this craft.  How often does that happen?  I can’t remember the last craft I made that wasn’t in some way already showcased on YouTube.  This is the most exciting thing to happen in a long time.  Now for the big news..  The reason it’s not on YouTube is because it’s probably the most impossible craft and I’m putting myself into the front lines of something that no one else could master.  Yikes, I might have to rethink this one.  No, I’m going to try it, even if I end up with wax all over my kitchen and, let’s face it, most of the rest of the house as well.  Maybe I should forget about showing the craft and show the mess it made.  That’ll definitely tell the tale of the scented wax much more effectively than me showing the finished project.  I guess you’ll have to wait and see.

I’ve decided I need to get serious about a video I’ve been planning for a long time.  I always talk about Splitcoast Stampers, but it’s a really difficult website to navigate when you use it the first few times.  It’s been a godsend for me to save money while buying my mountain of crafting supplies and I want others to benefit from those savings as well.  If I do an in depth “how to” for the site, it will definitely help others to use it effectively.

In addition, I thought I’d share the other ways I save money, especially in online shopping.  More and more people shop online to avoid the crowds and to get better deals on products, so why not help them to save money and time since that’s my focus this holiday season on my YouTube channel.

There are so many ways to save and I’m probably going to miss a ton of the ways, but will focus on the things that I use and the ways I save.  I’m not trying to copy anyone else, just show what I do and how I do it.  Rich didn’t know I have one more 32 gb memory card to use and I’m going to use it for this video.  (He’s been hoarding all of the memory cards so he can catch up with me on editing and downloading videos.)   I need to get it up as soon as possible because one of my many ways to save is through a site called BlackFriday.com.  It’s a site that shows the fliers for all of the major retail stores and shows when their sales start.  This is a terrific tool to use now instead of waiting for the newspaper and trying to form a plan the night before you need it.  This will give people almost a week in some cases, to plan for the big Black Friday and Cyber Monday events.  Oh, there’s also a webpage for Cyber Monday.  I hope this video will be a huge help to people and allow them to plan ahead and avoid the stress Black Friday inevitably brings.

I’m full of ideas for the holiday season and don’t have any memory cards so can’t make any videos as Rich is holding them hostage until he gets caught up (or more than he currently is.)

I have a couple of wreath ideas I’d like to try and want to get those videos finished and online.  I’m thinking of making a wreath with clothespins that I stamp with my peg stamps.  It should be a really cute idea and one that can be used all year long.  I saw Lindsay make an advent calendar using the clothespin idea, and it lead me to thinking about going bigger and better with the stamped clothespins.  The wreath itself takes absolutely no time to make and that’s what makes it so appealing.  You clip the clothespin onto a wreath form, add a bow and you are done.  I’m sure people could clip their cards into the wreath, but I’m simply showing the wreath with a bow on it.  I loved the idea of decorating the clothespins with stamps and the peg stamps are the absolute perfect size for this idea.  Since I already have the pegs and have the wreath form, now it’s just a matter of either finding my old clothespins that I never use, or going out and buying them.  I think I’ll probably need around 60-70 of them for the project.

After staring at the straw wreath I made, I decided it definitely needed some additional green, so I went to Joanns and bought some green burlap ribbon to really make it pop.  After you put so much time into something, you want it to look great.  This wreath needs that green to take it from nice to something better.  I’m hoping to finish it tomorrow and get that video up as soon as possible as Rich already has the making of the wreath, now all I have to do is include the green parts.

I’ve been wanting to do a postcard for friends and family for Thanksgiving as a way to thank them for being so good to me.  I started with the stamp set Love you, Mean It from Concord & 9th and a small “Happy Thanksgiving” stamp from the Simon Says Stamp set Thankful Heart.  The circle and the big sentiment are both from the Love you Mean it set.
I started by using a postcard stamp I had in my stash and stamped that in the MISTI on several cards in an assembly line fashion.  I made a mistake on one of them, so used it in the MISTI to practice with the rest of my stamps.  Using the circle as my focal point, I liked the idea of using my peg stamps to really turn these postcards into something special.  I chose to use the large holly bough stamp, large berries, small berries, large pinecones and the watercolor leaf.  I used Stampin’ Up die inks in Early Espresso, Hello Honey, Really Rust and Always Artichoke.  After I finished stamping, I decided the postcard would look better if I distressed the edges with Hello Honey.  I also tried it with Really Rust and liked the way they brought the other colors to life.  I hope you enjoy this project, I thought it really came out nice.
You can find peg stamps aka Rubber Stamp Tapestry at pegstamps.com. I just got an email from them saying that they are having a huge sale on November 28th and if you check Lindsay the Frugal Crafter’s site, she normally has a discount code for them.  It won’t work for the 28th, but should work the rest of the time.

 

Just when you thought the wet glue video was an urban legend, I finally can say it’s up!  YAY!  It’s almost forty minutes long, but worth the watch if you are in the market for a wet glue or just starting out in paper crafts.  I’m really proud of it, but it is rather long, although when you are discussing twenty different glues, you can’t do it justice in a short video, unfortunately.

I have been thinking about doing a Thanksgiving postcard to send to friends and family.  Basically it’s like sending an early Christmas card, but with not a lot of muss or fuss.  I think Thanksgiving is really overlooked and traditions are going by the wayside, so why not send a short note, thanking people for being such good friends and family.  I really like the idea and have never seen anyone make a video on one.  So why not?  I think the end results are pretty great and I’m really proud of them.  And best of all, they take less than five minutes to make.  You can’t ask for anything more!

I’m full of ideas for videos, but Rich has now confiscated all of our memory cards so that he can catch up with me.  He has so many videos to edit and put online, he’s overwhelmed.  I don’t blame him, unfortunately, this time of year I’m just full of ideas.  At this point I don’t even remember what I covered in the videos Rich still has.  It will be a big surprise for me when I eventually get to see them go up.  I’m so glad I’m ahead of the game, as it gives me a chance to clean my craft room.  Oh, who am I kidding?  That craft room will be forever in a state of unrest.  It’s the nature of being crafty, don’t you agree?

I bought an 18″ straw wreath form at Joanns recently when they were on sale for $2.49 minus another 25%.  I couldn’t pass it up since the 14″ straw wreath was not on sale and would have cost more.  I’d already bought some wire ribbon and mesh that matched.  I have never used mesh and didn’t know what to expect.  I decided to start my wreath by wrapping the form in a couple of layers of the mesh to make sure you couldn’t see the straw.  Since I’ve never played with mesh, here are my observations.  When I tried to pull it tightly around the form, I could put my fingernail through the mesh and tear it, so I had to be fairly gentle with it.  When I was finished, I decided it looked like a cast you would put on a body part and that look was not for me.  Instead of taking the time to remove it, I just covered it with a layer of burlap ribbon I had in my stash.  I think the burlap looks 100% better than the mesh.  My mesh was green to match the checked pattern in my other burlap inspired wire trimmed ribbon. (Try saying that three times fast!)  I think it was the combination of the shine from the mesh and the green that was off-putting to me.  Regardless, I’ve decided I’m not a mesh girl.

I cut my checked ribbon into 15″ long pieces and had a thinner blue burlap (also wire trimmed) that I cut into 6-7″ lengths.  I turned the checked ribbon into what looked like huge bows by pinching the centers and using greening pins to attach them.  I’ve seen a live demonstration of a straw wreath being made and every once in a while, it seemed like they had a problem getting the greening pin into the straw through the plastic.  I never had that issue and was really surprised at how easily I could insert them (although after placing about fifty of them, my wrist and elbow are really hurting.)    The smaller ribbon I used as accents and pinched the centers and inserted them for pops of color.  I had a mesh glittery gold ribbon in my stash (also wire trimmed) that I made loops with and it added a little bit of elegance to the wreath.  All in all, for my first attempt at straw wreath making, I’m pretty pleased with the end result.  I think the wire trim on the ribbon is the key to making a nice looking wreath and hope you think the end result looks as good as I think it does.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder or maybe it should be “to each his own.”  I’m not sure,  but I think every person has a different idea of beauty so the wreath might not appeal to you.  Either way, the video should be up in a week or so (I’m not sure because of the amount of videos Rich has ahead of it.)  Let me know in the comments what you think.  I always appreciate honest feedback, or at least I pretend.

Last year I made a series called Totally Terrific Tags and Trimming.  I know, it’s a hard one to say.  I made a tag that I really liked but started rethinking it this year, and decided it would be a really great Christmas ornament without the tag.  It’s a Christmas tree made out of paper I folded over and over.  Really simple concept.  I bought some really nice 3-d pine cone and other fall and Christmas style metal embellishments from China on Ebay, and thought I would decorate the trees as well.  I have another idea about how to alter them.  The shape of the tree is perfect for the bottom of an angel.  Now all I have to do is find something for a head and make wings and I’m in business. If you have any ideas, please let me know.  I thought about using a big pearl for the head, but it couldn’t be a really white pearl as the paper is old and distressed looking, so the pearl would look really odd (in my opinion.) It could be a little while before this video goes live because, as you know, Rich is kind of backlogged, but I definitely want to give this some air time.

I’m also going to make another paper bag album, only this time I’m going to videotape the process.  I found some cute snack bags  at the Dollar Tree (where else), that have a random pattern on them.  Most of their Christmas snack bags have a pattern that is in an up and down design on the bag.  Since the albums are side to side, those bags won’t work, so I had to do some digging.  I did find two designs that I believe will work well.. It’s just a matter of time until I know for sure.  I do like the idea of them though, and hope I can make them work.  They seem to be a heavier weight than the cheap Walmart ones, but I haven’t opened the bag to check them out in detail.  You get twelve in a pack, which would make two albums.  Not bad for a fifty cent investment!  Those albums use a ton of tape runner, so I’ve pulled out the big pink ATG gun.  That thing is huge and so cumbersome, but it does make short work of gluing paper.  Rich absolutely HATES filling the ATG, and would rather poke himself in the eye than fill it, but it’s on his calendar for this afternoon.  Poor guy!