Easy As Sunday Morning - Gift Basket

My Sister-In-Law works very hard every week day so for Christmas I wanted to give her a gift that she could enjoy on the weekends.
What better way to relax on a lazy Sunday morning than with a
warm cup of boozy coffee or a cold mimosa? I think she'll love it!

I found a cute vintage makeup case at a thrift store for $3.99. It was missing the mirror. I solved that problem by gluing some scrap fabric from my stash over the area of the missing mirror. I then placed crumpled up paper in the bottom of the case and

covered it with a dish towel and some gift basket filler.

I found some individual serving size bottles of champagne

and a variety of juices for quick and easy mimosas.

Coffee and some liqueurs to flavor it.

Baileys, Amaretto, Chambord and Kahlua.

YUMMY!

And, of course, a few bags of goodies!

Biscotti, homemade fudge and almond roca.

Every gift basket needs some accessories.

Pretty napkins, a coffee mug and a glass for the mimosas.

Everything fit inside the makeup case perfectly!

This is one loaded gift basket!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharing with these link parties: Too Much Time On My Hands, Funky Junk Donna

Winner, Winner!

Thanks to all of you who visited and left a comment to enter for a chance to win the Autumn issue of Belle Armoire Jewerly!

I put all of your names in a bowl

and asked my husband draw one out.

And the winner is.......Drumroll.......

Congratulations to Lynn Stevens!

I know you are going to enjoy browsing through

the many pages of beautiful jewelry!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Giveaway - Belle Armoire Jewelry Autumn 2015

The Belle Armoire Jewelry Autumn 2015 issue

is as spectacular as ever!

 

I'm excited that my Roman Relic necklace

is a part of this issue!

Look how pretty it looks on the model

Belle Armoire Jewelry does stunning photography work!

(All of the photos in this post are scanned from this issue.

They look even more beautiful in the magazine!)

As a contributing artist in this issue, the wonderful people from Belle Armoire Jewelry are providing me 

with a copy of this issue to give to one of you! 

I'll give you more info on how to win this special gift below,

but first I want to show you some of the

fabulous work that this issue showcases.

I'm in love with these pendants

by Sophia Hu

And talk about the perfect mix of rustic and beauty!

Linda Bucci's cuff is amazing!

I'm fascinated with the process of enameling with words

that Laura Guenther shares!

Staci L. Smith teaches how to create beautiful pendants
by encasing stones with wire.

(I'm thinking this process could also be used with found seashells or beach glass
to create a favorite vacation memory pendant.)

You won't want to miss this amazing technique called faux embossing that my good friend, Cat Kerr shares!

These are just a few of my favorites but the
Belle Armoire Jewelry Autumn 2015 issue has so many more
techiques and incredible pieces of jewelry that
I know you'll want to see!

To enter for a chance to win a free copy of this issue
just leave a comment about this post. 
Next Tuesday, Sept. 22nd, I will randomly draw a winner.

I will need to email the winner so please, if you are a non-reply blogger, leave your contact info in your comment
or you can go to my contact page and sent it to me privately.

Good Luck!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

Tennis Party!

I've been playing league tennis for over 15 years and somehow, throughout that entire time, I've managed to avoid becoming a team captain. Well, this year, I decided it was my turn to take over that duty and with a team of amazing women, I'm sure this season will be a lot of fun!

As team captain, I thought we should start off the season with a PARTY! This time of year, what better theme could there be than Autumn?!... with a little tennis mixed in, of course!

As with most of my decorating, this party began with a trip to the thrift store. I bought two wood racquets for a $1.99 each. I knew I would need a way to display the racquets so I bought a wood crate, also $1.99.

My next trip was to a local farm. It happened to be the last day of the season they would be open so with amazing discounts, I purchased all the colorful gourds I needed for less than $6!

I propped the racquets up inside the crate. The addition of a few gourds held them securely in place. Then I added a few fresh flowers for a bit of color and life. These tennis ball vases are super easy to make. I cut a slit into the top and bottom of a tennis ball (the bottom slit is only necessary if the water tube is longer than the ball is tall) and then inserted a water tube with a flower.

I wanted to give everyone a captain's gift and a Good Luck Penny Charm seemed to be the perfect thing!

 

I hammered the heck out of a penny (hopefully I didn't hammer the luck out of it! teehee) I used a disc cutter to make a small brass circle. I stamped an initial into the brass circle and hammered around the edge for texture. I drilled a hole in each side of the brass circle. I then laid it onto of the penny for alignment and drilled holes in the penny. I cut a short length of dark annealed steel wire which would become the staple to secure the two circles. I filed and hammered one end of the wire and then inserted it through both circles with the hammered end at the front. I used pliers to bend it into a staple to attach the two circles. I trimmed the wire at the back and filed it smooth and hammered to secure. I drilled a hole at the top and then slightly domed the entire piece. To finish it off, I brushed a small dab of Novacan Black Patina onto the brass circle and then wiped it off to darken the initial and then inserted a jump ring.

So far, my Penny Charm seems to be working. I've won a couple of matches and it even helped out my bowling game!

I was trying to come up with an inexpensive and fun way to package the Good Luck Penny Charm and thought a Tennis Ball Gift Bag would work quite well! Old tennis balls are free and easy to find at my house.

I used a serrated knife to cut the top off a tennis ball. It's a bit tricky, so be very careful not to cut yourself. I drilled a hole into each side of the ball near the top opening. I inserted a steel wire through the holes and secured to form a handle. I hammered the wire handle for texture and to add strength. I tied a fabric ribbon and silk leaf to one side of the handle. I then used raffia to tie the charm onto the handle.

 

 I filled each ball basket with yummy treats!

For the final arrangement I placed the crate with racquets in the center of my table with more gourds and the ball gift bags around it.

It was a super fun party and the ladies loved their gift!

Thanks for stopping by!
 
 Sharing at: I Gotta Create!: Wildly Original Party , Distressed Donna Down Home: Make It Monday, That DIY Party: DIY Show Off, Ginger Snap Crafts: Wow Me Wednesday, Bacon Time with the Hungry Hypo: Anything Goes

Vintage Book Cuff

I'm sure by now most of you know that I'm a thrift store junkie and that I love finding ways to re-purpose some of my thrifty finds into jewelry.

One of the things I'm always picking up at the thrift stores are vintage hardcover books. Many of them have beautiful artwork on the covers and along the spine. I decided instead of just displaying them on a shelf, it would be fun to wear some of that beauty. A cuff seemed to be the perfect way to do just that!

 

Some recycled suede, used jewelry and a few easy steps was all it took to create these unique cuffs.

supplies:
vintage book
recycled suede
heavy duty snaps
used piece of jewelry
fabric glue
wire
wire cutters
scissors
bead reamer

Rip the cover away from the pages.

Carefully rip the spine from the cover.

Apply a layer of glue to the front of the spine. I used my finger to spread it out evenly. It gets tacky very quickly so work fast.

Let dry completely.

Tear a piece of suede that is slightly larger than the spine.

My wrists are small so I did not need to add any extra length.

I suggest you measure your wrist and add extra length

to the suede piece if necessary.

Apply glue to the back of the spine and lay it over the suede piece.

Let dry completely.

Decide where you want the piece of jewelry.

Attach it to the cuff with wire. I used a bead reamer to poke the holes.

Trim and secure the wire at the back.

Cut a piece of suede a little smaller than the one used for the cuff

and glue it to the back of the cuff.

Follow the manufacturers instructions to

add the snap to one end of the cuff.

Wrap the cuff around your wrist to line up the placement for the other half of the snap and follow the manufacturers instructions to add it.

That's all there is to it!

Your finished cuff should look something like this.

 

Happy Creating!
 
 Sharing with: I Gotta Create!: Wildly Original link party, Funky Junk Interiors: Party Junk, Craft-O-Maniac: Craft-O-Maniac Monday

A Lucky Couple of Weeks!

I've been on a lucky streak! A couple of weeks ago I was excited

to find out that I was the winner of this awesome book,

courtesy of  Create Mixed Media.

I'm anxiously awaiting its arrival. You can watch a video

review of this book here. It looks to be packed full of fun techniques!

But there was still more luck to come! A couple of days ago I won one of these awesome stencils from StencilGirl Products for leaving a comment on Carolyn Dube's blog.

Seth Apter is the stencil designer...love his style!

I do have a favorite stencil but all three are pretty cool.

I can't wait to see which one I get!

I'm not sure if winning two great inspirational items was just pure luck or if the universe was trying to tell me to get back to creating! Either way, I'm feeling pretty happy and am incredibly grateful to

the art world's generosity!