Year In Review, Part 2

Hello!  Well, as promised, here is the second half of my Year in Review for 2012...  Now I'm going to start looking forward to many more projects for next year!  :)  I am hoping to enter more challenges, and just have fun in my craft room.  I had so much fun being on all of my Design Teams, but it definitely made it more difficult for me to make projects for challenges, etc.  Anywho, here are some of my favorite projects from July-December...  Enjoy! 

 

Patriotic Card

 

Homemade Bubble Bath

 

Popsicle Card

 

Flounder Card

 

A Latte Love Card

 

Back to School Tin

 

Lettuce Birthday Card

 

Tooth Fairy Card

 

Halloween Mini Cards

 

Halloween Hand Sanitizer

  

Halloween Treat Holder

 

Miss You a Bushel Card

 

Thanksgiving Card

 

 

Snowflake Gift Box & Tag

 

Happy Holly Days Cookie Jar

Well that wraps up 2012!!!!  Have a wonderful, safe, and Happy New Year's!!!  See you in 2013!  :)

Year In Review, Part 1

Hello everyone!  I am so ashamed of myself for taking this long to post something!  I didn't even realize it had been this long, and I have just been soooo busy...  I'm sure everyone has been feeling that way!  :)  Well, as I sit here and think back on this year, there have been so many great things that have happened in 2012...  My niece, Sophie, was born.  My niece, Chloe, is in my class (so fun).  Met a wonderful friend who introduced me to a nice guy.  Got my first "real" injury (not really a good thing, but now I sure do have a story to tell).  Most importantly, I spent lots of time with friends and family!!!!  Oh, and I was on 3 different Design Teams (my first DTs ever)!  I also did a lot of crafting, and I am going to show you some of my favorite projects that I made from January-June.  Tomorrow, I'll show you the rest of the year's projects... 

 

Snowman Birthday Card

 

Toaster Valentine Card

 

Cup of Tea Valentine Card

 

Valentine Coupon Holder

 

 

California Card

 

 

A Latte Thanks Card

 

"Chair"ished Friend Card

 

Leprechaun Card

 

Wool You Be Mine Card

 

Peeps Card

 

Bee's Knees Card

 

iTunes Gift Card Holder

 

Get Well Soup Mix in a Jar

Magnetic Photo Frame

Okay, those are just a few of my favorite projects from the first half of the year!  It was really fun looking back at all of those projects (some I had forgotten about)...  Thanks for stopping by, and I'll be back tomorrow (hopefully) to post projects from the second half of the year!  See ya soon!  :)

Cold Hands, Warm Heart Tag

Hello!!!!!  I am so shy about my post today!  For the Joy's Life DT we are supposed to share a tip or technique with our project...  Well...  I am not the best at giving tutorials/tips...  I find that a little sad, seeing that I am a teacher!!!!  I also couldn't think of what I could possibly give a tip about, but then it clicked...  Fuzzy Fun Flock!  I'm going to show you how I use this awesome stuff...  Okay...  here it goes...

Tags, Bags, Boxes & More- tag cut at 4.06"
Winter Frolic- snowman cut at 3.24"
Hoot 'n' Holler- heart cut at 1.24"
Joy's Life Stamps- Oh Christmas Puns
Fuzzy Fun Flock- envious green & chili pepper red

Okay, here's my "tip"...

These are the supplies you'll need to make something "fuzzy" (a.k.a. super adorable).  I use my Xyron sticker maker, with permanent adhesive. 

You'll want to choose a cardstock color that is similar to the color of the Fuzzy Fun Flock you want to use.  White cardstock with a colored flock just doesn't look as nice...  I'll show you an example in a bit....

Run the pieces that you want to flock through the sticker maker, upside down.  Once that is done, I make sure to rub the back of the pieces with something hard (I used the fun flock bottle) to make sure that all of the adhesive is sticking to the other side. 

Peel the pieces off of the adhesive paper and just "dump" on the fun flock (like my technical term there?!?).  Then I rub the entire piece with my finger to make sure the flock is sticking to the image and is completely covering all of the adhesive.  Then you just tap off the excess (just like using glitter).  VOILA!  You're done, you have made something fuzzy!  Just use the pieces on your project any way you want!!!!

This is an example of why you want to use a colored cardstock, not white.  The left was done with white cardstock, and the right was done with the red cardstock.  To me, it just looks so much better with the colored cardstock...  :)

That's all there is to it!  I hope you found that somewhat helpful...  Thanks for stopping by!!!  :)

Treat Box & Caramel Recipe!!!

Hello!!!  I'm telling you that it is a dangerous thing for me to have sweets in the house!  I made cookies for yesterday's post and caramels for today's post, so I am surrounded by delicious things and my will-power is weak!  :)  I am taking the leftovers to work tomorrow, and hopefully they will be completely devoured so I don't have to bring them back home!  I froze some of the shortbread cookies, and they are so yummy out of the freezer...  Anywho, for today's Joy's Life DT project, we were asked to make a food project.  I love making sweets, so I decided to make a little treat box and fill it with homemade caramels!  Let me tell you folks, I do not like caramels from the store, but these little beauties are so delicious!!!!!  At the bottom of this post I will share the recipe with you!!!!  YUM!

 

Winter Frolic- Santa cut at 2.88", tree cut at 3.71"
Sweet Tooth Boxes- treat box/lid cut at 6.41"
Cuttlebug- snowflakes
Joy's Life Stamps- Oh Christmas Puns
Transparency film
Caramels

Okay, here's the recipe....  Soooooo good!  Thanks for stopping by!!!  :)

Chewy Caramels

Recipe from allrecipes.com

• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 1 pound light brown sugar (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Heat to between 234 and 240 degrees F (112 to 116 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface. Cook for 2 minutes at that temperature. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla.
2. Meanwhile, butter a 9x13 inch baking pan. When the caramel is ready, pour into the buttered pan. Allow to cool completely at room temperature. Remove from the pan and cut into squares using scissors. Wrap individual pieces in waxed paper or cellophane.

Happy Holidays Blog Hop!!!!

 

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Joy's Life DT Happy Holidays Blog Hop!!!!  If you just hopped here from the very talented Staci, you're in the right place.  To start from the beginning click HERE.

Oh, I am so excited that the holidays are here, and that Christmas is right around the corner!  One thing that I love to do around Christmas is bake!  The cookies that I used in this project are soooo delicious, and I will share the recipe for them at the bottom of this post!  I thought it would be cute to stack the cookies in a jar to give as a gift.  I love using jars!  On this project I used both of Joy's Christmas stamp sets:  Wintery Puns & Oh Christmas Puns!

Storybook- label cut at 1.82", 2.29"

Joy's of the Season- holly branch cut at 2.53"

Joy's Life Stamps- Wintery Puns on label, Oh Christmas Puns on the lid

1.5" circle punch

Ribbon

Jar

You're next stop on this awesome hop is Laura!  Thanks for stopping by and Happy Holidays!  :)

Here's the recipe for the cookies I used in this project!  YUMMO!  :)

White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread Cookies

Recipe from Better Homes & Gardens

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup cold butter
• 12 ounces white chocolate baking squares with cocoa butter, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 drops red food coloring (optional)
• 2 teaspoons shortening
• White nonpareils and/or red edible glitter (optional)

Directions:
 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spread cherries on paper towels to drain well.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in drained cherries and 4 ounces (2/3 cup) of the chopped chocolate. Stir in almond extract and, if desired, food coloring. Knead mixture until it forms a smooth ball.

3. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in sugar, flatten balls to 1-1/2-inch rounds.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until centers are set. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.

5. In a small saucepan, combine remaining 8 ounces white chocolate and the shortening. Cook and stir over low heat until melted. Dip half of each cookie into chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. If desired, roll dipped edge in nonpareils and/or edible glitter. Place cookies on waxed paper until chocolate is set. Makes about 60.

Joy: http://joyslife.com
Stacey: http://staceyscreativecorner.blogspot.com
Jennie: http://earthyscrap.blogspot.com
Lori: http://got2bcrafting.blogspot.com
Debbie: http://bugjuiced.blogspot.com
Sarabeth: http://www.chroniclesofsarita.blogspot.com
Jenny: http://jennyplace26.blogspot.ca
Patty: http://craftykitten1.blogspot.com
Kimberly: http://hellocutiecrafts.blogspot.com
Megan: http://thoughtsoftraveling.blogspot.com
June: http://simplyelegantpapercrafts.blogspot.com      
Staci: http://preciousmem.blogspot.com
Amy: http://redheadedcrafter.blogspot.com  
Laura: http://www.laurascraftsandmore.com
Cyndy: http://arcyscraps.blogspot.com           

 Maria: http://joyfulstamper.blogspot.com