Housewarming Card and Gift for my Parents!!! :)

Hello everyone!  :)  My parents just moved into a new house, and I am so excited for them!  Their new house is beautiful!!!!!!!!  They are back in town, instead of up the mountain, so it's much easier to swing by and visit with them now.  I knew I wanted to get them a little housewarming gift and make them a card, but I wasn't quite sure what to do for them.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and I know that they really enjoyed their gift and card...  and that's what really matters!  :)

Crafty Calendar Challenge- add a sentiment
Crafty Sentiments Designs- anything goes
Simply Create Too- no stamped or digital images
{PIN}spirational Challenges- anything goes

Winter Frolic- branch and birdhouse cut at 3.05"
Cuttlebug- leafy tree trunk (Darice)
Sentiment- from my computer "home" Janda Stylish Script font size 20, "tweet" Things We Said font size 20
Stickles- star dust, black diamond

Here is what I ended up doing for them as a gift.  I found a cute basket at Cost Plus World Market, a dish towel, green tea, coffee, two sugar-free syrups, and I made them homemade blueberry scones.  They are THE BEST scones!!!  Once I discovered this recipe, I never use any other one!  Give them a try, you won't be disappointed...  :)   

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed your visit!  :)

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.

Joy's Life Tags & Bags Blog Hop!

Hello and welcome to the Joy's Life Tags & Bags Blog Hop!!!!  If you just hopped here from the very talented Sarabeth, you're in the right place.  To start from the beginning click HERE.

I love Christmas!!!  This is such a fun time of year, and I am looking forward to making homemade hot chocolate, decorating the tree, looking at lights, singing Christmas songs, etc., etc., etc.!!!!  I also like to give a little something to my co-workers, and I think some Post-It's, hand sanitizer, yummy treats, etc. would fit perfectly into this little bag!  :)  This bag is also featuring Joy's BRAND NEW stamp set: Oh Christmas Puns!  I love this set, it's full of amazing puns and it has some cute images on it!

Tags, Bags, Boxes & More- bag cut at 6.06", tag cut at 2.88"

Winter Frolic- snow angel cut at 3.24"

Doodlecharms- snowflakes on bag cut at 1.94"

Doodletype- snowflake on tag cut at 1.12"

Joy's Life Stamps- Oh Christmas Puns (on bag), Wintery Puns (on tag)

Peachy Keen Stamps- Everyday Character Face Assortment

Stickles- star dust

Twine



Okay, that's my Christmas bag!  Hope we have been able to get you in the Christmas mood!  :)  Have a great Thanksgiving next week...  Your next stop on this hop is the awesome June.  Thanks for stopping by!

Joy: http://joyslife.com/
Maria: http://joyfulstamper.blogspot.com/
Cyndy: http://arcyscraps.blogspot.com/
Stacey: http://staceyscreativecorner.blogspot.com/
Laura: http://www.laurascraftsandmore.com
Jennie: http://earthyscrap.blogspot.com/
Megan: http://thoughtsoftraveling.blogspot.com
Lori: http://got2bcrafting.blogspot.com
Sarabeth: http://www.chroniclesofsarita.blogspot.com/
Amy: http://redheadedcrafter.blogspot.com/
June: http://simplyelegantpapercrafts.blogspot.com/
Patty: http://craftykitten1.blogspot.com

Snowman Birthday Card

Hello and Happy Wednesday everyone!  I am so excited that the work week is halfway over!  :)  I had a really difficult time making a snowman birthday card (not sure why)...  I actually like the way the card turned out, so I was glad that I challenged myself...  Making birthday cards makes me think about all of the birthdays that are coming up: my sister's, my niece's, and my *gulp* 30th birthday next month!!!  I am actually excited about turning 30, well...  we'll see how I feel about it next month!  Hee hee...  :)  Anywho, here is my take on a winter birthday card.

FCCB- use snowflake or snowman
My Craft Spot- "snow much fun" use a snowflake or snowman
Cuttlebug Spot- winter
Perfect Sentiments- birthday card using embossing resist
The Paper Variety- use a fan fold embellishment (I think these wrappers count)
She's a Sassy Lady- birthday card
Getting Cricky- let it snow, use embossing
Crafting for All Seasons- snowflake or snowman
Birthday Sundaes- use the photo for inspiration

A2 sized card

Winter Frolic- all snowmen cut at 2.29"

Sweet Treats- cupcake wrappers cut at 2.06"

Cuttlebug- seeing spots

Peachy Keen Stamps- winter face assortment

Sentiment, computer generated:  Curlz MT font at size 20

A la Mode- sparkle embossing powder
Cupcake and snowflake stamps

MS ink- ocean

Prismacolor pencils for the noses and cheeks

*I accordion folded the cupcake wrappers by scoring them on my MS scoring board and then folding them.  I attached tabs to them on my Gypsy by using a rectangle from George and Basic Shapes.  I was then able to fold the tabs behind the snowmen to keep them in their wrappers.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your week!  Bye y'all!!!  :)