photo credit : Just Me Prints

Good Morning friends!
I have not one lick of Christmas decorations up yet because I'm swamped with other deadlines and obligations right now.

However, I took a minute to take in some inspiration over on Pinterest this morning and stumbled upon these darling kraft gift tags! I love how simple + pretty the the design is, don't you? This is how I want all of the presents under my tree to look like this year!! SO cute! Right??

I'm filling up my NEW Red + White + Peppermint Pinterest Board with adorable Craft, Home Decor, DIY's, darling treats, packaging + gift ideas! Head on over and take a peek if you are looking to be inspired!!

xoxo,
Jessica

KEEPiNG iT REAL
Although there are a ridiculous amount of things eating up my time right now - trying to keep me from things I REALLY want to be doing - the inspiration I just shared is exactly what I needed this morning. Just the reminder I needed to keep things simple. Focus on what's most important and let the rest fall into place.

And I'm also keeping my attitude in check (see my instagram post today)!
How about you?

LIFE | Holiday Hookie + Snowman Spoons

photo source: Magnolia Homes

I'm still playing "Holiday Hookie"…
trying to soak in all of the moments I have with my kids + family.
I was even going to start my inspirational Instagram posts back up again today - since it's Monday and all.
BUT...I quickly decided to just wait until NEXT Monday.
I'll get past the New Year's holidays and get the kids back in school and then I'll get back into my blogging routine!

That buys me more time to snuggle with my little Ella…listen to my Ema play her new Luna Concert Ukelele…and catch up with my Clara on "life-after-high-school".

Ella and I have a list of fun things we'd like to do before she starts school back on Monday.
I found these adorable snowman spoons from Joanna Gaines over on the Magnolia Homes Blog. 
They'll be a really cute addition to the NEW Hot Chocolate Bar we've got up for the winter months...
so these cute spoons are definitely going on the list.

I thought you might want to make them too.
And those mug sweaters!! I'm really crushing on those!
If I find out the source, I'll let you know too…just in case you want to know.

KEEPiNG iT REAL
The last couple of years I've been very ready to take down the holiday decor the very day after Christmas.
In years past I would procrastinate taking it down…sometimes leaving it up until almost Valentine's Day! Ha!!

This year…I'm somewhere in the middle.
I want to take it down to help usher in the New Year...ahead of the game…so I can feel a little more organized with everything already put away before a brand new year of opportunity awaits!
BUT…I'm really going to miss the pretty Christmas lights and our tree.
I'm betting I'll have it all down and put away right after New Year's Day!
I'll keep you posted.

CRAFT | Amy Tangerine Plus One Paper Crafting Collection

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This project post is a part of a paid marketing campaign with Snap. 

Although this post is sponsored the project idea and all opinions expressed are my own.
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I'm super excited to be sharing lots of eye candy today!

I was fortunate enough to have been selected to try out some of the new adorable Amy Tangerine Plus One Paper Craft Collection.

Before I show you what I ended up doing…I want to show you how seriously cute these products are! 

Amy Tangerine Whittles

(adorable decorative  mini wooden clothespins)

Amy Tangerine Alphabet Embroidery Stencil Kit

for incorporating easy stitching elements into your paper crafting, t-shirts, tote bags, scrapbooking, etc.

More pieces of the Amy Tangerine Alphabet Embroidery Stencil Kit
orange pad to protect surface when using the poking tool to pre-punch holes into your craft item 
along with some cute thread and needles.

Amy Tangerine Thread Kit
Extra thread colors to be used with the embroidery stencil kit

Amy Tangerine Roller Date Stamp and Mix Tape
A quick fun way to add a date and sentiment to any paper crafting project. 
And who doesn't love mini washi tapes in fun colors and cute designs?

Amy Tangerine Letter and Number Sticker Book
A fun way to add names, words, sentiments to your paper crafting projects

Amy Tangerine Roller Date Stamp, Mix Tape, Adhesive Bagdes and Fabric Brads
The adhesive badges are like those buttons we all know and love except they stick on instead of pin on.
Fabric brads are a simple way to add a pop of color to your scrapbooking page.

An even closer look...

Amy Tangerine Rub-Ons
Use the wooden popsicle stick to transfer these rub-ons onto your 
scrapbooking or other paper crafting projects. How fun are these?

Now that I've gotten your attention…before we dive into what I ended up making you need to know

the Amy Tangerine Plus One Paper Craft Collection will be for sale on HSN, on March 24th! Mark your calendars! This collection was the top selling signature line released in Winer 2014 and sold out in most stores and online. I'm telling you this because when the Amy Tangerine Plus One is up for grabs on the 24th at HSN there will be FIVE discounted bundles starting at just under $20 bucks…so I have a feeling they'll be selling like hotcakes.

The bundles will include a basic kit, embroidery kit, embellishment kit and a stamping kit.

BONUS: The sold out Plus One Project Life Mini Kit will also be available at a discounted rate.

Let me show you what the kits look like…

Amy Tangerine Plus One Kit

Amy Tangerine Stamp and Marker Kit

Amy Tangerine Embellishment Kit

Amy Tangerine Embroidery Stencil Kit

Amy Tangerine Plus One Project Life Kit

If you are into paper crafting and scrapbooking you've got to be completely excited right about now!
So again…DON'T MISS THE SALE ON MARCH 24TH ON HSN!!

OKAY...TIME TO REVEAL MY PROJECTS

For my first project, I was inspired to use the beautiful coordinating Amy Tangerine Plus One 12x12 acid-free paper to create this…

"XOXO Before You Go" - 15x30 Canvas Art Print

This is a new little sentiment we have started saying around our house…inspired by the "Hands-Free Mama" book I've been reading. It's a gentle reminder to kiss and hug each other before leaving or going about our day.

All I did to create all of those colorful hearts was use THIS HEART CRAFT PUNCH 
and almost every sheet of pretty decorative paper from the Amy Tangerine Plus One 12x12 pad.
(The gold glitter hearts are from my own personal stash)

After letting the "XOXO Before You Go" sentiment dry after painting it onto the canvas using black acrylic paint, I filled the rest of the canvas up with the paper hearts. I layed them out to figure out placement before gluing them on. I then added a little Amy Tangerine Adhesive Badge - the pink one with the house and heart was too perfect for the finishing touch…don't you think?

For some added texture, I pulled the sides of each heart away from the canvas so they looked 3 dimensional. I decided to leave the gold ones flat since the glitter card stock was thicker and I personally think it adds a little more interest. (that's the artist in me talking - ha!) 

Simple, right? Canvas + Pretty Paper Hearts + cute sentiment = Instant Home Decor. I love it.

You could even eliminate the sentiment altogether and just do a canvas filled with nothing but paper hearts!

So then…

it was time for my next project.

Although I was only asked to do one project, I really wanted to get my feet wet again with scrapbooking. It's been awhile and I've had the itch to get going again for some time so this was the perfect excuse to dive back into it!

I decided to use a photo from Ella's birthday photo shoot since the colors from her Rainbow Unicorn Birthday Party blended perfectly with the color scheme of the Amy Tangerine Plus One products. Yay!!

Do you love it? I think it turned out really, really cute!

Here's a bit of my process…

I used an 8x10 piece of white card stock as the foundation for my scrapbooking page because I knew I wanted to actually frame (without glass) and hang this when I was done.

I first figured out where my photo was going to go and then I built my layout/design around it. I used this stencil from the Alphabet Embroidery Stencil Kit to poke holes into my white card stock.

I stitched the thread onto my paper using the colors to match the cute rainbow colors from Ella's party.

I then added two black arrows from one of the rub-on sheets. 

TIP: See the extra pieces of rub ons I accidentally transferred onto my paper? (see below)  Look above and below the black arrows. Those of course weren't supposed to be there. Oops! No biggie. I ended up using a white eraser to remove those. It worked like a charm. I rubbed gently but firmly until they were gone to avoid damaging my paper.

See…the extra rub ons magically disappeard. So then I got my black ink pad and stamped "love love love" right underneath the arrows using the Amy Tangerine Date Stamp.  Just because I thought it was cute!

The words "Look…she's five" are handwritten 

and then I added some gold glitter mini hearts I punched from gold glitter card stock. 

The Amy Tangerine adhesive badge was a really cute accent and the criss cross lines in it matched the word "Look". 

I added the Amy Tangerine Whittles to the layout using Glue Dots and inserted hand cut strips of paper with Ella's name, the date Ella turned five and a couple more stamps from the Date Stamp.

I added some strips of the Mix Tape to two corners of Ella's photo and there you go…my very first "come-back" scrapbooking layout in about 7 years and Ella's very first scrapbooking page EVER - thanks to Amy Tangerine + American Crafts.

I love how it turned out and Ella was delighted to see it when it was finished.

It's definitely been awhile since I've scrapbooked like this.

I had forgotten how much I enjoy it and how relaxing it is to get creative in this way.

I've been inspired to create a birthday album for Ella.

Now…to get that layout framed and hung will be my next project so I can call it officially finished!

KEEPiNG iT REAL

1. I messed up on the first canvas when painting the words on it. I had to start a whole new canvas.

2. Ema was jealous that I chose to do a scrapbooking page for Ella instead of her when she's the one that's been begging me to get back into it for a couple of years now. She just LOVES looking at the ones I made for her and Clara. Despite her jealousy she gave me a thumbs up on Ella's! *wink*
3. My studio is a freaking disaster area right now from these fun projects! Ha! *blushing*

SHARE | Her Story Begins Art Print :: Kleinworth and Co.

I had the opportunity recently to do a guest blog post for Kleinworth & Co. and I decided to do a motivational art print to kick off the New Year! I had not had the privilege of knowing Gina, the wife, mother and blogger behind Kleinworth & Co.  until our paths crossed from us both being contributors now for...

CELEBRATE | Sparkly New Year's Eve Food Flags

Two days until Christmas everyone!!
Are you ready? I've still got a few more presents to get, how about you?

While you are finishing up your last minute Christmas preparations, be sure to pin this cute idea for your New Year's Eve celebrations that will surely sneak up on you! (or am I the only one that happens to?)

You really don't want to get caught without some sort of sparkle for your NYE plans!? Am I right?
These sparkly food tags I'm sharing on SNAP! today are so easy you can whip these up in less than 30 minutes! And of course - you get the FREE printable too!!

See you over on the SNAP! Blog!!

KEEPiNG iT REAL
No lights on the house this year but let's focus on the positive:
We did go to Santa's Christmas Tree Forest again this year (about 3 weeks ago) to get our tree. (although as we were trying to leave, Clara and Ema decided they were too old to go this year which really upset me.  Determined to make them regret their choice for not going, I was all set on coming home with the most scraggly "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree ever but I ended up just settling on a small tree. I also tried to have Ella and I eat the entire bag of kettle corn, (one of my favorite parts of the whole "picking out a christmas tree" process), before we got home so I wouldn't have to share any with the Clara and Ema!) Ha!
The Christmas tree is fully decorated.
Stockings are hung.
Almost all of the presents are wrapped.
Stuart has been popping up in unexpected places every day…keeping an eye out on all of us.
We had our annual Cookie Baking with my aunt Susan and cousins Kalie and Beau. I missed my mom joining us this year because she was up in North Carolina helping out her sister, my aunt Joyce, who's husband had a stroke in October.
The girls and I went to see the Nutcracker together this weekend. (although the mood was almost completely ruined by a heated discussion Ema and I got into right before we left - ugh!! AND this year's performance was called "Clara's Dream" and it actually seemed like more of a recital than an actual "production" PLUS there was never one mention of the Nutcracker? Not even one? Unless you count the nutcracker garland Clara and her mom hung on the tree together? Weird.
We also took Ella to see a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Musical on Saturday afternoon. She LOVED it. It was actually much more entertaining and impressive than the Nutcracker. Hmm?

CRAFT | DIY Hand Glittered Clothespins Gift Package - Michael's Recollections Glitter

Hand Glittered Wooden Clothespins? Oh yes!

The glittered clothespins may not be an "original" idea but I bet you've not ever seen this adorable DIY Packaging for gifting a set to someone you know?! *wink*

I LOVE how this turned out and I'm going to show you how to make this…but first…

let's talk GLITTER!!

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, Ella and I have been crafting together.
One of our most recent projects involved glitter…really pretty glitter in fact…and lots of it.
We were so excited when Michael's sent us a box filled with a variety of Recollections Glitter we moved everything off of the dining table and started crafting immediately. It was really hard choosing between the fine, tinsel and chunky glitter varieties, not to mention the different colors available. So instead of picking one or two, Ella and I used them ALL! *wink*

The jars start at $3.99 and can be purchased as a set or individually. I found myself reaching for the Raspberry, Peacock and Citron fine glitters repeatedly and I actually have a favorite now! 
It's this one right here called "Bling"! Ella calls it the "rainbow" glitter and it actually reminds me of a disco ball! It's really pretty and sparkly and sort of has a touch of each color! LOVE!! *wink*

I decided to get out some wooden circles from my craft stash and we started gluing and glittering. I wasn't sure what we were going to do with them when we were finished (magnets, banner, tic tac toe game pieces, etc.) but we couldn't contain our excitement for adding sparkle to things so we just went with it and knew we would figure something out along the way.

We got out some wooden stars and glittered those up too. We then added some of the Christmas Tree and Snowflake Glitter to some of the circles and then decided to turn them all into tree ornaments for Ella's little Christmas tree in her room. We just glued on a loop of Baker's Twine, let them dry and then Ella was happy to add some sparkly ornaments to her already sparkly tree. I think these would be cute tied onto gift packaging too!!

My favorite ornament ended up being one Ella created - by accident - when she partially painted glue onto a wooden star and then dunked it into the Raspberry glitter. She immediately recognized it as a buffalo - so that's what we are calling it! Our Buffalo Christmas Star Ornament! This is one of those "I'm keeping it forever" ornaments.

See the buffalo's head bent down on the left? It's a silhouette of the side of a buffalo - see it?

If you don't see it, don't tell Ella! I absolutely see it and love that she's the one that told ME what it was!

Over the course of a few days, Ella and I went on to experiment with adding glitter to other wooden objects I had around the house, like these rock candy sticks from The TomKat Studio. All I did was add glue to the ball on the end of the stick and then I dipped the ball into the jar of green tinsel glitter. I then did another one dipped in red tinsel glitter. I twirled it around in the jar to make sure it was coated nicely and then pulled it out! Super easy and no clean up! *wink* You could use these for those adorable Hot Chocolate Sticks Kim posted!

And that's how we eventually arrived here...

Mini Glittered Clothespins

I experimented with several different ways of applying the glue: painting it on with a paintbrush, dipping the clothespin into a puddle of glue poured on a plate, spreading a thin layer of glue on a plate and then dipping. I found the easiest way to make these was to designate my pointer finger as the "glue" finger and I just rubbed a small amount of glue onto each clothespin (avoiding the crevice) and then dipped the clothespin into whatever glitter I wanted. Really easy. I also kept a toothpick on hand to remove any extra glitter or glue that tried to attach itself to the crevice found on top of the clothespin. (where the metal spring is exposed).

I plan on using these pretty clothespins to string up the various works of art Ella creates. I'll also be using them to hang up a New Year's Eve banner in our home too and they will be so cute to mark magazine or book pages. When I was finished making them I wanted to gift them and share them with everyone.  So that's when I decided to come up with a creative way to package them up!

Recollections Glitters shown above include:

(left to right: Peacock, Raspberry, Ocean, Citron and Bling)

So let's get to the how-to, shall we?

I've created a free printable so you can easily make your own packaging to gift your own hand glittered mini clothespins. These would be a great gift for the kids to make too. (just saying)

Download the FREE Printable I designed for the DIY Glitter Clothespins Packaging

Print onto 8.5" x 11" white card stock and cut out the two separate packaging pieces.

(Fold-over printed packaging and Clothespin Attachment Card)

Punch out a circle window from the packaging just under the printed text using a 2.25" round craft punch

Fold back opposite edge using crop marks as guides

Insert Clothespin Attachment Card into the lip you created and staple the two pieces together. 

(The concept resembles a book of matches).

Fold over the packaging cover and tuck inside the lip you created with the staple. 

Flatten packaging using a bone folder or other item to create a nice crease.

Add the clothespins. 

Open package cover and start adding the clothespins. It's easiest to start with one clothespin in the middle (should line up with staple) and then add the others to each side of the middle clothespin.

Keep them grouped close together so they fit nicely inside the circle when the cover of the packaging is closed. 

I designed the package to fit five small clothespins. 

I used "Small Wooden Clothespins" packaged as a set of 20 found in the Office Supply section (not in the craft section) of WalMart. 

If you want to get all fancy and protect the glitter on your clothespins you can add a piece of clear cello film to the inside of the packaging to create a see-thru window. I just cut a square from a clear cello envelope I already had and used a glue stick to secure it. Easy.

Here's the finished packaging WITH the clear cello added to the circle window.

And here's the finished packaging WITHOUT the clear cello added to the circle window.

Either finish looks great!  Personalize your little gift sets by including colors you think the person will love. OR just pick your favorite shade of glitter and create an entire set using it.

 You know I'll be doing that with the "Bling" fine glitter! *wink* 

I hope you love this idea and will use the FREE download to create your own packaging.

I'm absolutely loving the Michael's Recollections Glitter and will be continuing to use it for a variety of craft projects!

KEEPiNG iT REAL

It took me forever to get the packaging JUST right on this. I wanted to make sure you didn't have any issues printing or assembling it exactly the way you see it here so I tweaked it and tweaked it until it was just right. I may have been OCD about it too. But I'm not confirming that! *wink*

PEN N' PAPERFLOWERS (PNPF) RECEIVED FREE PRODUCT, COMPENSATION OR OTHER PERKS FROM MICHAEL'S FOR REVIEWING AND SHARING THIS PRODUCT. BE ASSURED PNPF ONLY POSTS/REVIEWS PRODUCTS I LOVE AND FEEL YOU WILL LOVE TOO!