Christmas Crafts

I’ve been meaning to post about this and keep forgetting but back before Thanksgiving my niece Holly and I had a table in a craft show at a local middle school. It was fun and we made a little extra Christmas cash which is always nice.

We have a table at an upcoming craft show at my church next weekend, which should be fun as well. Below are picutres of some of the things I have been working on and some of the things that we sold at the craft show.

That is a post it note holder that sits on your desk and holds your post it notes in a prettiful way.

Another post it note holder – one perfect for a teacher’s desk.

 
Ok, those are what I call snowbars. Are they not the cutest little things ever?? Underneath their coverings is a Hershey’s chocolate bar. I just love those things and giggle everytime I look at them.

 
And that’s a little “snowy bowl” filled with peppermints.

 
And those are snowman soup and winter soups. So cute!

I also had some round pendants and Holly had some scrabble tile pendants. And we had a bunch of survival kits but I don’t have pics of those.

 

Review: Craft Mates Ribbon Storage Container

I love ribbon and have gobs and gobs of different types of ribbon. I will buy it for no real reason, just because I think it is cute. Luckily though, I use ribbon in a lot of different craft projects so it does not just sit and collect dust.

With all the ribbon I own, storing the ribbon can sometimes be an issue. In the past I have had to come up with creative solutions of how to store my ribbon. I have written before about using photo storage boxes to store my ribbon and while this worked it was also a tad time consuming to put holes in the sides of the boxes and sometimes the ribbon got stuck and wouldn’t thread through properly. It was working but it just wasn’t a perfect system.

And then I received one of the new Craft Mates Ribbon Storage Organizers. 

These organizers are made out of a hard durable plastic and are clear so you can easily see what ribbons are stored on the inside if need be. There are no decorations or anything on the containers however it does say “Craft Mates” in small letters on the front.

It has seventeen plastic dividers that can come out easily so that you can store up to seventeen different ribbons in the container. If your ribbons are wider, it will hold ribbons up to 3 ½ inches wide. Once inside the container, the ribbons slide through a little plastic part and hang out. You can easily roll out whatever amount you need and snip it off.  There are also two little locks on each end of the container so that it won’t accidentally come open.

If you have lots and lots of ribbon like I do, don’t worry, you can easily stack these containers on top of each other creating a great storage solution for ribbon. Thus far, I have no complaints with the Craft Mates Ribbon Storage Containers.

 

 

 

Writing at Knack Parenting

So for the past two years (in June!) I have been writing/working for AdoptionBlogs where I have been writing the Unplanned/Crisis Pregnancy, Open Adoption, and on occasion Adoption News blogs. I have enjoyed writing there and the opportunities it has provided me and don’t worry, I’m still writing there, but I just wanted/needed something more….. Something that wasn’t about adoption.

I belong to a writer’s group in which job leads are posted weekly. One job lead caught my attention and it would allow me to work with an old editor who’s style I really liked and I learned a lot from. I applied and got the job thus becoming one of the two Craft and Design Writers for Knack Parenting. Knack is a new (just launched in June) parenting (print) magazine and website.

I’m really enjoying it. I get to write and craft! Each department has a theme, like for June I had to write about 4th of July crafts and for July we are doing summer crafts. Each month there is a down-loadable PDF File/Guide (like a mini magazine basically) that has different stuff related to each department’s theme.

I will occasionally post projects of interest here and link to them. So, be sure and check me out at Knack!

 

End of the Year Teacher Gifts

I was blurffing the other day (blurffing is a new word I saw on someone’s blog and it means surfing through blogs, isn’t it cool?!?)  Anyways, I was blurffing on some craft blogs and I saw this cute can koozie tied with ribbon on a blog. It is so simple and so cute! 

I remembered seeing a bunch of those can koozies for $1 at Michael’s so I got a few and jazzed them up with ribbon and a flower. I thought they would be a great end of the year gift for Noah’s teachers and aides. I thought it would be nice to fill them up with candy and then put them in cello bags all tied up. Noah helped put the candy in and was all excited.  I made a tag that says “Have a great summer! Love, Noah” but I took the picture before I had attached the tags.

I think they turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!

 

Beach Bash Decor

I had so much fun planning the decorations for this year’s event that I could write a whole post about the decor alone! I seriously could do beach bash each year and be happy!

On each table in the middle, I layed down blue tulle on a kind of frumpy way so that it sort of resemble water/waves. We then put sand on top of the tulle with a bright colored beach pail in the middle. Each beach pail was filled with sand and then topped with seashells and a shovel. Around the beach pail on the table we scattered sea shells. Then there was 2 flip flop shaped tea light holders and 2 mini beach balls on each table also on the blue tulle. It was super cute!
When I was planning the centerpieces, I was talking to my super creative friend, Leigh, and mentioned that I would love some paper placemats to put at each place setting. I had looked for these online but they had to be ordered in huge bulk orders – like at least 1,000! So Leigh came up with the idea of making placemats out of scrapbooking paper. She found some cute beach/summer themed paper and went to work. So, at each place setting, sat a placemat and a “beach to go” bucket. (“Beach to go bucket” was a 2 inch white bucket that contained sand and about 3-4 seashells wrapped in different bright colors of tulle with a tag attached that said “The Beach to Go.” Each lady took these home as just another thing to remember the day by!)

On the front walls, was a “window scene” of dolphins and the ocean. It was cute and helped set the mood. It was also great for taking photos in front of!

I’ve scattered pics through out the post – what do you think? Super cute, eh? Hmmmmm, time to start thinking of next year’s theme and brainstorming for that!

More recap coming soon!

 

The Easter Nail Favor

Once again, I made the favors for this month’s tea at my church.

The theme was “the Passion” and since it is so near Easter, I found a great poem called The Easter Nail on Heartfelt Holidays. So, I made a card with the poem on it and on each card, I punched a hole and tied an actual nail on with purple ribbon. They turned out so neat!!

Here is what the card looks like minus the tied on nail in the corner.

 

Encourage-Mints

Someone was complaining that I had not done a craft post in a long time, so for that someone, here is one.

I made these for a few friends for Christmas and I have made a few lately for different things. I plan to try and keep a few on hand just in case I need a little something for someone occasionally. They are super easy to make, are super cute, and the recipient always LOVES them and thinks you are euber clever!

 

• Materials Needed:
  Clean or new Mason Jar
  Peppermints (individually wrapped)
  White card stock (I used business cards to cut down on cutting and a mailing label for the front of the jar.)
  Scrapbook Tape or Sticky Squares
  Cloth and Ribbon (Optional)

What You Do:
1. Choose different inspirational or encouraging quotes to include in your jar. I will have some samples below. Type those quotes out on the card stock or use business card paper so that you just tear at the prefforated lines. They are the perfect size!
2. Make a label to put on the front of the jar. I will post mine below.
3. Affix peppermints to each card with the quotes by using a little scrapbooking sticky square.
4. Fold the cards with the mints on them as best you can and place them inside the jar. A small jar will hold about 25.
5. Decorate the jar with cloth and ribbon if you desire and then add your label and you have a really cute, meaningful, inexpensive, and simple gift!

 Label I made for the front of the jar:

A few of the cards with quotes that go on the inside. I stick the real peppermint onto the peppermint graphic that is on the card.

Edited to add: I get a lot of visitors who were googling and searching for “encourage-mints” so if you’d share more of the quotes I used, I’d be more than happy to. Feel free to leave a comment with a way to contact you or email me at coleybelle(at)gmail(dot)com.

 

The Gift Magnet

I belong to a group at my church called Titus 2 Tea. We are a service ministry of women only and once a month we have a tea which is a time for us all to get together and have fellowship with one another.

I really love this great group of women. They are so very supportive. When one lady is having a hard time, is sick, etc. all the other ladies are there encouraging her with cards, meals, love, and prayers.

Each  monthly tea has a theme and is decorated (low key decor, nothing too expensive and things people have hanging around their house) and is hosted by several women in a room at the church. Each month we have a little favor. Ever since word got out that I can do favors on the computer and they turn out so cute, I’ve been doing the favors frequently.

This month’s theme was “The Gift” so the head hostess asked me to make something reflecting that theme featuring the verse, John 3:16. So I came up with this magnet. I printed them on magnetic paper and then cut each one out around the box I put each one in a little baggie and tied it with curling ribbon. Everyone loved them!

 

Crafting with Coley: Journals

If you know me well, you know I LOVE to craft! That was a big reason in starting this personal blog, to have a place to share my crafts!

Once a month in the Open Adoption blog I post a “Crafting with Coley” post and then somehow relate that craft to the members of the adoption triad! It’s probably really a stretch, but the editors have never said anything to me about it so I keep on doing it. The really cool part is when readers actually do the crafts and then email/comment/or even share pics telling me! I’m saving the pics and at some point will hopefully be able to post them to show off the crafts my readers have made from my posts!

So anyways – this month, I made personalized journals by covering them with fabric. I wanted to create a special journal for myself to have a place to write what I am grateful for each day, since that is my New Year’s Resolution. I started with just a boring, plain old school composition notebook. I usually make at least two samples to show in the post, so I have had this lighthouse fabric forever and my friend L loves lighthouses, so I decided to make the second one with the lighthouse fabric and I’ll be shipping it to her later in the week!

 If you’d like to know how I made these journals, click here.

 

My Ghostie Girl

Isn’t she the cutest ghostie girl you have ever seen?!?! She hangs on my front door!

 

Autumn Cardigan

Another project – this one is for ME!

 

For a Little Princess

After seeing Charlie and his sister’s bags, my best bud asked me if I would make one for Kinsey that was princessed themed. I of course, said yes and went right to work. It was fun and turned out soooooo cute!!

I made the bag and then I decided that since I had the new found talent of making the cardigan sweatshirts, I would make one for Kinsey to match her bag. They both turned out sooooo cute! I wish I was 6!

Detailing of the bag……   

Close up of the shirt…..

The back of the shirt, which is Lani’s favorite part!

Now I have 3 more “orders” on Princess bags and one on a Princess shirt!