Halloween Banner - Happy Fall!!!!

Even though Fall officially began last week, I had already decorated the inside of our house for Fall/Halloween on September 1st.
I didn't do any outside decorating until this weekend.  I didn't want to embarrass my son, who thought I was crazy decorating on September 1st.  Guess he just doesn't quite understand how much I love fall and Halloween! :)
I digress, I actually am writing this post to share with you a cute little banner I made for the mantle.
Of course I used all of my handy Stampin' Up tools for this project and I think it came out really cute!

Here is what I used:
Morning Post Alphabet Stamps
2-3/8" scallop circle punch
1-1/4" circle punch
Spider Web embossing folder
Perfect Pennants Bigz L Die Cut
Calypso Coral Bakers Twine
1/2" scallops dots ribbon Basic Black
Howlstooth and Scaringbone Designer Series Paper
(adhesive - dimensionals)

I love banners! Making this one was fun! 
If you want more info, want me to make one for you or teach you how to make your own, please leave a comment with the best way to contact you or send me an email.

Have a great week!
Be inspired to create!
Tina

Cute little Goodie Boxes for Halloween!

I am getting ready for Halloween!  I know it is too early to decorate the house, but not to early to start making lots of cool cards and boxes!
These are open top boxes made with a 5 1/2" X 10" piece of heavy card stock and then decorated with ribbon, designer series paper & stamps.   I am not kidding when I tell you that these boxes are very easy to put together!  So easy that I will be making these for Thanksgiving, Christmas and ........ well you get the idea.
You can get the easy directions here. 

 Be inspired to create!
Tina

Fall yummies and their packages

I am getting my easy goody recipes together for a little event I am planning next month. (Sunday Sept 23rd to be exact--so mark your calenders!)  I have printed these recipes from my Pinterest board  (yummy recipes to try).  Cinnamon sugar pretzels, Cinnamon Churro Chex, and Homemade payday bars.  I will also make butter cookies so I can try out my new Stampin' Up cookie stamps.
Then of course, I need to make some creative packaging to show my guests!
Here is a sneak peak of my recycled packing paper cookie or candy bag.  The brown paper you see in the photo above is recycled from a package I received at work.  I got the idea from Monika's blog. 
I love ideas that can be modified for any occasion or holiday! This little bag is one of those!
I started with the square scallop bigz die for this easy project! So simple! 

Have a wonderful week!

Be inspired to create!

Tina

Getting Ready for Fall!!!!

Even though it has been over 100 degrees for several days now, my mind is on Fall!
Maybe because it is cooler then!
I purchased a double set of these cute stamps while I was at the Stampin' Up convention last month.

A set for myself and a set to give away.  I used my set to make cute little tags to wrap them up with.

I am planning a Halloween/Fall candy & cookie sampling next month. Just in the planning stages now.  But this is my idea thus far.  Invite people over to taste some of the candy and cookie recipes I have collected on Pinterest.  To show some cute and easy candy/cookie packaging ideas using my Stampin' Up tools. The cute little stamps will be prizes for my guests!

More info to come as soon as I get all the details taken care of.

I hope you are having a nice weekend!
Be inspired to create!
Tina

Halloween in August?

 I have two cool things to blog about tonight.
The first ties into the 2nd so please bear with me.
I love Halloween!!! I love to bake for it, I love to create for it, I love the colors and I love costumes!
Recently,  my 23 year old daughter Valerie has developed a love of baking.  She gets recipes for different cupcakes and makes them for her roommates.  She text me last night and asked for my lemon bar recipe because she wants to try to turn those into cupcakes.  This makes me very happy!!!
I love that a little bit of my love for baking has rubbed off on her!  It is good therapy!
Well to tie in her love of baking with crafting she is going to start Stampin' Up so she can create packaging for all those cupcakes she is making!!!! She was home this weekend and we went out to my craft table in the garage and looked at my Halloween stamps and talked about working on some Halloween baking packaging.
Which leads me to my 2nd cool thing to announce!
When you sign up to be a demonstrator in the month of August you get this cool Halloween shadow box kit!!! And I get one too!  So yippee for Val and I!!!!
The cost is $99, no shipping! You get to choose $125 worth of Stampin' Up products for $99!
A great deal! Contact me if you are interested in the details.

Hope you are having a wonderful week!
Be inspired to create!
Tina

I have Halloween fever!!!

Yes it's true! I haven't even completed the wedding favors yet, but I have Halloween on my mind.

This is my first Halloween project of 2011. It is an easy one.

Start with a frame from the $ store, add striped cotton ribbon, buttons, scrapbook paper, adhesive, glue gun, and the pennant punch from Stampin' Up.

You end up with this cute little decoration to put on a table or desk.

I think the possibilities are endless with the pennant punch, so come back soon for more ideas.

I hope you are having a great week!

I'll be back soon.

The last Halloween craft post of 2010 I SWEAR!!!!!

I really thought I was done with Halloween crafts last week. Then I remembered that Julia had given me several of these clear tube/bags for M&M's. We had made these at craft day at my house a couple of months ago. With Halloween stamps, and 2 sizes of scalloped punches and and adhesive these are packaged up and ready for our Annual Pan Aurora Halloween Bake Sale at work on Thursday. This bake sale is our biggest of the year. So I do hope these will grab some interest.
When the M&M's were done, I thought that was it. But then Saturday night I thought I would try the sour cream containers that Dawn had told me about. She said they were super easy!! Oh yes, they were the easiest craft I think I have ever made. The tutorial for this easy one is over at Splitcoaststampers. I am not kidding when I tell you they were the easiest. I made a bowl full of them for the bake sale. And now I think I am officially done with Halloween crafts.
Have a wonderful week! Talk to you soon!

A Halloween Collection & A good thing to share

I live in a small house so I try to not to collect too much stuff. But, I discovered these little Lori Mitchell Halloween figurines a couple of years ago at the Alameda County Fair. I fell in love with them! I bought 2 then. Then 2 more a little later and so a collection begins. They are whimsical and vintage at the same time. I bought the candy corn and bat this year. I found a local store (Ciara gifts and decor in Stockton Ca.) that carries them. They aren't very expensive and I don't feel too bad just adding a couple new ones each year. I have to pack them better this year, did you spot the missing antennae? :)

Here is a little closer look at their cute little faces!

This is my good thing to share. Can't remember the blog I found this site at, but

A Side of Peaches is a great site for daily bargains. They only post 1 bargain a day and I haven't bought any Christmas gifts yet, but I am hooked on checking everyday. They do sell out quick, so you have to check early in the morning. They had a great deal on adhesive runners but I was too late!!! Definitely worth checking out!

A SPOOKY GIVEAWAY!!!

Here it is, my little homemade Halloween 2010 giveaway! Just a sampling of the things I have made recently. A spooky theme going on here, with a candy jar filled with pumpkin taffy, a BOO banner with lots of details and a 5 X 5 spooky card perfect for framing!!!!
Here is how you can win:
1. Leave a comment and don't forget to leave your email address
2. Link my giveaway on your blog for a 2nd entry, be sure to let me know.
3. If you don't blog and don't want to leave a comment, send me an email at lemondrop45@sbcglobal.net
Deadline to enter is 12 noon on Weds 10/20, winner will be announced at 8pm on Weds 10/20
Good Luck!!!!!

More Halloween stuff, hang in there....

OK all, these are the last 3 projects I am making for Halloween this year.
First we have these cute little milk cartons, with little tiny clips. Julia was kind enough to lend me the Stampin' Up die cut for this project. I guess I better return it now. :)
I used plain orange heavy cardstock purchased from Joannes. The little pumpkin stamp came from a cool circle stamp set John found at Marshalls. The ribbon used was purchased in the $1 bins at Target last year. These will be filled with candy. I saw this project last night at Crafty Sisters blog. I wasn't going to start any new projects but I had to add this one!!! Way too cute!!! John found a candy corn template online. I printed out a large and small template. I used the small template for this banner. I love it!!! I think I will add some black ribbon to make it pop. Thanks for this one Crafty Sisters!

Lastly, just a different take on my BOO banner. I have made this one with squares but went round on this one. Making sure to add the cute little witch hat and boots on the bottom.

I am actually going to try to sell some of these items.

Be sure to come back next week, with all this Halloween stuff I have been making, guess what
I will be giving away to one lucky reader??? :)

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend! Be back soon!

Yes, more Halloween! Sorry I can't stop!!!

Here are the 2 variations of the pizza box. 6' X 11" for the larger box and 5 1/2" X 8" for the smaller.
The Splitcoast tutorial calls for the 6" X 11". I think I like the small box better??? What do you think? Yes more bags! I got this idea from Angie's ChicnScratch blog. I used my 4" X 8" bags for these. Cutting the bags down to a 4" height and cutting a 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" piece of black cardstock then a slightly smaller piece of patterned paper to go over that. Punched a small oval on top, embellished and tied up with a piece of ribbon! Now I have even more containers to fill with candy! I am still loving the witch hat and boots stamps. I have one more project to do with those! Then I will put them away til next year.

Have a wonderful week!!!

Time to put my toys away and get to my chores :)

Yes, it is time to clear off my kitchen table and clean up my mess :(
I am sitting here blogging and drinking a cup of tea to get myself ready for HOUSEWORK! YEA!! Someone has to do it right? Wish it was a housekeeper, but for today it is me.

I have made these little boxes every season. I never get tired of them because they are so easy! With different paper and embellishments for each holiday or occasion they look new every time!

I got the instructions for this box last year at Splitcoaststampers tutorials. This is called a pizza box and their dimensions are a little larger than I use. I use a 5 1/2" X 8" piece of card stock. Scored at 1", 3 1/2", 4 1/2" and 7" on the long side, and 1" and 4 1/2" in the short side. I will try the larger size this week and post side by side so you can see the difference. These boxes are so easy to put together. I used mostly Stampin' Up; supplies here except for the green and orange paper. Stampin' Up has the best Halloween stamps! If you want to see them for yourself click on over to Julia's blog.

Have a great weekend!

More Halloween Stuff!!!

What to do with a 4" X 8" white bag?

Cut it down to a 4" X 4" size. Then cut out a 4" X 4" piece of paper to cover the front, and a 4" x 5 1/2" for the back so that you can fold it over the front. Then cut a slightly smaller square for the front, and embellish with stamps, stickers or whatever you have and make these cute little Halloween bags. You can also turn these bags into baskets. Either way works. They are easy and cute!!!

I think I got this idea from Angie over at Chic'n Scratch. She loves Halloween and has been kind enough to offer 12 weeks of Halloween crafts. Presenting a Halloween craft tutorial/video every week for 12 weeks. Way too cool!

If you love Halloween you have to check out her blog and catch up on all the things she has been creating!!!! If you don't feel too crafty she also offers prepared kits! Her blog is a must see!!!

Bewitching!!

Have I told you that I love love love Halloween? No, I am not a wicken or anything like that. But I love the fall colors and all the cute decorations and pumpkins, shall I go on?
I got to do a little Halloween creating Thursday night over at Lynn Hampton's (Stampin' Up demonstrator) in Linden. She has a craft club that meets on the first Thursday of each month. She was extra generous this month and gave us the supplies and directions to make this very super cool BOO! banner. It not only has layers of colors and designs, but the little witch on the bottom is way too cute! Look closely at all the details!!! We stamped spider webs on the BOO letters. There are also a couple of bat punches placed here and there. She liked the witch stamp so much that we got to make two projects with her.... scroll down for project #2. I really am working on my photography skills, but sometimes......
Hopefully you can see all the detail going on with this card. Bat punches, spider web stamps, layers of paper and be sure to look close to check out the teeny tiny clip. This card is way too cute to give away, so I am going to get a frame for it and add it to my Halloween decorations.

All the supplies for both of these projects are of course from Stampin' Up. I happen to know two great ladies who contribute to my craft supply habit, Julia and Lynn. I am in so much trouble! :)

I am thinking that I am on such a Halloween crafting roll that I might make lots of cute things this year and sell them! I will get back to you on that!!!

Have a great Labor Day Weekend!
Talk to you Soon!

Getting some Halloween Craft mojo going!!!

Julia and her twin Judy came over today to show Dawn, Dawn and I how to make a few Stampin' Up Halloween goodies!!!
We had fun!!!! I made Laura Bush's Cowboy cookies, salami rollups and cut up a watermelon. So we all had a snack then began creating!
Don't you just love all these fall colors! On your left is a peppermint pattie with a purple scallop and a bug eyed spider stamp! We even glued tiny "googlie" eyes on the little spider!! Next we have a cute 3 X 3 owl card. We textured the brown paper and used the owl punch to put this little cutie together!
Then we move on to the darling milk carton. Can you see the "to open" stamp, just like a real carton of milk!!! We used a die cut for this one. This die cut is on my wish list! I will be getting it soon!!! Love love love the milk carton!!!! Love it down to the itsy bity clip on top!!! Julia was kind enough to lend me the die cut so I can make more more more!!!!!
Then we have the cool little M&M tubes. Julia found these clear packages at papermart.com. We used the scallop punch and the scaredy cat stamp!! Cute Cute Cute!!!
Yes, I think I got my mojo back!!!! Sure hope it lasts for a little while!!!
I was trying not to make a mess on my kitchen table anymore, but you should see it tonight! Stuff everywhere!!!

Thanks to Julia and Judy our sweet teachers! And thanks to Dawn and Dawn for joining us on craft day!!!!

Hope you are having a great weekend!!!
Talk to you soon!
(if you want details on any of the Halloween crafts we made today, hop on over to Julia's blog and leave her a message)

Getting Ready for Halloween! :)

Yes I know I should have weeded this little pumpkin patch a little better before I took the pic, but too late now.
This little triangle was a weed and junk patch not too long ago. Thanks to some hard work from John, Zach and myself we are now down to a minimum on the weeds and zero on the junk.
This is now my little pumpkin patch. This is the first garden I have ever had.
I have been watering these little babies every morning for the last month. I had to be out of town for a couple of days, so when I called to check on my kids everyday I also checked to be sure my pumpkin babies were being watered and that they were still alive.
Hoping for some nice big pumpkins this fall!!!
Fall/Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. I become inspired to craft and decorate!! So I guess I am off to an early start this year! Hope to have some crafts going on real soon!!!
Come back later to see how my crop comes out :)