Digital Scrapbooks Make Great Christmas Presents!

This year for Christmas I made our parents a photo book of all our wedding pictures.  It is something they will have and cherish forever.

I have found this company to have extensive templates, themes, and custom opportunities - to me it is the best book making business out there. Blurb.com

Enjoy!

Our Wedding Day | Make Your Own Book

Custom Made Bottle Cap Magnets

I have been doing these for a couple years now and have gotten some feedback and orders to do some new "subjects" if you will.  I have just completed a project for a good friend of mine who is using these as Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers.  His family grew up in Chicago and loves sports, so for the men we decided to do a complete set of Chicago sports teams.  As for the mom, we did something a little more sentimental - her family. This was my process.

I took beer bottle caps (thanks to my husband, I have plenty!) and cleaned them well and spray painted them white.

I then found the images I wanted to put inside the caps and sized them down on the computer.

I bought this great 1 inch hole punch from Michael's and it makes cutting out the 

images SOOO much easier.

I then attach the magnets to the back of the caps and let them dry over night.  I then insert the pictures and get ready to pour in the resin.  The resin can be kind of tricky to work with, so you may want to have a couple practice bottle caps.

Here is the finished product after they had again dried over night!

If you are interested in having custom magnets made, please feel free to contact me!

And here are the custom family magnets I created for the mother.

And of course the dog is the central glue of the family!

They keepsakes are cost effective and will be around for years to come!

From "Junk" to Jewelry

Have broken jewelry? Only have one earring to a pair?  Really pretty buttons that don't have a jacket or shirt to go to? Well - let me show you what I did with all my miscellaneous pieces!

I love old costume jewelry, but sadly a lot of it is missing a gem or rhinestone...and I have a box full to prove it! But I still love the charm that it has even when broken.

I used these pieces as a source and start of inspiration.  By adding a few of the elements together on what was an old broach, I turned these "broken" treasures into a beautiful piece of art.

I used an old key (I found a bag full at an estate sale!) and a jump ring to give this piece its finishing touch.

I know a lot of people don't wear broaches anymore, so I added a chain (bought at Michael's) to create a necklace.

When I lived in New York I like to frequent the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market. On one of my shopping trips, there was a vendor who had boxes of old "junk".  So I dug and sifted and found a bunch of old watch pieces.  I didn't know what I was going to do with them, but I had to have them. 

All I did here was take three different vintage watch heads (not in working condition obviously) and attached them together with jump rings and a chain to create an elegant bracelet. 

You may not be able to tell the time, but you will have a wonderful story to tell :)

Handmade Felt Ornaments

The last couple months I have been experimenting with felt and making little shapes and animals and coming up with ways to use them.  In the spirit of Christmas, I thought, "Why not ornaments?" Although these are quite bright and colorful, they could easily be made with more seasonal colors.  

This was my process.

Materials needed: Felt, Ribbon, Needle, Thread, Handmade Stencils, Poly Fil, 

Buttons/Sequins/Rhinestones for eyes

Start by cutting all of the pieces in felt and apply wings/ears, or whatever outer element 

you may way, with a simple blanket stitch. 

(Sorry I got wrapped up in making the silly things that I forgot to take a picture of the stitching!)

In case you want to learn, here is a good tutorial for a Blanket Stitch

Before you complete the stitching be sure to stuff the felt animal/shape with poly fil to give them a little dimension.  It is also a good idea to add the ribbon loop before sewing the two sides together.

I like to use two colors and alternate them on each side so that it is like getting two-in-one!

And who says they have to be hung on trees?  After Christmas is over, you can hang them up in a kids room as cute decorations!

But of course, in the spirit of things, I had to make a Christmas tree!