Pretty Tags in a Box

Tags are such a great opportunity for embellishment, aren't they? Combine them with a box and the holiday season and the sky is the limit. As far as I'm concerned around Christmas time, if it's stationary, it's going to get glued and glittered!
Lora Mahaffey here chatting about adding a little Santa and Christmas sparkle to your holiday decor!

I really like this Tags in a Box Display it's a good size box and is, of course, perfect for displaying your lovely holiday tags, but it's also perfect for storing and displaying the wonderful cards a girl has received over the years from friends and family. Some of them are just too gorgeous to pack away and forget. This box allows storage and you can rotate the cards and tags as it pleases you.

The tags were lots of fun to make....I used a lot of Dresden trim and made fun pockets and pouches to stick little presents in. Lots of glitter glue and ribbon give the tags sparkle and texture. You can't tell in the pictures, but they really glitter and glimmer with sparkly goodness!

I started out gluing the box up. I put one of those big rubber bands you get off of produce around the middle to keep it square.

While that was drying, I flipped a tag upside down and glued three craft sticks to it, making sure that the sticks were even at the bottom.

After both pieces dried, I gave them both a coat of gesso and then painted the inside of the box white with acrylic paint.
I also painted the lower half of the 'pop sickle stick tag' so it blends in with the white inside of the box.
Then I started covering everything with pretty papers.

I covered both sides of the tag half way down, so that it's looks finished from the back as well as the front.







Then, with a pair of scissors, I carved the back half of a 5-inch bottle brush tree off starting about a third of the way down the tree all the way in to the center wire and set it aside.

 I then embellished the 'tag' and the box, decorated the tree and glued it into the box, making sure it was level at the bottom so that the whole thing was straight at the top.
I apologize for not taking pictures of the last two steps. I got all into my little Christmas groove and sailed right on by the picture-taking opportunity.

In the picture below, you can see where the tag is glued into the inside of the box.

A picture of the box empty........

And some fun detail that I added to a metal embellishment.

Supplies  from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts
Tags In A Box Display

Additional supplies
Various Dresden Trims
Stamp Metal Embellishments
Various Ribbon Trims
Glass Beads
Flat Back Crystals
Stickles Glitter Glue
Bottle Brush Christmas Tree
Graphic 45 Papers (The Twelve Days of Christmas and St. Nicholas)
Bullion Trim
Glass Pearls
Gesso
Acrylic Paint

Thank you for visiting!

A Little Holiday Table

Hello Holidays! The last days of fall are flying by, Thanksgiving is upon us and Christmas is on it's way. And more specifically for me, all that gorgeous holiday baking.
I love to bake for friends and family all year, but there is something about chilly weather, Christmas trees, sparkly lights and the promise of snow that sends me into a baking tizzy. I want to fill my house with the smells of gingerbread and sugar cookies and walnut fudge. Cinnamon coffee cakes and decorated cookies go out to neighbors and there is always something delicious in the kitchen to nibble on when folks drop by.
The state of my kitchen could be described as a' cheerful mess'. No one seems to mind, especially when they get handed some gingerbread!
Here's a snapshot of a cheerfully messy kitchen work table on a doll's house scale.......slightly easier to clean up!

I like to decorate my kitchen with garland and lights at Christmas....it's always such a pleasure to work in a space that's decked out for the holidays.

And it's nice to have everything at your fingertips, or at least in the drawers at your fingertips.....

Here is where I started out...........

I began with the Tile Top Table and 1/2 inch Chipboard Tiles and gave everything a coat of gesso and a coat of white paint.

Use gesso and paint sparingly (thin coats) on the outside of the drawers or they will be a very tight fit.

Next, using a mixture of cobalt blue acrylic paint and glaze, I painted the tiles. I used glaze in combination with the paint because I wanted the tiles to look, well, like glazed tiles, but painting them and leaving the glaze out is grand as well!

After the tiles dried, I laid them out on the tabletop, spacing them equally across the surface.

After spacing them out, I began to glue them down, one row at a time, being mindful of the spacing and doing my best to keep everything straight.

All the tiles are glued down and looking pretty tidy! After they dried, I applied a coat of varnish.

After they dried (give them at least a couple of hours) I used Liquid Pearls Opal White as grout, piping it in sections and carefully wiping away the excess before it dried. The varnish gives you a wipe-able surface, allowing you to remove the extra 'grout' a lot more easily than just a coat of paint and glaze would.

You can also use dimensional fabric paint as well....anything that has a thick gluey texture that will stay where you put it.
The applicator you see in the photograph above is a Ranger Fine Tip Applicator for .05 oz. Bottles a screw on tip that allows you to pipe out super fine lines,a great tool for tight spaces!

I added Dresden trim around the edge of the tabletop and down the legs for extra detail and wee pearls for drawer pulls.

Here is the table decked with Tim Holtz Pine Twine Garland and dotted with Stickles- Christmas Red
holly berries.

Now it's ready for all those goodies!

For a link to all the wonderful supplies from Alpha Stamps click HERE!

Supplies list;
Tile Top Table
1/2 inch Chipboard Tiles
1;12 Gingerbread House
Christmas Tree Cookie Cutter
Cookie Sheet with Gingerbread Men
Copper Bundt Cake Pan Set
Mixing Bowl with Batter
Rolling Pin
Star Cookie Cutter
Tiny Measuring Cup
Gingerbread Man Cookie Cutter
Flour with Measuring Cup
6 Miniature Eggs


Tim Holtz White Resin Deer
Mini Cake Stand Kit
Flat back Gold Star Studs
Fancy Red Holly Berries Mix
Crinkle Wire-Red
Retro Bottle Brush Tree Set-Green
Liquid Pearls-Garnet
Liquid Pearls-White Opal
Stickles-Diamond
Mini Cookie Sheet
Tim Holtz Pine Twine Garland
Miniature Chocolate Cake
Pewter Measuring Spoons
Vintage Mixing Bowl

Additional Supplies
Gesso White Acrylic Paint
Glazing Medium
Matte Varnish
(all of the above additional supplies were Liquitex....no I don't work for 'em, just like 'em)

Thank you for stopping by!

Checking the lists.........

I don't know about you, but I always feel a little overwhelmed during the holidays without a list. My problem is I'm always losing the dang things! Hello everyone! Lora here to show you an awesome way to keep track of the lists you make for the holidays.
It's called a Memo Board and you can get the easy-to-put-together kit at the wonderland called Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts!

Here's what I did...........

First off, I gave everything a good coat of gesso. Sigh......I love gesso. In this case, I love gesso because it's a great surface coat on chip board for decoupage. It makes things stick a lot better to just about any surface. So a good coat of gesso first. It doesn't have to be heavy or thick, just thorough.

After the gesso dried, I started sticking the papers down. I chose a couple of older papers mainly because they play well together and I was wanting a very cheerful green. So Bo Bunny Vintage Dot in Wasabi is the background paper and the other two are from Graphic 45's 8x8 pad 'The Night Before Christmas'. I also painted all the trim pieces and the shelf white.

After the Vintage Dot dried, I applied the second paper, which will become a second background layer and a frame for what goes on top. By the way, the Vintage Dot was cut to 9x91/4 inches and after it dried, I cut the fitting holes out with an xacto. The G45 paper (called Happy Holly-Day) I cut to 8x7.
When the Happy Holly-Day paper dried, I started applying Dresden Trim.

I cut a piece of chipboard and the third piece of paper to 7x2 1/2 inches and glued the paper to the chipboard.

After it dried, I applied gold Dresden trim to the underside of the chipboard.

On Illustrator, I wrote and printed the 'Making a list, checking it twice.....' text, cut it out and glued it to the chipboard strip. After drying, I added the last of the Dresden trim and then glued the strip to the Memo Board, being mindful of spacing and position. I apologize for not taking a picture of this stage.....I was all in my creative groove and chugging along like a little Christmas choo-choo and plain forgot.

Next I gessoed and painted white snowflakes.

This is messy and can be finicky as you want to get the whole snowflake covered, even the thin, thin sides or they show up dark. I use a cheap, firm brush, fill it with gesso and sort of scrabble it around until the whole thing is completely covered, then brush the excess paint off making sure all the little holes and details are clear and open and there is no paint plugging up the delicate details. I do this on plastic and let the snowflakes dry on it because they don't stick when they dry.
Set them aside.

 I cut out three little clocks from another bit of G45 paper, put holes in the center and placed them where I wanted them on top of the chipboard strip. With a pencil, I marked the center of each one onto the board and using an awl, gently pierced the chipboard just enough to get a hole started. Don't poke the awl (or whatever you're using) all the way through....just enough to get a hole started.
Glue the clocks (you can use whatever you choose here, I just got a giggle out of using the clocks since I'm always running out of time!) down making sure the holes in the clock are directly over the center mark and your starter hole.

You can see in the picture above that the clock hole is place over the starter hole. Putting a little bit of glue on the shaft of an eye screw, screw that puppy into the pre-made hole until it's secure. I tried hard not to pierce the Memo Board out the back. The two layers of thick chipboard will be jst about as thick as the eye screw if you use the tiny ones.

Screw in all three eye screws and add little clips. (you can get the little clips at just about any craft store) Start gluing on snowflakes where you think they look pretty, glue in the shelf and trim and let it dry and then it's glitter time!

I added glitter to all of the snowflakes. Then I decided that the white painted trim wasn't glam enough, so I painted a coat of pearlescent white on all the white bits, let it dry and added more glitter.

I also added some Swarovski flat back crystals because if some is good, more is better!

SUPPLY LIST
Memo Board
Snowflake Shape Set

Additional Supplies
Eye Screws
Clips
Dresden Trims
Bo Bunny Vintage Dot-Wasabi
G45  8x8 paper pad 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'
Gesso
White acrylic paint
Lumiere Pearlescent White Paint
Swarovski flat back crystals

Thank you for stopping in!

The Clock Tower (or more ways to use bits of wood from your husband's scrap box)

My husband is an accomplished wood and metal worker. He has built everything from beautiful guitars to door hinges. So what is truly awesome for me is his ever changing, always fascinating scrap boxes. He has one for metal and one for wood. I love going out to his workshop and trolling through all the wonderful possibilities that lay in those boxes.
Because I am such a house freak, I tend to look for stuff I can turn into a house shape of some kind.
A couple of weeks ago,  I found a longish piece of 2x4 that I decided to turn into a clock tower for the wonderful folks at Alpha Stamps.

A lot of the supplies I used were from the Halloween Clock Kit-October 2016 including all of the papers (except the orange door and that was a bitty piece of scrap....you can make your door any old color you like!)

It was a lot of fun coming up with different ways to embellish the clocks from the Victorian Chipboard Shapes Sets.

I love the little lady peeking out of the Grandfather clock at the rat on the bookcase!

What the heck is she doing in there, anyway?

The arch over the door I made with scrapbook paper and chipboard. You can see a mini tutorial on how I made this HERE.

All in all, a very fun project to work on and a lovely excuse to rummage through MacGyver's Scrap boxes!

Click HERE to a link for supplies!

Supplies list:
Halloween Clock Faces Collage Sheet
Chipboard Shingles-Pointed
Candlestick Holder
Faux Metal Number Plates
Victorian Furniture Chipboard Set 1-Sofa
Victorian Furniture Chipboard Set 2 -Grandfather Clock
Baroque Dresden Borders-Black
Tiny Dot Dresden Borders-Black
Tiny Fleur Dresden Borders-Black
Chipboard Topiary Trees
Sheet moss
Small Wooden Finial (on top of the house)
Fancy Star Bead Cap
35mm Round Flower Filigree
Hitch Fasteners (door knob)
Liquid Pearls-Gold Pearl
Black Diamond Stickles
Wonderfully Wicked Dreadful Books Scrapbook Paper
Wonderfully Wicked Haunted Scrapbook Paper
Wonderfully Wicked Scrapbook Pack (the green border at the bottom and gable of the tower was from the sticker sheet)
Large Game Spinners
12x12 Chipboard (arch over door)
Filigree Frames Shapes Set (the black filigree under the brassy clock on the grandfather clock side)


Additional Supplies
Black Paint
Quinachrodone Gold Paint
Stamped Brass Flowers (tiny 3mm)
Wood scrap for the clock tower shape and door
Mini Chipboard Frame (window in the door)
Chipboard Crown

BONUS!!!
Oh the possibilities! A couple of great ways to use the new Simple House Ornament Shape - Set of 2!
You can stack them together to make a thicker ornament like the ones pictured here, or use them individually. Most of the papers I used were from the St. Nicholas 8x8 Paper Pad.
The wee tree comes from the Retro Bottle Brush Tree Set. The snowflakes I found kicking around a box of old scraps. but the Large Snowflake Sequin Mix would look awesome. The cute doors are from the Tiny House Trims Collage Sheet and the black wire (my favorite) is from the hardware store. 


 

 

Thank you so much for dropping by!

Fall on a Stick

  If I could, I'd have fall last for oh, I don't know, maybe six months. It's my favorite time of the year. I never get tired of rustling leaves, sweater weather (anybody get that?) wood fires, hot chocolate and gingerbread cake, all the gorgeous color and frosty mornings.
Hello everybody! Lora here taking my turn for the fab Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts folks and today I am bringing you a little bit of Autumnal craftiness.
It's fall on a stick! I couldn't help the cheesy play on words, but it really is Fall on a Stick.

It's a little hard to photograph as it's 18 inches tall, but it is a left-over stick of plywood that was in my husbands scrap box. I love recycling things if I can, and this was the perfect thing to play with the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Fall Shape Set.

The first thing I did was gesso the surface of the stick and the pieces from the fall Shape Set that I chose for my piece.

I made sure I liked the original arrangement, then removed the chipboard and began working on the surface of the stick.

Using matte medium, I glued down the paper I chose to the front and sides of the wood. The paper I chose is a neutral, cream colored paper with some script on it. I wanted something that wasn't dark but would have interest to it as it would show through on the final piece.

I used Phthalo Blue with some glazing medium to make the blue transparent, as you can see in the photo above, the lettering shows through the color. This gives the object more depth and richness and can give you a whole range of possibilities for future projects!
After the glazing dried I applied some gold acrylic paint to the surface. No glazing medium in this, just the paint, which adds another dimension.
I randomly applied it, keeping in mind that the surface of the stick is the background for the message.

I set this aside to let it dry and began working on the chipboard. I painted the scallop edge banner pieces black and set those aside. (Note; make sure you paint all the edges of your chipboard in black or gold or they will be white and glare at you!)

 For the letters and the leaves, I used red and yellow acrylic paints that I also mixed to make orange and kinf randomly painted the leaves and letters. I didn't use a pattern and had all three colrs on my brush. I dabbed and stroked the paint on and the colors came together on their own, creating a randomness...kind of the way you sometimes see leaves in nature, no two are alike.

I checked my placing one more time, finished painting the leaves and acorns and then glued everything down.
You can see in the photo below that I applied the paint on the acorn tops thickly in order to get a bit more texture.

 After everything dried, I used a very light application of Nickel Azo Quinac Gold on all the gold that I painted on the piece, icluding any gold that I painted on the leaves. It turns the gold a richer shade, and adds a bit of 'age' to the piece.

After it all dried thoroughly, I added some black dot details to the leaves and acrons to give them a little contrast, varnished the piece and glue a filigree doodad to the back as a hanger. Finished!

SUPPLIES:
Fall Shape Set

Plywood stick
Acrylic Paint
Acrylic Glazing Medium
Acrylic Varnish
Gesso

Thank you for stopping by!