LollyChops

Cupcake Week :: Shrinky Dinks & Tags!

 

When deciding on what I wanted to share this week tags were most definitely at the top of the list!  But I knew I could not just do tags!  That would be totally boring (Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz).  So...a while back I ordered some shrinky sheets from Dick Blick (you can see the ones I ordered HERE)... and I decided to do a tag/shrinky dink combo for Cupcake Week (whew...  world's most boring download and print post narrowly escaped)!

Let's dive right in (frosting first!!!)!

I made these tags to work with a Marvy pink scallop punch.
(like so many tags that I have come before )
Do you sense a theme here?

Am I getting boring?????
OMGoose.

You can use these tags to decorate packages...
Wait... haven't we seen that package before...

With a different tag?????

G.A.S.P.

BUSTED!
(only I removed the orange ribbon and the "L" tag).
Quiet down folks...  I am going green here.
Recycling is IN!
Right?

...and you can also use the tags with store bought cupcakes
See how they make them look almost homemade???
Almost.
(if you squint)

Now for the shrinky dinks!
I had never made shrinky dinks before and it takes a little more practice than I was expecting.
I wanted to share my trials with you in case you decide to give this a try.
I hope this prevents you from making as many mistakes as I did!

I bought the shrink sheets that you can run through an ink jet printer.
I got clear and white (resource HERE).
These are the clear ones.

I found that you cannot punch larger shapes very easily with these sheets.
They are just too thick.
The 1 inch circle punch seemed work just fine though.
I found that laying them on chip board was much better than parchment or vellum.
They tell you not to cook them directly on metal.


You cover them with vellum to help keep the curling to a minimum.
I baked mine at 300 F for 3 minutes and 30 seconds (exactly).


I burned the tar out of the first batch I made.
I had the oven too hot and parchment was not a good bottom for the pan.


The second batch did not cook long enough so they were still really curly on the edges.
But the third batch was just right (kinda like the 3 bears).

You can see how much these shrunk and how totally adorable they are!
They are like shrinky sprinkles!

I also did an experiment where I inked the edges of one of the shrinky punch shapes before I baked them and they came out pretty nice
(the inked one is on the left).

You can get the templates for the smaller 1 inch circle punches and the tags that work with the Marvy pink scallop punch below!

Cupcake Week - Think Pink Tags
Download the PDF HERE

AND

One Inch Cupcake Circles
Download the PDF HERE
Note:  I crammed as many cupcake circles on one page as I could (in order to reduce waste as much as possible).  Those shinky sheets are eggspensive!

AND...(but wait there's MORE???)

Don't forget to head on over to my Cupcake Week Co-Host (La Fuji Mama) to check out the recipe for today (it's her own invention and totally amazing!!!).  Shirley Temple Cupcakes cooked in a glass mug (they really do look like Shirley Temples)!!!  She's a crafty cooking geeneous.  I swears!

You can get a sneaky peak at the recipe card to my right but you have to head on over to Fuji's Cupcake Emporium to learn how to make them and get the real recipe card!

You know you wanna collect all these recipe cards don't cha???

So that's all I gots for today!  Tomorrow I am going to share a cute little cupcake onesie made using the embroidery patterns from yesterday!  

Cutsie Cupcake HUGS (I think my blog is waving the pink flag of surrender over here)!  It's never seen this much pink before it's whole life.  Ever.  Whew.

P.S.  HUGS x 1,000,000,000,000 = more hugs than you can stand (honest)!

Chiffon and taffeta flowers!

I am attempting a daring feat today!  I will see if I can write the shortest post in LC history (GallyChops has informed me that I need to go to bed e-meediately).

I hardly crafted this weekend (3 hours was about all I could muster).  I did manage to make up some taffeta and chiffon flowers that I have been admiring for decades (in dog years of course) and I wanted to share them with you real quick!!!

It was crazy easy and I did not burn down the house (which is kinda like a bonus if you ask me).

I got 1/8 of a yard of several colors of taffeta and chiffon at JoAnn's for digging in the dirt cheap (we are talking like $.30 - .75 per piece)!

I cut them into circles and used a candle flame to kinda burn the edges a little.  It took me a few tries to get the hang of it - but once I had it down I was on a taffeta and chiffon edge burning ROLL!

I made up a few totally cool flowers and have plans for loads more once I have this gallbladder thing all worked out.

I found out Friday that there are in fact stones in there (the technician pointed to them and said to me "you see those there..  those are your little friends")...  I think you guys make much nicer friends that that goat load of gall stones (I plan on keeping you guys around for sure!!!).

Oh yeah...  O.M.T.... this past Friday - Rachel from OnePrettyThing wrote to tell me that she is currently researching methods and procedures for polishing and cutting gallstones into fine gems - so we can make necklaces and matching earrings (she's so clever).  I can hardly wait!....  Saturday RonChops came up with the idea of bringing them home to use as models for needle felted renditions of gallstones.  That could be cool too.  I'll have to decide carefully what to do with them!

Lots more grizzly HUGS!

P.S.  Bear with me until I get all this personal health stuff worked out.  I'll let you guys know what's going on for sure!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

P.S.S.T.  So much for the short post.  hehehe

Pea.Ess.Ess.  Kim (one of the owners of SpoonFlower) made a super awesome dress from my Pear Pops - Gumbo fabric!  You can go check it out HERE!  It's sooooowwwwww cool!

A message from RonChops...on cork butterflies

Dear lovely ladies (and evidently at least one gentleman quilter),
This is RonChops.  I am thrilled to be posting for the first time ever on Lolly's blog (FYI...she added the word "thrilled"...I had something less enthusiastic originally but you know how she is...right?).  Anyway...LC has asked me to share a tutorial on a cute little butterfly thumbtack holder she made last week.  Ok hang on...  let's get something straight.  All words in hot PINK were added by LC.  Cool?  Ok.  Let's continue shall we!!

Well hang on again.  Before we get started she wanted me to tell you that she was inspired by a project of a similar but different sort over on The Creating Keepsakes Blog.  It's a darling little project on brad storage.  You can read all about it HERE. 

Ok...Firstly let's knock the supplies list out of the way:
Cork panels (like these fellas HERE)
Fabric covered buttons turned into thumb tacks (size 20) - tutorial HERE
Picture frame
Fabric (to coordinate with your massive thumbtack collection)
Chip or card board that fits into the recess of your picture frame
Sizzix BigKick and the Butterfly die from Stampin' Up! (don't worry...  there are other options too ok).  Stick with me.

LC used the BigKick to cut out butterfly shapes using a new die she recently purchased from Stampin' Up.  You can cut cork just like you can felt (that's totally cool right???!!!!).  In the tutorial from The Creating Keepsakes Blog she used elegant square coasters she had purchased at Ikea.  This would also work just as well (if you go that route you could spray paint the frame like we did HERE and use a coordinating fabric)!  You are going to cover the cork with thumb tacks anyway so this might even be better!!!

Once you have your butterfly shape all cut out, you are going to want to cut your chip board/card board piece to fit into the recess of the picture frame.
If your frame has glass - remove it.
Cut your piece of fabric about 1/2 inch wider than your backing.
Slather the outside of all 4 sides of your chip/card board with double sided tape.


...and simply wrap the fabric around the chip/card board square tightly.


This is where the idea from The Creating Keepsakes Blog really came in handy.
If you have ever purchased stamps from Stampin' Up you know that you have to mount them yourself
(so says LC - cause I had no idea).
The stamps come on a rubber sheet and all you have to do is poke them out
and peel the paper off the back.
You then stick them to your wood blocks (the blocks also come with the kits).
LC never throws anything away that might possibly have a shred of crafty use later...
...and she had saved these rubber paper backed sticky sheets "just in case"...
She cut out the rubber into small shapes that fit onto the back of her butterfly...
...and peeled off the paper backing
...and stuck them to her cork butterfly.
She then used mega glue (clear liquid nails raided from my tool box) to adhere the fabric butterfly to the fabric square she had made earlier.


POOF!
You have a mounted cork butterfly that you can hang next to your cork board or just anywhere really for a pretty decorative and unique accent!

...and the best part...
...is that you can stick your completely fabulous fabric covered thumb tacks in there too!

What if I don't have a Sizzix BigKick or the butterfly die from Stampin' Up RonChops???
LC thought of that...  so after MUCH debate (hemming, hawing, fussing and deliberating) she decided to make up a few extra sets of the cork butterflies and offer them for sale in her Etsy shop (for cost).  She's not going to start mass producing them or anything zaney like that...  she just thought it might be nice to make them available to those of you who might want to try out this little project for yourselves.  She's offering them for $2.00 each set + shipping.  You can see them HERE.

Oh yeah... O.M.T.  MomChops and I are in charge of shipping.  LC is not responsible organized enough to handle that herself.  Amen.

So that's it for today everyone!

Keep it crafty ladies,

a.k.a. Chief Craft Inspector

P.S.  I read all of your comments too.

 

P.S.S.T.  In case you are seeing two cork butterly posts in your readers..  that's basically what happens when you let a man take over the blog.  Sheesh!

Adventures in needle felted fingers...

Disclaimer:  Only one drop of blood was spilled for the sake of this tutorial.  No pictures of said drop will be displayed as the bearer of the drop baby cried her way into the kitchen to get a paper towel as soon as the horrific event occurred!

Once the drop was tended to by the paramedic on duty (RonChops) she was able to resume her regularly schedule tutorial.

Now that I have that out of the way...  oh hang on...  I need to adjust my band-aid...  ok that's better.

I love to milk a boo boo for all it's worth.  Even a tiny needle felting puncture wound/gash/trauma/ouchie.

So are we going to have a project sharsey today or what!?
Ok. Ok. Sew about a week ago I purchased a WoolPets needle felting kit from Felt-o-Rama (the bunny version).  BTBW was in full swing so I knew it would not make it as one of the projects for that buntastic event - but I wanted to get it anyway cause I have always wanted to try needle felting (oh and I had a coupon from the Felt-o-Rama newsletter)!

Disclaimer Part II:  I have never done this before but it was fun and I only poked my finger once really bad and drew a little drop of blood...  wait... did I already mention that?!?!?!?!

Let's get started already DramaChops!
This kit comes with a LOAD of wool.  You could prolly make at least 3 "creatures" from this thing.  All of the specifics about how to make ye tender bunny pops...  come with the kit!  I'll just use vague innuendos for this tutorial (helpful right???).

Roll your wool into a cocoon shape.
(cocoon is the word of the day...  you'll see why in a few pics)


Once you have two cocoon shapes...
You jab them together with the needle felting needle...
(trying carefully NOT to attach your finger to the cocoon).
It's tempting.
But don't do it.
Trust Lolly HoleyFingers


Once Casper has been wrangled into his cocoon...
You admire your handiwork.
Admire.  Admire.  Admire.


Then you pretend to shape things that look like "bunny ears"...
...and ever-so-gently attach them to the cocoon...

Then you wonder if this is actually going to look like anything at all.
Question ever getting a needle felting kit and making a tutorial out of it...
Why? Why? Why?

...and keep on truckin.
(cause that's what we do in Texas)
(you don't have a choice...  trust me)


Is it a Llama?
...a Lamb perchance?


That sure looks like a Llama hiney to me.
(here I am squeezing the ears and gently poking the wool together
NOTE:  I said G-E-N-T-L-Y people


He was trying to get away but I caught him by his little fat bottom.
The ears are looking some better.
Crooked...  but better.


Side view of the Llama legs...
Yeah. Yeah...  those are supposed to be legs.


Back "legs" in place.


Adding some pink to those ears to get them as bunnesque as possible!!!
Somehow I managed to wrangle a tail onto him in the melee of attaching his legs.


This is when he started to question his heritage...

 
...and at this point he's in full out dog mode.
He kinda looks like a westie in this one.


...at this exact moment...
RonChops walked into the room for the first time to see what I was working on.
It went something like this.
RonChops:  "Why is there a mustache on that dog?"
LollyChops:  It's not a dog it's a bunny... and I am putting his nose on.
RonChops:  Well it looks like a fat white dog...  with really big ears... and a mustache.
 LollyChops:  It's not a dog it's a bunny!
RonChops:  Well it looks like a dog to me.  Is that mustache going to stay on there like that?

At this point he started pointing out all of the dog characteristics.
I nicely asked him to leave the room.
...and get me another band-aid...


The "nose/mouth/mustache area" was problematic to say the least.


I even tried turning him upside down to see if that made it any better.

It didn't.


Poor guy.
Can it get any worse for him?

Enter...commercial break


I decided to insert a shred of helpful information into the middle of the drama here.
The kit came with small beads that I could not get to thread over any of my needles.
Since I was using embroidery floss..  I couldn't even use my beading needles.
Needle threading thing to the rescue!
I stuck the tip of the needle threading thing through the bead hole...
...and then threaded the floss on...


...and then stuck the needle on the end of the string to finish sewing his eyes on...


...and that's pretty much all there was to it...
...only the small black eyes were too small so I got some blue ones which were too big...
...but that's a story for another day...

Finally...
I pinned the bunny pin from last week to His Royal Highness
Felted Llama Bunny Dog Pants the III
...and shipped him off to Leigh...
(the winner of the bunny pin)
So she can bask in his wacky glory!
Plus..  I am hoping that hanging out with a real bunny might rub off on him.

So was this fun?  You betcha!
Was it hard?  You betcha!!

Will I do it again?  You betcha!!!
Can I add any more "!!!'s" to this post?  You had better believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll be back Wednesday with those cork butterflies I promised you last week!

More hugs than you can stand (seriously),

P.S.  DogChops wanted me to ask you guys a few questions (she gave me "the eye" so I figured I had better do it or else...)
1) Have you ever tried needle felting?
2) Would you try it now that you have seen how fun and easy it is?
3) If you have tried it and have some of your project pictures somewheres and feel like sharing...please send them my way and I'll post them (that was more of a statement and less of a question really).

xoxoxo,
DogChops

When life gives you scraps...

I think I have been going too easy on you guys.  In my early days of blogging, it seems like every other post had something to do with buttons to cover.  Lolly LOVES her some buttons to cover.  If I thought you guys would let me get away with it, I would dedicate an entire month to nothing but them.  A homage if you will.  So since I cannot possibly do that and expect to have any readers left by the end of that extravabonanza...  I'll just do a teeny tiny little peepy post on my lovies every now and then.  Ahhhh see them over there.  Peep.  Peep.  Aren't they fabulous!?!?!?!  I feel so much better.  I made up that massive batch this past weekend.  They are still sitting on my craft table setting the room all a glow!

So what are buttons to cover?
If you have been living in the dark cave of craftlessness and have no idea what I am talking about...  let me prepare you to become totally and completely more thrilled than you have ever been before in your whole entire life!  Ok maybe I exaggerate just a little...  NOT!  These puppies are the COOLEST!  You can read all about how to make them from my first ever buttons to cover post right HERE.  If you go there...  you must come back cause I am taking them to a whole new level.  Well not really...  but I do have a new nifty way to display them (cause they ARE works of art you know).

A Notion or Two
Let's start with a few things that are totally NOT buttons to cover related (I need to save the best for last you know).  As some of you may or may not know, I am in a virtual quilting bee.  It's called "A Notion or Two" and you can check out our Flickr group HERE.

I did not share my last quilt block and I finished my 3rd yesterday so I wanted to get them both posted cause they are totally and completely different!

The first one is mostly greens that's made from vintage fabric.  There was a piece in there that was so close to my grandma's old kitchen wall paper that it pretty much blew me and MomChops away!  The only difference was that my gramma had a bright yellow background instead of green.  I'll have to look through our old pics to see if I can find an example!  It was rockin stuff!

This second picture is of the block MomChops and I finished this past weekend!  It's kinda a mish mash of many colors but I think everything works really well together!!  I added a little teal bunny applique in honor of BTBW!  I cannot wait to get my next fabric pieces for April!

...and nextly...
I had to share this!  I got some shelves this past weekend from Lowes so that I could get all of my stamps out of their baskets (the shelves were $15 a piece and super duper easy to hang...  I hung them all by my lonesomes!!!).

I have seen this idea all over the place and figured it was high time I got with the program and put something like this together for myself!

When my stamps are tucked away I rarely think to use them in my projects.  I am hoping that having them out like this will give me loads more inspiration (plus... I think they look totally cool all lined up like that!!!!).  I mean seriously folks!!

...and lastly...
I created a little project last night on a whim... and I am going to wait till later this week to share how I did it...  it's a new way to display/store your thumb tack version of sweet little buttons to cover!  Here is a little sneak peak!

The only reason I am not sharing it today is because I ran out of daylight and the pics I took were terrible!  So I'll see if I can get home from work early enough tonight to get better pics!

It's super fun and easy...  and I think it makes for a really nice display too (even without the buttons to cover).

I hope you are all having a terrific Tuesday!

More hugs than you can stand!

P.S.  It's not too late to enter my giveaway!  You can read all about it HERE.

P.S.S.  I got two bunny inspired project shares this past weekend.  Check them out below!

This pic of from my good friend Heather (she and I used to work together many moons ago).  Heather used washable markers and colored the kids' thumbs and pointer fingers and stamped them on paper in the shape of a bunny. Then she embellished each sweet little thumb bunny with ears and tails to make a cute Easter card!

AND

This little softie bunny is from Linda of [wife.daughter.sister.friend].  She enlarged the Binky Bunny template to make this little choo choo wabbit!  Sooo sew sweet!

Thanks for sharing your projects girls!

P.S.S.T. xoxoxoxoxoxo!

Big Time Bunny Week :: Meet Pensive & Stubborn

Are you guys getting tired of bunnies yet?  If you are, just check back Sunday.  LeeAnn from MintBasil is going to be my guest with an Irish scone recipe!!!  Yum-ers!

Decoupage Bunnies anyone?
If you are NOT tired of bunnies yet...  here's another project sharesy!  This is something I have always wanted to try but just never have.  I decided this would be the perfect opportunity!

I have two subjects for today's post.  Ms. Pensive Bunny and Mr. Stubborn Bunny.  We'll save the lady until last (we just need to get ole stubborn potato pants out of the way first).

What I used:
ModPodge - Matte-Mat
Beaten up and chipped ceramic bunny & plain brown paper form bunny
Napkins (for the Mr.) and fabric (for the Ms.)
Sponge on a stick thingy

Let's hop right in!

I had an old beaten up ceramic bunny covered in holes (he was a lantern).
I got some cheap napkins at Tuesday Morning..  cream colored with leaves.


I used my rotary cutter and made slices of the napkins.
They were 2-ply - so I removed the white part and saved the pretty / thicker parts.


I slathered ole stubborn holey britches with some mod podge
(is it just me or is that the most impossible thing to say...I always want to call it modge podge).


I layered the thinner white part of the napkins all over him first.
He's rather upset with me here.
I think he was about to go for my throat...
...but I stopped him cold with my sponge sword...and glue...and napkins!!!

MUHAHAHAHAHA


I think it was at this humiliating moment that he decided to change into Stubborn Bunny.
Do you see his fangs coming out???


No wait...  THIS was actually the moment he turned on me.
For whatever reason...  he did not like being decorated.
With pretty green leaves.
I don't get it.
All I can say...
...is that he had better be glad I didn't cover him in flowers.


Ta da!
I had to balance him on the modge podge
(I don't care what they say...  that's what I am calling it from now on)

He was so vicious I had no choice.

Notice how there is not a shred of tutorial here now?


He has an ugly butt...
I just hate that.'
We must do something about it!


This is him doing the groundhog thing.
He's looking AWAY from his shadow.
See what I mean.
Stubborn as Pie.


Let me interrupt my riveting story to bring you a smidge of tutorial.
Once you trace around the hot bunny bottom...
...onto felt..  yeah I know.  more felt.
Cut about 2mm inside your line..  


It will make an ever-so-lovely felt bottom...
...and cover up all that butt uglyness.
Ok back to the story!


Thus enters...
Ms. Pensive Bunny
Is it just me or does she look a tad on the pensive side here?
Kinda unsure of herself.  Scared.  Apprehensive.  Pensive?


She's checking out the floral motif on her hips...
She knew she should not have had that extra helping of emu scrambled eggs last night.
Get a load of those ears...!!!
shhhh don't tell her I said anything ok!


See what I mean.
Pensive.


She's trying not to look now.
Giving me a bad case of the GIANT ears.
Or cold shoulder if you will...


So what do I go and do?
I show you how much nicer looking her backside is as compared to Mr. Stubborn Britches.
I felted her bottom too.
We all need a little felted bottom in our lives.
Right ladies?


Here is the happy couple.
.or not.
She's still rather upset with me.
She wants to know how she ended up with such a stodgy ole codge.
He on the other hand...
Mr. SPB (Stubborn Pants Bunny)
...is pretty happy.
He ended up with one hot mama.
He's a sucker for a lady with a little hip in her hop.
wow that was bad...I should delete it.
.but I won't.

So are you all tired out from that tutorial.  Whew.  Now that you know how to make your own decoupage bunnies (or not)...  I hope you'll give this a try.  It couldn't be any easier.  Just make up a story as you are going along and you'll get the hang of it in NO time.

No seriously...
If you want a real tutorial let me know.  I am sure I can find something else to cover in fabric!!!  Trust me!

Bunny Week Hump Day HUGS!


P.S.  There is a little giveaway going on over at Loves To Create (you can check it out HERE).  She's giving away all THESE MIRRORS that NEED to be spray painted in GREEN!!!  or TEAL.
...or any bright and springy color really!!!



Tell her Lolly sent ya!  Unfortunately LollyChopsters did not win the last giveaway I sent you to... but we halfta to win this one girls!!  I am not even going to enter...  you guys need to enter so you can win and show me your spray painting prowess ok!  GO GO GO!

Easter grass to dye for!

I will fess up straight away.  While the eggscelent eggs decoration method was mine...even though I nearly had a heart attack when I thought I had been beaten to the punch (pun intended)...this dyeing project was most definitely inspired by the queen mother of crafts herself!  I got this idea in this month's MS Living (the only difference is that they were dyeing raffia...).

So I tried to dye raffia too (I mean seriously folks...  it's a killer idea)!  I tried and tried but I could not get the raffia to take the dye for nuthin!  I am not sure why...  maybe I had the fake stuff?  Do they make fake raffia???  I mean it was actually repelling the dye...!!!!!  No foolin!  If there are any gals out there who have tried this and had success, please let me know what I am doing wrong!

I pitched that batch of sogged out (not even slightly blue) raffia and moved on to Plan B (Lolly fails a lot and has to come up with a Plan B far too often).  Thus enters... The Craft Closet of DOOM! (say that with a booming voice...  no wait... let me help)!

In frustration I went to the newly cleaned craft closet (of doom) and stood there with my hands on my hips (that's my "feeling bossy and gonna take charge of this craft disaster in the making" stance).  After admiring my clean craft closet for 15 seconds (true story) I started looking for something else to dye!  I mean I had this gigantic bowl of dye that was begging me to dye SOMETHING...  not eggs (I am not bleaching the counter again...  at least not until next year anyway).  Looking.  Looking...

What did I spy from way under the piles of neatly stacked craft supplies?  I spotted a basket filled with wood shavings (TA DA...).  5 minutes later (after I had neatly moved everything from atop the basket) I hauled my wood shavings to the kitchen and grabbed a handful to toss into the egg dye mixture.  I can almost guarantee someone else has done this before...  but it was new to me!  I had a fork handy and started to turn the wood shavings over and over in the dye (forks are not just for eating you know).  Within 5 minutes I had the coolest blue wood shavings I had ever laid my eyeballs on!  I immediately dyed about 3 more batches then pitched that batch of dye and started with another color (teal this time)!  Once I was done with a few batches of that I moved on to purple and was completely smitten with myself (you guys get smitten with yourselves too right???)!

So that's about it really...  here are the steps spelled out...

Supplies you will need:  vinegar, egg dyeing kit (I used PAAS), wood shavings, larger bowl...
...and a cute protesty DogChops in the background annoyed with the smell of vinegar...
DogChops is saying "momma...  get rid of that smelly vinegar and give me a scratch"

I have no idea why I have the egg holder in this pic...maybe I just thought it was cute?

 
This is a close-up of the wood shavings in case you are not sure what I am talking about.

Grab a handful and place them into your bowl.

Do this in small batches.
You want to be able to smoosh everything in there and be able to flip them over.

Use your fork to turn your wood shavings over and to extract them from the bowl.
Leave the shavings in as long as you want.
I found that I was getting the color I wanted in less than 5 minutes.
It's easy to match colors from one batch to the next.
Let them drip for a while when you pull them out.

Lay your completely fabulous dyed wood shavings
on a set of tea towels to dry (I stacked up about 3 towels and it did not soak through).
Let it dry for 24 hours (yeah I know that's a long time)!

That's all there is to it!!!!  I have always loved using wood shavings to line the bottoms of gift baskets (I buy the stuff by the gross ton I use it so often).  I am sure this will make a pretty addition to your Easter baskets as well!!  You will be so surprised at how easy this is and you will especially love the colors you get!  I was really shocked at how nice this turned out!

You might notice a small bunny applique on one of the baskets there..  shhhh...that's a little sneak peak of a project for BTBW! yip yipp yippee!

I hope you will have an opportunity to dye eggs and grass this season.  RonChops and I do not have any kiddos but we still make time to exchange Easter baskets every year (any excuse for chocolate right???).

Oh and one more thing...

See that little pretty there...

The one with the ruffles...

...and green...

...and teal...

...and leaves...

...oh and flowers too!!!

You can enter to win that fabulous apron from Just Because I am Me by following this link HERE!

Head on over to Shaina's place and tell her Lolly sent ya!!  Last time I sent you guys over to a giveaway a LollyChopster won...!!!  Sew our odds are pretty good here.  Force in numbers girls!  FORCE in NUMBERS!

That's all I gots for today!

Dyeing for Friday HUGS!

O.M.T.  I want to thank you all for your lovely well wishes and hugs and cheers and understanding this past Monday!  You are all so wonderful!  I am so grateful for each and every single one of you!  xoxoxo

Finally....

GIGANTIC P.S.  ummmm guys..  I JUST found out (after my post was written and I was headed to lullaby land) that my pear pops gumbo fabric is going to be a fabric of the week in the SpoonFlower contest (!!!!!!!! x 1 million trillion).  I am trying to stay calm.  My face is red.  I am so excited that I might burst and did I mention that my face is red (ears too)!!!! 

The other samples are A-MAZING!  I think these are some of the best samples I have ever seen (ever).  I am going to need you guys to help me here!  Once it's official I'll make the announcement with the place to vote!  If I win I get 5 WHOLE YARDS OF FREE FABRIC!  Which means I will have LOADS to give away (bribery might help me here right???)!  Holey fish flakes I am excited!

P.S.S.  Check out this little pear pin cushion that Shaina made (the very Shaina who is having a giveaway).  She won a spoonflower fabric giveaway contest I had a while back and made this cutie with some of the pear pops gumbo fabric!!!  She just sent it to me!!!!  Is this crazy timing OR what!!! 

yikes!

Ok now I have to figure out how to get to sleep.  Ha.  xoxoxoxoxo

UPDATE:  The SpoonFlower contest is HERE.  I'll post more about it tomorrow!!!  Breathe Lolly.  Breathe!

Crafting With Lolly :: Eggscelent Dyed Eggs

I am pretty excited about today's craft share but I had a somewhat heart stopping moment on my way home from work Wednesday evening...  RonChops had gotten the mail and sent me this text message.

You see...  When RonChops got the mail... on the cover (yes that's right...  The COVER) of this months MS Living was pretty much the exact project I was going to share today (or so it appeared).  I was on a client call on my way home but called him the split second I hung up to get all of the gory details.

Ron and I have a good communication thing going on.  Even with those 5 simple words..  and nothing else... I knew exactly what he meant.  I had shared today's craft project with him the previous Sunday and was pretty darn excited about it...  he knew it was Friday's post...  so when he said "Martha beat you to it" I knew he meant my egg project.  Gulp.

By the time I called him he had already read the entire article (complete with how-tos) and was in the process of calming me down (have I mentioned how much I love RonChops lately...  well I do)!  He's the coolest.  It looked the same but was completely and totally different.  Heart palpation's over..  I had to hustle home to read the article to see what this was all about!

So here we go...  this is my take on dyeing eggs using a few easy to obtain items to make them extra special (and it's not a killer amount of work either)... for once... a LC project that will not give you muscle fatigue (it's about time right?!?!?!).

First you will need 400 teal felt pieces cut into little bird, lamb and chick shapes...since there is no Sizzix die for this you will need to cut them by hand...  I am kidding you guys.  Calm down.  No felt in this project.  No excessive amount of small shapes.  Honest to peanuts...  hmmmmm.... but now that I mention it I should have worked some in.  hehehe.  KIDDING.  Just KIDDING!

What you need:
Eggs (go figure)
Basic egg dyeing kit
Freezer paper
Blue painters tape (available at your local hardware store)
Your favorite punch(s)

The whole freezer paper thing (and frankly...  this is me being Frank again)... this project would have never happened if it had not been for you...  my dear readers.  You ALL basically MADE me buy freezer paper to do the applique work..  remember???... Once I saw how cool that stuff was...  I knew it was going to find it's way into other projects!

As for the blue painters tape...  I think it's crucial that you use this tape.  It's wild stuff.  Kinda sorta water proof and it does not leave a weird sticky film behind.  RonChops and I have painted almost our entire house so we have LOTS on hand.

Let's get started shall we?
You are going to want to cut your freezer paper into strips to roughly match the width of your painters  tape.  Attach the painters tape to the shiny side of the freezer paper.

 

Using your punches...  punch out your shapes on the painters tape/freezer paper combo.

This basically turns your punched shapes into stickers made from painters tape.
Cool right?
I found it works best if you peel from the blue tape side and not the freezer paper side.
You will know what I mean once you give this a shot.

Start placing your new "stickers" onto your boiled or hollowed out eggs.


For most of my eggs...  I used some fairly large and not as detailed punches.
But I decided to get crafty and use some really fine detail punches
(cause I am crazy like that)
So here is a little tip on peeling these fine detail stickers off of the freezer paper.


Punch your super fine detail punches on the edge of the freezer paper / blue tape combo
(where you have some white showing through)
It gives you a white part to grab a hold of and peel away from.


Be really careful with the fine detail pieces...
...as they tend to bend and are a little harder to place.


So remember how I mentioned hollowed out eggs a second ago.
Guess what?
Go ahead... guess.
Hallowed out eggs do not sink like regular eggs.
They float.
The titanic they are not (that was horrible I know).


Even when you submerge them and try to fill them up with dye.
The little suckers still float.
I recommend dyeing them first...
and THEN hollowing them out.
HERE are some tips on hollowing eggs.


So you have your sticker covered eggs...
They look pretty awesome...
Let them dry a little while...  like 10 minutes.
and...


Peel the stickers off to reveal the white underneath!


I did sticker stripes too.  That was fun!


Here is a close-up of a purple egg with hearts and butterflies.


...and a batch of some of my other eggs...
Soo pretty!
The detail is amazing.
And there is no sticky residue to worry about...
...even when you submerge the eggs for a while to get them nice and dark!

Just one mention..  you can use stickers too...
...but I liked doing it this way because the detail of the punches is super nice.
...and that painters tape holds up really well under the water/vinegar combo.

So that's it for today!  I hope you will give these a try!  It's super easy and fun too!.. oh and that bunny egg below...  that's the deform-o floater.  He got all messed up.  Poor lamb.

LOLLY....  what about the giveaway????
So I guess I need to announce the winner for the topiary giveaway right?
hmmmm....  I'll be right back.  I need to go to random.org and generate a number between 1 and 318 (wow you guys...  really...  318 entries)...  YOU GO GIRLS!

Here you go...  the winner is:  Barbara Snyder of Barbara's Scraps.  Barbara...  I'll be in touch today to get your address!

So...  for real this time...  that's all I got.  I'll have another giveaway soon - so keep your eyeballs peeled ok!

Lucky Friday the 13th HUGS (I miss you Nanny).

O.M.T.  Guess what next week is?

 

P.S.  You guys ready?

P.S.S.T.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Felt flower fabulousness...on a stick!

This is my second Monday featuring a project involving felt (I sense a pattern here but I could be wrong...if I do another felt project next Monday I might need to get professional help...I'm just sayin'). 

Last week I was poking around Nicole's blog (Lumpy Page Designs) and saw a project she had featured earlier in the week (you can go check it out HERE).  I contacted her immediately to ask if it was ok for me to do my own version and feature it this week (I was seriously excited about it)..she graciously said yes (thanks Nicole)!!

I have always loved topiaries.  There is just something sew completely cool about them...  I just cannot put my finger on it.  Originally I was going to go out and purchase a bunch of silk flowers and take them all apart and glue them to the Styrofoam ball...  but I suddenly got a bad case of "cheaps" and decided that I needed to use the massive stash I have here and make something on my own.

I have been buying all of my felt from my very most favorite felt store in the entire universe (Felt-o-Rama)...and no they did not pay me or give me anything free to say that...  I just honestly love that store and I think the owner - April - rocks the planet-o-felty fabulousness!

For this project you will need:
6 sheets of felt (roughly 8.5x11).  I used Wool (meadow) and Eco-spun (antique white)).  You can use whatever colors you want of course!
300 mini brads (that's not a type-o...that's three hundred (you might want to get an extra hundred just in case).  I used Making memories (antique copper).
1 - 5 inch round ball of Styrofoam
A wooden dowel (at least a foot long)
Flower pot (I got this bird/tree stump one at Tuesday Morning a couple of weeks ago)
1 foam chunk that fits into the flower pot
Craft paint (to paint the dowel)
Hot glue and a glue gun (you will not need that much)
Spanish Moss or wood shavings

Let's get started!

You can cut the flower shapes by hand or do what Nicole did and get some prima paper flowers
(they work just as well!).
I used my Sizzix BigKick to cut my flower shapes.
I sliced the felt into strips that were as wide as the flower pieces I was going to be cutting.


I think cut those strips into squares
(you can cut several pieces at once if you have a rotary cutter).


You have to load each felt square on to the Sizzix machine and crank each one through.
By hand.
Approximately 300 times.
hehehe.
Don't cha love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Crank. Crank. Crank.


Crank. Crank. Crank.
This is what the flower piece looks like once it's gone through the machine.
Cool right?
It's nearly the same shape of flower that I used from the paper love heart thing I made a while back.
Crank. Crank. Crank.
You can see that project HERE.


Be strong girls.
This project IS worth it.
Crank. Crank. Crank.
Take little breaks.
Crank. Crank.
Stop when you have about 25 done.
And let the fun begin!


Poke the little mini brad through the middle(ish) of the felt flower.
Don't even look at the Sizzix cause you might be feeling a little bit of anger toward it.
Keep this in mind.  I had no idea it would take roughly 300 of those little fellas to do this.
So I was not feeling the felt flower angst until roughly flower 187.
At that point I was wondering what I had gotten myself into AND was also wondering
WHY DID I CHOOSE SUCH A LARGE STYROFOAM BALL!!!!
crank. crank.

 
Don't hate me ok.
Promise me.
You can't.
ok?
Ok.
Now that we have that out of the way.
Put a small dab of hot glue on the end of each brad.
Did you miss that?
Put a small...  yeah yeah.  I know.  On the end of EACH one.
:D
C'mon girls!!!  BE STRONG!
cranky yet?


Now look at how cute this looks!!!!
Only 298 more to go!!!


To make this easier (ahem)...
I balanced the ball in a smaller flower pot.
It helps keep things stable.
You need some stability.
You might be a tad loony towards the end of this FUN project.
crank. crank.


See..!!!!  It's coming together!
Make sure you snuggle those fellas up close to each other.
You are going to need to make more flowers at this point.
You still love me anyway right??

 
Ohhhh.
Ahhh...
Pretty!
Enough admiring.
Get back to making flowers (kidding)!


How can you resist this beauty!
Let's recap.
You are out of brads.
Your arms and back hurt.
You have burned your fingers on hot glue at least 14 times by now
(kidding..  I only burned my fingers 3 times.  honest)
BUT....!!!
You have this lovely little felt flower covered pretty all for your very own...
...cause there ain't NO way you are giving this away after all the work you have put into it.

The next steps are pretty easy.
1) Paint your dowel and let it dry.  I painted mine brown.  Original right?
2) Stick one end of the dowel in the flower pot foam piece and one end in the bottom of the felt flower covered ball (in the spot you forgot to leave for the dowel...  remove a flower to make room...  see...  it's really only 299 flowers).  That makes it SOOO much better right?
2.5) Remove the dowel ends and apply hot glue to each end and then cram them back in place.  :)
3) Artfully apply Spanish moss on the top of the flower pot opening..  and viola.  You are a craft ROCK STAR!

My dream version of this project would have me using a birch branch instead of a dowel.  I live in Texas folks.  There isn't a birch tree within 1000 miles of here (maybe even 1487 miles...  I cannot be sure).  I looked in the yard.  We have 2 pecan trees and a bunch of gnarly who knows whats.  All with wonky limbs.  Hence the lovely wooden dowel.

Crazy Pants.

With love (honest),

P.S.  This would make an excellent table centerpiece for a bird themed wedding.  If you cannot find the bird planters...  look for a tree trunk planter and then add a bird nesting in the base (or even in the felt flowers).  It would be completely killer.....and seriously...if you got a group of girls together to do this project...  it would fly by and you would have centerpieces that people would fight over!  No kidding.  Plus...  I think it would be fun to make a bunch of these with your very most closest friends (but don't invite me over though o'kay)!  xoxoxo

Crafting with Lolly :: Kewl Cork Wreath

Firstly..  I have to tell you how utterly excited I am about all of the craft/studio/art rooms shares we are going to have for next week!  It's completely fantastic!  So many of you have sent me pics, links, and stories about your special spaces!  Keep 'em coming ladies!  We are going to have one heck of a post next Wednesday that's for sure!

Today I have a little tutorial on how to make a wine cork wreath!  I have been making these for a long long time...  and I thought you guys might like to take a stab at one too!

What you need!
10" straw wreath (wrapped in fishing line or some sort of twine).  Like this one HERE.
Glue gun (high temp for adults and low temp for kiddos).
Glue sticks (lots - I used 6 of the 10" long - high temp sticks).
Wine Corks (I used 180 for this project).  Look on ebay..  there are folks who sell them in bulk if you cannot find them locally.
Vacuum (cause you are gonna need to clean up all that straw)
Twine or floral wire.

Let's get started!
First..  remove the plastic from your wreath (not the string that's keeping everything together ok!!!).
I know I told you not to take off the plastic last week...  but that was only because I did not want you guys to have straw from one end of your house to the other before the big day!

NOW it's ok to unwrap it!  :D

 
Tie your twine or floral wire so that it wraps around the wreath but still has room for about 2 - 3 fingers to fit underneath.


You are going to want to cover the entire front of the wreath in corks laying side by side.
The best way to do this is with a long swath of hot glue down one side of the cork.


Line the corks up all nice and neat in a little row.
You are not going to want to go around the back side of the wreath - remember - it's going to be hanging on a wall so you want the backside to be flat.


You will get to a stubborn part where they do not line up like you want them to.
So you just have to tuck them in where you can...  still trying as hard as you can to stay flat for this first layer.


BUT..  you prolly won't be able to and that's totally ok!  hehehe.
What I am trying to demonstrate here is that you actually can go a little wild and crazy.  Your goal with the first layer is to cover up as much of the straw as possible.  Any way you can.


Here is some cork craziness.


...and here I am gluing the corks directly to the string I tied.
You do not need to do this...  it's just something that happens as you are hot gluing along.
Make sure you leave some slack twine in the back.
 

See how the first layer is all coming together!


Once you get the first layer of corks on, the long strip of glue is no longer going to cut the mustard.
You want to glue the corks at random angles so that basically means you need some random (a.k.a..."creative") glue placement.


See what I mean.  You want these little fellas staggered all over the place.


Here we are with a large dollop in the center so...


...we can balance that fella on top of one of the corks from the first layer.


I am just randomly placing the corks now.  I kinda got a little pattern going on the second layer by accident but I was able to break up the pattern with just a few randomly placed corks.


Close-up of the second layer.


and viola...a finished wreath!

That's pretty much all there is to this!  The more random the second layer is the better the wreath looks (there is no third layer)!  You hang it from the little twine or wire you placed around the base at the very beginning (so don't forget to do that step). 

What I usually do before I get started is pick out all my special corks (the ones with the pretty pictures and designs on them) and save them for the second layer.  If I have a lot of a particular kind of one cork - I usually use those as my base corks.

When you are placing that second layer - pay attention to where the pretty pictures and designs are on those special corks so you can make those face outward.  On this wreath I found a picture of some birds and also had another cork that said "pheasant" on it.  I made sure I placed those close together.

I made myself a large wreath that started with an 18" straw base.  It came out to be about 22' total.  I have that hanging in my kitchen (this picture here is of the small one I made for this tutorial).

I hope you enjoyed this little project share!!  If you get a chance to make a cork wreath - I would love to see a pic (and then share it with everyone else!!).

HUGS for a happy weekend you guys!


P.S.  If anyone lives in an area with birch trees and they happen to be trimming them or have some nice straight 1" limbs laying around (no longer than a foot)...  I need one and will pay you for it!  Just email me ok!

 

P.S.S.T.  ummmm guys.  The Butterfly Project was featured on Ali Edwards site today!  I am kinda sorta freaking out about it!!!!!  YAY!!!!!