Birthday Cake Mix CD DIY

My boyfriend had a birthday not too long ago and so I whipped up a little birthday cake mix for him!

Check it out! I took 2 pieces of cardboard (thin like cereal boxes), traced a CD sized square, cut them out, punched holes, tied them together, and then decorated!

oh! and I compiled a bunch of awesome swing/blues songs on a CD to slip inside. Can't forget that part!

Also got to see the Franklins while they were in town.

 Incredible machines!! and Still running about a century later..how does your car measure up? lol.

Garden Gnomes Galore!

OHMYGOSH! These were so much fun to make.

 I cut some pretty basic shapes out of colored paper (rectangle, half circle, triangles, etc) and glued together.

But where do you see gnomes but in gardens?

 So I decided to make him into a plant stake (translation: I needed to make him a little more durable).

Mod Podge to the rescue! Yes, my Mod Podge bottle has a superhero cape but that's another story...

Next up: get one of those handy, multi purpose wooden skewers (or you could use real plant stakes, but who does that?) and tape the cute little guy to it.  Tape on the backside.

Bah! Who can help but love this?! They are going to snazz up all the planters in my new apartment!

Frilly Valentines for the ladies!

These are for my girlfriends. They are so sweet and girly!

Delicious! It just occurred to me that they are in conversation heart colors...

...now I want candy.

It was pretty easy to make these, the hardest part being the 'what to put on each one to make it unique' part.

I drew this shape on paper and used it as a template to trace over thin cardboard (recyclers note: use cereal boxes since one side will be covered)

Cover the top half with newspaper and "dress" them up! I used stamps, lace, fringe, tissue paper, ribbon, images from magazines, embroidery thread, and markers.

You can cover the back with white paper or just write directly on the cardboard for a more vintage feel :)

I was thinking of running some thin wire through each side so they can be hung on a doorknob or something. Who wouldn't want to show these off?

On a sad note, a dear friend passed away last week so I was busy trying to find the right words for the darling woman he left behind.

Which left me wondering, why don't more people write letters?
We all love getting them, right? Or am I in a minority?
I just finished a book about a fighter pilot in WWII whose life was pieced together from all the letters he sent to his loved ones.
How cool is that?!?
Will anyone be able to piece our lives together when we are gone?

ATC Christmas Ornaments and Gingerbread houses

This year, several of my friends got a sweet little surprise with their Christmas cards...THESE!

Instead of using a playing card to create these ATCs(Artist Trading Cards), I used a Mike & Ike box {I love those things}. I did use a playing card to trace its shape on the cardboard and cut it out. This was perfect because it is white on one side so I can put a nice holiday greeting on there.

I covered the other side with old wrapping paper from Christmas presents past and stamps from last year's cards! In the middle is a rolled paper rose and stamped across the top reads: The Magic Of Christmas.

With a hole punched in the top, these can be laced up with a pretty ribbon and displayed on the tree for many years to come!

I went to see the gingerbread display at the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY and here are some of the delights to be seen..

Townhouses next to the RVer's Christmas paradise

Then, I came across this real life gingerbread house! How Gorgeous!! Someday, I will have a beautiful house like that..