Pink Paper Peppermints - Craft. Create. Celebrate.

Back in Crafty Action!

Ack!  I'm finally back!

Vacation was wonderful and I'm relaxed and refreshed and ready to get crafty again!

{I love typing Ack!  It's so descriptive and you really can't get away with actually *saying* "Ack!" out loud can you?}

So how about some photo happiness to start the week off right?

Here are some of my faves from the trip:

St. Louis Union Station is so gorgeous.  We stayed in a hotel across the street that is a restored YMCA built in early 1900's.

Inside Union Station is even more gorgeous!  I wish they still designed buildings like this:

I love the ladies holding the globes at the top of the arch. 

And look at the stained glass:

When we arrived in Chicago this is what we saw sitting outside our hotel room:

I should have known that was a bad sign of things to come.

The rest of the Chicago leg of the trip was fabulous though! 

We visited the beautiful Shedd Aquarium.

And learned lots about dolphins and penguins and whales and lizards! 

In fact we arrived at the lizard exhibit at feeding time much to my boys delight (and my horror!). 

Lizards eat some pretty gross stuff...I'm just sayin'.

Yes, that is a big, fat, green caterpillar-wormy thing in his mouth...and he swallowed it whole (while it was still squirming!) right after I took this shot..*eww*...

After Shedd we hopped on the train to Chinatown for lunch at the Three Happiness Cafe and some shopping (sorry to mention lunch so soon after the whole caterpillar/lizard thing). 

Some students had a haiku exhibit in the station and it was fabulous! 

I also enjoyed this warning sign in the station (affixed with duct tape):

And just in case you weren't sure *how* to hold on to your children the diagram shows you with a little highlighted circle for emphasis...I guess so you don't try to hold on to them by their hair or something which would be much less effective I'm sure...

I really fell in love with Chinatown.  It just had so much charm and character. 

 

I loved the dragon lamp posts!

And this was my favorite sign in all of Chicago:

Okay lots more to show you tomorrow including a tuesday ten of crafty things I saw on my trip with more photos of the fabulous Red Lead Paperworks!

Hope you're all having a fabulous summer!

Grace and Peace,

♥ M~
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.You know everything I do."
-Psalm 139:3

French Toast Flowers! | 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days - Day 27

Day Twenty-Seven-We're still in flower heaven!

Today's flower tutorial for 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days  is fun and yummy and a perfect way to celebrate the arrival of summer! 

I think it would be so fun to make these from French Toast, but for simplicity in the tutorial I just used regular toast which is a little quicker and turned out cute too!

 Here's what you need to get started:

-Whole wheat bread
-Butter
-Decorative Sugar
-Flower shaped cookie cutter
-soda bottle cap
-knife
-French toast recipe & ingredients (if making french toast)

Step One

While bread is toasting (or french toast is cooking) cut a 1/4 inch pat of butter for each toast flower you will be making.

Step Two

 

Use your soda cap to make little round pats of butter for the center of your toast flowers. 

This works best if the butter is firm but not rock hard, so let it sit out for a few minutes before beginning.

Step Three

Once your toast is ready, center the cookie cutter over it and press firmly. 

Before you lift the cookie cutter, pull away the scraps of toast on the outside. 

 

Tip:

Don't throw these scraps away!  Throw them in a baggie and store them in the freezer.  The next time you need bread crumbs for a recipe just toss the scraps into the food processor and you've got homemade bread crumbs! (You can do this with the heels of the bread as well.)

Step Four

 

Now add your pat of butter to the center of your toast flower!

Step Five
 

For a special treat, you can sprinkle sanding sugar or decorative sugar on the butter centers.

Step Six

 

Cut freehand leaves with your knife.

Step Seven

 

Now put together your toasty flowers! 

This would make a fun birthday or holiday breakfast treat! 

For dad, on Father's Day, you could use a fish or sports themed cutter!

Have Fun!

Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"His cheeks are like beds of spices, with sweet-smelling plants. His lips are like lily flowers giving off drops of perfume."
-Song of Solomon 5:13

Packing Tape Image Transfer Flower | 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days - Day 16

Day Sixteen - Crafty McBean!

Happy Memorial Day!

It's week 5 of my 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days!

Today's crafty flower is a packing tape transfer! This is such a fun and easy technique.

It's especially fun with kiddos.  They can create their own little scrapbooks or journals full of transfers.

It's also a great way to include images from magazines and old books for your lapbooks in homeschooling  

If you want to include larger images or maps in your lapbooking, you can use clear contact paper instead of packing tape.

Here's what you need to get started:

 

-Packing Tape (the cheaper the better) or clear contact paper
-an image from a magazine, old calendar, junk mail, packaging, newspaper, photos printed on a laser printer (ink jet won't work)
-bone folder
-water
-Optional ribbon & tags to decorate

Step One

 
Cut out the image you want to transfer and cover it with packing tape.  Burnish with a bone folder or the back of a spoon.

Make sure there are no air pockets or bubbles.

Step Two

You can now soak the image in a bowl of water for 15 to 20 minutes or (if you're in a hurry) hold the image under running water until the paper is thoroughly saturated.

 
You should begin to see the image through the back of the paper when it is saturated. 

This will take longer the thicker your backing paper is.

 

Step Three

Begin rubbing the backing paper off under the running water.

 

For a distressed look ruse a sponge to create scratches in the image.

 

Let the image dry for a few minutes.  The backing will remain sticky.

Step Four

Layer your image over patterned paper, old maps, sheet music, or other collage material.

Step Five

Burnish your image to the background paper and trim.

That's it! 

Now you have a transfered image that you can use for a scrapbook page embellishment, in your journal, as a tag, on a handmade card, as part of a school project and all kinds of fun crafty ideas!

I punched a hole in mine and tied on some ribbon for a tag to add to my tag tree!

Hope you're having a fun holiday weekend!

Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~
---------------------------------------------------------
"Now the top pieces on the pillars of the porch were made to look like lily flowers, as tall as a man."
-1 Kings 7:19

Watercolor Chipboard Flowers | 31 Crafty Flowers Day Eleven

Hey Welcome Back! 

It's week 3 of my 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days!

Today's flower is a Watercolor Chipboard flower. 

It's super easy and can be used in all kinds of crafts!

Here's what you need to get started:



-Watercolor crayons
-Water & paintbrush
-Chipboard (thin, like cereal box, notepad backing, etc.)
-Sequins (or other embellishments for center) 

Step One

First draw your flower and fill it in with watercolor crayons.  I like to use two contrasting colors for the outline and the fill.  Here I used red and pink.

Step Two

Now dip your brush lightly in the water and blend the color on the petals.

The chipboard will turn dark as you blend, but don't worry this will dry.

Step Three

Next cut your flower out.  It should look something like this:

Step Four

Now it's time to give your flower that distressed look. 

While it's still damp, crumple it up, being careful not to tear the edges.  (Although if you do tear the edges don't worry about it, it will just add to the distressed look.)

Step Five

Unfold your flower and let it dry for 10-15 minutes before adding the sequin center.

Step Six

You can use glue dots to attach the sequins or sew them on with needle and thread.

That's it!  Now you have a gorgeous watercolor chipboard flower. 

These are perfect for scrapbook pages like mine below or:

-journal covers
-mixed media collages
-shadow boxes
-handmade cards

Have fun!

♥ Grace & Peace,

Melissa~
---------------------------------------------------------
"The lampstand was made of hammered gold from its base to the decorative flowers on top, exactly like the pattern the LORD had described to Moses."
-Numbers 8:4

I'm A Top Momma!

Woo-hoo!  Check out out Top Momma and click on the Pink Paper Peppermints Button!

31 Crafty Flowers Day Ten - Childhood Memories of Daisy Chains

Day Ten - Let's back it up and do it again!

(ok these are starting to not make sense...that was from a highschool cheer we used to do!  I may have to quit with the rhyming. Really...don't try to stop me...)

This morning I was noticing my neighbors weeds wildflowers behind their fence and I remembered how when I was a little girl we would sit in the grass giggling and talking and making daisy chains from Clover flowers during recess.  Did you ever do that?

Well I thought that would be a fun crafty flower for today!  It may be a short-lived craft, but the memories will last forever!

So here's what you need to get started:

A Patch of Wildflowers!

Step One

First pick a bunch of pretty wildflowers like clovers, dandelions or these buttercups (is that what these are called?).

 

Step Two

 

Next choose the flowers with the thickest stems. 

How many you need will depend on whether you want to make a crown of flowers, a necklace of flowers or a bracelet of flowers. 

We used to always make bracelets so that's what I've made today. 

You need about 8 flowers for a bracelet.

Step Three

Strip off the leaves & any extra buds of your flowers.

Step Four

Make a little slit in the stem of the first flower with your fingernail if you're a little girl (if you're a grown up you can use an exacto knife, but what fun is that?)

Step Five

Place the end of the second stem through the slit and pull the flower down.

Step Six

Keep adding to your chain by making a slit in each successive flower and feeding the next flower through.

When you get the chain long enough, make a slit in the top of the first flower stem and feed the last flower through it to close the chain.

That's it! You have a pretty flower chain to wear now!

If you have little girls they will probably really love this crafty nature fun, but my boys were more interested in all the little bugs that were crawling out of the flowers I picked!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Don't forget today is the last day to vote (*cough* for me) in the Mommyfest photo contest!

Be sure and leave a comment after you vote for a chance to win a 1lb box of chocolate! Yum!

More flowers on Monday!

Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~
-------------------------------------------------------
"And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you..."
-Luke 12:28

m is for the million things she gives me

M is for the million things she gives me
O means only that she's soft to hold
T for the things she tries to teach me
H is for her heart of purest gold
E for her eyes with love light shining
R means right and right she'll always be

Put them all together they spell Mother,
A word that means the world to me.



♥ Melissa-
-------------------------------------------------------------
"Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.' "
-Proverbs 31:28-29

ode to a hubby

Today is O-man's birthday.  He is really and truly the most amazing person I've ever known. 

If you are married I am sorry, but you are married to the second-most wonderful man in the world because I got the first most wonderful man. heh-heh

Not a day goes by that he doesn't do or say something kind to/for me and his children.

He is funny beyond words.  (I often come close to spitting out various drinks in laughter - which sounds like a bad thing, but really it's not)

He has taught me about mercy and grace in a way only someone who truly practices it can. 

He loves God, he cherishes his children.  He understands sacrifice and lives it everyday. 

He will not say no to a "play with me" request no matter how tired he is.

He will wash dishes, fold laundry and cook dinner. 

He makes coffee most mornings and holds my hand every night until we fall asleep. 

He is what Paul meant when he said, "love your wife as Christ loves the church".

And I can't imagine what I did to deserve that, so I am just so thankful to the Lord for the grace He has poured into my life by giving me this man to love.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart.  I love you!

♥ M~

---------------------------------------------------------------
"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her..."
-Ephesians 5:25

five mamas

You guys know how much I love a "blog party". 

And I discovered a new one!  It's for Mommies and I think you're gonna have a lot of fun.  There are prizes and special speakers and all kinds of neat stuff! 

So right in the middle of our 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days we're gonna join in the Mommyfest party!  Yee-haw! (pretend I didn't just say yee-haw, would ya?)

One of the first opportunities to win a prize is the "High Five Photo Contest".  You can win a 1lb box of chocolates!!

For a chance to win just head over to the Mommyfest blog on Monday, May 12th and vote for your favorite photo (mine *cough*) or enter a photo of your own (the deadline is tomorrow though so hurry)!  Edited to add:  Go vote here now!

For the photo part of the contest you have to post a picture of "5 somethings" to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Mommyfest.

I thought about somehow taking a picture of the 5 lbs I would probably gain if I won that 1 lb box of chocolate, but then that didn't seem too appetizing, or practical...and plus there would be the whole "taking a picture of *5 lbs of me*" (ewwww) and....yeah...that idea went out the window.

Fortunately (for all concerned) I thought of a better idea. 

I decided a photo of five mommies would be appropriate for the Mommyfest 5th anniversary and also since it's almost Mother's Day, I thought it would be a nice tribute to some of the Mamas in my life.



The top center frame holds an enlarged photobooth photo of my mom and me.

 
On the second row, from left to right is a photo of my paternal grandmother (granny) holding my cousin, my maternal great-grandmother (nannie) holding *my* mama and her brother, me with my little-O and finally my maternal grandmother (nannie dusty) with me.

It's kind of neat seeing those all together like that.  (I had to move them from various places to put them together.)

And it's strange to think how fast time passes.

How quickly you go from being a little girl, to a mama, to a grandma, to a great-grandma and then to a treasured memory. 

Makes me want to go hug my boys.

And you know....eat some chocolate.....heh-heh.

Hope your Mother's Day weekend gets off to a great start!

Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~
-------------------------------------------------------
"I worship you, LORD, just as my mother did, and you have rescued me from the chains of death."
-Psalm 116:16 (contemporary english version)

31 Crafty Flowers Day Five- Fabric Flowers

Sakes Alive! It's day five! 

(okay, these are getting corny, I admit, but I wanted to see if I could keep coming up with them- heh-heh)

Even if you think you can't sew, these fabric flowers are super-duper easy!  You just have to try one! 

If you don't have any fabric lying around you could use an old sheet, clothes that the kids have outgrown, little baby things that you love (imagine giving grandma a flower brooch made from pieces of fabric from all her grandkids favorite clothes!), dishcloths that have outlived their usefulness and anything else made from fabric.

Here's what you need to get started:

Fabric
Buttons
Needle & Thread
Circle Template (I used a juice glass)
Fabric Marking Pencil (a regular pencil would probably do the job)
Scissors

Step One

First choose the fabric you'll use for the petals.  I love how different patterns & colors looked mix-matched, but you could use all the same fabric.

Next trace the circle template onto your fabric. 

The larger the circle you use, the large your petals and flower will be.

Step Two

Cut out your circles.

Step Three

Once you've cut your circles, iron, iron, iron! (remember how I feel about ironing?)

Believe me this really effects the look of your project. 

And the fabric is so much easier to work with when crisply ironed. :)

HINT:

Don't "drag" your iron across the fabric, but actually just press and lift, press and lift.  Dragging will cause your fabric to stretch and be misshapen.

See?   So much prettier!

Step Four

Now you'll fold your circle in half and then in half again, *pressing* after each fold.

Step Ten

Once you have all your petals folded and pressed, it's time to stitch!

Start at the bottom corner of the curved side and make long gather stitches across the curve to the other side.

(Normally you would use matching thread, but in this case I used a contrasting thread so you could see a little better.)

Step Five

Now gently pull the the thread to gather your petal.

Step Six

Once your petal is gathered begin the gathering stitches on the next petal without cutting the thread so the petals are connected.

Continue stitching, gathering and connecting until all your petals are complete.

Step Seven

Now that you're finished gathering all your petals you'll need to close the gap by stitching the last petal to the first.

Step Eight

Next choose a button for the center of your flower. 

I went with this vintage button from an old garage sale shirt.

(yes, sometimes I buy clothes at garage sales just for the buttons and tags!)

Hot glue your button to the center of you flower and your flower is complete!

You can attach a pin back for a lovely brooch, add it to a barrette for a little girl, use it on a card, a scrapbook page, a t-shirt, a tote bag, a journal cover.

I think a garland of these strung in a little girl's room would be lovely too!

So that wraps up the first week of  31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days! 

I hope you are having as much fun as I am with this! 

Please send me links & photos if you're participating!

If I get enough I might even start a little gallery here for *your* flowers!

Have a fantastic weekend!

♥ Melissa~
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"Just as parents are kind to their children, the LORD is kind to all who worship Him, because He knows we are made of dust. We humans are like grass or wild flowers..."
-Psalm 103:13-15