Pot of Gold Birthday Gift

My daughter was invited to a birthday party. She was very excited about this party and asked me what we should do for a birthday present. I told her to ask her friend what she liked at school that day. My daughter came home from school and said that her friend said “money!”. My first reaction was ,'”No, we don’t just give money for birthday presents.” But, then my brain got a tickin’! It’s close to St. Patrick’s Day and recently my daughter got a gold coin (gold presidential dollar that are collectable) from the Tooth Fairy. A rainbow, a pot of gold flashed in my head and this is what I came up with. I sketched out a simple drawing (sad I know) and texted it to my friend Emily and she shot me back this mock up! Talk about perfection! Emily from Good Frau put this together and had it printed and ready to pick up in just a few hours! Talk about a good friend! Check her out for awesome bridal and baby shower invitations…she’s crazy talented!

Simple supplies needed (I used only stuff I had on hand): Xacto Knife, glue, tape(used on the end of the x-acto cut so it wouldn’t tear) and gold/yellow ribbon.

I needed a bag, small and the size of five stacked coins. Yikes! So I grabbed the only bag I had on hand, a sandwich bag and the coins fell into the corner and I knew it would work perfectly. I used gold string, metallic fibers and a yellow ribbon to tie up the coins.

I cut a slit at the top of the pot of gold and inserted the gold presidential dollars.

The bow holds it perfectly in place and doesn’t let it fall through the cut. Now I just needed to attach the back. Both the front and back were 5x7.

The front said, “Hope this birthday is the pot of gold at the end of your rainbow!” and the back “Happy Birthday ------- These Lucky Coins will be worth even more a few years down the road. Save them if you want to cash them in for some college cash!” (Emily came up with the Lucky Coins part…see I told you…so smart!)

The front side: the top of the coin bag showing out of the pot of gold! I love how the bag showing gives the card a 3D effect.

The two sides were glued together except where the five gold coins made it too thick to glue the two sides together. This ended up being a good thing since it made it free standing! Added bonus!

The back: up close. The rainbow is a mirror image of the front so that the rainbow comes from the same edge of the card. Perfect!

A Happy Birthday Card/Gift with a Gold Coin Pot of Gold! If you have a birthday party coming soon and want something other than the typical Barbie….this is the perfect solution, collectible coins that can make a little money in the future! A Perfect little Pot of Gold!

Better Be A Steep Learning Curve…for Custom Headbands to be Mailed!

I was contacted by Mrs. W from Georgia to make a White Christening Headband. Backstory:  I have only made these white headbands for own daughter’s baby blessing, everyday ones and one for my neighbor. My neighbor had asked for the white headband for a baby gift and it was a huge hit! A while after she had given the gift I saw her at church and she asked me, “ Did I ever tell you about the headband?” I instantly thought, “Oh no, did something go wrong on it!” (Thank heavens, I kept my thoughts to myself and looking back I had to laugh at my reaction. Yikes, I assumed the worst!) She then went on to tell me that the lady L-O-V-E-D Loved It!! It was going to be a prized possession and heirloom piece. She said the lady used it for her baby’s blessing day and they want to use it again for her baptism and then they plan on incorporating it in her wedding some how! How cool is that!!!! I felt so honored that she loved the headband so much. I had never been asked to make one for someone else before so I did my neighbor’s baby gift for pretty near cost.

Current Story: I was emailed by my Mrs. W in Georgia to make a white Christening baby headband. I was thrilled that people were loving it so much and was happy to oblige. I tried to figure how much it would cost me to make it and gave her a price of $15. (I know, looking back, I should have realized there would be more time than I realized and still should have added cost to ship it, thus……this better be a steep learning curve…see, this is where I am surprised my geek/math side didn’t kick in!) By the time we emailed back and forth and I figured out exactly what she wanted, I went to work on the headband.(with only 10 days until her christening, still totally doable)  I didn’t receive payment due to president’s day(no mail service on holidays and now only 6 days until her christening). And she had forgot to send it on the Friday before the holiday and with no mail service Monday (holiday), she emailed me and said that she had MoneyGram’d it to Utah. Me, in my naïve mind, thought this was for sure some kind of scam. What was MoneyGram? To Utah huh? That doesn’t seem like a red flag at all! (You can probably hear the sarcasm here!) I finally emailed her and let her know I had no idea what this service was? Of course, and you smart readers probably already know this but, it’s a way to send money electronically and it’s in almost every Walmart or grocery store in the country. Ha Ha, apparently I am in the dark ages! I went to WalMart and received the money. Easy Peasy! By the time I had gotten this straightened out I went to mail it off (now only 4 days until baby christening and only 3 days with mail running, no mail on Sunday) right after I received the payment for the headband. This was now Wednesday afternoon and I only had until Saturday to get it there, clear to Georgia from Utah. I could mail it priority and make sure it would get there by Friday, Saturday at the latest or go first class and it would get there Saturday possibly Monday. I couldn’t take that chance!! No sense having a christening headband if you don’t use it for THE christening!! So, I mailed it Priority and spent $5.90. Yep, that’s a third of my total cost, even larger part of my profit margin. Smart huh!?! Well, the good part of this story is that my client was super happy with her christening head band and I learned a valuable business lesson when doing custom work for those that need it mailed! I need to figure in shipping costs. I really love creating one-of-a-kind headbands but, if you email me and ask for one and it needs to be mailed, it won’t be $15…..just sayin’….I learned my lesson!!

Winter Gallery Wrap Photo With Winter Ladder

We had family photos taken in the snow for our Christmas cards this year. My photographer and now friend(we became fast friends after she took our family pictures this fall…she helped me achieve my vision of the apple orchard pictures, which now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve shown) Shannon from Shannonelizabethphoto.com took this beautiful photo. We had to drive up the mountain TO the snow this year which was fine because I wanted the pretty pine tree landscape with the snow. I dressed our family with each of us having a piece of red on which gives it that cohesive look.

It’s a gallery wrap photo from pictureitoncanvas.com . I bought a groupon deal last fall and it took me until 2 days before the deadline of the coupon to get all my gallery wrap photos uploaded to be printed. I wanted to make sure the pictures were perfect, so I printed them out at a local photo store and made sure the lighting and everything was right before I ordered them. I finally got them ordered and everyday another one of my gallery wrap photos would show up on the doorstep and my kids would start this guessing game of who’s picture had come in the mail first. It was really cute. ( I don’t think I ever showed my apple orchard family photos but, now that I have gallery wraps, I will have to show them when I get them hung as a group)

My winter ladder is dripping in icicles, white flowers and blooms, silver balls, snowballs, silver twigs, snowflakes and silver ribbon. This picture fit perfectly between the ladder and the black bench.

I love the bright colors with all the white and silver. Although, wouldn’t a yellow pillow look cute on the bench. Hummmm?

So now that my new Gallery Wrap Photo is hung with the winter ladder, I will have to get the apple orchard gallery wrap photos hung(soon, soon!).

I love that when I walk in the front door this picture is the first one that welcomes our family and friends. A little burst of color with all these white and silver winter colors! De-licious!

Valentine Candy Jars

This year for Valentine’s I went with a mostly Red/White theme for my Valentine’s Candy Jars. Let’s face it, I still had peppermint lifesavers (red/white) left over from Christmas and White Chocolate covered pretzels (white). So it was easy to add a little more red for Valentine’s. I added kit kats (red of course), swedish fish(also red) and airheads (mostly reds, although there happen to be pink too… I didn’t know air heads also had a pink lemonade flavor but, BONUS!)

I hung my bubbly red heart from the lamp switch.

The Swedish fish candy jar is the one I packed in my suitcase (in between an encyclopedia box and rulers…ha ha…I know, only me right?) and brought back with me from Kansas. I love using it!

Can you tell what is the kids favorite? Sour red cherry balls from Brach’s. I would have filled them before this picture but, I can only find them at Smith’s Grocery Store and I am not going to this store for one item, so they will have to wait. They only come out at Valentine’s so, they are a treat for the kids.

Chocolate tree dripped in “Love” hearts.

I know this looks like a goofy decoration but, it’s my valentine alien that my parents sent to me while I was away at college. I was homesick and this has always been a happy memory. If you push it’s belly it says (in a far away, happy alien voice) “Happy Valentine’s Day” and if you push it again it says, “I love you!) I love my little red alien. SO, it’s gets a prominent display with all our families favorite Valentine Candies.

Happy Valentine’s Day (early) Everyone! Does anyone else have a sentimental Valentine gift that they have kept for years? EVEN COOLER, Does Anyone have a Valentine Alien TOO? Because to me, Valentine’s isn’t about the gift but, about the thought that was put behind it!

Together Mantle

I finally get around to showing you my winter mantle and now I am changing it for the next holiday. Maybe, the next time a holiday is impending….. I will show it a little earlier. Well, here’s for wishing. (Ha Ha…we’ll see do better next time).

I love the word “Together”. This word spells LOVE for me for and is very Valentine’s ish. It speaks of love with it’s meaning but, doesn’t just spell the word L-O-V-E. The most important thing for me is being together with my family. Man, I love them!!

These letters I bought a long time ago, painted them black and then covered with a basic grey paper line that you can no longer get. Although I am sure you can find anything on eBay these days, if you’re willing to pay for it. Then to finish the letters I added felt flowers, ribbon and brads.

The wood hearts were painted black. I added black glitter to one, bead board painted red and the largest heart covered in scrapbook paper. I used mod podge to adhere all of the paper.

My Mantle is now decorated for Valentine’s. It’s fun, simple and yet I am glad I have a mantle big enough to fit the word “Together” (hopefully our next house will too ). The word “together” has JUST EIGHT letters. LOL Good thing there is no holiday for supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Wow,now that would be a mantle display!

Spring Should Come No Matter What The Ground Hog Says

I was a little bummed that the ground hog saw his shadow so I am on strike! I pulled out my spring décor and decorated my sofa table. I know this won’t make winter go away but, I can enjoy spring indoors. Although I shouldn’t be that surprised he saw his shadow, it’s only February and I do live in Utah…greatest snow on earth…it has that name for a reason.

I love the little splash of color (turquoise is one of my favorite colors)!

I moved the classical books from off the mantle to bring in some height for the family block. It needed to show above the blue bird plate on the easel. I love the shape of the blue bird plate, it’s decorative and still not too big. The books bring a perfect height.

The blue bird I had on the mantle now is nested with glazed ceramic robin blue eggs.

My favorite flower is tulips. I L-O-V-E love tulips! They scream spring to me.

So, I am bringing in a little spring….even if the groundhog saw his shadow.

Winter Mantle

What is better in the long winter months than snuggling under a warm blanket by the fireplace and reading a good book. I love this time of year for this reason. I also get a little anxious for Spring to come but, I thought I would share my winter fireplace mantle. I have a stack of books (some of the classics, of course. Who doesn’t love Little Women?) With a 3-dimensional block with pictures and wording that describes my favorite people…my family of course!

The wood lettering was painted black and then scrapbook paper was mod podged on the front of some of the letters. I left three of the letters plain black and covered four of the letters.
I added a bluebird to the end of my letters so that it would remind me that Spring is coming next!
So now that Valentine’s is almost here, I guess I should change the mantle to everything Valentine’s. Which is fine because a splash of color around here is a welcome change to the grey dreariness outside.
Cassy