Several days later...

Geez. I really didn't think it would take this much time to finish up these projects! But, I'm finally done. From an unfinished wooden box that I got at Hobby Lobby, I made this for my little niece's birthday...

It is filled with all kinds of goodies from here and here.

And, inside that little envelope in the lid is a hand-bound journal that I made for her. The guts are made from several pages of vintage handwriting paper that I've been hoarding for several years.

I must confess, this gift idea was not my own. It belongs to this insanely talented lately. Her original project can be viewed here. Oh, to have one ounce of her creativity!

The best part of the whole package, though, was this:

I had it commissioned from the talented Miss Mushroom Meadows. My niece, Madalinn, obviously has a unique spelling to her name. Forget ever finding any kind of tchotchky with that spelling on it. So, I had a special little stamp made just for her! And, I love the little octopus fellow! Anyway, I worked out a trade for this little cutie, and this is what I made in return:


A little Christmas in July...I know. But, I was at a loss for another cute project to make. Unfortunately, it's dull and gray outside here today, so the light wasn't the best to capture all of the sparkle on this little house. There is sparkly fake snow all over the base that the house rests on, and lots of sparkly Stickles on the scalloped roof. You'll just have to take my word for it...it's much prettier in person.

I've really been trying to use up my stash lately...not buy anything new. This project was great for that. I used up a lot of bits of my favorite Love, Elsie papers, some vintage Christmas images that I've had for years from ARTchix Studio (the images inside the windows), and some Krausbouillion (old-fashioned krinkle wire...looks like teeny-tiny tinsel). I've had that Krausbouillion for years. I bought it here years ago simply because I thought it was pretty. When I finally had it in my little hands, I had no idea what to do with it. So, there it sat, hidden away, in my drawer full of ephemera and altered book supplies. When I was making this house, I thought it needed something draped along the roof. Some miniature plastic Christmas lights from Michael's? No. That would take away from the vintage look of the house. Then, I remembered this stuff that was stashed away in my craft room. Perfect! It's kind of hard to work with...very springy...so be forewarned. The house was one of those Doodlebug Designs blank houses. So much fun to make! I'm definitely addicted.

Anyone have fun plans for the weekend? Not much here. There is lots of yardwork needing to be done, and I have a couple of scrappy projects that are due. I hope to have some time to dive into some Halloween crafties that I have been dying to get started on. So, hopefully, I'll be back sometime this weekend with some pretties to look at. In the meantime, we'll be doing lots of celebrating around here. I just found out that Bryan passed his promotion board with flying colors. So, as of Sept 1st, he'll be an E-6! Yay! A step in the right direction while we are patiently waiting for the warrant officer packet to go through. :0) Happy weekend, loves!