UPcycle those packing peanuts!

This is probably the most fun you will ever have with packing peanuts. I say that after spending last night trying to clean up an entire box of them that had spilled in the garage. unfortunately for me the garage door was open and we were having a wind storm here. (I was cursing my husband for still being gone about that moment. LOL)

So here's how I made this ghastly looking BRAIN! (...that's if I recall correctly because it was last year that I came up with this!)

start with a box of *REAL* styrofoam packing peanuts. not the ones that dissolve in water. if you aren't sure, let the dog lick it ;) the dissolving ones will stick to his tongue and turn to goo. (See, Auggie is good for something!)

a bottle of Aleene's tacky glue
an old knee high nylon
some stuffing from a pillow you planned to toss but saved anyway ;)
grey, white and red craft paint
a 1" artist paint brush (bristles to get into the cracks! a foam brush won't cut it)


Stuff reused stuffing into nylon and form into an oblong "brain" sorta shape. knot off the end. Working in sections cover outside of nylon with Aleene's tacky glue. add peanuts to surface and complete the bottom hemisphere of your brain. let dry slightly so peanuts don't fall off when you flip it over to do the top side. it take a little patience. let dry overnight. now using a box knife carve the crevice that creates the left/right side of brain. paint. drizzle with red paint for "blood". (I think I used some glossy accents over this so it looked wet.

If you have one of those great apothecary jars sitting around your house now its the time to take the fake fruit out and let it be useful for something other than collecting dust! make a pillow for it out of some red velvet (or if you are lazy just wrap it around some of that extra stuffing you have and pin the back with a safety pin) and Voila! Your brain in a jar! and if you are having the week that I am ,then having your brain in a jar is a GOOD THING! 'cause then at least you know where you left it! ;)

Discovering old supplies

I was recently reading about a Stampin' Up! product called Heat and Stick. It dawned on me I had something like it in my stash of embossing powders but had never had success with it (using flocking fibers :( why are those things so hard to use?). Also realized I should have been waiting to let the EP cool before layering on the flock or glitter! HUGE DIFFERENCE!)

So I dug out my Judi Kins Sticky Stuff embossing powder and gave it a shot. I tested it using the Daisy Bucket Mini Flourish stamp. It works fantastic! now I can use even MORE glitter!! :)

check out the video here

I also found that I could get even better coverage by pressing the cooled cardstock *into* a pile of glitter. in the case of these flourishes I stamped (orange on black CS), the coverage wasn't complete until I pressed glitter into the sticky EP. In the video it looked fine though using a light colored glitter on a light colored background.

(*note the extra glitter on the page isn't stuck down, I just hadn't brushed it all off yet when I took the picture!)

Photos on the lake

A few of my favorites. I took 118 pictures. whew! no idea which ones Mom is gonna like though. :P we never agree LOL! the Baby has a thing right now with sticking his tongue out in pictures. that's not his upper lip! it's his tongue! :P I guess this is better than his last phase during pictures, which was his mouth hanging open and a blank stare. LOL Someone tell me it gets easier as they get older??!!

Farmer's Market by Shabby Green Door

just a quick quirky card for fun!

check out www.shabbygreendoor.com for more ideas.

Jewelry Frame

I got a similar idea for this off of etsy recently. I had this extra frame that was a miss cut size and figured I'd give it a shot. I decided to do a crazy quilt of fabric scraps I had that match the colors I am trying to stick with for my master bath. I love it because it holds a nice collection of my fancy pins that I can look at everyday.

I patched this together onto muslin, tacked it down with Fabri-Tac ( let it dry before sewing!) and then machine sewn all the ribbons/trims on. wrapped it around foam core board and popped it into the frame. If I did it again I would have paid a bit more attention to the piece work of the quilt but it's just for my bathroom.

Doggone HOT!

I never thought I'd use these gold holographic leaves (alone they are pretty tacky and gaudy) but they worked perfect! the tree structure was done with a Krylon gold paint pen & Webster's pages sticker from the Magical Wishes line. I never use gold embellishments but it was kinda a fun change of pace.

Pretty Baby

My cousin's baby Kyson came over for his 6 month pictures. Too hot to do much more than one sitting at a time this week. (I'm sitting here and it's already 99 degrees at only 2pm. by 4 we should all be melted here in Washington LOL!) We have plans for some more pictures next to a cradle his grandma (my aunt) made for me when I was little. and another set of pictures out at the lake on the dock. we'll get to that when it isn't hotter than the face of the sun though ;) Here's my favorite.



Also, I got this really cute one of him and Auggie though that I love. Those two just love each other. Auggie and Kyson get in a back and forth. the baby laughing, Auggie "woofing" and jumping around. it's hilarious. Auggie is going in for a kiss here and the baby was cracking up.