Recycled Baby Food Cups

I have frequently admired other crafter's ability to use recycled materials and the ingenuity they show in some of the projects they make.  While this little project is not extremely unique, it is a cute little use for those small plastic baby food containers.  They are the ones that have replaced the old-fashioned baby food jars we used when our children were small.  I had washed out a few from when my grandson was visiting and hung on to them for one of these type of projects.

I wanted to include some sweet treats in the Christmas packages I was mailing and these turned out to be the perfect size.  I also was able to use up some scraps of Christmas papers I had laying around.  Love it when I can upcycle and use up scraps from other projects.  I found enough matching scraps to create a band to go around the base of the container and the cut a smaller piece to go on the top of the lid.  I cut it to size and then rounded the corners to fit the lid perfectly.

I added the holiday M&M's to each and tucked them in with my other gifts and off they went. Another project checked off my list!

Once again, Imagine Create, Enjoy!!

Christmas Journal

I have a Christmas Journal that I either bought or received many years ago when my children were small.  The idea behind them...to write down your favorite family Christmas memories each year. Then you can look back each year and read the history of your family and see how things have progressed and changed. I wish I could say that I was one of those moms who religiously filled it out year after year; unfortunately, I never started the book.  I don't know why, the busyness of the holiday season, etc., etc., I really have no excuse! I thought though in my motherly wisdom that I might give one as a gift to my new daughter-in-law in hopes that as they start their new family, they will start writing in the journal each year to log how the years go by...the traditions they establish, the memories, the changes they go through, and that they are able to enjoy each year the journey back through the years to see where they've come from and look forward to where they are headed.  Maybe this year I'll start mine finally.

See you around!  Continue to Imagine, Create, and Enjoy!

Christmas Covered Clothes Pins

I have previously done this project and decided to do some more upcycling with standard clothes pins. My mom hung her wash on the clothesline in our back yard for her entire life.  It wasn't until she moved in with my sister that she started using a modern washer and dryer.  She still had the old-fashioned wringer washing machine and rinse tubs when she sold her home, so I grew with these clothes pins in the house. Granted as an adult I have always had the convenience of a washer and dryer, but I have continued to rely on these little gems for other household chores. Holding card stock I am embossing is one of my favorite uses.  Keeps my hands free from the direct heat generated by the embossing gun when I am adding an embossed look to my projects. They also save my fingers from hot glue burns when using the hot glue gun. In the kitchen we use these for chip clips for the bags of chips, crackers, and nuts.

I utilized scraps of Christmas papers left from some of my other holiday projects and decided to do up a few sets of these covered clothes pins.  I used round magnets you can pick up at any craft store and glued those to the back.  They are a nice little addition to your holiday decor in the kitchen on the refrigerator.  I had some leftover snow flake buttons and stickers from some other projects so added these as accents to the clothes pins.









To give them a finished look, I took white card stock and embossed it with a holiday words embossing folder, I added about a two (2) inch wide scrap of Christmas paper, folded it around the edges of the embossed white card stock and used this to anchor the clips on.  I then slid them into a clear 5 x 7 bag, took another piece of Christmas paper scraps and trimmed it down to use as a bag topper, folded it in half and stapled it to the the bag.  I added a seasonal dimensional sticker to finish it off.

These are a sweet little item to tuck in and complete any gift sets and can be made for any occasion and with any papers.  Imagine, Create, Enjoy!

Scrap Cards

Since moving again this last June, I have struggled to find time to craft.  Partially due to our son having moved in with us, we have down sized once again, and the main factor: I'm still getting unpacked.  We've unpacked the majority of our stuff...but since downsizing we have a smaller space, about 300 ft. smaller and my son is now living in what is supposed to be my craft room.  This weekend though, I pushed him out of his room and out of the house, set up my craft table, and set to work.

I've been trying to use up scraps and had started a couple of different cards.  This set are general notecards in a Disney themed set.  I used the paper scraps from the patterned Disney papers and matched them up with red, black, and yellow.  I used a side open orientation and a standing orientation on the cards.  I also used a decorative border punch to add a little variety to one of the cards.  I have a Mickey head punch and used that to spruce up the cards and as my signature spot on the back of the cards.  I added white cardstock inside and left them all blank inside so the recipient can use and personalize them as they see fit.

I then made a card holder with bright yellow paper and one of the other Disney patterns mounted on the top.  I added bling on the corner which is a little jeweled Mickey head in red and used some Mickey grommets for the edges of the folder to add ties for the folder.  The folder holds five note cards and five envelopes.  I chose not to label the outside which will allow the recipient to reuse it for anything they want.

Imagine, Create, Enjoy!