Bird Cage Redo

Hello my crafty friends and a happy Christmas Eve.  

Tonight post will be quick since I need to get in bed before Santa comes..right?

The picture above is a birdcage that I had bought at a yard sale then spruced it all up for Christmas. 

 Below is what it started out as.

 Big difference, huh?

Thanks again for all the stopping by to visit.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight.
Michelle

Treat holders

Hey There blog world.  You are going to love this!  

I made these adorable treat holders using scrap paper, mini snow flake ornaments, wired tinsel and...

 

... empty toilet paper rolls!  Now come on, you have to like them a little bit, right?  They are so easy to create, you just need to start collecting the empties.

I have already given out quite a few and the people I gave them to, loved them.  I couldn't keep it a secret for very long and told them they were made out of empty toilet paper rolls.  Wow!  They loved them even more and I could see the wheels turning on how they can use this idea.

I will gladly do a tutorial if anyone is interested.

Just one more, cuz they are so fun! 

Take care and I'll see you on another day,
Michelle

Anything but a Card

Hi kids..look at me!  Two posts in two days!!  

I had to share this fabulous origami box that I created.  Isn't it beautiful!!

 

These things are so addicting!  I have three more sitting on my desk waiting to be beautified. The box is called an Origami Star Box ~ Google it and you will find loads of tutorials to follow so you can create one for yourself.

 Then just go crazy and make it beautiful!

I am entering my box into a challenge at Simon Says to create anything but a card. 
Thanks for coming to see me again.
hugs,
Michelle

Yes, I'm still around

Hello Blogland,  I hope you haven't forgotten me.  As we all know, sometimes life just gets in the way. I've been taking care of myself by staying active in my craft room, just not actively taking pictures.  Today, I made a list of the things I wanted to accomplish before sitting at my desk and taking some pictures and posting them were at the top.  so here ya go...

 

I know this is a bit of a repeat, but I wanted a picture with a few of my birdhouses together.  I love playing with these inexpensive little guys.  I then go to the thrift store and find candlesticks to use as their bases.

Next up is my ongoing Cricut calendar, which I finally finished last night..only 2 weeks late.  I've been creating the calendar using Tim Holtz Vintage Shabby paper stack and A Child's Year by Cricut.

I have also started working on some Christmas cards.  I created this snowman and  even made an SVG file for him!  How about that! If you'd like to have it, just let me know and I'll send it right out to you.

The center step card above was created using Merry Christmas Home from Webster's Pages, MS glitter and a Christmas paper stack.

 Next up is a card I created while playing around with my Martha Stewart punch.  I ended up punching out quite a few branches and came up with this adorable wreath.  I then realized I even had a Martha bow punch.  Perfect :-)

 That's it for today.  Time to go have some dinner, feet up and tv time.
Thanks for stopping in to check on me.

Michelle

Altered Box

 Hello all.  I'm still cleaning up my computer and came across more pictures of projects that I haven't shared.
Here's a real beauty.  I don't know why it never made it to my blog, cuz I think it's quite a beauty and I am quite proud of it.  The box started out as a plain white box that I covered using Graphic 45 papers and ribbons.

Here's a view of the top.  Isn't it gorgeous!!  I lined the inside with matching satin fabric (sorry no pics)  The hardware is from Tim Holtz.
Back to more cleaning.......

Girl's Paperie Altered Birdhouse

 Oh my my! Isn't this the cutest bird house you've seen in awhile??  Let me pat my own back :-)
This house started out as another $1 birdhouse - then I went to town using paper by Girl's Paperie.  I love all their products!  The roses are a mix of Walmart and Michael's finds and the Calla Lilies, by Prima, can be found at McMahon Five Designs.  The pretty little cameo is from Webster's Pages and the heart with wings was in a bag of buttons bought at Michael's.

 I added creme paint to the papers, and to some of the flowers that I thought were a bit too pinky.  I also added pink paint to some of the flowers that were too white.

 Here's a close up of the Lilies. You can also see where I made some spirals

 

 Oh!  and that base :-)  Well it's made using a candle stick and an upside down candy dish :-) Love it!!
Thanks for checking in.  I hope you enjoyed my latest creation.

Have a fabulous day,

Michelle

Altered Michael's $1 Coffin

 

One more post for today.  Here are some pictures of my Halloween mini album using one of those $1 Michael's coffins and thin cardboard.

 It's pretty self explanatory, so I'll just share a few of the pictures. The mini album contains the Halloween costumes my kids wore from 1987 through1996.  It even includes some of my silly outfits.

Thanks for stopping in again :-)

Have a great day!
Michelle

Another Altered Birdhouse

Here's another $1 Birdhouse from JoAnn's. It started out with bare wood, a perch and a hole. I pulled out the perch and covered the front with thin card board, then I was off to work.
I used Webster's Pages card stock to cover the bird house.



I made a door and a window with some shutters then created a flower box for the window and fussy cut some flowers to put in the box. The gold trim is from Michael's and the lace is from JoAnn's.

I had some fencing left over from one of my other houses. These got painted with pink then distressed with some crackle paint. The sides of the house are overflowing with flowers with even a few roses growing through the slats of the fence. I hope you like my house. I'd love to hear your comments :-)
Thanks for stopping by,
Michelle
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Another Birdhouse

I love creating these! This was originally one of those naked wooden birdhouses that you can find at Michael's or JoAnn's for a dollar. I covered the birdhouse with paper that I got at Michael's, adhering it with Mod Podge. I cut the little birds out of a matching piece of the paper. I love how they happen to be looking up at each other. I also found some wooden fence pieces that are sized perfectly for my birdies.

Thanks for checking in with me. I'd love a comment or two....OH! I just remembered ~ I've been hired by Michael's to be their Scrapbook instructor. I am quite excited about that. This month I have four students. Let me know if you would like to join me next month and I'll get you in touch with the right people :-)
hugs,
Michelle

Beautiful Box

Where in the world is Waldo...or should I say, Michelle

Gosh it's been awhile but I do have some very good reasons. The first one being that I had hand surgery December 17th. It's very hard to do almost everything when your hand is all wrapped up. I had what's called a Artelon Spacer placed in my right thumb joint. The damaged occured way back in May of 2008. I had opened my car door too close to the garage and ended up bending my hand almost totally backwards...ya ouch! Luckily I didn't do any damage...or so I had thought. The pain wasn't too bad at first, I would just wear a brace once in a while. But then I got to the point where I couldn't open a door knob or a bottle anymore. So that's my first excuse.
My second excuse is that we moved. We had been tossing the idea around that we wanted to move into a 55+ community and finally said, lets do it. So we went looking, saw a house we loved and purchased it all within a week! Can you believe it! Everything just fell into place. Of course I need to give huge thanks to my friend Kathy who got us our financing so quickly. That girl must have a magic wand!
So now that we are living in a community we are jumping in and doing community stuff. Butch plays Poker on Friday nights and I started playing cards on Wednesday nights. Our card nights involve quarters and nickles so of course I needed a container to put my money (and winnings :-) in. I decided to alter this container.

And I made it into this ~

Didn't it come out great!? I love those pom-poms :-)


Between going to my OT appointments twice a week, out socializing and trying to unpack I made a few Valentine cards using my new Drucilla stamp from Kraftin' Kimmie Isn't she the cutest!

All products from Stampin' Up except the adorable Drucilla.
Thanks for stopping by and I promise that my posts will be coming a bit closer together.
hugs,
Michelle
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