Penny Candy Ribbon Jars with Pink Glass Knobs

I realized right before Christmas I had a slight problem. Ribbon runneth over. I promised myself that I would take care if it during break. I procrastinated for a bit because I really could not find any cool storage at the second hand store. I did finally turn up these penny candy jars at Walmart for
cheap. I hated the silver tops and chintzy handles though.

Figured I'd use some black spray paint, use real vintage glass knobs and the same sticker images I used on my spice jars.   LuvCrystals on Etsy hooked me up and I made HUGE round stickers for the tops of my jars. I sourced those pink knobs from John over at Wood N What-Knots. Love them! 

I did also notice that one of my jars has a little bit of space left in it...so maybe I should get more ribbon? Just kidding! I was sent a lovely project over the holidays that would be a great use of ribbon and it's from Lisa over at Life of a BZscrapper. Isn't it delicious?

And now that you have looked at all that pretty stuff...here is my shameful photo of the ribbon area in my cabinet...

Hot mess! It's much better now. Still need to come up with a wee bit more storage...which is why the after photo is of the doors shut.....Much better!

Happy Neat and Tidy Tuesday! Hugs!

Memorandum Monday: Mail & Musing

It was a David Bowie Pandora station weekend with all the normal things like laundry, grocerying, and some tidying up. Other normal stuff like crafting and blogging were also on the agenda. Several new fish were purchased for oldest and the youngest was shuttled to and from his Civil Air Patrol weekend long training. So in all, it wasn't an epic weekend, but one where things were set up for the next busy work week.

It was a bit of an up and a down kind of weekend, as life has it's twists and turns. It was at a down kind of moment when a carefully wrapped brown paper package arrived with interesting stamps and lovely hand writing. The oldest stalked the package first. Asked where Singapore was and oogled the stamps. THE MAN walked in on the awkward moment where I was near tears at the lovely happy mail. Huge hug for my very lovely canvas, Yvonne over at Do More With Less! Somehow she figured out that I really really wanted this! It was those roses and the glitter, and the green sequins and pink roses! She really added sunshine when I was feeling sad.

This is Yvonne's photo of her amazing canvas. I didn't manage a photo of it myself as of yet. I have it on my scrap table where it is giving me plenty of inspiration. It must have been inspirational as I learned how to make my first Bendy Bendi card this weekend and I was thrilled with the results! That will be on the blog soon!

Hope your week is fantastic! Waving over at Sian from High in the Sky who is also very inspirational with her cool bloggy posts, awesome layouts, and Memorandum Mondays! Hugs!

12 tags of 2016-January & One Little Quote

Having watched the Tim Tag fun for years, I finally decided it was time to join the club. Besides, I had an idea hatching that I wanted to try...but let me show you the January Tim Holtz tag first and you can see why it might have caught my eye....

Yes, metal tape. A staple around here at Pratt Inc. and black...love black. 

Now for my idea....

It's intriguing to make one similar piece of art monthly...even more so if you are being sneaky and adding part of a quote. So in December of 2016, you will find out the whole quote! See how much fun this can be?

So at the bottom you can see....IF I HAVE....which is clearly part of something bigger...and now for the extra fun part. Instead of picking ONE LITTLE WORD like I have in the past, I picked an entire quote.   

See last year's one little word was Grace and I did try to emulate that word. Since things went a whole ton smoother for me this past year, I might have accomplished something...but I kinda forgot what the word was so it was more subliminal. Hoping a quote I have to work with monthly might do the trick and stick in the noggin....time will tell!

In keeping with the whole Tim Tag thing, I tried to use mostly his stuff. I couldn't bare to run with the black and white look, hence the alcohol ink. Also couldn't handle not adding a flower, glitter, or something vintage. So the top pink metal piece with the crown is from some old ribbon and the gold sparkly P is from my stash. I also added washi tape due to my addiction with it & staples...Guess it's now a Mitra tag now! 

Happy Day before Friday!

Joy Layout with a Jean Green Hidden Journaling Card

Just started some Christmas scrapbooking the other day! Two people helped me make this page..both Jeans! The one Jean cut that pretty little scallop out at the top and all that fancy smancy holly. We were at a Crafternoon and those goodies were part of the page kit!

The second Jean made me that lovely black card with the deer and joy on it! I used it to hide some journaling that I promised to keep quiet. See where I wrote open me right at the top? Just in case someone looking at this later doesn't know that it flips...I mean there are hinges and all....

Just a bunch of pretty stuff on this page, some washi, some gold embossed grungy paper...I made that out of a gold wrapper and a piece of paper..so was upcycled! Love that little dangle on the twine!

Hope you enjoy this photo of Miss Lexi-lou!

Happy Hump Day!

Purple Mercury Glass Jar & Junkin Finds

I'm always on the look out for something that can be altered with Krylon Looking Glass paint. That purple round jar on the left was just a plain purple until I got crazy with the silver and gold paint. It looked more similar to the glass goblet on the right. Both paints were sprayed on the inside of the jar although some of the gold sprayed over to the front. Gives it a fancy metallic look that makes me happy!

How do you like that little rose plate? It was super cheap at the Restore but is hand painted! Check out those little pink vintage glass knobs. Those are there as a sneak peek...have something I'm working on at the moment that I will use those for....Huge thanks for local guy John over at Wood N What-Knots for hooking me up!

I added some hand dyed seam binding ribbon to the top and some velvet petaloo flowers. Now that the holidays are over I'm enjoying some different colors out on display! Valentine's Day is right around the corner and that means pinks and purples to me!

I'm still finding things for next year for Christmas...but these little heart frames will be put to use before then! We're approaching that holiday soon! Love junkin!

Happy Tuesday!

Memorandum Monday: Gigantic Glass Mint Chocolate Chip Cone & Riggies in Boonville

THE MAN asked me mid last week if we had any plans for the weekend. For once the little people did not need to be driven anywhere, so it seemed pretty straight forward.

Later I realized that the weekend happened to us despite any planning.

Things were pretty much a blur from Friday afternoon to late Sunday evening. My sister in law drove up from North Carolina to attend calling hours on Sunday. Of course that meant we had to go Junkin on Saturday and hit a couple of stores. We went to Friendly's in town for lunch and ice cream. I had no idea that the Corning Museum of Glass made them a gigantic glass mint chocolate chip ice cream cone. It made me all kinds of happy. Having been local here for over a year, it was a nice surprise to find that glass cone and learn that I share a favorite ice cream flavor with a local glass artist. I believe Chris is the same dude that made Pumpkin Fysh.

Sunday found us surrounded by family celebrating the life of Uncle Bob who is at peace finally from being terribly ill. It was nice to catch up with some family members we rarely see and then out to a late supper at the Booneville Hotel. I enjoyed shrimp riggies which is a local specialty. Even though I spent years near Booneville, I had never eaten in this particular place nor heard of it. Check out that vintage register. Love it!

I am vowing to let more weekends happen to us, although maybe with a wee bit more rest in between things! Hugs and Happy Monday!

Oh and a wave over at Sian who is hosting Memorandum Monday!

LESSology Brightly Altered Candlestick Bird Cages

I have been holding on to these little bird cages from the second hand store for ages! Since the July time frame to be exact. It wasn't until recently that I glued them up with two different metal candlesticks using some epoxy. I had planned on spraying them black or white and then fancying them up with some flowers. However, when I originally had posted them on my blog, someone commented on their pretty bright colors! So, I saved myself a step and just painted their bases with some gold spray paint!

I also added a smidge of gold spray at the top and used epoxy to adhere upcycled toppers. The crystal one is a knob and the gold a lamp finial. The only new items used on these bird cages are the rock star glass birds and velvet flowers. The birds were on sale at the Corning Musuem of Glass and I had to have them. They were Christmas ornaments but I took the clip off the bottom so I could snuggle them down into that deep green spanish moss.

Those gold mesh leaves were also Christmas ornaments and were hanging out at the second hand store. I wired them them on and then hot glued on those velvet petaloo flowers. Loved the peachy rose color! All these bright colors fit right in with our challenge over at LESSology to use the colors of gameboards to inspire your work!

It hasn't been acting much like winter here lately so I've got them out on display in the kitchen where I can enjoy them! They remind me of spring!

Hope you can join us!

Kiss Me Box for THE CUTTING CAFE

I totally enjoyed pairing up this Hershey Kiss Window Box from THE CUTTING CAFE with the Kiss Card from the Valentine Window Card Tops Set to make something quite unique! Now my box is upsized because I wanted to put quite a lot of kisses in it! And I wanted the word KISS to stand out!

I used a lot of washi tape to cover the box. I cut it out of cardboard on my Silly and then fancied it up with gold & geometric tape. I even found washi in my stash with some with little hearts on it! It's already adhesive so works really well to make something pretty quick. Adhesive lace is another short cut! Added that around the box lid. I hot glued on the kiss letters after making a little easel out of them.

Gold embossing power gave the Kiss letters a pretty patten. Love those bright little pink roses with velvet leaves! They are like icing! Some crystals add to the bling! My favorite part of the whole thing though are those little gold feet!

They are like little gold branches and a bit of hot glue holds them right on! They were a recent purchase from Linda's Funkie Junkie Boutique. They match the gold kisses!

Hope your Wednesday is awesome!

Magic Reindeer Food Upcycled Rumchata Bottle

This past week between Christmas and New Years was a huge wrap up week for me. Things that have been hanging around waiting to be altered have been all fancied up! That just means I need to spend more time down at the second hand store keeping an eye out for fun things to change up! Oh dear, that will be hard! (Pun intended)

I have had this Rum Chata bottle hanging around for months! It was even spray painted white although it was mainly white before. Can you see how this shape would be alluring? Too bad I wasn't big on the contents. ;-) Lucky for me I found just the label on Etsy from Chocolaterabbit to help me turn it into a magic reindeer food container!

I really wanted this bottle to look old, grungy and like it had been around a while. I also wanted it to look magical! Some antique gold Prima bloom spray helped me age up the label quite a bit! I attached it with white glue, so it was able to take the spray. Love the little mirrors and that metal deer that Yvonne from Do More with Less sent me!

I was hoping for a bit of snow so my frosty bottle would have a nice backdrop, but so far it's been a fairly mild winter here. I had to settle for an evergreen tree in the background! I did add snowflakes to my bottle however and a glittery flower on top of vintage lace. The cap was altered with embossed metal tape that was treated with alcohol ink & gold paint. Of course more crystals & glitter around the metal cone that also was upcycled from my stash.

I have passed along this bottle to my Sister in Law. Hopefully their Elf on the Shelf can bring them some food next December to spread on the lawn so Santa's Reindeer's can refuel!

Happy Tuesday!

Me on a Monday: the Cake Curse Strikes Again

I am sure you are unaware, but the Pratt Inc. clan here is under a cake curse. There is a huge long story associated with this cake thing that I won't get into here, but I can tell you that I have blogged at least once about it before...no twice. The Great Cake Curse of 2011 being the worst, so I guess I should be pleased it all worked out on the side of more half moon cookies....

Anyhow when I called down to Wegmans this past Thursday, the convo went something like this (and yes, I called in and ordered my own birthday cake, again another long story):

Me:  Do you bake the half moon cookies you sell in the store?

Store Lady: No, they ship them to us from Corporate. 

Me:  OK, so you can't make a half moon cookie cake from scratch. 

Store Lady:  No! (emphatically)

Me:  Oh. That's OK, we can figure this out. I need you to take like oh....say six of the half moon cookies, arrange them in a circle and write happy birthday on them. 

Store Lady:  .........................ah.............................

Me:  I mean, don't you think that would work? I am pretty sure one cookie in the middle and five on the outside would make a circle, don't you think? Might not be perfect. but it seems like it would work. Maybe you'd need seven.....

Store Lady:  ...............................ah.............um.........

Me:  Yeah, I think that would work. I mean, give it a whirl and see if you can make it look nice. 

Store Lady:  You want that for when?

Me:  Saturday at 10ish would work. Oh and can you put pink roses on it or something with the Happy Birthday? Just a few, make it look pretty. 

Store Lady:  Ah.....ok. 

And that was that. A small round six cookie cake went to twelve cookies with lots of roses and where the Happy Birthday went, nobody knows....however, their cookies are the best so I have some I am hoarding in the freezer....and they attached them to the cardboard base with FROSTING so it was like double wow....

Anyhow my rescheduled birthday on Saturday was great. I got to hang with THE MAN and on Sunday, Luke made me breakfast. I'm pretty much dragging this birthday thing out as long as possible...

I mean, I haven't been to work yet and I am sure they will want to go to lunch for my birthday...yes, will have to hatch a plan...

Waving over at Sian who may or may not be still doing the Me on a Monday thing...however, she always appreciates a story!

Sayre Parade: Layout for Another Freaking Scrappy

Happy first of the year! We're celebrating over here with a little snowman dance!

Anne over at Another Freaking Scrappy asked us to scrap a winter theme or color scheme. I could argue that based on Frozen, turqouise and pink do fall into the winter color schemes! However, it's also a page about a parade I was in for work!

Since we were in the parade to show community support I used eye glass paper! We were happy to hand out candy and have people see our float. I also included a coaster from where we got dinner and a brew afterwards.

Hope you can come join us in building a snowy winter themed page over at Another Freaking Scrappy!

Veterans Day Honor Flight Layout

This past Tuesday night Luke ranked up in Civil Air Patrol. We weren't sure he was going to make it. He had passed the physical fitness portion and the test, but had to improve his marks on drill. I am thankful that something is difficult for him. He does really well with his grades being naturally smart so it's nice when he has to work at something a bit. Means more to him I think.

The day he participated in the Twin Tiers Honor Flight was also difficult. He had to be at the airport at 5:30 am and in blues so it was quite an early start! Then he rode to Ithaca with CAP for training that ran well into the afternoon. Came home for a snack and shower and was back to the airport to welcome the Veterans back in from their day trip to Washington DC. The entire day made me think of my Grandpa Ham who flew in WWII. I wish he had been around to see Luke & go to DC.

My favorite part of this page are the leaves with the stars. Some left over glitter from the CAP Christmas party found it's way onto their leaves! Dig those roses too. I fussy cut that plane logo after snagging it on-line and printing it on photo paper. Makes me happy for a title!

I know that scallopy shape of the actual page isn't trendy anymore, but it reminded me on a medal and I thought it worked well with the red, white and blue. Inked up edges the edges and added some glitter!

Happy Thursday!