Christmas Digi

I almost forgot to post this I finished it the other day. I used PSP once again to create it.

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12 Days of Christmas Swap-Day 12

Sadly, this is the final 12 days giftee to open, it's been such fun to open a new gift each day :-)

Last but certainly not least is

Tracey Kazimir-Cree's Creative Wand!

That is sure to inspire my muse into

action at a wave of the wand!

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Crafty Blogger Blurb Friday!

About Family Crafts With just a little bit of time and a few simple supplies, you can give everyone on your shopping list a home-made, personalized calendar.

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner Alexa shares how to create a custom mat frame from journal pages...a perfectly sentimental gift everyone will love!

Cathie Filian Got wine lovers on your holiday gift list? Cathie Filian has some easy DIY ideas for quick gifts worthy of Napa Valley.

Craftside- A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Over at Craftside there is a lace trim Christmas tree and New Year's Eve party hat, 4 of the cards from the new book-1000 Handmade Greetings, a holiday memory photo ring tutorial and a free crochet Santa pencil topper pattern.

Crafty Princess Diaries Read the Fine Print When Crafting for Charity - Make what they want and give what they need.

Cross Stitch at About.com Try your hand at a traditional embroidery style with this free Candlewicking ornament.

Layers Upon Layers It's not too late to make pretty fabric hearts for your tree...or for everyon on your gift list!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery See how easy it is to alter custom game pieces that will have players fighting over them.

The Impatient Crafter™ Commemorate this historical election year with an easy to make festive Obamornament!

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Move Over Martha Stewart!

I'm not what you would call a gourmet cook, my family likes simple things so I gave up on cooking fancy dishes long ago! I do consider myself a good utility cook (I can pull together a meal out of bits and pieces and cook in large portions). Recently I stumbled literally upon this great cooking site and I am definitely not a cooking site person at all, but I have to admit I LOVE this site! Not only are the recipes simple, the pictures are great quality and the humor is wonderful! It actually made me want to cook...something I'm not normally thrilled about doing anymore LOL

Last night I made a recipe called Crash Hot Potatoes and they were so good my family said it was the best meal they've ever had...Yes, of course I served them more then just potatoes. I won't mention the fact that they were starving, since I think that taints their view on how tasty something is LOL

Anywho this was so easy to make I highly recommend them. I made a couple of changes to them I added ground garlic and sea salt and sprinkled them lightly with parmasan cheese.

Crash Hot Potatoes

If your looking for something different for Christmas dinner or perhaps in need of some new holiday recipes check out The Pioneer Woman site. Below is the link to the recipe I mentioned

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/crash-hot-potatoes/

Move over Martha Stewart
The Pioneer Woman has ya beat!

If you have any favorite recipes please feel free to share them here I'd love to see them.

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12 Days of Christmas Swap-Day 11

Day 11 giftee was made by Sue.

Not the best picture I know, but hopefully you can tell that it's a little crystal beaded spider. Accompanying it was a scroll with the following legend printed on it:

The Legend of the Christmas Spider

Once upon a time, long ago, a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year.... The day on which the Christ child came to bless the house. Not a speck of dust was left. Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corner in the ceiling to avoid the housewife's busy cleaning. They finally fled to the farthest corner of the attic.

T'was the Christmas eve at last! The tree was decorated and waiting for the children to see it. But the poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree, nor be present for the Christ child's visit. But the oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peep through the crack in the door to see him. Silently they crept out of their attic, down the stairs, and across the floor to wait in the crack in the threshold. Suddenly, the door opened a wee bit and quickly the spiders scurried into the room. They must see the tree closely, since their eyes weren't accustomed to the brightness of the room... so the crept all over the tree, up and down, over every branch and twig and saw every one of the pretty things. At last they satisfied themselves completely of the Christmas tree beauty.

But alas!! Everywhere they went they had left their webs, and when the little Christ child came to bless the house he was dismayed. He loved the little spiders, for they were God's creatures too, but he knew the mother, who had trimmed the tree for the little children, wouldn't feel the same, so He touched the webs and they all turned to sparkling, shimmering, silver and gold!
Ever since that time, we have hung tinsel on our Christmas trees, and according to the legend, it has been a custom to include a spider among the decorations on the tree.

It's a cool legend I had never heard of, and thought perhaps some of you may not have as well.

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Homemade Christmas Gifts Part 2

I thought I'd share my finished tag added to the bottle of Mead (see previous post). I added a bit of history on one side and on the other side I added how to drink mead. Nothing too fancy just a bit of info for the novice mead drinker ;-)

I had a few people ask me what I used for the labels. I bought some gum backed labels that are made for bottling. Most brewing companies sell labels, just google it. I then printed them out with my handy dandy HP ink jet printer and then sealed them with what else but PYM II they are now waterproof! At first I was going to use full size sticker paper labels found at the office supply store, but I'm glad I didn't because I could just see my labels being all catty wampus and with the gum backed labels you can just slide them around until you get them nice and straight.

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Homemade Christmas Gifts

Are the best, aren't they!

It's not always easy, but we try to make some homemade Christmas gifts each year for friends and family. Since hubby likes to brew his own Ale and Beer, he decided to try his hand at making a batch of honey Mead for us to give as gifts this season, and boy did it turn out tasty!

(Click HERE to read more about Mead).

Now that it's bottled I needed to make

a label for the bottles and some tags

(I'm still working on the tags).

Here's the finished label, which I will also be

entering in the fair, along with hubby's

mead, this summer.
Don't the bottles look pretty with their
labels? All that's left is to add their tags
and ribbon and they'll be good to go!

Does anyone know of a good

snack recipe to go with the Mead?

Here's the original label I made and then decided to remake it. I'm really happy I did, I love the finished one much better!

If you haven't tasted mead and like the flavor of honey I highly recommend checking online or with your local liquor store and trying some, it's quite yummy!

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12 Days of Christmas Swap

Time to catch-up on my 12 days of Christmas swap giftees.

What beautiful treasures I've received! :-)

Day 10 By Karan Simoni

Day 9 By Lori Gentile

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Kreativ Blogger Award

My blog buddie Diane has gifted me with the Kreativ Blogger Award (Thanks!). I'm a bit late on this but better late then never, eh :-)

The rules of this award are that I have to name 7 things that I love and then pass on the award to 7 deserving bloggers. Instead of naming 7 blogs I'd like to give this award to all my creative friends!

1. I love to create backgrounds for art.
2. I love tangerines!
3. I love the colors Pink and Fushia!
4. I love the smell of coffee!
5. I love rainy days!
6. I love my house!
7. I love the smell of vanilla!
   

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More 12 Days of Christmas Giftees!!

Time to catch up on my 12 Days of Christmas giftees I'm so fortunate to have received! Each one is such a treasure, its such fun to open a gift a day and see what beautiful treasure awaits inside :-)

Day 8 By Lori Hutchinson

Day 7 By Joanne Huffman

Day 6 By Vicki Sun

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Altered Christmas Tags

Who doesn't have extra Christmas cards and gift tags each year? Not to mention all those "freebies" they send you for a donation! What the heck are you suppose to do with them all?!? This season I'm all about trying to create things with stuff I already have, so my altered Christmas tags fall right in with going green for Christmas!

Here's what the Christmas tags started out looking like, and below are my finished tags after I altered them:

I started out with an old Christmas card and traced around a shipping tag and then cut it out. Next I painted on some some 3D Crystal lacquer and then sprinkled on some extra fine iridescent glitter.	Once dry I ran the tag through my Xyron and adhered it to some red glitter card stock and cut out around the tag.
	The Dove as you can see I cut out from the tag and used red chalk ink around the edges of it and the tag itself. Digging through my Christmas box I found the velvet top hat and added that onto the dove with a foam sticky dot. I finished it off by adding some festive ribbon.

Here are 2 more finished tags. The monogram tag I cut out around the wreath on the tag and then mounted it onto some decorative paper and used a gold leafing pen to outline around the tag then added a card board initial with some pop dots and some ribbon.The snow man I used a square punch to cut out a square and inserted the snowman tag beneath so that it shows through like a window then added card stock on the back.

Again I traced around a shipping tag placed over a Christmas card and was able to cut two tags out from one card. I also used the shipping tag as a template to punch the hole near the top.	I painted on 3D Crystal Lacquer with a cheapy plastic brush I could throw away after. I also used the pointed end of the brush to put dots of CL to the tag to look like stars.
Next I sprinkled extra fine iridescent glitter over the wet CL and set them aside to dry.	Before I added ribbon I ran both tags through my xyron and added some navy blue glitter cardstock to the back of the tags and then re punched the holes.

Now get out your extra cards and lets see your altered tags and cards, post a link here to share with everyone :-)

Day 4 & 5 of 12 Days of Christmas Swap

Here's more of my 12 Days of Christmas Swap giftees I opened for Day 4 & 5

Day 4 was made by Jan Brown, from a spoon. Is that not cool and check out the awesome tag it came with!

Day 5 was created by my buddy Kris Henderson. I love this ornament and have it hanging on my small tree but once my large tree goes up I'll be moving it.

Rate My Craft Projects

Calling all blogger buddies, I invite you to view and rate my craft projects over on HGTV's Share My Crafts site HERE . I only have two of my past projects added but will be adding more.

CLICK HERE to see what I did with these Christmas gift tags and cards and Go Green for Christmas by making some Altered Christmas Tags

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Crafty Blogger Blurb Friday!

Yep, it's that time again Crafty Blogger Blurb Friday! Hey I'm always excited to see what new things my crafty friends are up to, how about you?

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery The Sweater Surgeon is in a video (1:44 min in) from Threadbanger shot at Felt Club and a Handmade Holiday How-to for cutting a sweater into a Christmas tree skirt.

About Family Crafts Sherri helps you find a reason to celebrate every day during the month of December!

Cross Stitch at About.com Hot off the virtual presses - Get your copy of Connie's free 2009 Cross Stitch Calendar.

The Impatient Crafter™ Madge shows you how to turn a tiny tin into a clever little diorama ornament! Another The Impatient Crafter™ Free Holiday Craft Project that's Kid Friendly and Mom Approved.

Craftside- A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world The 15 days of Holiday Goodness Giveaways has just begun at Craftside. Just answer questions and you are entered to win free books. We also have a great turkey leftover recipe from Cooking with Beer, some great reviews in Altered Couture Magazine, a quick and easy Christmas Tree shaped ornament gift box pattern, a beaded star tutorial from Patti Medaris Culia soon to be released book and a machine gun needle felted scarf from a wool felted sweater.

Crafty Princess Diaries A typical country mouse, aka the Crafty Princess, is in love as she views some of the pictures from the grand opening of a yarn studio in New York.

Layers Upon Layers Profiled artist David Smith shows off his amazing mixed media creations.

Swelldesigner a.k.a. Alexa Westerfield Alexa helps you get inspired this season with a compilation of craftychristmas ornament designs!

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Christmas Cupcake Fairy

I just got these adorable cupcake trinket boxes and coffee mugs in, and couldn't resist making one into a perched cupcake fairy! This would make another EZ Christmas gift idea!

Check out how I created this wee cupcake fairy HERE.

You can also click HERE to see more cupcake trinket boxes and mugs in OTM's Christmas Boutique.

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Day Three of 12 Days of Christmas Swap!

Whoohoo here's day 3's Giftee!

The talented Debi Boring made this altered puzzle for our 12 Days of Christmas swap. I love how she had the puzzle pieces hanging from a binder ring through eyelets she added. Very clever Mz Debi!

12 Days of Christmas Swap

Here's my giftees so far for this year's 12 days swap. I'm day 1 and it began yesterday. I participated last year in this swap and it was a lot of fun having a giftee to open each day leading up to Christmas :-)

You can check out last year's gifts HERE and HERE.

Here's Day 2 made by Jeri

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Crafty Blogger Blurb Friday!

Cathie Filian Check out this video on how to infuse vodka with berries for holiday martinis. Bottled and bowed, the infusions also make great gifts!

Crafty Princess Diaries Every thought of starting your own craft blogging group? Here are some questions and answers about the process.

Craftside- A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world The week at Craftside you can learn a bit of Photoshop work with a cool Technique from Essential Fashion Illustration, three ways to hem from Singer New Sewing Essentials and a floating ATC frame in an altered book with a free tattoo graphic download

Layers Upon Layers Carol Wiebe is a mixed media artist who will inspire you to let go of the inner judge!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery Check out how I cut things up as a child with a vintage paper plate turkey Thanksgiving Day decoration.

The Impatient Crafter™ Don't toss those tags on your next fashion purchase, turn them into "ornapendants!"

About Family Crafts If you do any traveling with kids during this holiday season, you will definately want to check out all of these creative travel activities.

Cross Stitch at About.com Connie's been counting patterns instead of stitches this week and realized that there are over 500 free patterns posted at About.com Cross Stitch now. Check them out today!

About.com Connie's been counting patterns instead of stitches this week and realized that there are over 500 free patterns posted at About.com Cross Stitch now. Check them out today!

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Unwrap The Magic

Here's my first Christmas digi of the season!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American blog buddies! We're actually celebrating on Saturday when the oldest son will be here. I thought I'd share what's ripe in my California yard. We have a huge tangerine tree that is full and two...yes not one but two grapefruit trees! More grapefruit than a family can eat! Don't they look yummy!

Tangerines

Grapefruit

10 lb Cake!

How can it be that my baby youngest is 16, it just doesn't seem possible! Here Morgan is with his 10 lb. cake! Yep, I said 10 lbs (he weighed it LOL). His cake request was that he wanted one that he could eat on for awhile. I put everything, but the kitchen sink in it! It may not be one of the prettiest cakes I've made, but it sure does taste good!

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...and the winners are!

The voting for the Art Muse Doll Contest has ended and the Winners are ::::insert drum roll:::

FIRST PLACE:

Linda East -Entry #1 (53)45%
$20.00 Gift Certificate to http://www.outsidethemargins.com/


SECOND PLACE:

Angie Platten-Entry #4 (42)36%
$10.00 Gift Certificate to http://www.outsidethemargins.com/

Ladies please contact me otm@outsidethemargins.com

Congratulations and thank you to all that entered and to everyone that voted!

Click HERE to see the doll entries

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Christmas Gift Project #2

You might think wooden dominos are just for playing with! Nope, instead I have another EZ Christmas project as promised. Click HERE to see my tutorial on making an altered domino necklace or keyring. They're so much fun to make you won't want to stop.

Belated Blogger Blurbs

Better late then never I like to say! so without further ado here are this week's Crafty Blogger Blurbs.

Craftside- A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world So much to be thankful for over at Craftside like a "cutting edge" die cut design, a One-Piece Wearable done recycle style, fun Felt Club 2008 photos, and a "Blue Christmas" decoration project.

About Family Crafts Does your family have any unique and creative Thanksgiving traditions? Please share your stories with us and read others'...

Cathie Filian Get ready and get inspired for Thanksgiving, by checking out a recap of Cathie Filian's Thanksgiving blogs.

Crafty Princess Diaries Tammy shares her thoughts on the Sundance jewelry catalog, and oh, how cool it would be to sell to them.

Cross Stitch at About.com Stitch some Thanksgiving characters with these free patterns. No, Connie's not talking about your weird Uncle Ed. We're talking First Thanksgiving here.

Layers Upon Layers Cyndi has a whole new set of mixed media artists for you to have lunch with this week!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery No, not a turkey sweater! A turkey made out of a sweater!

Swelldesigner a.k.a. Alexa Westerfield Alexa shows you how to make a blingtastic earring and ring set on the cheap!

The Impatient Crafter™ Join Margot for the first in her new series of Crafty Quickies how to video shorts. One simple technique demonstrated in under 2 minutes and geared to the time and technically challenged.

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Crafty Nite Light

I forgot to post pictures of a collaborative birthday project I worked on for my bud Kris. I had such fun decorating this wooden box by Crafty Chica. I first drilled out a hole in the bottom to fit a nightlight kit into it and then spray painted it and added papers. The star on the front was a rusty star ornament, but when I set eyes on it the nightlight idea immediately popped in my head! Don't you love when that happens! :-)

(Click Pictures to enlarge)