And Here's the Post About What My Third Graders Made This Year

I'm not sure where the idea got into my head.  I know it's not an original idea.  Probably spotted it on Pinterest or something.  This year it was getting down to the wire on what my students were going to make as gifts for their parents this year.    In fact, there was a very good chance they might not have made anything, but luckily inspiration struck just in time and we baked up a little something sweet for our families.

We made cupcake ornaments!  

If I do say so myself, they turned out pretty stinkin' cute!

Here's what you need to make these:

•a selection of glass ornaments (we bought brown/chocolate and red/red velvet ones)

•acrylic craft paint in colors of your choice (we had ivory, candy pink, and ruby red)

•assorted glitter (we used silver and crystal clear)

•foil cupcake liners (used the Wilton since they are papery on the inside)

•a bunch or two of faux berries (found these at Michaels for about $1 a bunch)

•a low temp glue gun

•and, of course, a venti latte from Starbucks in my new venti sized travel mug (I've waited a loooooong time to get one of those.....a very looooooong time.)

1.  Start off by painting a first coat around the top of the ornament and let dry.

2.  Paint a second coat and while it is still wet, sprinkle with the glitter.

3.  After it is dry, hot glue the cupcake wrapper to the ornament (we only glued the bottom of the liner to the ornament).

4.  Snip off one of the berries from the faux bunch and hot glue it to the ornament to resemble a cherry resting on top.

5.  Last step, thread some baker's twine through the ornament hook and tie a knot!

Voila!

A Christmas cupcake ornament!

Seriously, this is one of the easiest AND cutest projects we've ever done for Christmas.

Oh and I also glued a picture of each student to the bottom of the cupcake liner to make them a bit more personal.

It's not too late for you to pull off this project!  

Merry Christmas!!!

A Little Glitter, Some Ribbon, Pretty Paper, and a Cricut Machine

Oh, yes, I've been buzzing.....making a few little things for a new section on my etsy shop for Sweet Bee Cottage Crafts!

Wanna' see? 

I made some little banners/pennants/buntings!  

And really, just an aside here, what are these called?  

What's the proper name?  This is one of those things I sometimes wake up and think about.  (Okay, I don't really wake up, but I have wondered.)

A little something for Valentine's Day.....

And a couple little somethings for a tea party.....

one in scalloped circles....

and one in scalloped squares.

Available now on my etsy shop!

AND.....I'm having a 10% off sale - just use the code "happynewyear."

Can you tell I'm excited?  

Thanks for buzzing by!

C'mon! Let's Go to Michaels!

Girls, we need to chat.  C'mon, let's get a latte (or tea for you tea lovers).  

Okay, okay.....you twisted my arm........we can have a chocolate croissant too.

But after we finish, we need to get in our cars and go to Michaels.

Why you ask?

This!

And this!

This too!

IN THE DOLLAR BINS LADIES!!!!

If you find some, won't you let me know????

They look a little Cath Kidston, a little Greengate (from Denmark), and just plain old adorable.

What a great way to welcome in the New Year with such sweet little pretties.  So go get some!  

NOW!  

P.S.  And, for you vintage lovers, I'm finally getting some of the treasures I've picked up estate saling (yes, it's a verb - at least in my world) up on my etsy shop.

I hope you can buzz by and see what's new (er....really they're old....but new to me and you).

The Christmas Craft Buzz

Have you met Cindy from Rick Rack and Gingham?  

She is an absolute sweetie and she gets these fun ideas for swaps.

Her latest and greatest idea was to have a Christmas ornament swap.  Our ornaments had to reflect our blog and be a house or rv.  Ummmm.....this is where I kind of went off the tracks.  I just couldn't find a house or come up with an idea for a house......but I did think of......now go with me on this......a bee house!  Or a bee hive!!!

I started with a paper mache ornament base that kind of reminded me of a bee hive.

Then I used the wonderful and classic Aleene's Tacky Glue to wrap the ornament with jute twine.

Well, every little cottage needs a door, so I just cut a circle out of some brown felt and glued that on.

Then I needed to make a little bee.  I used black and yellow pipe cleaners, wrapped them around a screwdriver (pencil was too big) and then squished the coils together.  But I needed wings.  This was a puzzle to me.  Then inspiration struck!

I had some inkjet transparencies at home (for school)!  

Wings!  

I happened to have a heart shaped hole punch (thanks Martha) and I punched the heart, cut it down the middle and then glued them in between some of the coils.

Watch out! Don't get stung!

To bring in the Christmas, I made a little pennant banner for each little hive out of Christmas scrapbook paper and glued it on.

Well, I have to say, what thrilled me the most was how much Baby Bee kept saying, "I am so lucky to have a crafty mom."  Ahhh....now there's a girl who can melt her mama's heart.

 A set of 7 of these little hives are heading to Texas right now.

Just be careful when you open the box Cindy!

 Thank you for buzzing in and seeing what I'm buzzing about!

Partying at
My Romantic Home
for

and
At the Picket Fence
for

A New Rednesday Treasure

I just acquired a new little treasure to add to my collection of vintage picnic tins!

(Thanks to the leftover money on that visa gift card I won back before school started!)

And it's red!  And, I've never seen one like it before!

Perfect for Rednesday!

It says AHP on the lid and Decoware on the bottom.  

The inside is in really excellent condition.

See?

Why, what's this?

Oh it's a little project I've been working on. 

(I know, I'm the worst tease!)

Curious?  

Well, you'll just have to go visit Cindy at Rick Rack and Gingham pretty soon.

(Shame on me - more teasing - but I'm just so doggone good at it!)

Thanks for buzzing in

and

of course

I'm linking to Rednesday over at It's a Very Cherry World!

Maybe we can get together soon for a little crafting and coffee!

Wouldn't that be fun?

Some Vintage Hankie Ideas

Thank you Pinterest!

You make it so easy to find ideas.  And....

the best thing about you is that you help me keep these great ideas organized!

Come on over and see some of my boards if you're interested.  

Well, I've just started looking for ideas on what to do with my plethora of vintage hankies and look at what I found in just about 30 minutes of searching.  

No Sew or Low Sew projects:

Technically not a project, but it sure is pretty!

Lots of Sewing projects:

THIS is going to be fun!

Thanks for buzzing in!  I'm so glad to see you.

Do you have a favorite hankie idea?  One of your own?

(all images found through Pinterest)