Spotted Canary Blog

In all honesty, I am not a gift sack girl. Sure they are convenient and come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, but they add to the overall cost of the gift. A $5 gift sack makes a $20 gift easily go to $30 with the gift sack plus needed tissue paper and a card.

I am a package girl.

There is something about a beautiful package that makes my heart thump and the anticipation grow inside me. Stores just don’t give out boxes anymore for wrapping gifts. I am sure they are trying to cut costs. I reuse boxes that have been saved year after year. Lately I have been making my own boxes from scrap paper. That led me to think about using my gift boxes in other ways.

Take a peek --

With both of my children’s and my dad’s May birthdays, we needed something to hang on the front door of our home so all the passersby would know a birthday was happening at our home. I created a birthday wreath using boxes. I simply made my colorful, small boxes and placed them in a circular shape. Adding a few celebration embellishments and old party favors was just the bedazzle I needed. I will reuse the wreath year after year which causes my expenditure to go down and down. Think about placing a photo of the birthday honoree in the center of the wreath. That would personalize it even more.

I use boxes to store my supplies. Glitter, ink, and ribbon store neatly in these cute boxes. Each box costs 75 cents to make. You can’t beat the price, and making your own storage allows you to match your containers with your own personal style. It is also a good way to use up extra paper you have been saving for a while. Don’t forget to label the boxes. If the grandchildren are coming for a visit, store your crayons, markers, and colored pencils in these easy-to-make boxes. They just might be the perfect size for tidying up all the Lego pieces.

A collage box was something I was envisioning when I made boxes. I kept thinking if I cut a hole in the box like a window, I could create a collage or a winter scene inside of my paper box. It could hold a paper nest in the spring or a spooky trick-or-treat diorama for fall. It might even hold a collection of pieces from my past -- like an old photo, my dad’s baby shoe, or a handkerchief of my grandma’s. The ideas are endless once you cut a hole in the lid of your box.

With a simple paper or ribbon handle, your box becomes a basket. Give the gift of candy in a paper box. Make it look like flowers by simply punching petals from patterned paper. It is also a clever way to package a movie gift card along with a couple bags of microwave popcorn.

Add wheels to the box and it is no longer a box with a lid. It is a super, snazzy car, truck, or amazing vehicle. For hours of enjoyment this summer, craft up some boxes for play. Create vehicles with buttons or milk jug lids and city buildings by stacking boxes. Make homes and roads to connect all your box buildings. Let your summer sizzle with crafting fun!

Don’t get boxed in with your ideas.

With a piece of paper and a little imagination, you can create many uses for an ordinary box.

Take it to the next level and make it extraordinary!

If you love using the Scoring Board to create boxes, here is a great You Tube Video! 

~Miss Nifty Thrifty (Studio Pink) 

One of my first jobs as a teenager was at a local amusement park. I thought I had the best job in the park!

You see, I made giant tissue paper flowers on dowel rod sticks. When park guests entered the main gate, they were greeted with large pots filled with tissue paper flowers. My favorite ones to create were the rainbow flowers. They would sell as soon as I filled a pot.

My days of making tissue paper flowers at an amusement park are long gone, but my love for the tissue paper craft still exists.

My sister-in-law is getting married, and I was the host for her shower. Unfortunately it was in another state. That made decorating for the shower even trickier. It finally occurred to me to create mini tissue paper flowers to hang from the ceiling over the food table.

I secured the flowers to tulle for garlands and filled vases with them.

My supply list for creating the tissue paper flowers was short:

• white tissue paper,
• white pipe cleaners,
• scissors,
• green cardstock (for leaves),
• and floral centers.

And I am happy to report that the decorations didn’t break the bank.

-They were so well received that the bride decided to create some for her wedding reception.

Let me show you how to make your own dazzling flowers.

•  Start with 6 to 7 sheets of tissue paper. It can be any color, any size, any texture or pattern.

For small flowers, I cut my tissue paper into 6 x 6 inch squares.

The only rule of thumb is to maintain a square when creating your flower.

Also I have been known to put my stacked tissue paper on my paper trimmer to cut it to size.

•  I like even folds when creating my flowers.

I love to use my scoring board to get even lines before I fan-fold the tissue paper.

You don’t have to score before you fold.

If you do use the scoring board, stack all your tissue paper on it, and score lightly so you don’t cause a tear.

• Once the tissue paper is fan-folded or accordion folded, use a pipe cleaner to twist tie the center together as shown.

If you don’t have pipe cleaners, then use a bread bag tie, trash bag tie, or string.

I am a fan of the pipe cleaner because then, I can twist tie the flower onto a garland, a ribbon on a package, or create a small loop and hang the flower from fishing line.

• Cut your petal shape on both ends of the fan-folded tissue stack.

When cutting a rounded petal edge, think about the shape of your flower.

The deeper you cut down towards the pipe cleaner twist tie, the more space you will have between your petals.

I cut some of my petals more curved at the top and others pointier. Have fun playing with shape.

• Carefully pull the accordion folded shape open.

Separate the tissue paper by arranging some of the pieces toward the front and some toward the back to create a flower.

Go slow.

This is when I tear mine.

Once I realized how easy these were to make,

the ideas for using the tissue paper flowers got my wheels turning

and my creative juices flowing.

Here is what I came up with:

• Wrap a pretty gift and add a flower to the ribbon.

         Embellish the flower with cardstock leaves and floral pieces to make the center of the flower more realistic.

• Create a brooch for Mother’s Day, a girlfriend getaway, or a unique pin for a purse, jacket, or scrapbook bag.

Use old dress patterns for the tissue paper instead of buying gift wrap.

Use a floral stem for the base of the brooch.

•  Make a floral display that you won’t have to water.

Martha Stewart Crafts has a kit to create a beautiful spring bouquet.

This might be the perfect accent for a little girl’s room or your cube decoration at the office.

• Create a party garland with different sized flowers.

 Use large rickrack for the base of the garland.

Twist-tie the flowers onto it.

Add stickers, alphabet letters, or even buttons to decorate the garland.

Do you need a cute way to wrap a gift quick?

• Create a paper band around dish towels and accent the band with tissue paper flowers for a wow effect

Use the same band idea around a delicious candy bar.

What a sweet way to tell a teacher thank you for a great school year or a nice pick-me-up for a girlfriend having a bad week.

*These tissue paper flowers are perfect for accenting hair barrettes, journals, picture frames, or even creating a festive wreath.

 Let your imagination soar with ideas on how to use these inexpensive embellishments.

Who would have thought that I would still be making tissue paper flowers 25 years later and counting!

Happy Crafting!

~Miss Nifty Thrifty (Studio Pink)

Spring Break, 2010: Me, riding in a car for two days with my husband and three children, making our way to the southern beaches of Florida. Since I couldn’t scrapbook or paper craft on the interstate, I decided to take a book to read. I’m not much of a bookworm – mostly due to time constraints, but reading a book on the trip was more appealing to me than counting passing telephone poles or playing billboard bingo! Little did I know, the random book that I chose off of the shelf at my local grocery/superstore would change my whole outlook, not only on reading but also on writing and the way we leave our legacy to future generations.

The book is called The Wednesday Letters and is the story of a man who wrote a letter to his wife every Wednesday for 40 years. She kept every letter in shoe boxes, and after the two of them died, their three children found the letters, read them and struggled to cope and come to terms with what was revealed in the letters.

Wow! Can you imagine that? It really gave my mind a work-out on the different ways people leave legacies for their children, and of course, my thoughts instantly wandered to the world of scrapbooking. Because I am analytical in my thinking, I went beyond the photos that seem to be the main focus for most when creating a scrapbook, and my mind wandering stopped on the journaling factor. Journaling has always been extremely important to me in my personal work. It drives me crazy when I see layouts with a title and a date, but no copy – perhaps because when I scrapbook, I’m not scrapbooking for me, I’m scrapbooking for my kids, and the generations that will come after them.

There are so many ways to incorporate journaling into the pages. Here are just a few:

• Poems
• Song Lyrics
• “The Story”
• Excerpts from books
• A list of descriptive words
• Quotes
• An Acrostic

I am a storyteller! I want everyone who looks at my pages to know the full story, and because I am a storyteller, I have to be inventive with my journaling on my pages. Many times I create hidden journaling, knowing that my long-winded ways would never fit in the space available for the small novels that I tend to write! The example that I am sharing is a small accordion folded book that ties shut with a ribbon. When opened, it tells the whole story of when my daughter decided to give herself a haircut! Definitely a memory I want her to know about (in full detail!) when she is older!

Because I like to share all of the details, I generally have to have a system to follow with my journaling… I like to think of it as my “pre-planning” time. For this specific reason, I will share some of my little inventive tricks that help me with organizing my thoughts and planning the journaling for my pages.

1) I write. I write a lot. I write about whenever, wherever! I carry a small decorated composition book in my purse at all times so I can jot down random thoughts, interesting quotes I may come across, and things people say.

2) I try to write every night in a journal. I capture moments of the day in full description, and it’s a great way to make notes about any photos I may have taken that day. Keeping track of those additional details makes it easy to match up the photos to the events when it’s time to scrapbook if you record the date of the photo after developing. My journaling is practically written (with some minor changes based on the amount of space I have to work with) when I create my layouts.

3) I like to make journaling cards that I create and keep in a recipe box. Some people spend a lot of time making “greeting” cards to send others, and although I do that, too, I balance my time and make different shapes, sizes and colors of journaling cards to use on my layouts. It saves a step and time when I’m putting together a page, and they can also double as gift tags.

4) Last tip, but not least, is my journaling jar. I have a fun decorated jar that I keep in my studio, and when I come across interesting web sites, poetry, song lyrics, words, etc… I write them down on a small scrap of paper and drop them in the jar. I pull from the jar when I feel stuck or need something extra to say on my pages. It is actually a lot of fun!

Though these are my ideas and my ways of getting thoughts and words on paper, there are many styles to the way people scrapbook, and there is no right or wrong way to be creative. This holds true with your journaling style. Whether you are a writer or storyteller, or one who merely likes to add a few words and the date, any journaling is great journaling. The whole point is that scrapbook pages should hold words to support the wonderful photo legacy to be passed on!

Here are a few more samples of my personal work that will hopefully inspire you and give you some fun ideas on how to incorporate journaling into your layouts!

       

    

Happy Journaling~
Karen (Kabby) 

So last week I was in love with Naked Pita Chips. You know, the kind of love where you buy two bags at a time and send your child through an adjacent check-out lane with another two just so the cashier doesn’t think you’re crazy. The over-indulgent, eat-them-until-you-start-to-smell-like-them, kind of love. I fell hard and fast for those thick slabs of gluten laden pitas, baked to a crunchy perfection and sprinkled with just enough sea salt to satisfy but not cause a dry mouth. One bite and I was hooked.

Until I met Bakerella’s Cake Balls.

I’m over the pitas now. Bye bye.

Helloooo cake.

Sweet rounds of creamy red velvet cake encased in a crunchy shell of chocolate.

Bakerella had me at red velvet. One bite and I was hooked.

This new love is the kind of love that wakes you in the middle of the night and compels you to the fridge for a 3 AM fix. It causes you to day dream in the line at the post office and makes your heart flutter at the very thought of your next encounter.

It’s that kind of love and I’ve got it bad.

I’m not sure there is a cure for this cake ball kind of love … but really, do I want to find one? My thighs say yes. My taste buds say heck no!

I found these infectious truffle-like delicacies while surfing the web for dessert ideas and recipes for an upcoming event I am in charge of. Fifty ladies + a dessert buffet = “Holy heart failure, Batman”. (Yeah, that’s a real Robin quote from the 1966 movie … its part of the “Holy Quote” series. And could someone please hand me a brown paper bag … I have less than a week to pull this off. Procrastinators, unite!)

Many of these ladies have just finished up an eight week healthy lifestyle challenge. They divided up into teams and competed for the bragging rights, and less importantly, a personal cash prize, of the most improved in physical, spiritual and mental well-being. One of their goals was to not eat after 8 PM.

This time limit, among a few other self-inflicted torturous restraints, was why I politely and quietly declined to join them.

You see, I can’t stop eating after 8 PM. It’s as if a bell rings … ding, ding … and I’m off to the races trying to stuff as many sweets into my mouth as physically possible. If I had taken the challenge, I would have assuredly succumbed at the first iota of stress and eaten my way to midnight without a second or guilt-filled glance.

And who wants to be the weakest link on the team; the sole person voted off the challenge island; the “one day you’re in and the next day you’re out” gal. Certainly not me. I have enough issues.

So as a way to help these ladies stay on track with their healthier habits, and more importantly because I wanted a reason to make cake balls in large quantities, I have decided to serve bite-size desserts at the upcoming event. Mini-treats will allow the ladies to follow through on their “just a bite” pledge while at the same time filling their inner cravings for sugary confections. And I promise ladies, no one will be standing at the table with a click-counter marking each bite you put on your plate – so you can “just one bite” your way to a full menu of goodies if you so desire. Your secret is safe.

My web surfing yielded me a myriad of great mini-treat recipes. Over at Elizabeth Ann Designs, there is a fabulous posting of pictures and ideas to consider. And who knew there were so many mini-cheesecake recipes out there that start off with a vanilla wafer as the base. Try this one at Mom’s Who Think for a starter.

Diana at Diana’s Desserts posted a large list of things mini and desserty and the editors at Woman’s Day magazine put together a well-rounded sampling of recipes to try. Last, but not ever least, find your way to Martha Stewart Weddings, for a delicious looking brownie bite confection.

Now, back to the cake balls. The best part of this particular dessert is that there are only three key ingredients. Yep, three. One. Two. Three. (The Count would be so proud!) And better yet, if there could be any more good news, they are items you can keep stocked in your pantry. Halleluiah! Impulse cravings easily satisfied with no trips to the store required!

Here is a synopsis in words and pictures of how to start your own love affair with cake balls. (Please do go to Bakerella’s site for the actual recipe and to see how these should look when done by an expert. You won’t be disappointed. She does a wonderful job with her blog. I’ve fallen in love with it.)

Gather ingredients. Mix the mix.




Bake the cake. Crumble the cake.




Mix the cake with the frosting. Roll the frosted cake crumbles into balls. Use gloves if concerned about red dye transfer to hands. (Notice I used a wide bowl for mixing. Better photo op. Better for licking when finished. You laugh, but I know you’ll do it.)




Chill balls. Fridge if you have time. Freezer if you can’t wait. Dip balls in melted chocolate candy coating and allow to harden. Note to self: do as Bakerella says. Place coated balls on waxed paper and NOT wire racks. Racks cause coating to stick and leaves precious cake and chocolate behind.)




Yumalicious! But obviously I need to hone my chocolate dipping skills. These first attempts look very Lucy and Ethel-esque.


Well, I couldn’t stop at just the cake balls. I decided I should take a couple of other recipes out for a test drive and here are my results, again, in words and pictures.

I found this Mini-Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe at myrecipes.com. Head there to get the exact ingredients and instructions.

Here is my very first Wilton mini-cupcake pan. Just had to share : ).




Chop the nuts in your handy-dandy chopper that was given to you by a dear friend. Thanks Nicole! Mix nuts with butter and spread in Wilton mini-cupcake liners (I know, enough with the shameless plugs).




Gather ingredients. Mix ingredients. And just as an FYI, canned pumpkin is hard to find right now. There was a bad pumpkin crop and now the stores are pumpkinless. So if you happen upon a chance can, grab it and hide it. They are hot commodities right now. (Thanks Polley for sharing one of your stashed cans with me!)




Scoop batter into zip-loc bag and cut corner off. Pipe batter into cupcake liners. This zip-loc method of filling is pure genius! Can’t remember where I read about it, but it is brilliant!




Bake and top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.




Take picture of happy child who loves pumpkin pie and cheesecake … two thumbs up for the best of both worlds.




Easy Lemon Tarts come direct from my fabulous friend Polley.

Gather the ingredients. Again, another three-and-you’re-done item recipe.




Spoon lemon curd into thawed fillo shells and top with fresh raspberries. Easy peasy!




And here’s a pretty presentation of them all. The flowers are courtesy of two-thumbs-up boy for Mothers Day.




Well there you have it, three delicious and easy bite-size desserts to create and fall in love with. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Especially with the cake balls. You’ll try these one night when you’re desperate for a quick and chocolaty treat and you too will be hooked with the first bite. Then just like me, every time you open the refrigerator door to relish the creamy cake goodness you just discovered, you’ll hear this song playing in the back of your head … “Love, exciting and new. Come Aboard. We're expecting you. Love, life's sweetest reward. Let it flow, it floats back to you ...”

Enjoy your dessert dear reader … one bite at a time!

~ Elizabeth (ekb)