Things Loved Edition No. 2

Things loved this week:

1. Picnic out in the sunshine.

2. Lucky thrift store find: Vintage globe for $3.

3. Re-hung these handmade gold cardboard initials in my office nook, which previously hung in our bedroom, now officially "the baby wall". (How-to pictures to come. I was inspired by this tutorial at Oh Happy Day and these zinc letters at Anthropologie.)

4. A 3-D paper mobile to hang above the bassinet. Finished pictures soon! (Used these mobiles from gosh & golly on Etsy as a springboard and this tutorial for the 3-D part. Can you guess what the theme will be in our nursery corner?)

5. This Japanese paper penguin from UGUiSU. He needs to come stay with me. 

Things Loved Edition No. 1

Things I loved this week:

1. Fresh flowers in bloom.

2. Peonies in a bright vase.

 

3. Heart balloons from Valentine's Day. Still going strong after more than a month!

 

4. A beautiful hand-knit blanket from a friend of my mother's whom I don't know personally. Randomly generous people still exist in this world!

 

5. Vintage cap & coat from Etsy. One of my only purchases for the babe so far. I couldn't resist!

 

Made With Love

I made these literally the day before Christmas as last-minute gifts. But they still were made with a lot of love!

I thought I'd share in case someone wanted to use it for a bridal shower, housewarming, birthday, or mother's day gift.

Easy & Inexpensive Spice Mix Gift:

{idea from here}

Need:
*small tightly-lidded jars--I used restaurant salt and pepper shakers from the dollar store
*spices and or herbs--find spice mix recipes first so you get the amounts you need
*labels--download the ones I made here
*packing tape or laminating sheets
*ribbon

01. Wash and dry jars thoroughly. Measure out spices and herbs according to recipe into a bowl.
02. Make labels for jars. Make sure they're the right size. Download the circle labels I used, approx. 2 1/2" in circumference.
03. Stick or glue labels to jar, then cover with packing tape or laminating sheet to protect from moisture.
04. Fill jars with spice or herb mix, close lid tightly, and decorate with ribbon. Give as gift or keep for yourself! Homemade spice mixes are the best.

Spice mixes should last about a year if no moisture gets in. Enjoy your spice mix!

Craft Fair Haul: Over $1000!

The craft fair went really well! Shame on me for not taking any more pictures...I'll have to steal some from friends. Natasha posted about it and took a good picture of the set up. 

Jen made this sign and by the end of the day had 12 $100 paper strips taped on it!

It was fun~ I am always amazed at the talent that surrounds me.

Thank you to all who stopped by!

November 6th Non-Profit Craft Fair

Come one come all! Get your holiday shopping done in one day!

I'll be participating in a craft fair this Saturday here in Camarillo.

I'll be selling felt flower hair clips, Twilight and Harry Potter pin-back buttons, 

paper ornaments, holiday paper bunting banners, and some other things. 

There will be a dozen other vendors, too, 

and all proceeds will benefit our local Women's shelter!

.o.0.o. 

...Women Helping Women...

Non-Profit *Craft Fair*

This Christmas Season, we are raising money to help our local Women's Shelter. Please stop by and see if there is any Christmas shopping you can do to help. All proceeds are donated.

When: Saturday, November 6^th 8am-2pm

Where: 175 Japonica Place, Camarillo

Everything is handmade & Booths include:  Children's hair accessories, Home décor, Home baked goods, Candles, Ornaments, Infant hats, Vinyl lettering, Jewelry, Wooden Toys, Cutting boards, Pens, etc.

Craft Night

I almost forgot to blog about last Friday's fabulous craft night until I hooked up my camera to download pictures. It was a pretty successful night. Before the crafting began we had a dinner of Asian chicken salad and homemade California sushi rolls, of which I had seconds...and maybe thirds.

While we ate, we were taught how to decorate and set a table for the Autumn season with things we already have in or around our homes. When I walked in and saw these tables set up, the first thing that popped in my mind was, "Wow, that looks expensive!"
Well, doesn't it??

This beautiful tablescape is made up of fruits like lemons, oranges, apples, and pomegranates; vegetables such as pumpkins and gourds; leaves, branches, pine cones, cloves, wheat, paper, candles and string. Um, I have all those things at home, or can borrow them from my parent's house--or from csuci {they've got crazy trees and lots of pine cones}. So guess what I'll be attempting to do after I take my Halloween decor down next weekend?

Back to the craft night. I taught how to make paper pinwheels and had a fun time talking with the other girls all night. There were some beautiful and colorful pinwheels created! One gal kept coming back to make more and more. They really are addicting to make once you get the hang of it.

  

Couldn't resist making one of my own. It's going for sale at a Craft Fair on November 6 a friend of mine is putting together. More details to come!

Why Are Mormon Women So Creative?

I'll leave that for you to answer. I was wondering this as I read the blog post for Camarillo 2nd Ward's Fabulous Friday Craft Night. 

There will be over 10 easy and cool crafts to make that cost under $10. In addition, there will be a guest speaker who will show those in attendance how to make centerpieces and decorations without buying all new stuff, as well as other activities. 

Camarillo Second Ward Relief Society FABULOUS FRIDAY CRAFT NIGHT!

You won't want to miss this. We have something for EvErYoNe!

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15TH 6:00-10:00PM

Dinner will start PROMPTLY at 6:00.

Our menu has a little Asian twist; Sushi & Chinese Chicken Salad.

It will be delicious.

I'm just going for the sushi. =} 

Just kidding, I'm actually teaching the "Fanciful Paper Pinwheels" class. Yes, I made all the pinwheels. Aren't they pretty? 

If you're in the area on Friday, October 15th, come take my class some classes and bring home a few impressive items which only look like they cost you a million bucks. I'm hoping to have time to make the burlap "Boo" banner & the festive footed plate.

If you want to sign up, leave a comment or email me at anniezparis@hotmail.com and I'll direct you to one of the most creative ladies I've ever known, Debbie Morris, the mastermind behind all this.

Friends Etsy Shops!

I'm so excited to invite you to visit a couple of my friends Etsy shops! I should have done this a while ago.
I must say, I have some pretty talented friends.

First, Kim's shop called "Dainty Blooms." She describes her shop:

Thank you for visiting Dainty Blooms--your source for beautiful felt and fabric flower accessories for infants, toddlers, girls and women of all ages! I love custom orders! If you see something you like but want it in another color, send me a convo and I'll let you know what colors I have available for you!

Don't you just love her banner? Her flowers are meticulously made and so--no better word to describe them--dainty! And her photos are so beautiful!

pink felt lotus hair clip

teal felt gerbera daisy felt clip

I'm on a strict budget right now...but I've got my eye on the black felt poppy hair clip.

Love!

¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨

Next is the talented Leanne's shop called "Elle Apparel." {Visit her blog, too: Elle Apparel} She says:

Welcome to Elle Apparel! Each item in my shop is one of a kind and has been hand crafted. 

She also handcrafts beautiful flower headbands. My favorite part is reading the names of these beauties:

purple bloom

fushianista

I'm just so impressed by the creativity of my friends. It's cool to see someone close to you successfully share her talents--and make a little money on the side! Thanks for visiting, maybe sometime soon we can all coordinate a giveaway!

My Sister, The Arteest

A few weeks ago, my sister Ruth came over and together we painted this desertscape depicting the journey to Mecca. It was done in about two hours! I think she did a great job. All I did was provide some composition tips and painting tricks. Made me want to take out all of my oil painting supplies and canvases gathering dust in storage...any suggestions on what I could paint?

Fabric Spree

 Would you believe me if I told you I got everything in the pictures below {minus the vase & flowers, though I got those for free/on sale, too} for less than $20? Thats: 

• over 10 yards of twill, stretch denim, and heavy cotton blend fabrics in super pretty patterns for $1 a yard {denim was $2/yd}. I'm planning to make a table runner out of the striped twill.
• a few designer scraps of patterned fabric for those easy headbands I like to make
• 2 large cloth napkins~ I just liked the colors they came in
• 8 trendy embellishments, including the one I hot-glued onto a simple white t-shirt, for 50 cents each

I made out like a bandit. I found it all at the FIDM scholarship store in LA. Thanks for the tip, Dana!
It was fun hanging out with my gal friends Hayley & Pri. Even if it did take us 45 to get off the freeway because there was a bike marathon going on...

Baby Headbands

Made some not-too-big, not-so-traditional headbands for my friend's baby girl. I made a similar red flower on a headband for me, too. So easy. Still going strong with my handmade gift pledge!

Baby Picture Party Garland

I'm on a roll with my diy projects! I actually remembered to take pictures of these.

My sister-in-law requested I make a picture garland for her daughter's first birthday party last month. She gave me the idea, and I executed it. It was so easy and it turned out really well. Who wouldn't love to look at Shekendra's cute little face repeated over and over? =}

Basically, I took a picture and using a photo editing program {Windows Photo Gallery} I changed the tint of the photograph to the colors I wanted for the garland {pink, blue, green, light yellow, etc.}, then saved each instance.

I used Picnik.com to add rounded corners and then printed out the pictures on 4 x 6 in photo paper. I cut them out, punched holes on each top corner, and strung them with raffia.

It took about 11 of these to make a garland, oh, about 6 1/2 feet long. This is a good project to do to personalize any event, whether it's a graduation, a birthday, or an anniversary. And it's so simple.