You Like Me, You Really Like Me!

The Academy Awards is this weekend and we always have a few friends over to celebrate and watch the show. Of course we tally the winners and the night's best guesser gets a little trophy of sorts. We've had a mug decorated with an Oscar statue, a First Place blue ribbon, a little gold trophy and a magnetic picture frame with Oscar Winner printed and framed. 

We always dress as something from one of the year's nominated movies (and you can dig deep and go for something for nominated for Sound Editing if you need to) and every year it's a mad rush to figure out what to wear. I still don't know what I'll be doing, but I'm leaning toward blue face paint and blue hair spray for the little blue character, Sadness, from Inside Out...up for Animated Feature. I don't plan to be sad, but she's cute and blue.

Here are some Oscar ideas if you want to throw a party or just jazz up your family's viewing. 

A popcorn bar...interesting. I love popcorn, especially taco popcorn, where you sprinkle on some dry taco seasoning and throw in some Cheeze-Its. Tasty!

Tuxedo Mousse Cups...um, yes, please. But only if someone else makes them :)

Oscar Cupcakes...these are pretty advanced but fun.

And these seem more doable and less work, but just as fun!

Love this idea too, I think some of my friends might fight over the Mrs. Clooney tag.

Okay, that's it for today, let me know if you watch the Oscars or fill out a ballot...the best kind of voting is the low-pressure kind. If I get the Best Picture wrong, well, I don't get a plastic trophy. I'm okay with that. 

Happy Wednesday!

Chark

Friday Reveal

The wedding project that I got picked up for the Spring issue of Craft Ideas has been published! So excited! You can purchase the issue at Jo Ann Fabrics or online here if you're interested. Lots of great projects in this issue. You can get the online edition or the paper edition, which I prefer because I love leafing through magazines during lunch.

Now that it's out there in the world, I thought I'd post the pic I took of the project. It's table decor for a wedding, I used a vase, filled it with glass pebbles and then dyed coffee filters to make a cabbage rose for the top. The favors are made of two filters and filled with candy and tied with ribbon. It's easy to make in bulk (like for a wedding) but I might make some in blue for my daughter's college grad party this year.

It looks different in the mag, just because they actually made table settings and put the favors with the vase. It looks so professional! 

For the full instructions, you can pick up the mag or read it online (and your library might carry it). I had fun making these!

Happy Friday!
Chark

2 Cute Stamps

I joined the digi stamp club, 2 Cute Ink, and I'm loving the images. You can pay month by month at $5 or buy a 6-month or year a subscription and get five digital stamps every month--so worth it! And you get any stamp in her etsy store for a $1 instead of $4, which is so worth it too. Even if you only join for one month, you can get this coupon for the store. (I'm not getting anything for this, just wanted to share if you like digi stamps or just wanted to try them out.)

Here's a favor box I made with the members-only stamp from January (I forgot, there's also an exclusive members-only stamp each month). Don't these owls look happy?

And this little bear is all colored up and stickled for use for Valentine's Day. He might be a card or another little gift bag. Not sure yet, but I love him!

In the sneak peeks for February, I spy a little boy and little girl playing video games! If you've got a gamer in your house, you may want these stamps. I know I need them! And maybe a little pig and owl listening to headphones. I'll let you know Feb. 5!

Happy Monday,
Chark

Going For Elegance

erI made this wedding table favor with dollar store items and I was going for inexpensive yet elegant, something that could be recreated many times for not much money. This idea didn't get picked for publication but I still thought I'd share the idea.

The glass dish I found at the dollar store was heart-shaped, which makes it perfect for a wedding. The glass pebbles are part of a pack of them that were one dollar. The candle came in a pack of six, I think, at the same store. The ribbon was from the craft store and is sheer lavender and yellow. 

I added a K to the candle with an oil-based art marker I got online and the pebbles are normally just clear. I used the same marker and a yellow one to color the backs of some of the pebbles. The yellow rose flowers are from a ribbon and I just snipped them apart.

Easy, inexpensive and something you can do while watching TV. That's my kind of table decoration!

Happy Wednesdsay!
Chark

New Year's Eve Nibbles

For New Year's Eve, my husband and I always stay home and watch the New York celebration. To make it a little special, we eat appetizers for a late dinner and toast each other at midnight. We have had parties in the past, but this year it's appetizers and family.

Here's a good one if you like potstickers. 

Mine don't look like this, they look less yellow in real life, but they are sooo good!

And this cold taco dip is a classic. Just layer 8 oz cream cheese and  8oz sour cream with a taco seasoning pack, layer it with a small bottle of taco sauce (not salsa, too watery), cheese, lettuce, tomato and other fave taco toppings and you're good to go. Serve with tortilla chips of course.

If you're having a party, I love this idea for favors from Martha Stewart magazine.

And if you want to do some fun activities, you could write down the bad luck you've had this year and then burn the in the fireplace, bake a coin in a cake and see who gets the luck for the year, write fortunes on slips of paper, slide into balloons and then blow them up, then pop at midnight to see who gets what fortune for the year or just watch some old home movies. I love seeing the kids when they were little, you forget just how cute they were!

Happy New Year's to my crafty friends, wishing you a year of all good things!
Chark

Take A Note

I was making wedding favors to try to get them published and this one didn't make the cut. However, I love the idea of little notebooks as favors for a wedding or any big event. 

For these, I did a watercolor smoosh technique like this one from K Werner using Squeezed Lemonade and Shaded Lilac Distress inks. Then I trimmed the paper down and made matchbook notebooks. I added word sickers from Cosmo Cricket and a colored staple. That's it. The thing that took the longest was the drying time for the watercolor!

You could make a lot of these if you needed them in any colors of course. Maybe I'll make some for Christmas gifts next year in red and green or blues. 

Happy Monday,

Chark

Glittery Favors

We all know I like the sparkle of glitter and dislike the mess...which is why Stickles are my favorite supply in the world. Today I've used it to make some favors for a shower or wedding or even a holiday dinner for family.

This one just Stickles on the plastic/metal lid and takes no time at all.

For this one, I used a permanent marker to color the inside of the lid purple, then added purple Stickles on the top. I cut the A from a sheet of adhesive rhinestones I found at Jo Ann's and adhered it first, then added the Stickles around it.

These were especially easy and you could make a lot of them very quickly. Fill them with mints or little candies and you're set for a big gathering.

I found the favors at The Flower Factory, but I'm guessing you can find them just about anywhere.

Happy Friday! 

Chark