Table fit for a princess...

I was so darn excited when ScrapbookPal.com sent me the Once Upon a Princess to work with this month.  It is just chock full of the cutest, girliest art you could imagine.  (Is it so wrong that my first thought when I found out I was having a girl was that I could finally indulge all my girly papercrafting fantasies?)  My first project for the month was a no-brainer -- my little princess just turned two, and she is really into playing pretend.  I wanted to get her her own little table and chairs where she could have tea parties with her dollies (and her mommy, of course), but I certainly couldn't leave it just plain white!  I already had some yummy pink and green vinyl on hand, just the right colors for her bedroom, so I just got out my Gypsy and my Expression and went to town. :)

I started by measuring the table and deciding how big I wanted each element.  I chose the cute princess crown for the center, but substituted an Alphalicious "e" for the OUaP font so it would match what I've already done in her room.  This is where the Gypsy really shines -- it was so easy to just use the "hide contour" function to get rid of the OUaP "E", then I was able to group the two elements together so that I could resize and move them easily.  I surrounded the crown with this sweet scalloped circle, which is one of the labels.  I super<3 all the labels on OUaP -- so versatile!  I particularly like this shape because the scallops are not perfectly round, giving it more of a flower petal look.  That center element is 11.5".

I decided to place smaller flowers around the edges, as sort of place settings.  This super cute flower is actually one of the princesses' accessory, so again I used the "hide contour" function on the gypsy to hide the other accessories that I didn't want to cut.  Easy as pie!

For the chairs, I used the scallop border from Plantin Schoolbook, then made dots with the centers of the pink flowers on the table and a circle punch.  On the little stools, I just used a little flower punch on the leftover green vinyl from the center of the big green scallop circle in the center of the table.  Can't let that vinyl go to waste, after all...

I was just so pleased with how well this little table and chairs came out, and the little princess likes it, too!  It took this little set from feeling bland and mass-produced to something totally custom and cute!  And with the vinyl, we can easily change the decorations out as we change the decor in her room.  These may not be the first shapes you notice on Once Upon a Princess, but the style was just perfect for this project.  So don't forget, when you get a new cartridge, make sure you look at all the extra functions and layers -- you will find countless treasures!

Thanks for looking!  I hope you'll come back soon -- I have a lot more fun Once Upon a Princess projects planned for this month!

A little faux-stache fun...

Yesterday was my awesome hubby's birthday.  He's one of those maddening people that never wants a fuss or anything super special done for him (SO not me...), so it's always my quest to figure out something fun that will still make his birthday special.  One of our jokes is about how much he admires a man with a good mustache -- that, for instance, if there are two reporters and one is sporting a full, luxuriant 'stache and the other is bare-lipped, he is sure to trust the first.  So I decided to make that the theme of his birthday!

First, I designed the mustaches for the above card, then rounded up pictures of some of our family and friends and 'stached them right up.  I'm sure they won't mind...  Dan got a good chuckle out of it, and the kids were literally rolling on the floor.

Then for Dan's birthday dinner last night, I made some good ol' mustaches-on-a-stick for everyone to wear while we sang him Happy Birthday and he blew out the candles.  It was supposed to be a surprise, but Eliza did not understand the concept of keeping it hidden until the right time.  Who thought it would be a good idea to give one to a 2-year-old, anyway?

As a bonus gift for Dan, I did not buy the Cricut Lite Billionaire cartridge, which has the most adorable mustaches, even though I stood there in Walmart for about 5 minutes debating about it.  Instead, I used my gypsy -- I found some nice apostrophe shapes (I believe these are from Jasmine and Winter Wonderland), made two, then flipped one and welded them together.  Voila! 

Happy birthday, baby.  Love you! (And your awesome facial hair...)

Completely off-topic -- Shout out to Single Dad Laughing...

If you're looking for the blog hop, CLICK HERE or just scroll down!

Little known fact about me:  I am the oldest of ten kids.  We've had a lot of craziness in our family, as I'm sure you can imagine.  My brother Dan and I are only 16 months apart, and we had more than our share of sibling issues growing up, culminating with me literally trying to beat him up while under the influence of cold medicine (last time I ever took Nyquil) because he called me a baby for trying to tell on him.  And yes, we were technically adults at the time. But now we're REAL grown-ups, and we're pretty tight, mostly because he realized that I was right about everything... 

But I digress.  Dan just started a most entertaining blog, all about his adventures being a single dad.  He posts very funny and only slightly bitter observations about parenting and single life every day, but honestly I would follow it just for the cuteness provided by his adorable son Noah (who you might recognize from several of the scrap projects I've posted over the years). 

Today's post is his first video blog, about Facebook Pet Peeves.  It's about 13 minutes long, so make sure you have some free time -- I laughed the entire time.  Check him out!

Be Happy!

Looking for the ScrapbookPal.com Blog Hop?  Click HERE or just scroll down!

I'm a major Cosmo Cricket addict.  I stalk their blog like nobody's business, and the past few days I've been totally smitten with the fun pinwheel cards their DT has been posting.  This weekend they are partnering up with SRM Stickers and giving away some great goodies, so of course I had to get in on the sketch challenge!  I have not yet been fortunate enough to get my hot little hands on their new collection "Togetherness" (with which I am in total scraplove), so I thought I'd take this as a chance to use up some of my hoarded scraps from "Little Dutch Girl."  I liked the juxtaposition of the whimsical pinwheels and the slightly more grown-up paper -- I thought it made a great cheer-up card for my lovely grown-up sister who is having a hard time.  And I super-heart these tiny type letters -- perfect for a short sentiment.  TFL!

ScrapbookPal.com Blog Hop!

Thank you for joining us for our very first ScrapbookPal Blog Hop!  If this is your first stop, make sure you check out all the other designers' blogs and, of course, ScrapbookPal.com's blog for a chance to win a FREE Cricut cartridge of your choice from any they have in stock!  With all the new arrivals flooding in, I don't think I'd be able to choose!  ScrapbookPal.com is a terrific online store -- they have consistently low prices, excellent service, and shipping is always free on orders over $25.  What more could you ask for?

If this is your first visit to my blog, welcome!  My name is Tomi Ann, and I am a busy wife and mom, just trying to squeeze crafts in wherever I can.  I love to try new things and share the results (awesome or not) with my friends in blog-land.  My heart belongs to paper-crafting, however, so you'll usually see some element of paper-crafting in just about everything I do.

Using my Cricut and paper-crafting supplies to make jewelry is the perfect example!  I've been wanting to try a glass tile pendant for a long time*, so I decided to use my little gnome friend from Freshly Picked to make myself a fun and unusual necklace for Christmas time (see my project from earlier in the month to learn more about my nisse obsession). I've seen demonstrations on how to do this several times, but I used the great step by step instructions from The Hybrid Chick to help me along.

I used Freshly Picked to cut the little gnome at 1 1/4".  I gave him rosy cheeks with Berrylicious chalk ink, and I used Chestnut Roan ink for all the other distressing.  Chestnut Roan is a must-have color -- I always have at least 4 on hand, just in case -- and ScrapbookPal.com has the best prices on the chalk ink I've found anywhere.  "God Jul" means Merry Christmas in Danish, and I just wrote the letters on white cardstock, snipped them, and distressed them.  I used the houndstooth background to give him a little bit of a funky feeling, to make it a more grown-up accessory.  I also decided to decorate the back, because I'm sure it will flip over now and then. 

Now I can't wait til Christmas -- or do you think it's too early to just start wearing it now?

Thanks for joining me on this stop on the blog hop!  Now, for your chance to win the Cricut cartridge of your choice (awesome!), just leave a comment here so we know you stopped by, then check out all the other amazing projects on the hop and leave comments there as well.  Finish up by visiting the awesome ScrapbookPal Blog and becoming a follower there so you can check out all the great inspiration AND keep up with all the big news from ScrapbookPal.com.  You'll love it!

ScrapbookPal Blog
Jamie Cripps
Rowena Valentine
Crystal Butler
Amy Crockett
Tammy White
Leah Cornelius
Tomi Ann Hill < -------You are here.  Keep going!
Cheryl Walker
ScrapbookPal Blog

*Confession Session:  This isn't actually my first try at the glass tile pendant.  I tried to make one for my son's preschool teacher at the end of last school year and it was a massive craft fail.  So this one is just my first successful glass tile pendant...

Cute things come in little packages!

I bought a Martha Stewart punch a few years ago and I thought the little package it came in was way too cute to throw away.  I knew that with a few strategically placed bits of pretty, it would make an adorable little gift box, so I've been hanging on to it ever since.  For my second ScrapbookPal.com project this month, I really wanted to alter something and this was just the thing!

I admitted in my previous post that I got Freshly Picked just for the gnomes, but I decided to challenge myself to use a different cut this time... turns out there are tons of adorable garden-y images on this one once I got over my gnome-induced tunnel vision!  I especially love these little root-ball trees, so sweet and perfect for a gift.  I measured the punch packaging and cut a cardstock wrap in the same color to go around it.  I then decorated the wrap with coordinating scraps -- I put the tree on the front, and then I cut some of the layering flowers larger to decorate the sides.  I used my Sakura white Gellyroll pen to color in the middles of all the flowers so I didn't have to fiddle with the tiny white cut outs, which made things a lot simpler.  I also used my yummy Berrylicious chalk ink to add some definitely to the corners.  I popped some tulle inside the box, and now it's ready for any small gift or treat!  I love having things like this on hand so that I can make things special on short notice.

Happy crafting!  Keep your eye out -- on the 20th we're going to be having our first ever ScrapbookPal.com Blog Hop with a really awesome prize!

Porch Rocker Pillows

Two crafts that I have been trying to squeeze in for months:  Freezer paper stenciling and something out of burlap.  So when I got these two cool adirondack-style rockers for the front porch, it gave me the perfect opportunity!

I cut the stencils with my Cricut using Winter Woodland for the numbers and Home Decor for the bird and branch and used fabric paint to paint the cushions.  The stencils worked so slick; I think I may be hooked for life!  There are multitudes of online tutorials, but here is a helpful video specifically using the Cricut.  You can also do it with an exacto knife and marker, but the Cricut definitely made it easier.

 (Don't mind the empty plant pots -- that part I'm still trying to figure out...)

I love the texture of the burlap for these outdoor cushions.  It wouldn't be waterproof, but under my covered porch I'm not worried about the rain getting to it.  TFL!

I'm linking up to the Tea Rose Home linky party!