Christmas Ornament Tutorial

My coworker Christmas gifts this year are one of the easiest things to make, they look pretty and it's not a labor of $$.

I decided to make all of my coworkers glitter ornaments in their favorite colors.

What you need:
Clear glass globe ornament (I found a 12 pack at Hobby Lobby for about $4 - before the 50% sale)
Stamp pad reinker (I used SU! Bashful Blue)
Glitter (I used Martha Stewart Lapis Lazuli, but any glitter works)
Paper towel
Small Funnel (I made mine out of a Post-it note and stapled it so that it wouldn't come apart)
Something to keep the ornament upright (I used the lid of a gallon jug, but I've used empty ribbon spools)

Remove the top to the ornament. Check the ornament for cracks.

Set the ornament on the base so you have free hands and add 10 drops of reinker into the ornament. **This is just a guesstimate on reinker - sometimes you need more, sometimes you need less. It all depends on the size of the ornament.**

Slowly spin the ornament to coat the inside with the reinker.

Once the inside is completely coated with ink, turn the ornament upside down on paper towel to remove the extra ink. I get ink caught in the lip of the ornament, so pressing gently into the paper towel helps.

I don't have enough hands for this step!!! This is where having a base is useful - set the ornament on the base, put the funnel up to the opening and gently pour glitter inside the ornament.

When you think you have enough glitter inside, cover the opening (or you'll have inky glitter everywhere) and shake. **If you look at the picture, I'm using the funnel to cover the opening of the ornament - mostly because I don't really want inky glitter all over my hands.**

When the inside is covered to your satisfaction, turn the ornament upside down over a trash can or container and shake to remove the excess glitter. (No picture because there wasn't any excess glitter for this globe.)

Set your ornament someplace safe (where it won't be touched by little hands or roll off tables) to air dry, then put the top back on the ornament.

Embellish your ornament to your heart's content. Add rhinestones, rub ons, ribbon, etc. Here is an ornament that I just finished.


I hope this was easy to understand and inspires you to make some ornaments for yourself and friends!

How I store my Nestabilities

***I wanted to give credit where credit was due, so I have to start out by saying that the idea for storing my Nestabilities in DVD tins comes from Gina K - who showed off the Gina K store's storage system on her blog in March. She's in my blog roll off to the right if you want to check her blog out.***

If you're new to stamping or haven't been keeping up with trends, Nestabilites are dies that are sold in sets of a certain shape and they graduate in size. The choices are mind-boggling sometimes - small classic ovals, large classic ovals, small scalloped ovals, large scalloped ovals... you get the idea. I've been buying mine from Cut@Home.com in full shape sets (aka: the large and small straight squares AND the large and small scalloped squares are in a full shape set.)

They come in plastic and taped to pieces of cardstock - great packaging for being in a store - not too great for my stamping room. I'd either have to hang them up or lay them down somewhere and space is limited.

So when I found how Gina K. stores her Nesties, I kept it in the back of my mind for when I was going to get them - I hadn't gotten any at the time of her post, but ideas were lurking in my mind. Metal DVD tins work amazingly for storage and I can personalize each tin for what's inside.

How I decorate my tins:

Items Used: DVD tin, DP, scissors, Mono Multi, Basic Grey Precision File set, magnetic tape, pencil.

Step 1: Trace your tin onto your paper and cut it out.

Step 2: Run Mono Multi all over your tin where the paper is going to go. Make sure you get the edges really well - sanding tends to loosen the edges.

Step 3: Let the glue set up for a few minutes and then use a file to get rid of the excess paper. I've found that using a coarse nail file and filing straight over the edge works the best.

Step 4: Now that the outside of the tin is done, I measure and cut my magnetic tape.

Step 5: Attach the magnetic tape. Now I don't have to worry about the magnet moving around in the tin - it's taped in.

The finished inside of the tin. For my Classic Rectangles and Classic Oval Nesties, they're narrow enough that I can fit a whole shape set in one DVD tin. I don't have that option with the squares, so I've split my shape set.

The finished outside of my tin. I was using double sided dp, so I could make each side unique. Since (as I said earlier) I have to split my shape set, I took some River Rock cardstock and ran it through my Nestie dies to show what's in what side of the tin. I also wrote on the diecut so I would be sure.

And that's how I make my Nestie tins stand out. Each tin has a different pattern of dp on it so I can tell just by looking at it what's in it.

Wishing everyone a great Thursday!

Tutorial: Paperclip Bookmark

I had a blast making one of these paperclip bookmarks this morning, so I decided I wanted to make another and turn it into a tutorial.

Supplies I used: Brilliance Moonlight White ink, Versafine Black Onyx ink, 2 - 1" chipboard circles, 1" circle punch, SU scallop circle punch, Marvy extra jumbo scallop circle punch, E6000 adhesive, giant paperclip, Martha Stewart Glittering Glue, scissors, My Favorite Things Punny Farm stamp set, Blue Bayou cardstock and prints designer paper, Soft Sky cardstock and prints designer paper, Soft Sky double stitched ribbon, Georgia-Pacific white cardstock.

I coated the edges of my chipboard circles in Brilliance Moonlight White ink so the grey didn't show. I think it looks better this way.

I punched out all the paper I'd need. I decided that the 2 sides would be opposites - one side with 2 pieces of Blue Bayou and the other with 2 pieces of Soft Sky.

I stamped my little mouse from MFT's Punny Farm on the circles of designer paper and then stamped them on the white paper. Not shown: I colored them in with a grey Prismacolor pencil and cut out the body of the mouse, then glued it into place on the designer paper.

I assembled the sides using Martha Stewart Glittering Glue.

A side fully assembled.

Turn one side upside down, dab on some E6000 glue and place the paperclip on top of that, making sure to smush it into the glue firmly.

Place the other side on top to make a paperclip and glue sandwich.

Let it dry and tie a piece of ribbon on it - if you want.

Matchbook card tutorial

I promised this yesterday fulling meaning to do it last night. The stamp camp (me and my demo) lasted for 3 hours and I was exhausted. Tutorial? Not then!

So, after I got home from work today, I went downstairs and CLEANED my stamp table - it needed it. Besides, I needed a clean place to take pictures.

How to make a Matchbook card:
Here are the supplies I used:

My paper cutter; adhesive; Sidekick Sayings; Stapler; Tacky Tape; Real Red 1/4" grosgrain; corner rounder (the retired one); snowflake brads; Old Olive and Real Red Classic ink (I know Mellow Moss is in the picture, but I didn't use it on the card.); Dashing Designer Paper; Mellow Moss, Real Red, Old Olive and Very Vanilla cardstock; Pop Dots; and Crimson Red, Marine Green, Limepeel and White (not pictured) Primsacolor pencils.

Cut the card base. I used Mellow Moss 8 1/2"x11" paper. I cut it so that I had 4 1/4"x11".

I scored the cardstock at 1 1/2" and then at 6 7/8". The height of the card is just under the normal 5 1/2", but you need to make it slightly smaller to get the overlap so it closes properly.

I chose to round the corners of my front flap to add a little detail.

To get the effect of a matchbook, you need to staple the flap down. The flap is 1 1/2" tall and 4 1/4" wide.

To decorate the flap (and hide the front of the staple, I cut a piece of Real Red cardstock to 4" wide and 1 1/4" tall. I rounded the corners when I finished cutting.

I cut a piece of SU! Dashing Designer Paper to layer on top of the Real Red. This piece is 1" tall and 3 3/4" wide. I rounded the corners of this paper too.

My flap decorations all assembled. I taped the 2 layers together with regular adhesive and then added 2 snowflake brads I found at an local stamping store.

I taped the embellished layers onto my card - see the Mellow Moss around the Real Red? It's taped on with regular adhesive.

Decorating the part of the card that moves. I started with a piece of Old Olive cardstock cut to 4" wide and 3 3/4" tall to make sure that part of it didn't get in the way of the flap.

Cut another piece of Dashing dp to layer on top of the Old Olive. This piece is 3 3/4" wide and 3 1/2" tall.

I measured out the size of the acutal rubber on my stamp and it was about 2" wide and 3" tall. I cut a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock to fit the stamp.

The image was inked with Old Olive on the tree and Real Red for the words. I did this with my ink pads, but it would be easier if you used markers.

Thanks to a wonderful person on Splitcoast Stampers, there is a list of Prismacolor colored pencils and markers match SU colors. This list is one of my best friends. I downloaded the list, and hit the art stores. If you're interested, it's hiding in the Downloads - Lists and Charts. I used the pencils that matched the colors of my card. After I finished coloring the tree, I realized the star on top looked bland, so I grabbed my white Prismacolor pencil and colored it in.

I layered my image on a piece of Real Red cardstock. It's cut at 2 1/4" wide and 3 1/4" tall.

I wanted some dimension to my card, so I added Pop Dots to the 4 corners of my image layers.

Add ribbon to the panel to add some texture.

Put the image on the layer.

Add the Tacky Tape to the back of the layer. This is a necessity in my opinion. The part of the card this layer rests on needs to be bent slightly so have the card close properly. If you use regular tape, it will pop off.

The completed card.