A Frosty Hostess Gift

Every year I vow to make homemade gifts instead of giving store-bought gifts and everyone year I fail at that.

This year I am quite proud of the number of homemade gifts I actually did get made. (Of course, that was at the expense of making any Christmas cards but....)

Most of my gifts are quick and easy to make, and quite inexpensive. And today's post definitely fits that description!

It seems the rage this year seems to be embellished candles. All of the stores are carrying candles covered and decorated with glitter and gem. And they are quite expensive. I love the look but I didn't love the price so instead I made my own.

I've already shared with you embellishing candles with paste embellishments and paste embossing on glass. However I do know that there a one or two of you who are still not paste converts yet so this post is for you!

Using Dreamweaver's double-sided mounting paper and the double glitter technique, I created this with a 99 cent votive holder and a votive candle. Since I already had the stencil, the glitter and the double-sided mounting paper, this gift cost me less than $2 to make!!!

Supplies used:

• Dreamweaver LJ812 Snowflakes stencil
• Dreamweaver double-sided mounting paper
• Dreamweaver Handmade Coconut Soap
• Silver Extra Fine Glitter
• Crystal Extra Fine Glitter



LJ819 Snowflake stencil on double-sided mounting paper
adhered to a votive candle holder

I know from the picture above it doesn't look like much, but look at it all lit up set amongst my Santa hats!

I made several of these and have set them on a silver platter with faux snow and set it on the center of our buffet.

Please take a moment or two and give yourself a holiday gift by visiting all the Dreamweaver blog and all the other Dream Team blogs for some holiday inspiration. Remember you have until December 31 to create your Frosty Fun creation and submit it for this month's challenge!

Since I probably won't be posting again until after Christmas, I'd like to wish you all a wonderful, happy, healthy Christmas filled with lots of love and surrounded by friends and family.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Life!

A Quick and Frosty Gift

I have a couple of Christmas favorites. One of them is to make homemade, inexpensive gifts for neighbors and co-workers. And since time is always an issue, they have to be quite inexpensive.

Another favorite thing of mine is to bring the outdoors in for the holidays. I love the scent of pine, cedar....and the look and feel of snow.

So with that in mind, I thought I'd share you with a very quick, very inexpensive gift I made that I made for a neighbor.

The technique is identical to that done by both Lynell and Louise last week. When doing Christmas presents, I find it is easier to stick with the same stencil, just vary the vessel for variety. It makes clean up much simpler and hence saves me LOTS of time.

The cedar is leftover from a garland I made and the vase was on sale for $4! Considering I already had the stencil, the white paste and the glitter, this entire gift cost me less than $5! You can't beat that for inexpensive!

I know the holidays are a busy time but please take some time for yourself and wander over to the other Dream Team blogs for some more holiday inspiration. Hopefully you'll find a few minutes to participate in this months Frosty challenge because I've seen the new stencils and you definitely do not want to miss out on getting one for yourself!

Hugs to you all and hope your holiday season is bright and merry!

February Challenge #3

I AM BACK! After taking a couple days off just to rest and take care of some "business" I feel refreshed and have been having fun creating!

Today, as part of the Dream Team challenge, I present another "green" card. (Okay, I added a little pink and since white is technically void of color, it doesn't count!) This time I went with one my favorites, the double-glitter technique. The stencil is one of the 17 new stencils that were just released at CHA. It is Cherry Blossom Shape LL3024. It is a "shaped" stencil which makes it perfect for this technique.

Not only does this card count towards my challenge BUT it is also one of the cards that we will be creating in my March classes! This particular one is for the ME 2 class. Machine Embossing, get it!!!) I'll be at Stampin' Cat Studio on March 3 and Karen and Friends Creations on March 10. If you're in the area, I'd love for you to join us.

Do you realize you only have 14 days to post your submission for the Dreamweaver February challenge? And all you have to do is create a "green" card. It can either be a St. Patrick's Day card, green in color or use repurposed materials! How easy is that?! And there are 2 winners each month! One for the most creative creation using any prodyct and the second one for the most creative use of Dreamweaver product! This month each winner will receive the following two stencils (which might just come in handy for the March challenge:)

So after you've finished checking out the Dream Team challenges for this week (see the links on the right), head off to your happy place and get working on those challenge submissions. Who couldn't use TWO FREE stencils?!

I hope you'll come back again tomorrow for yet another peak at the projects we'll be doing in our March classes!

Hugs and happy creating,
Cherylynn