Paint Cans

I love the clear paint cans that can be purchased in the craft stores. They are so much fun to decorate and are perfect for packaging cookies. They can be decorated for any occasion.

My husband is having hip replacement surgery so I decided to make some Sables* to bring to him while he's in the hospital. They are a French butter cookie and his favorite. Since I made a get well card with a Panda I decided to go with the Panda theme. There's just something about Panda's that touch your heart.




Here are the directions for the cookie canister.

1. Using the Martha Stewart filigree heart punch and bright pink card stock, punch several hearts.

2. Cut a 3 inch Panda out of black card stock using the Cricut Pagoda cartridge. Keep the dial set at 3 inches. Press the shift key and the Panda key and cut the image out of white card stock. Assemble the Panda.

3. Glue the hearts and the Panda to the paint can using Aleene's Clear Gel Tacky Glue. Hold the pieces in place a few minutes until they stick.

4. Gather several small silk flowers and twist the stems together to form a bouquet. Cut a small piece of pink ribbon around the bouquet and make a bow. Glue the flowers over the Panda's paws.

5. Cut 4 lengths of pink ribbon and 2 lengths of ivory ribbon to make streamers. Gather 2 pink ribbons and the ivory ribbon together. Tie them at the side of the handle. Do the same for the other side.

6. Using the spool of ivory ribbon (Don't cut the ribbon, work directly from the spool.) and a hot glue gun glue the end of the ribbon to the top of the can. Make a loop with the ribbon and glue in place. Keep making loops until you have made a bow. Glue a large purple flower on top of the bow and then glue a smaller flower over the large flower. Glue a pearl in the center of the flower.

* Baking by Dorie Greenspan

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and it seems like I've been spending most of my free time in my studio. Valentine's Day is such a fun holiday. How can one not embrace a holiday where flowers and chocolate are the main gifts?

I always sent my daughter a card and chocolate while she was away at college to let her know that we were thinking of her. This year even though she is studying in Germany I will still be sending the card and chocolates.

Here's the Valentine's Day card that I made using the Cricut Paisley cartridge.




Bee Mine Directions:

Using plain cardstock computer generate a greeting at the top of the card.

Cut a 3 inch scalloped heart using the Cricut Doodlecharms cartridge and emboss it using the Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder. Glue small pearls around the edges of the heart. Use foam dots to adhere the heart to the background.

Cut a 2 1/2 inch bee using the Cricut Paisley cartridge. Add dimension to the bee's wings using Martha Stewart micro beads. Use foam dots to adhere the bee to the heart.

Punch 5 hearts using the Martha Stewart filigree heart punch and glue to the top and bottom of the card.

Punch 4 hearts using a heart punch and glue randomly to the background paper.

Use the Martha Stewart doily border punch for the pink lace border and glue to the edges of the background paper. Glue the background paper to the card.

Tie a small bow and glue it to the corner of the background.