Wilton Tent Sale 2012

This year's Wilton Tent Sale starts in one week. As my regular readers know, this event is like a mini-version of Christmas for me.   I just can't wait to get my hands on all that great, discounted cake/candy/crafting stuff!

For those not familiar with the company, Wilton is famous for their cake-decorating and candy-making supplies.  But did you also know they are the makers of all things Copco, the Mario Batali Italian Kitchen line, EK Success products and....MARTHA STEWART CRAFTS?!!!

And during their once-a-year Tent Sale in Woodridge, Illinois, many of the items they make are sold at a substantial discount.  While the selection varies from year to year (some years there have been more craft items, some years it's more about the cake decorating supplies), all items are 40-75% off regular retail prices. 

Here's what I bought in:  2011, 2010 and 2009.  Substantial hauls, each and every one! This year, I'm on the hunt for all things pirate, since that will be the theme for Little Guy's 5th birthday.  These pirate cupcake liners and candy picks are on my "must have" list:

The Tent Sale runs from June 1-19.  On June 1, the sale is open 1-8pm.  After that, it is open Monday through Friday from 9am to 8pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 8am to 6pm.  Read all about the Tent Sale here.

My plan is to be there on June 3.  See you there!

Crafty driving babies

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to find time to craft and I finally did. Which is good, because January is almost over and if I can't get to a resolution in the first month, then I might as well forget it!

I made a fun card for a baptism. The images and message have nothing to do with being baptized, but everything to do with babies and parenthood.

Here's the outside of the envelope:

Here's the front of the card:

The cars were made with a Martha Stewart paper punch.

Finally, here's the inside of the card:

What do you think? Do I have a future at Hallmark?  I should, because let's be honest...that is just good advice.  And you're getting it here for free, people! For FREE! 

Happy crafting, everyone! 

PS. Don't let your babies drive cars.  For real.

Christmas card books

I love Christmas cards, both sending and receiving.  They are on display the moment they arrive at my house, and they are usually the last bit of Christmas decorations that come down. 

For the past few years, I've been saving the cards rather than throwing them out. I'd bundle them up with a rubber band, slap on a post-it denoting the year, and tuck them into a small storage tote.  But those days are over. 

I found a better way to store them on Pinterest:  punch holes in the cards and secure them with clasping rings to make a fun Christmas card book.  This idea is from Michelle Allen at Close to My Art, and it's a brilliant one! 

I took it a step further and made a front cover for my Christmas card book.  The snowflakes were made using a Martha Stewart Crafts punch, and the year is stamped on.  So crafty!

The clasping rings I got for this project are too big, but I'll swap them out for some smaller ones before I tackle this year's cards.

Using two hole punches was sufficient for the cards.  Now I have all the cards, pictures and even Christmas letters secure for next year. 

To include the Christmas letters, I folded them in half with the writing on the outside. This way I can turn the page and not have to undo the clasping rings to read the whole letter.

I am really happy with how this project turned out. It was really easy to do, and the clasping rings only cost about $0.50 each at my local Ace Hardware.  This is going to make a great coffee table book for next year!

Martha Monday--Oooo, sparkly!

Inspired by Pinterest, I decided to get my holiday craft on with Martha Stewart's glitter and some old Christmas light bulbs to make a fun, festive, and frugal centerpiece.

I bought the glitter (on clearance!) and the glittering glue (with a coupon!) at Michael's. I'd never really glittered anything, save for grade school art projects, so I bought the smallest bottles of glitter in case the whole thing turned out to be a big, sparkly disaster. I will say this to the good people at MS Crafts: Glitter is intimidating!  Put some directions on these things!

Fortunately, I got an astonishing number of those huge Christmas light bulbs from a coworker for free.  Most were dead by the time I received them so they were perfect for the project. 

The glittering glue comes with a brush inside the container. I simply brushed a coat of the glue on...

And then covered the thing with glitter.  I did this over sheets of waxed paper so when I was done with a color I could pour the excess glitter back into the jar. Less waste!

Not that I have a lot of experience with glitter, but I have to say the texture and colors of MS Craft glitter is amazing.  I doubt my pictures do it justice, but trust me when I say these colors are incredible!

I made 12 bulbs with each color, and that only took up half the jar.  My estimate is that you could do 22-24 large bulbs with one small vial of glitter.  A little bit goes a long way.

Once the bulbs were glittered, I began preparing the vessel. The outer vase is from Wal-Mart and cost less than $5.00. The tall glass candle in the middle is from The Dollar Tree. 

I waited a few hours for the glue to dry before putting the bulbs in the vase. Once I started moving them around, I realized that I should have waited overnight to give the glue more time to dry.  Again: some directions on the products would have been handy here. 

Because of my haste, there is some smearing and smudges on some of the bulbs which is unnoticeable unless you are right on top of the display.  I had plenty of glittered bulbs for the main centerpiece, and I put the remaining bulbs on another glass tray with another white candle to complete the scene. The glittered bulb display is on the mantle now, but it will be on my dining room table in time for Christmas dinner. 

Overall this was a very simple and frugal centerpiece project.  I estimate the entire project cost under $17.00, and I still have plenty of glitter and glue left over to tackle another project.   Which is great, since a few more projects are needed to take me from glittering newbie to sparkling expert.  I hope.

Have you glittered anything lately? Or ever?  I'd love to hear about it!