st. patty's treats

Here's a fun treat that's quick to put together and perfect for St. Patrick's Day.



These pot-of-gold-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow bags really are so easy to make. Here's what I did:

• Stick four wrapped Rolos in the bottom of the bag. (I used Wilton pretzel bags like these here, except I found mine at Wal-Mart. They ended up being the perfect size.)
• Layer the Skittles in rainbow order from the bottom up. I put in a small handful of Skittles for each layer... there's no set amount to use, just put them in until it looks right.
• Cut a piece of cardstock that is 2"x3.5" and fold it in half. Fold the top of the bag down, and cover it with the cardstock. Staple to close bag and hold cardstock in place.
• Cover the staples with a tag or St. Patrick's Day graphic.

I liked the clouds with the whole rainbow theme. The clouds I used are available as a free download here if you want, or you can create your own tag for the top. If you download the clouds, it comes as a ready-to-print .pdf file and also includes some punchable circles that can be used for St. Patrick's Day. They are sized to fit 1" and 1-1/2" circle punches.

Note: On my monitor, these tags look a lot brighter than they print. The green I used is more of a traditional, normal green and that's how they print.

celebrating dr. seuss' birthday

Hat pattern found here.

Green eggs and ham for an after-school treat. (Made with white chocolate, green M&M's, and pretzel sticks.)

Don't forget about these printable bookmarks... free for a limited time! Click here to get them.

dr. suess' birthday + free printable

Did you know that Dr. Seuss' birthday is this Friday, March 2? My kids' teachers are doing fun activities with them all week, and then on Friday some of them are going to have a read-a-thon in class. Last year we made bookmarks for the kids to give their classmates, and it was a big success so we thought we'd do it again. I created a new bookmark for this year, and I am going to print and cut them out and then laminate them to make the bookmarks more durable. My kids are going to give them to their classmates on Friday, just in time for the read-a-thon!



For a limited time, you can get these bookmarks for free. Just click on the image above to take you to my shop where you can download them. They come four bookmarks to a page in .pdf format (you will need Adobe Reader, a free download, to view them). Super easy... just print and cut!

Do you or your kids' teachers do anything to celebrate this fun day? I would love to hear!

sale on valentine products

Are you ready for Valentine's Day? It is one of my favorite holidays... so many fun things you can do to celebrate! To help you get a jump start on your Valentine's Day crafting, I'm having a sale. For one whole week, you can get any of my Valentine products for 20% off! Use code VAL_SAVE20 at checkout to receive the discount (note: this code will only work for the products shown below). This offer is only good until February 10, 2012, so hurry fast!

valentine pencils

**Note: Click here for an updated Valentine Pencil post.**

I posted these pencils two years ago here. I can't take credit for the original idea. I first saw a project like this in the gallery at ScrapMatters, and the person who posted them there first saw them on another girl's blog, and I think she saw them somewhere else, too... Anyway, I guess somebody somewhere first came up with this creative idea. :) I was also lucky enough to have a back-to-school version of the pencils I made featured in the September 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes and through CK on a local TV show, Studio 5.



I would link you to the tutorial I followed, but I never did find directions to follow, so I just made them by looking at the ones I saw. Since I first posted them on my blog, several people have e-mailed or left comments asking for directions, so I thought I would post how I made them to make it easier for anyone wanting to try these out this year. I wanted to make a photo tutorial, but I just don't know that I'm going to find the time before Valentine's Day, so here are some step-by-step directions.


Valentine Rolo Pencil Instructions

1. Cut a 3.5”x4.5” piece of yellow cardstock. Make score lines every 1/4 inch (the score lines should be parallel with the long side of the cardstock). Using pinking shears or decorative pinking scissors, cut a small strip off the short side of the cardstock. Wrap this piece around the Rolo’s, and use adhesive to hold together.

2. Cut a 3.5”x3/8” piece of pink cardstock. Wrap this around the top of the Rolo’s for the edge of the pink eraser. Trace the top of the Rolo’s on pink cardstock and cut out to get the top of your eraser. Stick this on top with adhesive.

3. Cut a 3.5”x3/8” piece of aluminum foil and adhere this around the seam where the yellow and pink cardstock meet. Use Glue Dots to adhere a Hershey’s Kiss to the bottom of the Rolo’s. This is the pencil point.

Feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment if you have any questions, and I'll try to answer them!

Update:  The heart I used is no longer available, but I created a similar one you can download in a new post. Click here.

new valentine releases

I have two new products out today... in plenty of time to use for Valentine's Day next month!

The first is a set of fun, printable valentines. There are four different designs, and each design comes in two different sizes... a smaller one that is 2.5"x3.5" (the perfect size for classroom valentines) and a bigger one that is 4.25"x5.5". I've included .pdf files that are ready-to-print, so it couldn't be easier. Just print out as many as you need and cut them apart! (The smaller ones come nine to a page and the bigger ones are four to a page.) I've also included individual .jpg files so they can be resized easily to whatever size you need.



Need envelopes? These are common sizes, so you can buy envelopes to fit them if you need a lot. Or, you can create your own envelopes using the templates I released last week. They are sized to fit these cards.



The second product I'm releasing today are these doilies. These can be used as digital masks or hybrid cutting files. If you want to use them on your digital pages, just clip your papers to the mask, add a drop shadow, and you have a cute doily for your page! For those of you who have digital cutting machines, I've included cutting files so you can easily cut what you need for your valentine projects!



These new products are 20% off this weekend, so go ahead and grab them and get a head start for Valentine's Day! :)

new stuff tomorrow!

I have two new products coming out tomorrow:



Plus, an exclusive freebie for my newsletter subscribers! It will be sent out sometime tomorrow, so make sure you sign up today! :)