First Advent

Today is the first Sunday of Advent, a time of anticipation and preparation for the birth of Jesus. One of the visual aspects of the passing of time is with an advent wreath where one candle is lit the first Sunday of Advent, the second Sunday the first candle and another are lit and so on until December 25th. Another visual and tactile way to count down the days is with an Advent calendar. I have several of these - oops I think it's now another collection.


2008 Advent Calendar swap- round cookie tin painted beige with gold highlights and lots of fun rub-ons to decorate the tin when the calendar pieces are not there yet. I ran some small faux greenery around the outer edge just to give it a more wreath-like appearance.


Our hotel key Advent calendar filled with great pictures of Christmases past and family. More pictures HERE.


Michael's Advent calendar made solely of QuicKutz dies and lots of embellishments.


Advent calendar swap 2009 - I just fell in love with the snowman ornament found at Michael's in 2009. My friend Stacy did a beautiful job with the bow!


This is a talking story of Christmas Advent calendar. Each day that is opened, another nativity figure gets placed on the magnetic background and a portion of the Christmas story is revealed.


Here is the Advent Calendar finished. This was purchased in 2008 at The Shop, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.


This musical Santa Advent calendar, also purchased in Santa Fe at the The Shop plays music when a switch is turned on. Grandkids love this one!


I found this Lego calendar in Chicago. Or was it Huntsville, AL? I don't remember. What I do remember is lugging it back home! It's one that gets used year after year. the kids can build the little Lego characters. Very entertaining, even for the 29 yr old.

I am linking to Tablescaper's blog for Seasonal Sunday.. be sure to jump over and get some great decorating and seasonal inspiration.
I am linking to Holiday Haven's Christmas Blog party.. check this blog out for some great ideas!

Put a little light in your life

As you can clearly see, this darling shade was originally $30.00. Would I ever have spent that much on it? I mean it is really elegant.


How about $1.00? Certainly. On sale in Santa Fe. I purchased two of them.



And two of this hardware. I've looked on line to see if I could find a resource for you to no avail. But fear not.
I found a site that has a a votive converter for a candlestick. Click here. As long as the upper opening on the shade isn't wider than the opening in the votive cup this could work as well. Or follow along for another cute option.


I first made a paper pattern by tracing the original shade onto some plain white paper, which I cut out. Then I traced the pattern onto the decorator paper that I planned to use on the new shade. This is one of Basic Grey's lace cardstocks. Isn't it yummy?

Then the hard choice of choosing trims began. I finally settled on something more malleable so that it would lie flat when glue-sticked to the curve. Glue sticked isn't a word? Really, to a crafter it is! I used a Mokuba flower trim for the wider, lower edge of the lampshade and a mini, rayon rickrack for the upper edge.


Apply a 1/4" wide strip of Terrifically Tacky tape along the back straight edge. Press firmly to adhere. Release the orange cover. Press the other edge over the tape. Press to secure.


I also made another simple shade out of a patterned vellum. Once again, trace the pattern onto the letter sized vellum. Isn't it nice that it fits? Once it's cut out, use a Gold Leaf pen available at most craft stores, to edge both the upper and lower edge of the shade. Adhere the back closed with more Terrifically Tacky tape.


Place the hardware onto your candle holder. I chose my antique English Barley Twist candlestick.
See how cute this is? Today I've got a 'real' votive candle in the holder. However, with kids and company, I resort to battery operated candles. Makes me responsible and saves a disaster.


I love how the light shines through the opening in the paper.


I can see this appearing on a buffet table or on a side table in a room. How about the bathroom? It needs a bit of sprucing up don't you think?


No hardware? Find your favorite wine glass. Don't have one? The Dollar Tree has plenty. I like the chunky ones with interesting stems the best.


These would also be cute at a wedding reception, birthday party, individual candles on a dinner table, or even in a kitchen window. What ideas did you dream up?


And here is the simple one. Of course, the flaw is front and center. Oh well, I'm not perfect either.

Alternative shade ideas: paper piercing on vellum, die cuts on vellum (ooh so cute for halloween), your favorite Christmas paper. Can you think of more?

Have fun with this project. It's easy and will add a bit of light to your life for sure.

May QuicKutz Club project & supply list

Right page embellished with ribbons and a flower.
Left page.. 10 things I love about everyday life uses 4 different fonts that are die cut and then a quick 'about' stamp.
And the ten little inserts onto which you can record your ten "things".

Supply list:

Little Yellow Bicycle papers as shown plus 1 sheet white cardstock
5 ribbons
1 ric-rack
Cat's eye Smoke Blue ink pad
Distress Ink Broken China inkpad
1" circle punch
corner rounder
"notebook" edge punch
1 brad
sheer glitter glue (Stickles - Icycle)
Glue dots
Adhesive
Basic scrapbooking supplies

QuicKutz:
Chicken Noodle font
Lemonade font
Phoebe font
Flirt font
Studio font
Nesting Flowers
Flowers


See you Saturday at 10am! I've got the buttons ;-) thanks to Dallas.

Pennies from Heaven - the project

Finally, here is the project. I used an old 1960's edition of Reader's Digest for the front and back covers. I love die cutting printed pages or using them for other projects, so old books are great. These still have the cool textured and printed covers with leather spines. A great find for 25 cents each! Have you realized that the cent sign is missing from the keyboard??? I used a Zutter Bind It All to punch the holes along the spines of the covers and the pages. Added a few stamps, letters, die cuts, pennies, Graphic 45 paper, and the keyhole and key embellishments from Mellisa Francis. The "m" is diecut using QuicKutz's new English Rose alphabet dies from a paint chip from Lowes.
Quickutz Lemonade font die cut and edged and then adhered to a piece of graphic 45 paper cut using a Spellbinders die.
A quote I'd been saving.
This keyhole started out white! I used alcohol inks in various colors, tapped on and sprayed on and then finished it up with a bit of gold antiquing.
A close up of the key. Oh and don't you love that ribbon. I onlyhad a few inches left of this precious commodity. It's a french woven ribbon in the most luscious shades of browns and metallic.
Cut out an image from the Graphic 45 paper. Here's a tip. use a small hole punch to get the "postage stamp" affect!
As I mentioned earlier, just a bit of the ribbon left. so i ended it just on the back of the cover and covered the ends with a round dot of paper!
I loved using the 'from the library' page from the book. On the back of the front cover is a stamped image into which I'm going to write a bible verse.
And my favorite card. I've kept this for a long time. And those that know me dearly know that the more 'I'm fine's' that come out of my mouth, the less fine I really am. Yes, I'm fine.
I also insert some cards into this journal. Cards from special folks. Oh the mess I've made in doing this. And it didn't really start with this project.. I was looking for some sewing note cards I'd purchased eons ago to put in a frame! I finally found them, but not after I manager to amass 3 piles of cards on my studio floor. I have plans I have plan I have plans.. Does this ever happen to you?
another sweet card...
I also inserted some 7gypsies pages that were just the perfect size. Notice the blue ledger paper? that came from a small "legal" pad. Used the whole pad, a few pages at time!
I had saved this beautiful envelope from a dear friend. Trimmed it a bit and now I have a perfect pocket into which to place items to keep!
It was too pretty to discard. Now wasn't it?
A really cute shoe card. You know the saying, you can't have too many friends or too many shoes!
A beautiful handmade card by a really wonderful person.
A note recently received in the mail.
And i finished with another envelope on which I placed a very happy Mary Engelbreit postcard.
Here's a tip on inserting small items or those items you might not want to punch. Punch and insert a strip of cardstock.
onto which you can then adhere the smaller items. Works like a charm.
All those note pages will make a perfect spot to keep track of all the pennies from heaven that fall my way!

I hope you enjoyed this little project. Make one for yourself, it's fun. And a great way to use some of those things you've been saving!

'For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' Jeremiah 29:11