Sled Card

Living in Hawaii for most of my life, I never experienced the fun of winter activities like sledding. Perhaps that is the reason I gravitated to this Penny Black clear stamp (from a set). When I saw a penguin skating card in a magazine, I knew what I wanted to do with the cute little girl image. The trick to the card is the slit in the snow through which the sledding girl moves. It is made by punching two holes (regular-size hole punch) and joining them with two cuts made with an craft knife and ruler. (There is a punch or die which makes this whole cut out slit but I don't own one.) Behind the girl are three foam pop-dots (two large and one small). The small foam pop dot is between the two larger ones and is the part that slides along the opening. If you have trouble with the pop dots sticking to the card, just sprinkle on some cornstarch after the dots are stuck together. The papers used on this card are from the Martha Stewart Christmas pad of two-sided printed card stock (available at Ben Franklin Crafts). If time permits, I will submit instructions for this card to the projects section of our website (www.bfcraftclub.com). Thanks for taking the time to read this post during this very busy time of the year. Wishing you happy, stress-free crafting!

Sweet Potato Chips

When trying to decide on edible gifts to give for Christmas I wondered what to do about the health conscious people on my gift list. Since I know that sweet potatoes are full of vitamins, I decided to try making chips using olive oil (another healthy ingredient). Rather than frying them which wastes a lot of oil I simply rubbed the thinly sliced sweet potatoes (use a mandolin) with the olive oil, sprinkled them with KTA coarse chili salt and baked the chips until crispy (about 20 min. depending on the thickness of chips) in a 400 degree oven.

From the photo you can see that I put on too much salt (which is not healthy) so watch that you don't go overboard. Anyway, this simple treat will please even a healthy eater. Be sure to package the chips attractively in a cellophane bag. The Martha Stewart package of Christmas designed bags in the photo are very festive and available at Ben Franklin Crafts. Many holiday MS products are now 25% off at BFC (craft club members get an additional 10% off) so check it out and get some good deals.

Christmas Night Light

When my children were little, there was a favorite book that we read and reread. It was called, "The Night Light Kids".......I think....I can't remember the author but I do remember that the pictures of the animals and the sweet story was soothing.....a great bedtime story. Anyway, the Penny Black Christmas clear stamp sets have the same sweet innocent look. This one with the three mice and a lantern made me decide that I just had to make it into a night light. I started by stamping the image on vellum (with sparkles) using black Staz-On ink. Next I colored the back of the image with markers. Inside the 2-1/2" x 2-1/2" x 3" clear acrylic box (available at Ben Franklin Crafts) I placed a flickering tea light (battery operated) (also available at Ben Franklin Crafts). To make the light appear behind the lantern I inserted a large lump of Hearty Clay and pressed the light into it until it was in the right position. Snowflake stickers (Martha Stewart) were positioned around the sides and top. Ribbon and a mini garland (both from BFC) were a glued to the lid being careful not to glue the lid to the base of the box because the switch of the tea light needs to be accessible. This simple project can easily be adapted to other rubber stamp designs. I really think your favorite little one will be delighted to have a night light like this. Come to think of it even an adult would be charmed by this project. Full instructions for this night light will be on our BFC website (http://www.bfcraftclub.com/) as soon as possible.

Pink Christmas Tree

I'm sorry that I haven't commented on your blog sites for a while because I was on a trip in Japan. The photo above shows a gigantic tree that was in the shopping mall of the Sunshine City Prince Hotel where we stayed. Japan becomes more Christmasy every time we visit around the holidays. There are artificial trees in all the major stores and lots of ornaments and cards. I guess everyone wants occasions to celebrate and give gifts. I tried leaving comments on your blogs sites while in Japan, but they all appeared only in Japanese so I just did some blog surfing.

The photo below is of a card and some new HA stamps that Cheryl (Life is Sweet) sent me. Isn't her card so sweet? You can't see it clearly in the picture but the background is charmingly embossed with flowers. As with all of Cheryl's work, the card is well crafted and beautifully simple....much like the artistic craft work in Japan. Thanks again, Cheryl.

American Girl Products

Look what I discovered at Ben Franklin Crafts! These American Girl product will surely bring a smile to someone special this Christmas. Shown here are a sparkly watercolor set, a creative card-making pad, a kit for making 12 funky felt pins, sweet treat dimensional stickers, and a bracelet kit which makes 10 paper chain items. Although these products are for young girls, I found them irresistible. I just know that I can incorporate them into some of my craft projects. If you want something fresh to give as a gift or for yourself, come to BFC and check out these (there are lots more not included in this photo) American Girl cool stuff. Oh, I almost forgot that I had a second photo on this post. I wanted to show you one of the many 'science' related gifts we have at Ben Franklin Crafts for your budding genius at home. These boxed kits range from the usual chemistry sets to unique ones to make sour candy, perfume, or other fun products. If you know someone who enjoys creating things and learning the science behind it (not only kids love this stuff), BFC is the place to go this Christmas for your shopping needs.

Martha Stewart Christmas

At the end of every holiday season I think, "How can Martha Stewart top her Christmas craft line next year?" Then when I see the new holiday line the next year I say, "Wow! She did it again. " I like this year's assortment of stickers, papers, punches, and embellishments even more than last year's. Ben Franklin Crafts has a copious supply of Martha Stewart craft goodies this year but I know that they will go fast. I especially love her line of Scandinavian inspired products...so graphic and timeless. The amount of stickers in the border sticker packages from Martha Stewart are somewhat hard to determine because they are layered to save space, but some of them have a huge amount of product especially if you cut the adhesive backed borders into individual stickers. The glittery MS paper pads are so special; I know you'll buy at least one when you see them. Finally you have to check out the Martha Stewart treat bags/boxes because if you bake your own goodies you'll want to have something really great to showcase your homemade gift. I know you want to make your own decorated die cut bags, but it's good to have some pretty pre-made ones around in case baking takes more time than you anticipated. Afterall, try as we may we really can't do it all.... so don't stress out. Be good to yourself this holiday season and enjoy making your crafts/bake goods but take some shortcuts with no craft guilt by using some of the beautiful products available at Ben Franklin Crafts.

Ribbon Candy Ornament Gift Sets

When I was a little girl one of my fondest Christmas memories was receiving a container of ribbon candy in the mail. I don't know who sent this gift to my parents every year but I was enthralled by the colors and shapes of sugar candy (some filled with peanut butter cream). When I spied the plastic ribbon candy ornaments at Ben Franklin Crafts, I knew that I had to buy a set (6 for $7.99) of the sugary looking replicas made by Sierra Pacific. Originally I had planned to hang them on our tree but then I realized that they looked like a letter or toast holder. I decorated some mini notecards w/envelopes by applying stickers to some pre-made ones. (You can easily make them from leftover cardstock cut to fit mini envelopes.) Then I filled the spaces of the ornament with the cards and I plan to wrap the whole set in a clear cellophane bag tied with a ribbon. I think a set like this would make a perfect early Christmas gift for a co-worker or teacher because after using the cards he/she can hang the ornament on his/her tree. The candy ornaments also come in a red and white version. If you don't want to make cards or tags, you can fill the ornament with sticky note pads. The ones in the bottom photo are from G Studio and come two in a package for only $1.25! (I just cut the cardboard between the two notepads.) Now that's an inexpensive, easy gift to prepare for someone who needs a thank you. Hey, you could wrap individual cookies and place them in the ornament for a unique presentation! Well, I hope this post has given you some new ideas for gift giving. Come and visit again for a peek at what goes on in my brain during the holidays.