Bobble Hearts

Well, yesterday was a craft day at MOPS, and I thought I'd share the project we made. I'm always on the lookout for items that are affordable, useful, suitable for a variety of styles/personalities, and simple enough that self-professed "non-crafty" people won't be overwhelmed. When I ran across these bobble hearts I knew I'd struck gold. I kept these pretty simple (we had to be able to complete them in under 30 minutes) but you could do so much more! We traced the heart shape onto the back side of various printed papers, trimmed, and adhered with modge podge (thin layer brushed onto the paper). I then put out a variety of final embellishments: ribbon, buttons, flowers, gems, pearls, etc. and set everyone loose.

They're great for holding photos (my sample has our adorable kidlets from two years ago), recipes, lists, receipts, whatever! They're small enough that they won't take up too much space, but they can hold quite a bit. And wouldn't these make great gifts? I'm thinking about letting the kids decorate a couple for their grandparents. One little note: I used ink on my samples, but there is some sort of finish on the hearts, so it was a rather messy endeavor. Paint would definitely work better (but just wasn't feasible for us to do in the time allowed). Everyone had fun making these, and I was thrilled to hear little squeals of delight throughout the room as the ladies admired their handiwork.

Papers from DCWV; ribbon from SU; buttons, gems, and rub-on were just from my stash so I'm not sure of the source

Chipboard Coaster Frames

For any of you who have been checking me out on my previous blog, you've already seen these projects... but they're so much fun that I just had to share again! I got in on a big order of these chipboard coasters on Splitcoaststampers, and have had a ball creating with them. This yellow and blue frame features my adorable little boy, and the stamp set Polka Dots & Paisley, which will be available to purchase starting March 1. It really is a fun set to play with.

We also made these frames as a project at our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group, so I made a few samples using a variety of stamps (including some foam mounted), stickers, rub-ons, etc. The basic approach is the same, though: cover the coaster base with ink (just swipe it with a dye based pad), then stamp away and adhere additional elements. If I made these again, I wouldn't use rub-ons. Soft chipboard + furious rubbing to get the entire word transferred = major groovage on the frame. I've used hinges from Making Memories on most of these and stuck them down with red liner tape. Great stuff!! I also used my crop-a-dile for the hinges with the snaps, and then just punched holes and threaded ribbon through on the green and blue one.

These coasters are pretty popular right now, and I know there are a lot of stores on eBay selling them in smaller lots (like 10 instead of the 100 I had to buy!) You could also just ask the waitress for a few extra next time you go out to dinner, and cover the entire thing with patterned paper. Either way, it's a pretty simple but super cute project.