Portable wedding cupcake tower, anyone?

(If you’re looking for the ODBD Birthday Blog Hop for Josh it’s in THIS post)

I know the cupcake tower is all the craze, from premade ones you can assemble quickly to homemade ones with all the fanfare…BUT…have you seen a PORTABLE tower?  Here’s what I made using two hat boxes, some imagination and lots of Glue Dots® products:

Of course I couldn’t complete this tower without using the 1 Corinthians stamp from Our Daily Bread designs.

Here are the fabulous Glue Dots® products I used to pull this project off:

(Glue Dots® Minis were also used).  Supplies and instructions are found at the very bottom of this post.

Aside from it being portable, I made the designer papers stain-resistant by using a gloss sealer (pictured).  The decoupage sealer in the spray bottle is awesome!

I chose the hat boxes sizes so that when I layered them there was plenty of room to hold standard size cupcakes on the bottom tier and mini cupcakes on the top tier.  I thought about a purse handle for the top, but I same across this little basket and I thought PERFECT!

I added Glue Dots® Continuous Line around the top edge of the basket for my lace trim.

I embellished with gold bows andlace flowers I made and attached them with Glue Dots® Pop-Ups and Glue Dots® Industrial High Profile.  I used Glue Dots® Minis for the rhinestone accents:

No Glue Dots® were used here…I just wanted to show you a nice close-up of the mocha cupcakes with Kahlua buttercream frosting (that’s right…KAHLUA!):

SUPPLIES:
*Glue Dots®- 1/2" High Profile/Super High Tack Adhesive, Continuous Lines,
Permanent Dot N Go dispensers

*Paper mache round hatboxes- 14", 8" and 3"
*3" paper mache basket
*Coordinating designer papers and cardstocks
*Beacon Decoupage Gloss Sealer spray (to make  the papers and cardstocks
waterproof and stain-resistant)
*Silk flowers
*Self-adhesive pearls and rhinestones
*Crocheted lace trim for lace flowers HERE
*Decorative brads
*Decorative punches
*Cuttlebug embossing folder
*Ribbon
*Wood glue
*Gold acrylic paint
*Styrofoam
*Our Daily Bread designs stamp- 1 Corinthians 13
*Cupcake baking supplies

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Remove hatbox lids and attach upside down to bottom of boxes using wood
glue.  Attaching the lids in this manner will create a nice platter for the
cupcakes to sit in without fear of sliding off from finished tower.  Allow to
dry overnight.
2. Cut enough designer papers and cardstocks to cover hatboxes.  Cut matching
solid-color cardstocks for "cake" trims. Run "cake" trims through Cuttlebug
embossing folder to add more detail.  Punch decorative border on one edge of
trims.
3. Once all your designer papers and cardstock trims are cut spray on decoupage
gloss sealer, making sure to cover pieces entirely.  They will curl a little,
but once dry just place a heavy book on top to flatten.
4. Using Glue Dots Super High Tack Adhesive and Permanent Dot N Go, attach all
treated papers and trims to hatboxes.
5. Use wood glue to attach hatboxes in a stacked fashion.  Allow to dry
overnight.
6. Paint paper mache basket with gold acrylic paint and let dry.  Glue basket
to the bottom of 3" hatbox as this will act as a pedestal for the basket on top
of the tower (lid will not be needed).   Insert small styrofoam inside basket
and attach silk flowers and embellish with punched butterflies as desired.
7. Embellish cupcake tower with pearls, rhinestones and lace flowers.
8. Bake your choice of cupcakes (standard and mini size cupcakes were used in
sample) and decorate to coordinate with tower theme.
9. Pick up tower by the handle and go!

(I wrote this post while participating on the Glue Dots® design team)

Fabergé-esque

Hi everyone! Mother's Day is just around the corner and I wanted to make something very elegant and pink for my wonderful mother-in-law. I have always been fascinated with those gorgeous Fabergé Eggs and so that is what inspired my little ensemble today using the Happy Mother's Day set from Our Daily Bread designs and this week’s MMSC48 (even though it's round!):

It’s difficult to see in the photo, but I sprayed Tattered Rose Glimmer Mist over the silver embossed wreath.

I've had the Prima Flowers of the Month Collection for several years and I thought it was time to stop hoarding! I have all 12 months of the collection so I had plenty to work with :).

I bought a 5" round styrofoam ball and attached a decorative trim as a handle using two extra long pins. I then proceeded to cover the styrofoam with my Prima flowers with short flathead pins. Juts go around and around and around until you have covered it completely.

So break out with all your Prima flowers and have some floral fun!

It took me quite a while to complete it, but my mother-in-law is worth the extra effort and I'm happy with how it turned out :).

Ensemble Recipe

Stamp: ODBD Happy Mother’s Day

Ink: Versamark

Paper: K & Company Madeline pad, Prism Spring Willow pack

Accessories: Prima Flowers of the Month, silver rhinestones, tulle and pearl trim, 5” styrofoam ball, silver embossing powder, silk ribbons (olive, white, pink) flathead pins, Glimmer Mist Tattered Rose

ODBD February Sneak Peek!

In less than a week Our Daily Bread designs will be releasing several new sets for February! Whoa…did I say several?! YES, I DID!

For my sneak peek I took out my Nest and You Will Find Refuge sets, my Bind-It-All machine and one of the many new SEI velvet papers that Teresa Eames gave us from the SEI CHA booth and PLAYED!

How did I get the subtle background on the velvet paper? With just an iron, water and a Spellbinders Impressabilities.

Here’s how:

I just love easy techniques like this. A little effort and a whole lot of nice!

So, mark your calendars for February 1 and head on over to the ODBD store!!!

Project Recipe

Stamp: ODBD Nest and You Will Find Refuge

Ink: Versamark, Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress Pad

Paper: SEI (Cloud velvet paper, Dust of Snow, Bridgeport), watercolor paper

Accessories: Zutter (Bind-It-All, 3/8 Antique Brass O-wire, 4” chipboard covers, wire cutter), Spellbinders (Flowers Impressabilities, Fancy Tags), SEI Bridgeport cardstock stickers, white embossing powder, wooden cross, baby blue gemstones, Flower Soft Nut Brown, white linen ribbon, hat pin and beads, Crackle Accent, SU Crystal Effects, watercolor markers, Glimmer Mist Suede

Another box with not so much bloom...

I think I got the blooming box pretty much out of my system now, LOL! They are fun to make, but very time consuming. I made this one that didn't involve any floating butterflies and flowers, but I think the large Prima silk flowers were beautiful enough to stand on their own. Stop on over the ODBD store to see the different Primas that are stocked!

I used a scripture from the Scripture Collection 1 set. This set along with Scripture Collection 2 is offered with bundle pricing so make sure to take advantage of that! Believe me, you'll be reaching for these scriptures over and over again.

As you all know, I have a love affair with all things Tattered Angels! I used Glimmer Mists on my Nature Butterfly Framed Font and rubbed my Tim Holtz distress pad directly onto it to reveal the beautiful dry embossing.

Thank you for stopping by today and please come back again tomorrow for my TIOT card for SCACD!

Card Recipe:

Stamp: ODBD Scripture Collection 1

Ink: Versamark, Walnut distress pad

Paper: Me & My Big Ideas Harvest pad, Prismatic Tawny pack, SU Sahara Sand cs

Accessories: Prima Misty Juliette Collection, Prima Flowers of the Month (October Cosmos), Plumeria Dew Drops, butterfly decor from Michael's

Another ODBD Sneak Peek and Blooming Box

It has been another long while in between my scrapbooking. So, please keep in mind that I am a rubber stamper/cardmaker! LOL!

Here's a look at the gorgeous poinsettia from the upcoming Blessed Christmas set from Our Daily Bread designs:
I played around with my Photoshop Elements program and was able to keep just the color on the garland on the railings. I love working with black and white and even sepia photos because it just makes them pop out from all the colors of my papers. I also found a new love...Zva Creative Pearls!!! They come off the sticker sheet so easily!

Only 3 more days left before the November ODBD releases and to kick it off we will be having a BLOG HOP Nov. 1 with FABULOUS candy so mark your calendars!

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I won't bombard you with all the details of my latest box, except to say that it took me 2 whole days to complete it and I used the scripture I selected for the ODBD Scripture Collection 1 set.

Blooming Explosion Box

I have to say this was not an easy project for me! When I saw Elaine's Magic Boxes I swooned, but mine didn't come close to her art. LOL! I made my floral "stems" shorter because my flowers were too heavy to give it any "swaying" action, although they still have a nice springing action. I used mulberry flowers and I think I rolled too much paper for the centers which gave it even more weight.

I'm still very happy with what I ended up with using a scripture from the ODBD Praying for You set for the Bring on the Bling challenge from Paper Garden Projects:

The "bling" is all the Glimmer Mist I used (on each square, butterfly and flower) and the Opaline Pearls.


A closer look at my flowers. I followed the instructions from Elaine, but I didn't have a 5-petal flower punch so I used my flower stash and could only find 4-petals. I guess you could call these "colorful clovers"!


I cut apart the Opaline swirls to give the butterflies a nice flutter trail.



Having cut the Opaline swirls I was able to stretch out the product and make a more cohesive project. Being frugal made everything flow nicely! The flower center here is a mini wooden knob that I sprayed Deep Plum Glimmer Mist on.

A view of the box sides.
This box kicked my butt, but I'm so glad I tried it! I learned a lot and will make necessary corrections next time :).

Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for November ODBD SNEAK PEEKS coming in a few days!!!

Box Recipe:

Stamp: ODBD Praying for You

Ink: Versafine Onyx, Distress pads (Walnut, Peeled Paint), SU Summer Sun

Paper: K & Company Madeline pad, DCWV Rustic Stack, Prismatic Pink pack, SU Certainly Celery cs, white printer paper

Accessories: Glimmer Mists (Suede, Deep Plum, Meadow Green, Tuscan Sun), Glimmer Screen, Basic Grey Opaline Pearls, Martha Stewart Classic Butterfly punch, acetate strips, mini wooden knob

Today is my first TIOT!

TIOT, or Try It Out Tuesday, is a fun challenge from SCACD and it helps the DT come up with some really awesome ideas! For this one, the challenge was to create a Father's Day card and gift and I thought about this one for a few days, trying to figure out what I wanted to make. I was scouring the craft isles and came across a 4x7 photo cube and I figured I could fill it with something other than photos. Then, BINGO! I knew which Victoria Case stamp I wanted to use...Forever Friends! After gathering what I needed I came up with this S'mores gift ensemble:



See that sparkle? I used Shimmerz Spritz Baby's Breath...YES! The same makers of those wonderful Shimmerz paint pots that we all know and love! I also cut a small piece of Sticky Strips, sponged it with some brown ink, attached it to a small strip of brown Karen Foster Scrapper Floss and there you have a marshmallow!

The photo cube didn't have a lid so I created one using my Scor-Pal (that's another Must Have tool!).

I covered the chocolate bars with coordinating papers and printed "Chocolate" on address labels.

I don't throw away old containers, especially clear ones like this American Crafts plastic jar that held felt shapes. I just cleaned it out and poured in some miniature marshmallows.
I put some graham crackers in a cellophane envelope and wrapped that with the same designer papers. Color coordinating everything is easy when you use double-sided designer papers!
Card and Gift Recipe:

Stamp: Victoria Case Forever Friends

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Night of Navy

Paper: K & Company Blue Awning pad, SU cs (Old Olive, Night of Navy), white cs, watercolor paper

Accessories: Shimmerz Baby Breath Spritz, Sticky Strip, Karen Foster brown Scrappers Floss, watercolor markers, Ink Sweeper Dauber, computer generated sentiment, address labels, Hershey chocolate bars, graham crackers, mini marshmallows, empty clear container, cellophane envelope, hemp cord, Glue Dots, Scor-Pal

My kiddos will be giving this to Daddy on Father's Day. They already ate the rest of the marshmallows that were left in the bag and YES! They were bouncing off the walls after having all that sugar!

Take a "PEEP" at my Easter bouquet!

Peeps! Peeps! Peeps! I had this idea of making an Easter bouquet after finding some edible grass at Wal-Mart. I didn't want to use fruits because I'd have to make it all last minute to keep it fresh. Then I saw several colors of Peeps and light bulb! I could make really Spring-looking bouquets with such bright colors. The "Easter Blessings" sentiment is from Our Daily Bread designs' I Am The Way set. I used two different sizes of lollipop sticks and to hide where the Peeps were seperated I just rolled the exposed marshmallow around the extra colored sugars in the box. Here's another idea! You can buy those bubble gum tapes and use that as your bow to make it even more yummy!

Now, I have three more bouquets to put together so I have to get going. Thanks for stopping by!

A Love ensemble...

I created this little ensemble after a hot cup of sugar-free mocha and the caffeine hit me hard! It had been over a month since I had any coffee and so that cup kept me wide awake until 2 am.

I had only planned on re-organizing my craft room, but I came across a mini clear glass flower pot while shuffling things around and I thought...I'm going to play instead! That playing resulted in this: I used quite a bit of supplies because my jittery hands kept grabbing for things to add to my card. Naturally, I reached for my ODBD stamp set to make my ensemble. Here's a break down of the projects and supplies.

Flower pot:

ODBD Love set

SEI Jolie Chocolat paper stack

Prism Pink pack

Versamark ink pad

Other supplies: candy sticks, clear glass mini flower pot, DCWV cs (for green leaves), MS leaf punch, MS lace border punch, Spellbinders Scalloped Circles Nestabilities, white ep, brown satin bow, Jelly Belly beans

Card:

ODBD Love set (1 Corinthians 13:13 stamp)

SEI Jolie Chocolat paper stack

Versamark ink pad

Hero Arts Medium Accent Pearls

Other supplies: heart and key charms, ribbon loop, white ep, MS lace border punch, SU embossing plate, SU silver cord, brown organze ribbon

Make sure to visit the ODBD blog tomorrow for a product review and tutorial on Flower Soft!