DIY: Popsicle Stick Jewelry Box

This do it yourself project is great homemade gift for Mother’s Day!

Supplies:

Popsicle Sticks,

Tacky Glue,

Ribbon

Glue Gun

1. Make the bottom of your jewelry box by lining up ten Popsicle sticks side-by-side. Place the sticks by a magazine or book to keep them from moving.

2. Put glue on the back of two sticks and place them at each end of the box base, leaving some room at each end.

3. Now glue another set of Popsicle sticks to the opposite side creating a frame. Keep cluing a set of sticks horizontally and vertically until you create the height of your box you are satisfied with.

4. Time to make your box lid. Grab ten sticks and glue them side-by-side.

5. You can glue a photo of your mom and you on the lid then glue a set of sticks vertically and horizontally to create a photo frame around it.

6. To attach your lid to your box use your glue gun to clue each end of your ribbon one side to the end corner of the lid and the other side to the end corner of your box. Do the same to the opposite side of the box. Both pieces of ribbon should be the same size.

7. The Popsicle stick box can also be used as a potpourri box. If you plan to use it as a jewelry box you can also clue some felt on the bottom of the box.

8. I made this box a few years ago.

You can also use colored Popsicle sticks or even glue a picture on the lid that your kid has drawn. This is a kid friendly project for kids to make for grandma.

Happy Anniversary Cinemark Jess Ranch!

I work at a movie theater and today we celebrated our second year anniversary of being open with a potluck, even though tomorrow is the actual anniversary. Since I got a small cash prize for winning 4th place for a Rango promotion, I decided to buy my great staff two cakes, a Cars cake and a Transformers cake. I wanted both cakes to be of up coming movies. The Cars cake was white cake with strawberry filling and white butter cream icing. The Transformers cake was chocolate with raspberry filling and chocolate truffle icing. The potluck turned out great with a few employees who brought some delicious homemade dishes.

The “dancing concession snacks” on the wall is a mural that one of my artistic employees, Brandon, and I have been working on. We still need to paint the dancing popcorn bag. When we are done, all the employees that have been working at the theater for two years get to paint a star with their name on it and the date they were hired. I can’t wait to finally get the mural done!

I love my employees and I’m glad I can do fun activities that make them feel appreciated.

Thrift Store Finds

I have a little routine when I go to the post office; I stop by the local thrift right after. On Monday, I stopped by two thrift stores. A new one called, “Your New Thrift Store” and my usual “Victor Valley Rescue Mission” which is getting kind of expensive.

Above are a few of my thrift store goodies – a fire fighter owl figurine, a set of mom and dad mugs, an owl picture frame, and a wooden “Mi casa es su casa” sign. My favorite is the fire fighter owl, which it is a perfect addition to my fire fighter collection. Like I mentioned before my husband is a fire fighter so I enjoy collecting fire fighter stuff. When I buy fire fighter items I tell my husband that it is for him but let’s be honest it’s more for me!

What has been your current favorite thrift store find?

Special Delivery

I was finally able to go to the post office today after accumulating a few packages I needed to send out. It’s been difficult to make it to the post office lately since I’ve been opening at work and by the time I get off the post office is closed. I was also sick last week too.

So, what is in the boxes? Two packages are swap gifts. One package is for my Crafty Peep Swap partner Brittni from “with love from, Michigan” blog and the other is for Olivia from “secretly loves pink” blog who if you send her something she’ll send you something too. I would love to show you guys what I made for Brittni, my crafty peep swap buddy but just in case she reads my blog I would hate to spoil the surprise.

I love doing swaps! It’s a nice surprise when you open your mailbox and find a package with something special inside just for you. I love getting letters and cards too. If you would like to do a swap with me, leave a comment letting me know.

The other packages are for family. One for my little brother Chuy who is getting chocolate gummy bears I made and some sweet and spicy Alien Beef Jerky my husband and I got him at Barker city when driving back from Las Vegas last week. The last package is for my little sister Aurelia who lives in Spain with her husband who is stationed there with the Navy. She is pregnant with first child and her birthday is in May. She is also getting chocolate gummy bears like our brother, (she calls her baby her little gummy bear), a bottle of Buffalo Wild Wings Mango Habanero sauce (there’s no Buffalo Wild Wings in Spain), and a fun homemade birthday card.

I can’t wait for everyone to receive their special packages and start receiving calls and emails on how much they loved their stuff!

Fun Mushroom Family Set

Remember my post, "Much room for Mushrooms!" where I showed you guys some mushroom stickers I designed for a special swap buddy. Well, here's more mushroom items I made. The little muslin bag holds all the mushroom goodies. This swap package will be mailed out on Monday. I hope she likes it.

I'm still working on my Crafty Peep Swap gift, just adding some final touches and it should be good to go on Monday too. I've been busy crafting my heart out and loving every minute of it!

Reading Patch of Honor

In my book club “The Bookies” when we celebrate our anniversary as a club we sew Girl Scout patches onto our book club tote bag. The patches represent each year will have been in the book club. In July, the Bookies will be celebrating two years as a book club. Last years patch and the first Bookies patch was of a little girl sitting on a chair reading a book with the word READING above her head. I got the first patch on Etsy at HeyYoYo. This year’s patch I found on eBay at troopmoore, who sells all types of Girl Scout patches. This patch says, “I Love Books” with a picture of a heart and an open book. I’ll hand out this year’s patch to the all the girls in July when we celebrate our second anniversary as a book club. Troopmoore even sells swap patches too! I’m thinking of getting one to use for my next swap activity.

Currently, I’ve been going a little crazy buying reading themed patches and pins for my Bookies tote bag. I got one new vintage patch for myself on eBay to sew on my tote bag when I finished reading some borrowed books, outside book club reading, that are laying around my house. Once I’m done reading my borrowed book, I’m sewing the little patch on my bag as my own personal reward. The patch has a picture of three stacked books and an open one. I also got two new reading pins, one that says, “I’m Bats for Reading” and other one is of Raggedy Andy sitting reading a book.

It’s fun to see what new pins the Bookies’ members have on their tote bag at our book club meetings. I got a few pins done on Etsy at Love Badge with our Bookies logo on them, which I designed, as prizes for when I host a book club meeting at my house. However, I’m going to have to get some more done since all the girls want one now. The Bookies logo is also silk screened on our tote bags . We got our totes at Michaels and a local clothing designer, Nate from Vatican clothing, was nice enough to silk screen our logo onto a dozen tote bags for a reasonable prize.

Having the Bookies tote bags, pins, and yearly patches really makes us feel like an official club. Are you part of a club and if so what fun things does your club do? I’ll love to know.

Vegas Baby!

I spend my weekend in Las Vegas for a wedding. One of my husband’s co-workers was getting married. Though, I was still sick with a cold I managed to enjoy myself. We stayed at the Imperial Palace on the strip and we saw the world’s largest classic car museum they had at the casino. The auto collection wasn’t great, especially not for almost $20 for both my husband and I to go in, but I did like the BMW bug with the picnic baskets on the roof and little push car. I had the most fun and the wedding. The ceremony was at a little chapel and the reception was at Planet Hollywood restaurant in the Caesar’s Palace Hotel and Casino. I always enjoy hanging out with my husband’s co-workers and their families. They’re like my husband’s second family since he spends as much time with the guys from work as he does at home. Plus, it’s always fun for me when I get to dress up and go somewhere nice.

I unfortunately missed my book club for this month since I arrived tired from Las Vegas and I knew I wouldn’t have enough time to make cupcakes. I’ll be making cupcakes from next month’s book club instead, so I’ll be covering the dessert part.

I signed up for another one of Strumpet’s Crumpets’ swaps. This one is called Crafty Peep Swap. This is my third swap I have done through Strumpet’s Crumpets’ blog. I got paired up with a sweet girl named Brittni from Michigan. I’ve been reading her blog “with love from, michigan” to get a feel of who she is and what she likes. I can’t wait to get started on her swap gift. I hope she likes it.

Craft on friends, Lizette

Chocolate Gummy Bears

I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather with a sore throat and slight cough, but that didn’t stop me from making some chocolate covered gummy bears yesterday and today. I’m sending them out to my brother, my sister who lives in Spain, and my dad and step mom. I’m known for making chocolate covered pretzels; however, I’ve decided to try gummy bears since my little sister is having her first baby and she calls her baby “her little gummy bear.” I know she’ll love them. I thought it would be a great way to celebrate her pregnancy since she’s the first to have a baby from all of us kids. I have one more batch to go. Then, I can send them out! That’s of course if my husband doesn’t get to them first.

Bad Day, Good Day

Yesterday, I had a very interesting day. At work, the chaos began with a black out. The bad, good, and ugly can out of working in customer service. I had understanding customers and those that just make you want to walk out and say, "I quit!" But lucky, I work with a great group of people, that like myself try to play it cool under pressure. At least, I can admit that the sucky parts of my job has made me learn how to think quick on my feet. After the storm was over, I though to myself... well I can finally use those Dookey Key Covers that I was saving for a crappy day to do a giveaway on my blog.

So, here it goes...

DOOKEY KEY COVER GIVEAWAY!

The FIRST 4 PEOPLE who leave me a comment sharing a crappy day they had and how it got better, if it did, will get 1 Dookey Key Cover. Please don't forget to included your email address so I may contact you for your mailing address. I know that there's 6 key coves but I am keeping one for myself and mailing one out to my brother for his work keys. He has crappy work days too.

When I arrived home from work and read my emails, like always, I was thrilled to see that one of my headbands from my new Etsy shop "Que Bownita" was included in a treasury titled, "Ready to Play??" The treasury reminds me of the fun, bright, and happy childhood colors. Talk about a nice surprise after a crazy work day.

While typing this post and trying to link everything. I noticed that someone else included another one of my headband on a Etsy treasury! Wow, what a turn of events! I'm so excited! This treasury is titled, "Newbies - New shops - Support Handmade."

I hope everyone has a great today!

Much room for Mushrooms!

Just wanted to share what I have been working on for a special swap. I designed an adorable mushroom family and printed them onto sticker paper. Aren’t they cute? There’s Sunflower Jack, Mushroom Jardinero (Gardener), Mama Rose, and Lazy Daisy. My swap person loves mushrooms and gardening. I don’t think she’s knows that I am doing this for her so it will be a nice surprise. I’m going to make more mushroom themed items for her.

I would like to mention that my crafty friend Sarah at “Oh my deer!” blog is having a really cool giveaway. It’s a Lomography Action Sampler Camera! One of her entry questions is to tell her your favorite flower, which is funny since my little family of mushrooms have flowers on their heads. Go check out her giveaway by April 7th because that’s when it ends. You never know you might be the lucky winner of this cool camera! CLICK HERE to enter!

Now, off to make a mushroom stamp!

Instant Memories To Go

I finally put my Polaroid themed items on my shop! I made two brooches and one magnet. I had them done since Christmas but hadn’t had a chance to take pictures of them and do all that good stuff you need to do to get your items up on Etsy. I finally got a chance to put them up today since it’s my day off. I have three more Polaroid themed brooches I want to create. My goal is to get them done is month. I love making these because I’m one of those people who always carry their camera with them wherever they go. Plus, I love wearing brooches too! My family and friends call me the crazy tourists because I take so many pictures.

This one I sold in September 2010. I want to make a new one that says, “Family Paparazzi” for people like me!

Crazy About Cupcakes

Since April’s book club book is a recipe book on how to make cupcakes I decided to go on Etsy and find some fun cupcake themed items. Here are a few I just had to share…

Baking is SEXY Ladies Pink T-Shirt - Sizes S, M, L, XL
From theboldbanana

 

Cake Adjustable Ring

At eelizabeth

Keep Calm and Eat a Cupcake 1 inch pinback button / magnet
From Gnipmac

Bake Cake knuckle tattoo embroidery
By livingthread

Lime Strawberry Cupcake Purse / Wristlet
By arkitektonika

Cupcake Personalized Hand Carved Rubber Stamp
 At cupcaketree

CUPCAKE WITH SPRINKLES- flexible silicone push mold 
From moldsrus

FIMO MAGIC - 6 cupcake buttons
By thechipchopshop

Wood Paneling Cupcake Wrappers
At NellieCakes

Cupcake Trinket Box
From JennysBarn

Zombie Cupcake and Pop Tart Magnets
By rubbishteets

Marie Antoinette Cupcake Ring in Polymer Clay
At DIVINEsweetness

Stud Muffin on Navy Tshirt
 From sadjacktshirt

Does anyone other than me want a cupcake now? I hope this post sweetness your day!
Oh, and Happy April Fools everyone!