doodlebug design : countdown calendar

Falalalala ... lalala ... laaaaaaaaa!

'Tis the season to be ... hohoho.
Count down the days from now until zero.
Falalalalaaaaaaaaa,
Here comes Santa!  

Yes, here comes Santa ---- or me, Sherry.  I'm here today to help you countdown the days until Christmas with this cute, re-purposed calendar.   I know you'll not find one exactly like mine, but the idea can be carried over to any sort of calendar or item to repurpose.     

Oh yes, Christmas is just around the corner.  

To add more excitement to our home for the holidays, we always have some sort of holiday calendar for the kiddos to look forward to.  We don't always have the traditional advent calendar of chocolate hidden behind the windows of the picture.  Instead, in the past couple years, we've opted for a holiday activity for each day of December leading up to Christmas day. 

One year, the kiddos and I chose to decorate an ornament each day.  

This year, though, as the kiddos are getting a bit older and are involved in more activities, we're opting for a simple countdown calendar.

This simple wooden perpetual calendar was not so cute when I purchased it at the thrift store.  When I purchased it, I had no idea what I would do with it. 

Once I  realized that it could be turned into a countdown calendar, I set out for ideas and the home for the holidays collection from doodlebug design.  It has the perfect mix of traditional and trendy patterns and lovely shades of red and green and glittery goodness.


I covered each block with a square of patterned paper that was inked on the edges.  Then, I added numbers to each square face.  The base of the calendar was an odd shape, so I simple traced it onto the backside of the patterned paper.  

Decorating the block with the tree was a bit more tricky because the is at an angle.  

But, let's talk about the tree first.  

I made the tree with a pixie [loooove them so much!] and patterned paper.  I cut a rectangle of patterned paper  about two inches wide and one inch tall.  On one long side of the patterned paper, snip or fringe the edge of the paper.  Glue one end in place on the pixie, then wrap around to desired look.  Trim off paper and glue end.  Once you've made as many layers as you'd like, use a stylus or paper piercer to curl the strips of paper.  Embellish with brads, pearls, rhinestones and sprinkles.

The present under the tree is a die/dice wrapped in washi and wrapped with doodle twine.

For this particular project, I had to drill a hole into the wooden block to hold the tree.   It had to be done at an angle as the base has a slight decline.

Then, I embellished the stand with glittery adhesive fancy frill border sticker and a die cut bow.  I added a cute doodad in the middle.  Perfect!

For a final countdown, what is three scrappy items on your Christmas wishlist?   What are two activities you're looking forward to this holiday?  And, what is the one ornament you have to put on your tree each year?  

While you're answering these questions, I'll be rockin' around the Christmas tree and dreaming of how I'll be deckin' the halls ... red and green and home for the holidays!

doodlebug design : pixies

Fall weather has finally hit central Texas for a few days and it has me inspired to create with the beautiful hues associated with the season.  doodlebug design has a beautiful palette of brown, orange and gold with a pop of turquoise and lime green.   Beautiful. 

Let's talk pixies first.  Have you seen the new pixies?!   They are food-grade plastic straws similar to coffee stirrers.  But, they are sturdy enough to cut and can even be bent.  They are so very cute, are available in the doodlebug design rainbow of colors and can be used in so many creative ways. 

To create this bracelet for my daughter, I gathered a few supplies:

• safety pins
• pixies
• elastic cord
• button

Wrap elastic cording around your wrist to measure size, then add another two inches for knotting.  

Cut pixies into various lengths to fit your safety pins.   This creates "beads."  Open all safety pins and then add pixie beads.  Close.  Repeat oodles of times until you have enough to fit  to make the bracelet large enough to go around your wrist. 

Once you have enough pixie beads made, string them onto elastic cording --- one strand through the "eye" of the safety pin and once through the "loop."  Fasten off.  

I added a cute tree pin given at CHA, but you could turn a new doodlebug design doodad [think trendy flair or flatback pins] into a pin by adding a pin finding, available at craft stores.  

Other ideas for pixies jewelry projects:

• Cut pixies into beads and string on thin elastic cord to create single strand bracelet.  Make several and layer them up.
• Do the same thing on a smaller scale to make rings.   
• Sew pixies onto a leather cuff.  
• String cut pixie beads with seed beads to make necklace.  

Watch for more creative projects from the doodlebug design team.   Be sure to share your pixie creations with our team.  We love to see your creations!  

montana

 On June 19, my kiddos adopted a sweet little terrier from the local animal shelter.  It took us a few moments to fall in love and a few extra to get used to him.  He's quite the addition to our family.

Of course, I marked the occasion with a mini album.

For this one in particular, I used a tabbed create-a-card base for the small photos.  I used up some of the paper scraps I've been hoarding on my desktop.  

 Did you know that the pattern preview on the bottom strip of each doodlebug paper is the perfect size to make banners or flags?   They are; try it. 

A sweet mini album to showcase our sweet little pup. I am sure there will be many more paper crafts that will have our Montana in the spotlight. 

doodlebug design : campfire party

Life can always be s'more fun with a little creativity!

That is just what I did to create this little campfire/s'mores party.  It is stinkin' hot in Texas right now, and with a ton of mosquitoes, so it takes a lot to coerce us outside.  

The base of this party was the flowerbox collection.  Its palette is full of earthy tones and pops of color. 

There is just something so magical about twinkling lights.  Although we did not build a real campfire in the city, I did have a votive candle in a pretty crafted holder.


First party decor to set the mood of the party is the banner.  In this case, I made four banners to start this party.  The variety made the perfect backdrop for the table setting.   The top banner was made by folding white coffee filters in half, then cutting fringe along the half-circled edge.  I added flowerbox stickers to each of them and strung on doodle twine.  So easy.   The second banner is a string of paper lanterns in a variety of sizes and styles. The third banner was made with a scalloped circle punch and strung on twine.   The last one was using the flowerbox banner and ticket stickers, attached to skewers. 

Each banner was different, but each was super simple to make.

The place setting, too, was simple to piece together. I cut woodgrain patterned paper to 7x12 and cut two slits on the right side.  I added a sticker and brad, then the fork. 

These napkin rings make the table setting complete.   I simply cut a strip of cardstock, adding a small slit at the top.   I cut flames and a little tab for each to fit into the ring.

There you go, the table is set and the party is about to start.   But, don't forger the graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate bars for making your own s'mores. 

doodlebug design : big daddy & big bend

doodlebug design : writing with twine

If you are like me, you LOVE the rainbow of colors offered in the Doodlebug Design collections --- doodle twine included.  And, if you're like me, you might be stumped at ways to use all those cute colors of doodle twine.   

Today, I'm going to show you how to write with doodle twine.   

 

Yes, write.  It is super easy to do with the simplest of products.   

Gather the following: 

• your favorite doodle twine
• a scrap piece of paper
• a pen or pencil 
• an awl, paper piercer of stylus 
• liquid glue 
• embellishments to decorate your twine-written title 

Once you have your supplies gathered, you'll need to decide on a word to write.  For this tutorial, I chose SUMMER as my kiddos' will be enjoying summer vacation in two and a half days.   Summer, already.  

On that small scrap piece of paper, practice writing your word.   It's just get a feel of how you want it to look and to use as a visual reminder.   You'll use liquid glue to write a few letters at a time. 

 Now, take your doodle twine and start following the glue lines as if you were writing with a pen.  

You are using glue and it will be sticky, so have an awl, paper piercer or stylus handy to help hold the twine to the paper.

Continue with the glue and twine until you've completed writing your word. 

Once you've finished writing your word, let glue dry a bit, then add embellishments.   I used a doodle pop flower sticker and some adhesive pearls to dress up my word.

So, push your creativity and show off your handwriting -- in twine. 

Next up, you could even try the same with adhesive pearls and rhinestones.   How about writing a letter or a word with a line of mini brads?  

If you try twine-writing or use doodle twin in your crafty creations, please share with us.  We'd love to see your work.  

doodlebug design : make shift trampoline

The K-girl enrolled in gymnastics at the beginning of this year.  Since then, everything in our home has because a jungle gym or sort.  Everything.

All the time.

Here, she was trying to do a flip on my bed, from one side to the other.   She did it and was quite pleased.  I was, too, and pleasantly surprised that it didn't mess up the bed too badly. 

Love watching her do flips!  

[ ABOUT THE LAYOUT ]   I used Doodlebug patterned paper for the background then layered washi tape behind the single photo of my daughter.  I love that it is transparent, but packs a punch.  The little speech/thought bubbles were cut from patterned paper, too.