Say it with a KISS!

A Hershey's Kiss that is!  Here's a great DIY craft and gift idea.  Personalized Hershey Kisses.  Create personalized stickers and then attache to the bottom of the Hershey Kisses.  There are a few *templates available to download and print onto 3/4" round stickers for a Baby Shower, Mother's Day and Father's Day too.  You could also decorate the stickers with markers to make your own message.  Perhaps displaying the finished kisses in a basket or bowl for a party, or placing a handful of them in small jars, fun decorative containers, or tied up with ribbon in small cut pieces of tulle or organza bags, as gifts or party favors.

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* pdf Stickers Labels to download:

 Sticker Labels-Baby Shower

 Sticker Labels-Mother's Day

 Sticker Labels-Father's Day

This really got my creative juices flowing and got me thinking of perhaps if you are doing a kids themed birthday party, it would be fun to have their favorite character stickers on the the kisses too!  

Perhaps a milestone birthday with the age or the "over-the-hill" phrase.  I'll be taking another close look at some of the stickers out there!

I created these personalized kisses for my daughter's 30th birthday!  

Personalized Hershey Kisses

Supplies:

• Hershey Kisses brand Chocolates
• 3/4" round sticker/labels
• Rubber Stamps
• Ink pads
• Markers or colored pens (optional)
• Decorative containers (optional)

I used one silver pigment ink pad, and one purple ink pad (she loves purple too), and number rubber-stamps.  I wanted a little color background on some of them, so I used a lipstick tube (revlon*my favorite*) as a stamp for this, also it was the perfect size.  I alternated the colors, some were just the number stamped in purple or silver, and some were the number stamped on top of a color background in the other color.   

Then all that was needed was a cute container for the finished kisses, so I chose this little black sparkly basket and tied a pretty sparkled silver ribbon around it, and tied it in a bow in the front!

Everyone likes kisses, especially chocolate ones!...

Photo Collage - Letter Artwork

I love this project!

I do really love it!  I've seen a lot of decor lately in the stores with this type of letter-photo usage for artwork.  I came across a photo on Pinterest where I originally learned about this idea.  I thought I kept the link to it and have yet to find it!(Ugh!)  I will find it eventually!  I have links to some inspiration for helping to create this new favorite craft project from right@home and another from the Leo Reynolds photo collection on Flickr, which has many, many photos there to choose from that he allows use of, with some restrictions, covered by a creative commons license.

After spending time on which photos I liked, (this took me a great deal of time actually, so many choices!) I used my office publisher software to create this, by first choosing the size I wanted the over all photo to be, I chose an 8x10 image, then inserted photos one by one and re-sized each one to fit the page.  I felt I needed a fourth row to balance out the size so I found a few interesting photos to serve that purpose for the bottom row.  After being pleased with my design I choose the save as: JPEG file, and changed the resolution to: High Quality Printing (300dpi),  I placed a copy of it on my thumb drive and took it to Wal-mart and used the instant photo machine to print my photo.  A nice thick black frame finished it off nicely!

Not bad for a just a few dollars and a new frame!  I have more ideas in mind using this idea now!

The finished and framed photo.

This was a special personal gift I made for my daughter and her husband.

A special date remembered...

Thirty suckers for "30 sucks" gift

This is a funny birthday gift you can put together for one of those milestone birthdays or for any number really.

I made this cute and funny gift for my daughter's 30th Birthday.  Thirty suckers with a "30 sucks" sign.  I thought it would be a fun gift for her.  I had seen a photo of something like this on Pinterest and thought to myself, "I need to remember that one!", especially since my daughter had a milestone coming up!  This idea could be used for just about any birthday number using that amount of suckers of course!  

This was easy to make and was inexpensive too! 

Supplies:

• a box or basket (something to hold the styrofoam and suckers)
• wrapping paper
• paper crinkle
• styrofoam block 
• stickers
• scrapbook 12x12 paper
• ribbon
• skewer stick
• 3x5 plain card
• double sided tape or glue
• suckers (variety)

Some of the supplies used.

First I covered the box with wrapping paper, then added the styrofoam block, I wedged mine in place with more pieces of styrofoam, but you could glue yours or tape in place also, or use a box similar to the size of the styrofoam block, or another type of container, such as a basket.   I added the suckers one by one to the styrofoam, filling in/covering the styrofoam block.  

Next I placed birthday stickers on the 12x12 scrapbook paper, to use as the backdrop and placed it in between the block of styrofoam and the box.  I then used more stickers on a  3x5 card folded in half, using the words "30 sucks" on it, and then taped the card together just at it's corners with double sided tape, leaving room to open it to slide over the skewer/stick that I had cut down to a shorter size.  You could also just tape the card to the stick on the back, either way is fine, the way I did it just hid the stick!  I filled in the spaces with the purple paper crinkles and the empty part of the box on both sides too.  A balloon ribbon tied around the box and finished into a bow!  

I love it, and she loved it too, and it made for a few smiles and giggles!

I'm happy with that...

Birthday Celebration for our Daughter's 30th

We traveled to Greenville, SC on Saturday to celebrate our Daughter's 30th Birthday over the weekend!  We went to the Brown Street Club downtown that evening and had a nice dinner while being entertained by live jazz performances.  It was a very fun time!  We later had some more fun back at her house with her opening some birthday surprises!  I had put together a couple special gifts and also a few fun gifts for her, I mean... a bag of 30 gifts!  Oh Yes I did!  It was a collection of fun items such as, (to name a few) a purple sparkled ink pen, contact lens case, bag of Dove dark chocolates, two purple Brighton beads, bangle bracelets, cherry Twizzler bites, and three different bottles of Pinot Grigio wine, one for every decade of course, and on, and on, and on!  Also a Cake Pop maker, that will be fun for her and her girls to create cake pops!  I made a few special gifts too, jewelry, personalized Hershey Kisses with "30" on them, Thirty suckers with a "30 Sucks" sign, and one of my favorites was a photo collage that I created from different images.

Enjoy the photos telling a bit of the story!

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~ At Brown Street Club ~

   

* Daughter's 30th Birthday *

Jewelry by Tammy - Gifts for my Daughter's birthday

Pssst....(Shhh!) I haven't given them to her yet!  We will celebrate with her this weekend, then I can share them here....so do come back later to see! ;)
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UPDATE!
OK, now that she has been given them you can see them too!


I made these jewelry pieces specially for my Daughter for her 30th Birthday.  Swarovski crystals were used on all of the pieces with accents of silver and silver lined glass beads, and silver plated elements.  Each earring set was made using sterling silver plated posts which she prefers.
I love the sparkle of all of them!  She will sparkle beautifully when she's wearing them.

Black swarovski crystals and crystal lined square silver rondelles, 

on crystal teardrop sterling posts.

Silver/gray swarovki crystals, and sterling heart components and earring posts.

Black swarovski crystals, silver lined glass beads, 
silver dangle components, on sterling posts.

Silver/purple crystals and silver glass beads, silver components, 

and sterling clasp.

Her Daughter,/my Granddaughter proudly made this necklace with a little help from me...;)

Purple swarovski crystals, silver lined glass, and sterling earring posts and clasp.

The Fall Season Nears

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Fall is right around the corner and soon it will be looking like fall outside, so why not have a little fall inside your home too.  Also Thanksgiving is an important part of the Fall season, and a time when family and friends gather in our home.  I found some inspiration at Better Homes and Gardens to get the creativity flowing with some easy Thanksgiving crafts ideas to decorate your home.  Maybe there is something here to inspire you too!

                          Wrapped votives                 image source

                       Pretty Pumpkin ideas               image source

                                   Table Garland                         image source

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One of my ideas for a fall table centerpiece.

 Simple Centerpiece

My Wreath for Fall.

 Fall Wreath

Fall festive flair...
~Tammy~

Paper Flowers Door Decor

I found these cute paper flowers at the craft store and thought they would do nicely as something different for my front door decor. I'm usually looking for something out of the ordinary, unusual or different.  My creative juices were flowing when I spotted theses little cuties and they were only a dollar each too!  Each one already had a string attached to it, so I simply strung them together with the strings, by looping through the next flower's string.  I like the low profile also since I have a storm door, it fit nicely without any problem.  These were on my door for late spring/early summer decor this year. 

Simple and cute, simply cute!...
~Tammy~

Fancy that - Cars, cars and more cars!

A day at the Car Cruise in Canton GA

We attended a Po Boys Car Club Car Show in Canton, GA on Saturday with some of our good friends.  There were many interesting cars on display there to look at, dream of, or drool over.  I especially enjoyed the older cars.  It's interesting how much automobiles have changed over the years.  I did get a few photos of some of them.  Enjoy!

'61 Thunderbird

(This made me think of some of the t-birds Mom & Dad used to own!)

   '59 Galaxie Skyliner-hard top convertible

(Pretty cool convertible!)

Nova - BelAir

Ranchero

Dodge Challenger-plum crazy is the paint color

(My kind of color!)

Cadillac Sedan de Ville

(This really reminds me of the huge Oldsmobile Delta 88 with it's big ol' pointed front end, 

that I bought for 350 bucks as my first car at 17, it was a Tank!)

'29 Nash

(This had me thinking "Gangsters" like Bonnie and Clyde! 

A beautiful automobile!)

'29 Nash interior

Singing..."Driving along in my automobile"...
~Tammy~

Rye Crispbread with Cream Cheese and Red Pepper Jelly

I'm always on the lookout for something to snack on, that isn't a calorie overload, is a healthy alternative, and that tastes good too.  

This is an easy and tasty snack!  Rye crispbread with Cream Cheese and Red Pepper Jelly.  I wasn't sure I would like this the first time I was encouraged to give it a try!  Although I do like the ingredients, I didn't think I would like them all together.  I was surprised and delighted by the taste, and I did indeed like it!  The red pepper jelly has a little heat to it, it's sweet and hot which I like.  

The light rye crispbread is only 30 calories per slice, the pepper jelly is 35 calories per Tbsp. and I use the fat-free cream cheese which is 30 calories for 2 Tbsp., so this adds up to a low calorie snack of about 150 calories for 3 crispbreads with cream cheese and pepper jelly.  

I enjoy this for a snack, it's easy and quick to prepare and satisfies the "I could eat a whole bag of chips right now" in me!   

Spread a thin layer of cream cheese onto a crispbread, then spread red pepper jelly on top of that!

You just might be surprised, if you'll give it a try. 

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Products needed:

Red Pepper Jelly

Cream Cheese

Rye Crispbread

I used the following brands for mine:

Braswells Red Pepper Jelly

Philadelphia Cream Cheese

Wasa Light Rye Crispbread

Lip smackin' snackin'!...

We Remember September - 9-11-01

Today we honor our Nation in Remembrance of Sept 11, 2001, and the many lives that were changed forever on that tragic day. We stand firm on not forgetting those who lost their lives and the exceptional courage and strength of the people that emerged as hereos that day and inspired our nation! We will continue to honor and pay tribute to the victims, survivors, and heroes, and we will never forget!
God Bless America! And God Bless Us All!

Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain Park

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We attended the Stone Mountain Park-Yellow Daisy Festival on Sunday.  An annual Arts and Crafts show that has grown into a four day event, which was held this year from Thursday Sept. 6th through Sunday Sept. 9th.  Much to see ...and eat there!  Live bands performing too!  After enjoying some good festival food we walked through and viewed many a craft booth, also did a little taste testing here and there at some of them.  

We finished the last hour by just relaxing in view of the stage while the band Yacht Rock preformed some great tunes!  Yacht Rock is an interesting cover band that has a wide range of songs, a huge variety of artists that they cover, including some of my favorites, Steely Dan, Hall and Oats, and Boz Scaggs.  They are one of the reasons we chose this day to attend!  I'm planning on not missing this festival next year for sure!  There is something there for everyone!  A must see and do if you get the chance!    

Cool tree art at the Stone Mountain Yellow Daisy Festival 

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Yacht Rock performing on stage.

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