A Few of My Favorite Things

Looking back through my blog this year, I realize that I have created many fun items. I really had a great time participating in challenges, being a design team member and creating unique items for my own Close To My Heart classes. These are just a few of my favorite things~

As you can see my creations are varied. Whether it's a card, scrapbook page or home decor item, I create it 100% from my heart. You can bet that I will be back next year pouring my love and passion into papers and ink!! See you next year! ;)

Year Round Cheer

Time is running out to get the Stamp of the Month, Year Round Cheer. This set is great for cards or scrapbooks. I created a little card set for my friend as a Birthday gift.

The deadline to get the Stamp of the Month for only $5 ends December 31st. Order here.

Lacey Boot Socks

Yesterday I shared with you the jar of vintage inspired spool ornaments I made for my sister. I mentioned that she had also hand crafted a gift for me. I prefer to play with paper, while she makes wonderful quilts and is pretty crafty with any fabrics or materials.

Back in November I emailed a picture of frilly boot socks I'd seen on Pinterest. I asked her if she could make these. Well, yes she can and they turned out soooo cute! She said it was a little tricky to sew the lace and ribbon, but eventually got the hang of it! That's good, because I want more in every color!!

Christmas Gift Revealed

I created some handmade goods for my sister for Christmas. Now that Christmas is over and she has opened her gifts, I can share my creations with you. I made some paper crafts for her like a 3D snowflake ornament, set of cards and a scrapbook page, which she plans to add to a scrapbook I made for her a couple years ago. I'm happy to make these for her since she is not a "papercrafter", in fact she is a quilter. That's what inspired me to make these spool ornaments. I thought how cute they would be on her Christmas tree.

I found the little wooden spools at Michaels along with the toille paper. I wrapped the paper around the center then sealed them with some mod podge. The twine and beads were a bit tricky, but after some trial and error, and some hot glue I figured it out!

I will have to share what she made for me later! I simply emailed her a photo of something I was interested in and she made it. I love that we can share our different talents with one another! A homemade Christmas, my favorite!

Christmas Day

To everyone that visits my little blog,

I enjoy getting to share my creations with you throughout the year. Looking back on 2012 I realize how amazing my year has been in life as well as the blogging community! I appreciate the opportunities I've had as a design team member and guest blogger to some of my favorite sites! I love sharing my passion of art and am extremely grateful to those that take the time to leave such kind comments. It's those comments that keep my creative spirits lifted and inspire me to keep cutting, stamping and glittering!

I hope that you have a very Merry Christmas with your friends and loved ones. And don't forget to scrapbook the memories to last a lifetime!

Sincerely, Amy Moore

Jars of Candy?

With a little inspiration from Pinterest I came up with a clever way to give gift cards this year! I filled some canning jars with the recipients favorite candy. Concealed in the middle of the candy was a little baggie holding a gift card. At first the recipient thought they were only getting a jar of candy which made it entertaining! They were pleasantly surprised when they discovered the card inside!

You will recognize the snowmen 3D tags from this previous post here. On the back I stamped who they were to and from and I included the year so that the tag could be used as a tree ornament.

Have a Sweet Christmas!

I enjoy making several Holiday sweets this time of year to share with family and friends. I pull many of my favorite recipes and combine them into one folder. This year I tried some new recipes that just might make it into my "favorites" folder!

This first one is rich and sweet! It combines my two favorite flavors of smooth chocolate and gooey caramel. Yum!

Salted Caramel Cashew Fudge~ {also known as Cajeta Fudge}

You can find the simple recipe at Betty Crocker here.

This next one was a big hit at my daughter's Holiday concert the other night. By the time we made it over to the cookie table, only crumbs remained. It's not really a cookie, more like candy, but that didn't stop anyone from eating it!

Candy Cane Oreo Peppermint Bark~

I doubled up the recipe to feed a crowd and really loaded up the top layer. It is a super simple recipe, it only requires some time for the chocolate to set. You can find the recipe at Lil' Luna's blog here.

Gifts From the Heart

I am one of those people that really enjoys watching others open their gifts! Especially when it's a gift that was made from the heart, something special that was created with just that person in mind. Here are some ideas that you still have time to make!

 

A homemade ornament for the tree. I like to add something new to my tree every year. I make sure to put the date on the back so that each December when we pull out the ornaments we look at them and remember the prior years. My kids each have their own ornaments on the tree and one day when they have families of their own, they will take these ornaments to place on their own trees.

 

 

 

A set of cute gift bag tags/cards. Make them simple, but make them cute. These little cards become useful and the recipients with a homemade tag will appreciate the handmade touch.

 



 

Giving a gift card is a great choice for some of those on your list. Rather than just a card tucked away in a card, add the card and some homemade cookies to an inexpensive container. Homemade sweets are a great gift for those that don't cook or have the time to prepare goodies. I have some folks on my list that requests certain sweets & cookies every year! {I tried some new recipes this year that were delicious, I will share them with you soon!}

Speaking of packaging! This is a set of gifts I have already mailed off. I like to make them all coordinate. To do this I used some kraft wrapping, red twine and Santa tags.

I stamped directly on the paper a little clue to what they might find inside. Homemade gift from my home to theirs~

And some "fun" to be had in this package. There were also lots of cookies with the boxes stamped "freshly baked"!

Take a look at this wrapping. Using the kraft paper again, I wrapped some packages in teal twine and some in red. I made little postage like stamps and adhered them to the gift. {inspired by Pinterest of course!} However, I did not write who they are to and from! It has my kids baffled!!! They see them sitting there by the tree, but curiously wonder who they are for. Only momma knows the "color code"!!! {Boo-hoo-hoo, ha, ha, ha}