We have recently moved to a place where it is always windy.  I’m not talking about a breeze every now and again… I’m talking enough wind most of the time to do things like rip the car door out of your hand if you’re not careful when you open it at the gas station with enough force to put a huge dent in that very door…

The kids, on the other hand, don’t have such dilemmas with the wind.  They fully enjoy the wind – they fly kites, they make their pool towels into full-blown superman capes and they love, absolutely love, pinwheels.

Thought it would be fun to make some pinwheels for the kids with some of the yummy goodies from the July main kit.  These are really quick and easy to make!!

Here’s the supplies you need (this is just one of the many ways to make these)…  6×6 paper pieces, adhesive, beads, wire (any paperclip will do), eyelets, ruler, pencil, Crop-a-dile, scissors, dowel rods (I used some pieces of old wood).

First, if you’re not using double sided paper, use the adhesive (spray works well) to piece the papers together so the nice sides are facing out.  Then draw diagonal lines, corner to corner, on one side of the paper to mark not only the center but also where to cut the pieces.  Mark a tick approximately 2/3 in on the lines (I used the eyelet container as it was easily accessible).  This will indicate just how far in on the paper to cut… off you go, snip, snip!

After all the cuts are made, use the Crop-a-dile (a hole punch will work) and punch holes in the center and on one corner of each triangle cut.  Then, run an eyelet through the holes, pulling the corners in to attach one at a time.

Once the eyelet has been threaded through the holes, use the Crop-a-dile to finish the eyelet, careful not to smash the puffy pieces of the pinwheel too much.  After this is done, thread a bead onto the wire that has a curl on the end and thread the wire through the eyelet.  The eyelet will allow for smooth spinning of the pinwheel, if they are used for more than just decoration.  Here, straight pins can also be used if the pinwheels don’t need to actually spin.  Another bead can be run though on the back of the wheel, as well, to give it some space away from the holder.

I used random pieces of old wood the kids found rather than the standard dowel rods.  There are two ways of attaching the wire for something like this…  You can either wrap the wire or you can drill a hole through the wood and run the wire through the wood.  Either way, be sure that there is enough clearance for the wheel to spin by adjusting the tightness and the angle of the wire.

Here’s a fun little way to display these in the house…

These could also be made out of 12×12 papers, attached to dowels and used to decorate a sidewalk path for a garden party or even a bouquet of them for the kids to play with…  That’s my plan for when the sun rises again.

I love summer. I love hanging out with my friends in the summer time. Seems like everyone takes the time to relax and unwind. Everyone is a little more at ease. It’s also the time I see my friends the most. I love celebrating my friendships during this time by gifting pretty & sweet gifts.  Afterall, everybody loves gifts wink wink*.  This time around, I decided to make chocolate covered Oreo cookies :) 

Gotta LOVE this

I decided to decorate the boxes, because we all appreciate cute packaging. Right? :) 

Pretty packaging is a must! It makes you smile :)

To do this I used my KR July kit, kraft boxes ( I already had them sitting around), my tag & butterfly punch, doilies and some twine ( already in my stash from thrifting).

Close Up

Totally cute!

Packaging is the sweetest

I played around with these and made several for (each different for my friends).

Close Up

Different Label, each special for a sweet friend

Enjoy!

Now I have the pleasure of sharing these little cuties with friends. I hope you find yourself surrounded with great friends, happy times and sweet memories!

xoxo

- debee

i can’t do it…i can never show up empty handed when invited to an event or get together. i love to show thanks by bringing a small something to give to the hostess. it doesn’t have to cost a lot…handmade or hand grown is always appreciated:) and in this case….the hostess gets both :)

i grow a vegetable garden…love having fresh veggies to pick. i am a HUGE salad lover and grow an over abundance of lettuces. it also makes a great hostess gift for a summer time bbq, outdoor party, or a just because. and today i am going to share with you a favourite recipe of ours that always goes over well at any party and just screams summer!!!

so using the label side of the webster’s “let’s celebrate” paper in the blue ribbon kit i cut out the champagne cider label. added some blue scallop edging and covered the champagne cider title with a strip of paper stamped with what is filling the bottle…apple cider vinaigrette. tied a ribbon around it, filled it with my vinaigrette, and done!! then fill a basket with the ingredients needed to complete the salad and you are good to go. don’t forget to include a recipe card with the recipe for your hostess to enjoy another time!!

garden salad with apple cider vinaigrette

• 2 cups apple cider
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 cups grapeseed or salad oil
• Salt
• Freshly freshly black pepper
• 6 cups loosely packed mixed torn greens such as romaine, red or green leaf lettuce, or radicchio, washed and dried
• 2 cups assorted berries: blueberries, raspberries and blackberries
• 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and sliced

• 1 1/2 cups crumbled blue  cheese

In a bowl or jar with a tight fitting lid combine cider, vinegar, honey, cinnamon, oil, salt and pepper. In a large bowl, toss lettuce, berries, apples, and blue cheese with enough dressing to coat. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

enjoy!!

gigi

it’s time for our monthly gallery challenge and this month we’re all about the stamps, kenner road stamps! the winner will receive a blue ribbon add-on kit as a prize. just load your layout or project using stamps in our flickr gallery and post your link here in the comments before sunday august 9th and the winner will be announced and spotlighted on august 12th.

and just to get your creativity flowing check out the stamp inspiration from our design team :

amy

celeste

debee

dina

jessi

katie

kl

lisa

hey there!

this month’s theme of summer reminded me that i have a few summer getaways coming up and every year i try to remember to either make or buy a little notebook to keep with me when i travel. next week we are heading to a wedding in florida, after i’ll be heading to cha, and then later in the summer is our annual trip to cape cod. i use little notebooks to keep track of everything from items i saw that i liked, grocery lists, books i want to read, phone numbers/emails of friends i met, to memory joggers for journaling on my pages later.

this year I decided to make a little vacation jotter using the july kit.

you’ll need:

• your july kit and add-ons
• chipboard (you can use cereal boxes for this)
• 3×5 index cards – you can purchase these blank and lined in either direction
• larger index cards to cut if you plan on making the bingo cover
• a cropodile or standard hole punch
• binder rings (you can get these at an office supply store)
• large eyelets
• gel medium (or other adhesive such as mod podge)
• the corner chomper or a standard corner rounder
• brayer or bone folder

Directions

1. using your cutter or scissors cut two 3×5 inch chipboard pieces.
2. cut a piece of patterned paper to 3×5 inches. apply gel medium to the chipboard and adhere the paper. use a clean brayer or a bone folder to get rid of any wrinkles. do the same to the other piece of chipboard. let dry then cover the back sides of the chipboard as well. let dry overnight.
3. round all four corners of 30 index cards. i used my we r memory keepers corner chomper which allowed me to do a lot at once. you can use a standard corner rounder it will just take a little longer.
4. round all four corners of the two pieces of chipboard. if your standard corner rounder won’t cut through, trace the corners using one of your index cards as a template and use a craft knife or scissors to round the corner.
5. decide which piece of the covered chipboard will be the front and which side will face the back.
6. using your cropadile, punch one or two holes in the top edge of the chipboard pieces. the location of the holes will be determined by the lines on your index cards. (for one hole I’d punch the top left.) be sure to line up the holes on both pieces. i added large eyelets to mine so the ring would slide through easily.
7. using the cover as a template mark a small stack of index cards and punch through using the cropadile – continue until all of the index cards are punched.
8. add rings through the punched holes and add embellishments to the front cover as desired.

you can vary the size of these jotters, use fabric to cover them, use graph paper or other paper for the sheets, and really make them your own. if you make one of these, be sure to link me up!  have fun!