New Memories collection, A Picture Perfect Birthday with Rachel McAffee

 Happy Friday and happy CHA! Rachel here and as you know, today marks the first day of CHA and all of the gorgeous TCD collections are making their debut at the show! I'm so excited to be able to create with these beautiful lines and today I am going to show you what I made using the Memory collection.  

Our little girl recently celebrated her 2nd birthday ( where does the time go??) and we wanted her to have a picture perfect day. 

 I fell in love with the pale yellow polka dot and floral aqua paper from the new Memories collection and it just so happened that it matched perfectly with the invites for the party. The theme was " A Picture Perfect Birthday" so you can imagine my excitement when I saw the little vintage camera in the sticky note pads from the Far and Away collection.

I didn't go crazy and over the top with decorations; a party hat, goodie bags and a simple garland did the trick .Oh, and about a billion aqua polka dot and yellow balloons. I admit, I did go a little nuts with the balloons. Can't have enough balloons at a party, right??

I made the party hat out of the polka dot paper, accordion folded a strip of aqua paper and adhered it towards the bottom of the hat. I then lined the bottom of the hat with aqua tissue garland and also added a pouf of tissue to the top of the hat. Simple embellishments of the number 2 and a die cut doily were adhered to the front of the hat.   

The goodie bags were also made out of the polka dot paper and embellished with stickers and die cuts from the Memory collection.

The garland was so quick and easy to make. I simply cut several different shapes out of coordinating papers using my Cricut and glued them to a string. You could use punches as well. Pretty easy, eh?

The party was a hit and I loved making decorations for it. Our little one even kept her party hat on most of the time...woohoo!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great weekend!

A Week in the Life mini album with Rachel

       Happy Christmas Eve, everyone! Rachel here to show you my "Week in the Life" album.
 I LOVED the idea of  "A Week in the Life"....but... I had never put together a mini album before. I'm a terrible scrapbooker, something in my brain just does not compute arranging photos on paper and writing about them. So I was a little nervous about how it would turn out, then I decided there was no wrong or right way and to just go with the flow. It's more about the memories than how cute it turns out, right?

For the cover, I used a sheet of Blue Damask from the Now and Then Collection. The rest of the papers and embellishments are from the Christmas Cottage Collection. I tied seam binding, bakers twine and a little jingle bells to the rings of the binder.

I chose the week of  November 30th  through December 6th  because I knew we were going to have a fun and busy week ahead and wanted to be sure to document it. We started a few new traditions this year now that our almost 2 year old is starting to understand the concept of Christmas. It's so much fun to see this magical season through the eyes of a child. 

~Day 1~

~Decorating the Tree~

Thursday night we put up the Christmas tree and had such a fun time decorating it. Our little Averi loved putting on (and taking off) the decorations. We sipped hot chocolate, listened to the Gene Autry Holiday station on Pandora (seriously, the cutest station ever) and relaxed by the fireplace. 

~Day 2~

~Photos with Santa~

Averi met Santa Claus and had her photos taken with the jolly old elf.

 Ok, honestly that's really my husband dressed up as Santa. How genius is that idea? The studio has a parent dress up as Santa so the child isn't traumatized and you can get some great photos without having to wait in a huge line at the mall. I absolutely loved how they turned out and I know we'll cherish these pictures forever. 

~Day 3~

~Festival of Trees~

 I love this event because not only do we get to see over 700 beautifully decorated trees, enjoy fun entertainment and marvel at deliciously decorated gingerbread houses, every single penny this festival raises goes straight to children in need at the Primary Children's Medical Center. 

~Day 4~

~North Pole Breakfast~

Santa sent his scout elf  "Paprika" to our house early Saturday morning. She made us yummy cinnamon rolls and brought us reindeer food straight from the North Pole! She gave Averi  a special gift  of warm socks (because it's COLD at the North Pole!) and holiday books to read all through the month of December. We explained to Averi that Paprika was going to stay with us until Christmas Eve so she could report to Santa all the good things Miss Averi does every day. Averi then took the elf and put her in the garbage. "All gone. No more." she stated.

We spent the rest of Sunday being lazy and just hanging out in Averi's teepee, reading books and napping. 

~Day 5~

~Family Christmas Party~

I love seeing family that we don't get to see too often. We all gather together for a delicious dinner and visit with one another. Then in comes Santa, jingle bells and all with a sack of gifts over his shoulder for all the kids. Averi refused to sit on his lap, although she did give him a kiss on the nose after he handed her a candy cane.  It's tradition for Santa to bring pajamas, which I LOVE because it feels like Christmas morning with a HUGE family. Once the gifts are distributed and every child has had a chance to sit on Santa's lap, the presents are ripped open and the jammies are put on. It's adorable to see all the kids in their new Christmas PJs.

~Day 6~

~Hanging out on Main Street~

One of the great things about living in Park City is its historic main street. It's an adorable street lined with shops, restaurants and galleries. We love riding the trolley up and down main, then stopping at our favorite cozy little bookstore to visit the resident cats. As always, we go next door for a scoop of ice cream.  

~Day 7~

~Temple Square~

We spent the evening in downtown Salt Lake City for some window shopping and dinner. Then on to Temple Square, which during the Christmas season, turns into a wonderland of festive lights and nativity scenes.  Listening to local musicians perform is one of the highlights of visiting Temple Square and watching Averi dance and twirl to the music made it all the more magical.

I hope you enjoyed a peek into a "Week in the Life" of the McAffee clan!

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Supplies used:

Papers and embellishments from-

 Christmas Cottage Collection

Now and Then

craft supplies- seam binding, felt, thread

Christmas Tussie Mussie, with Rachel McAffee

                                              Hello and happy Monday to you!

 Rachel McAffee here and I'd like to show you a holiday project I've been working on.

A tussie mussie can be fun alternative to a Christmas stocking or they can be a beautiful decoration to hang in your home for the holidays.  They're also fairly simply to make, so let's get started!

                         

                                              Directions-

1.Take the top two corners of your 12x12 sheet of paper and bring the points together.  This will automatically form your cone for the tussie mussie. 

2. Run adhesive or glue down the seam of the cone, carefully overlap and press together. You could use a paper clip or clothes pin to hold it together until it dries.

3. You're going to have a leftover 'tail', you'll just need to trim off that excess paper. 

4. Wrap tissue garland around the top edge of the cone.

5. Using adhesive, attach a border strip on top of the tissue garland.

6. Punch holes on both sides of the cone, thread tinsel through to make the handle and tie knots to keep the tinsel in place.

The cone is now finished!

To make the rosette, you'll cut a strip of paper about 2" inches tall and 8" long. 

 Accordion fold the strip of paper like a fan, bend one section in, the other one out, all the way down the length of the paper.

Glue the ends together by tucking the last section under the first.

Gather the rosette together and press down with a finger in the middle.

Turn the rosette over and place glue on the back center of the rosette, place a small circle of paper over the glue and hold down until it is dry.

Glue the rosette to the front of the tussie mussie and let dry.

                             

Now for the fun part....embellishments!

I attached a rhinestone medallion on top of the rosette and tucked a bit of tinsel and a banner piece from the Christmas Cottage Accessory Sheet behind the medallion. I also adhered a chipboard piece and sticker to the front of the rosette.

Now you'll simply fill your cone with whatever you wish! I rolled a leftover scrap of music paper from the Christmas Cottage collection and tied it with ribbon and bakers twine.

                      

I also tucked in a vintage photo of a cute little girl all bundled up for winter, a couple bottle brush trees and a silver Christmas sprig I had on hand.

                               

                         
                               

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a creative day!

               ~ All supplies used are from the Christmas Cottage Collection ~

 1 sheet of 12x12 Red Damask pattern paper

Border Strips

Rhinestone Medallion

Strip of Music paper

Chipboard Elements

Accessory Sheet

Trim 

Vintage Inspired Christmas Banner

I know, I know. It's not even December yet and Thanksgiving is just two days away! But I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get Christmas projects finished before the holiday is upon us. I LOVE to decorate for the holidays and the tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving. It took everything I had not to put it up a couple weeks ago when we had a huge snowstorm. It was such a beautiful winter wonderland that it only felt right to set up the tree. Instead I just blared the Nutcracker Suite and drove my husband insane. :)

I wanted to create a vintage inspired banner to hang across our mantle. Of course the Christmas Cottage collection was the perfect fit.

Let's get started!

Trace the wood onto pattern paper, cut out and apply a thin coat of glue (I use Zip Dry)

onto the wood and adhere to the paper.

Ink the around the edges of the flags and string the banner through the holes using ribbon.

Adhere strips of tissue garland to the tops of the pennants. 

Cut out  letters to spell "Joy", spray two letters with spray adhesive and shake glitter onto them. Remove excess glitter and adhere one letter to each pennant.

Embellish the banner with different elements from the Christmas Cottage collection any way you please!

Tie strips of tinsel into knots around the ribbon that's holding the pennants together. 

And that's it! You've just made a lovely vintage inspired Christmas banner. 

Thank you so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Supplies used-

pattern paper- snowflakes, tiny flowers (back), red damask

border strips

rhinestone medallion

chipboard

decorative brads

faceted rhinestones 

tissue garland

tinsel

wooden pennant flags from The Wood Connection

Mini Gift Pillows

If you have ever prepared Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, you know how exhausting and labor-intensive the day can be.  If you're lucky enough to enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving feast made by someone else, why not thank your hosts with something special and handmade!

These mini "Thankful" pillows are a sweet token of appreciation and gratitude for all of your host's hard work.  

                                                                                                                                                                            I  used some beautiful elements  from the Now and Then collection to show  scrapbook embellishments aren't just for paper! 

                These were super quick and easy to make, so let's get started! 

Use a heart template to trace onto the muslin and cut out muslin heart pieces.   Sew along the edges of the heart and leave a small opening on the side so you can put the fiberfill inside.     Turn pillows right side out so seams are inside, stuff the fiberfill inside the pillow and sew seam up.

Next, cut a heart out of felt and do a running stitch around the edges of the felt. I kind of cheated by just gluing the felt heart with fabric glue on top of the pillow instead of sewing it on....but it worked just fine! 

I finished the pillows off by embellishing them with buttons, stickers, and decorative brads from the Now and Then collection. I also used ribbon and bakers twine from the Vintage Finds collection.

 Another fun idea is to make these into lavender sachets by adding a ribbon on top and filling them with lavender for hanging in a closet.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great week!

Supplies used-

Decorative Brads

Stickers

Buttons

Medallion

Bakers Twine 

Ribbon

Border Strips

Muslin

Felt

Now and Then Project Plus a Giveaway!

I am in LOOOOOOVE with the new Now and Then Collection. IN LOVE, I tell ya!  The mix and match of   bright colors and bold patterns are to die for! I decided to make a fun little hot air balloon decoration for my toddler's room as her favorite thing in the WORLD right now are hot air balloons...I think they're pretty cute too.

Start out by painting  the wooden base, dowel and balloon from The Wood Connection and let  dry.  Trace different colors and patterns of paper ( I used Damask, Floral and Newsprint) around the balloon. Cut out the papers in strips of three and glue them on the balloon. Attach the "Happy" banner to the front of the balloon and tie little bows on either side of the banner.

I embellished the base using chipboard elements, decorative brads and buttons. This was so much fun to make and perfect for a child's room!

And now on to the giveaway!  Teresa has generously donated a 6x6 Designer Pad to give away on my blog.   Head on over to Fawn to find out how to win! 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Xyron and Teresa Collins Designs - Day 1

Teresa Collins Design Team was thrilled to partner up with The Xyron Design Team for the first time - and the projects they've created are gorgeous! Every day this week we'll feature a project from one or two of our DT members using Xyron products along side Teresa Collins Products - I know you are just going to love the results!

First we wanted to share some inspiration from Rachel McAffee:

Tell Your Story Gift Bags!

Next we have a wonderful tutorial by Cheri Piles:

I am so excited to be able to participate in the Xyron Blog hop this week! I just LOVE my sticker maker, it is one of my favorite "GO TO" tools!

I made this great little pumpkin home decor piece for one of my shelves in my home office. I love to change things up with the seasons. I started with a 4x5 piece of canvas and painted it a Pearl White (I just love a little shine!) Then I added 3 3/4 x 4 3/4 piece of Pennants paper (back) and outlined it with Black ink. 

I used the large oval frame from the Tell Your Story Stamp set to make the pumpkin, I stamped the frame onto the following papers: Damask (back), Frames (back) & Cards (back). Then I tore them all at the same time so my pieces would line up when I put them back together. I tried to tear them with a rounded shape to create a Pumpkin "feel". For the stem and the leaf I cut two of the shapes from the Pennant paper and trimmed the leaf until it had the shape I wanted. I then ran them through the sticker maker!

I really wanted to create more "texture" to the pumpkin so I added some crackle glaze and it created some bubbles and a little crackle in spots, just the look I was after! I used last months free download for the stamp maker and made the Autumn Splendor stamp for the bottom. I added the blue scalloped chipboard piece to the right and trimmed to size. Then I added the orange dots scallop borders to the top and left sides. 

I hope you enjoy the blog hop this week and please come back to check out what the team has in store for you!

Thank you for joining us today. Make sure to head over to XYRON's BLOG HERE to see what they have done with Tell Your Story.  And we have a give-a-way!!!  A Teresa Collins X sticker maker and a goodies bag with Teresa Collins Designs product.  

To enter to win 

• "like" us at facebook.com/tcdesigns and let us know you saw the BLOG HOP Post for DAY1.  Leave us a comment that you left a comment on the Teresa Collins Designs facebook page.
• For an additional chance to win the goody bag head on over to xyron's facebook page at facebook.com/xyroninc and let them know you are enjoying the blog hop. leave us a comment on this blog post that you left a comment on XYRON's facebook page. 
• Then finally for a third chance to win you can just leave us a comment on this blog post and xyron's blog post to enter to win.

Make sure to check back everyday this week for more inspiration with our five day blog hop with XYRON!