Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope you all have a fabulous day, but I mostly wish my own mother an especially lovely day! She's so talented and kind and giving and truly has a servant's heart.

She surprised me with a very early birthday gift last week. This gorgeous purse she sewed!! Isn't it amazing! I never learned how to sew, so I can really appreciate all the work that went into this gem! Grommets, lining, pockets, etc. Even a coordinating notepad holder! I totally love it and want to give her a big 'shout-out' here on my blog as a thank you!!

Thanks, mom, for your example – always giving and doing and sacrificing for others. I appreciate you and wish you a relaxing, joyful Mother's Day! Love you!

Silver Fingerprint Pendants / Ornaments Tutorial

Don't you just love the new fingerprint jewelry coming out lately? Here's what you'll see with an Etsy search for "fingerprint pendant":

Loads of people/companies selling fingerprint pendants, rings, wall art, and everything else online. I don't know who started the trend but bravo to all those putting a fresh spin on this theme. It's the "latest thing" and girls, we just HAVE to have it, right? :-)  

Well, fingerprints of your spouse or child ARE something to be treasured, but if the three figure prices are not in your budget this month, then I have just the tutorial for you!! 

FAUX silver fingerprint pendants!  :-)  Yup, let's make our own using polymer clay products and a few other simple supplies! Make a pendant to wear on Valentine's Day, or a gift for the grandparents! How about a large heart ornament, refrigerator magnet, bookmark - just about anything!

Supplies: black polymer clay, silver metallic powder, parchment paper, old baking sheet, turkey roasting bag, small heart cookie cutters, play-doh type rolling pin, rubber gloves, toothpick &/or narrow drinking straw, brush or paper towel, clear matte spray sealer, jump ring, necklace, optional bead or jewel, gift bag.

In December I hosted a Kids' Christmas Craft Party, of which this was one of the projects. We created them in various sizes as Christmas ornaments. Here's my friend with her two daughters - I thought this pic was so cute with one preparing to press her thumb and the other designing with a toothpick:

I tried silver and black Sculpey. Both require an addition of color for the actual fingerprint grooves to show up better - silver on black looked better to me than black on silver. But feel free to experiment because the supplies are so inexpensive. Roll out your black clay, then cut out hearts or whatever shape you desire. Follow the directions on your brand very carefully. Make a heart with one fingerprint and child's name; or in my case, I put my two kids' prints and names on the same heart. Use a toothpick to embellish with any design you like. Use a toothpick or narrow drinking straw to make a hole in the top center or side for threading your ribbon or necklace through. Be sure to date the back, too. The girls at my party did such beautiful work and naturally I forgot to snap pics at the end!

Coat the ornaments with metallic silver powder via a slightly damp paper towel. You'll see the fingerprint lines pop. Set on parchment paper, on an old baking sheet pan and tuck into a turkey roasting bag. The bag: polymer clay is toxic and will perhaps coat your oven. If you're going to just do this once or twice, probably not a big concern, but gals who work with this clay as a hobby must use a separate craft oven! So, for a couple bucks, play it safe with the bag and also don't let polymer clay touch anything that needs to return to your kitchen.

Now that you've baked it according to the directions on your package of clay, and let it cool, spray it with a coat of clear satin or matte sealer. It keeps the silver powder from rubbing off. When it's dry, add a jump ring and thread your necklace and add some bling for a pendant! String it along a pretty ribbon for a bookmark or ornament. Voila!

Linking to Today's Creative Blog and Tip Junkie's Tip Me Tuesday and Sugar Bee's Take a Look Tuesday. 

Gifting Botanicals & Mother's Day

Here are some examples of "permanent botanicals" ie: silk and dried flowers that I used to sell in my Christian gift store:

Mother's Day, birthdays, house-warming, thinking of you, etc.:

There are such well-made ones these days. A pretty ribbon and message tag are all you need to add.

May Day / Mother's Day Flower Idea

My sweet daughter and I just had to pick some of our gorgeous backyard roses and bring them inside to enjoy. We selected the biggest pinkest blossoms we could find. And, of course, our pinkest vase. And also a pretty pink ribbon to match:

I decided to dress our flower vase up with a May Day idea - a green tag that reads "May God Bless Your May Day!" I printed the words with a green background design, then layered the paper onto some thin cardboard to make it stiff. With two small holes punched, it fit nicely onto the ribbon, which was wrapped around our square vase twice:

A simple touch like this would be lovely for Mother's Day, too!
(Sharing this post at DIY day at A Soft Place to Land.)

Mother's Day Giveaway!

In honor of mothers everywhere, let's have a giveaway! 

I put together several items from my Simply Inspiring gift collection at Hallmark:

One winner will receive all this: a pillow with felt and button flower accents that reads: "God made families for love, for laughter, for life."; a photo vase that reads: "I have you in my heart. Phil. 1:7"; and a glass bowl and stand that reads: "Your love has given me great joy and encouragement."

Visit Hallmark Gold Crown stores to see more of the Simply Inspiring gift collection!


ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:
1. For one entry, simply comment below.
2. For TWO additional entries, blog, twitter or Facebook about this post and link to it. You must leave another comment telling me you did so.
3. For another entry. FOLLOW ME on blogger and don't forget to come back and let me know in a separate comment!

Contest is open until midnight MT, April 26th. Winners must have a US address I can ship to. Leave your email or a way to contact you if you win!

"I am Blessed" Charming Valentine Vase

A triple strand of pink "pearls" is just the ticket to glam up this petite glass vase for Valentine's Day:

I've had this strand of rose quartz beads laying around in my craft supplies. I bought them wholesale back when I designed and sold my own jewelry, but you can find the same these days in the bead section of your craft store. I simply looped the ends through a heart charm from Michael's that says "I am Blessed" on one side and "Faith" on the other. I think my daughter will love it on Valentine's Day!

May Day Basket

Happy May Day ... almost! Time to plan May baskets for neighbors or friends! I made a paper cone to hold some roses from my garden. The roses are really filling out and smelling wonderful this week! I chose a palest pink and a budding lilac. [I have NO idea what their real rose plant names are - here at the Winters we go by color!] :-)I created my paper cone with a sheet of card stock. I spray-glued purple tissue paper to both sides, then rolled into shape. Secured the roll with double-sided tape. Trimmed the top edge with scallop-decorative scissors. Punched two holes for the ribbon that I used for my hanging loop -- one purple and one white twisted together. Then I created a tag using my new-to-me-garage-sale-steal giant tag punch. [LOVE IT!] Added "Happy May Day." Inserted the flower stems into those individual water picks, pop inside and I'm all set for gifting!!

Guesting, Giving, Charming

The uber-thoughtful, talented and multi-published writer, Holley Gerth, interviewed me yesterday! She's also hosting a giveaway of my book, Inspirational Home, AND one of my product designs.

To see what the "refreshing" product is, have a chance to win, and read a little bit about me, pop on over to heart to heart with Holley! Holley has a unique gift to connect with women through her writing. I hope you'll spend some time over there and get to know this special lady! :-)

You'll also find a charming idea for some of your spring blossoms. (May Day and Mother's Day are coming up!)Thank you, Holley!

The Big Project

Remember I mentioned a wonderful Mother's Day present?
Well, here it is ... Don't you love it???
What? You're not getting goosebumps??
:-)
Well ... you THINK you're looking at a whopper of a mess ... but what you're REALLY seeing is ... drum roll, please ...
MY NEW STUDIO!!

YES! I'm ecstatic!! Our home has this "spare" room that we've gone around and around on for the past year - what to make it? We started to decorate and turn it into a guest room ... for about a week. Then, since homes in our area lack basements, (we're from northern states where homes have large basements and attics and one can amass unseemly amounts of stuff) we decided it would be more useful as a storage/work area. Well, every month it became more "storage" and less "work." So, for Mother's Day, my husband offered me the space to make into a studio!!! We spent that whole Saturday moving boxes and industrial shelving out. Believe it or not, these photos were actually taken after that! Yup, it was bad. I have a long way to go to have a fun & functional room, but I'll get there!!

For me, it was the PERFECT Mother's Day gift! PS: I was also treated to a delicioso homemade chocolate souffle with fresh creme and raspberry sauce. (photo taken before they remembered the sauce! :-) )

Please send me any fun work space ideas you have, storage tips and tricks and I'll post glimpses of my Big Project progress along the journey!!

Contest Winners!

Hi! I hope all the mom's had a lovely Mother's Day yesterday!I printed out all the comments AND the list of subscribers, cut them into strips, put them in my favorite vase, and had my two adorable children each pick a winner! They had fun helping! So, "Blogger Karin" can thank Ava, and "noahsm at yahoo dot com" can thank Chas! Congrats to you both!! Email your snail mail address to jeanne at jeannewinters dot com and I'll get your book out this week! Thanks for participating everyone!

PS: My next post will be about my Mother's Day gift that my family gave me this weekend. It's definitely unconventional and I'm VERY excited! I've just got to share with you all and I hope you can help me with it!!

Bouquet for Mom!

Mother's Day is Sunday, May 11th. Are you ready? If not, here's a fun presentation idea for Mother's Day flowers:What mom wouldn't love to receive flowers?! Put some bright stems in a neat reusable tin bucket, add a ribbon ... and here's the twist ... a sentiment magnet!!
The magnet will stick to the metal vase and double as your gift tag!

Have fun with this one! You can do this idea for other occasions or gift recipients, too. Fun magnets will work for any kind of theme. Or even just to have as an accent on a foyer or side table.

Fresh Spring Idea!

Hi!
Everyone I talk to has spring on the mind ... a few in the north are praying it comes SOON, while elsewhere others are already enjoying it's fragrant blooms. As long as we're thinking it, let's do something fun for it! This little idea works all year long, but is especially fun in the spring. Stencil "Faith," "Hope" and "Love" on a bucket trio! You can find these buckets anywhere - and in any shape, size and color - especially in the spring. Enameled ones like this example come in gorgeous colors so look around to find ones perfect for your place or for the person you want to gift these to. Craft stores have the plain silver ones - which you can spray paint if you prefer, but not necessary. Mine [shown] are towards the large end of the spectrum.

Directions: Simply stencil using a sheet of alphabet stencils. Be sure to buy paint that works on metal.

This would be a nice Mother's Day gift, too! Enjoy!

Mother's Day Gift Idea

Happy last day of March!
Not too soon to be thinking about Mother's Day gifts, is it? :-) I have a fun gift presentation idea for you!Flowers for Mom are always a hit, but let's go a little further. Decorate the vase with a cross necklace and you have a three-in-one unique gift! No wrapping required!!If your pendant has a modern leather-style chain, it will cling to the vase like mine did, or simply use a vase with an indented neck for the chain to rest on.
And, since Mother's Day is just over a month away, you have plenty of time to find the right vase and pendant combo ... and to leave hints around the house for one for yourself if you're a mom!

This idea is also cute for a birthday gift. Or a home accent piece – use an inexpensive cross necklace, remove the pendant from the chain and put it on a little piece of ribbon to fasten around the vase. Look around your home and see what vases you already have that could use your personal touch!