Teacher Appreciation Gift

The week of May 2 through May 6 is Teacher Appreciation week.

In honor of all the wonderful men and women that take care of our children every day by nurturing them, educating them, and allowing them to grow mentally and creatively, I say "THANK YOU!".

You can say "thank you" too by showing them a little appreciation this week, which is why I am demonstrating how to make a flower pot pen holder that is both easy and inexpensive (using Dollar Store finds) to create.

Supplies:

twine
flower pot
Bic pen
flower bundle
floral tape
bag of dried beans
glue gun with glue
ribbon (optional)
paint (optional)
gems (optional)

Step One: Cut the flower tops off of the flower bundle leaving a bit of stem. Remove the bottom cap from the Bic pen.

Step Two: Fill the open bottom of the Bic pen with a generous squeeze of glue from a glue gun and press (firmly) flower top into opening. Set in a tall empty glass to dry.

Step Three: Wrap the pen body from top to bottom and then back up to top with floral tape.

Now your flower is complete!

Step Four:  Using glue gun, slowly add glue around top of flower pot and begin to wrap with twine. Continue to do this until entire pot in covered.

Step Five (Optional): If you want to dress up your pot more, you can paint the twine and pot using spray paint or acrylic paint. You can also add ribbon around the base or glue on sparkle gems.

Step Six:  Fill the flower pot with dried beans just shy of the top.

Now your pot is complete!

Step Seven: Stick the flower pen directly in the center of the flower pot.

Have your child make a handmade card to present to the teacher along with the gift.

Hope you enjoyed this project! If I have time, I will make a few flower pot variations and post later.
Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Featured Freebies for the Week of May 2nd

Good Morning and Happy Monday to everyone!

I wanted to address a question that was posed to me before I give you the links to this week's freebies. The question was "why don't you just post the freebies and downloads instead of sending us to another person's blog to retrieve the freebie?". The answer is simply this "many of the freebie images and digital stamps are owned/copyrighted by the originator. Some have special rules or guidelines concerning the use or distribution of freebies. Therefore, by sending you directly to the website or blog, you are automatically placed on the originator's site and can follow their guidelines".

Now that the question and answer are out of the way, attached are a few digital stamps, images, and printables that we found on blogs, websites, or sent to us from friends:

The Stamping Boutique shares a digital stamp of Cynthia the Tooth Fairy

Beary Wishes features Bunny Smiles a digital stamp

Sliekje Stamps has another cat with kittens digital stamp along with a get well digital stamp and an adorable star fairy

The Crafty Pad Designs shares a bunch of cupcake digital freebies

MayBrit's Hobby blog shares a cute bear with playful puppy digital image

MelonHeadz shares a yummy pie digital image

That's all for this week! Have a great Monday!
Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Artsy Addicts Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to the Artsy Addicts Technique Blog Hop. You should have come here from Teri Dorowsky's blog. Come check out the Creativity Bugs blog to see a nifty flower technique, enjoy collecting a few recipes, and then click here to go to Marion Smith's blog for the next technique.

I love flowers!! There is nothing I like better than to create a scrapbook page, card, or tag and embellish it with my favorite Prima flowers. They are big, luscious, glittery, fancy smancy, and stand out on a page.

My problem is that my love of Prima flowers and my pocketbook do not agree. So, I searched all over the web looking at websites, blogs, and YouTube videos trying to find a way to make these flowers without putting me in the poor house.

After countless hours, I found a few great sites, combined their ideas, and came up with the Creativity Bug version of the perfect paper flower.

Supplies:

large flower punch (Retro Flower by Paper Shapers)
double sided pattern paper
light weight card stock paper
coordinating brad
paper piercer
spritz bottle filled with water (optional)
Distressed ink (optional)
Stickles (optional)

Step 1:  Punch out 8 of the same sized punches from pattern paper or cardstock

Step 2:  Distress the edges of the punched out paper pieces with coordinating ink (optional)

Step 3:  Scrunch up punched out paper pieces tightly. If you are using thicker cardstock paper, spritz lightly with water before scrunching up.

Step 4:  Carefully open up scrunched up paper pieces and stack.

Step 5:  Pierce a hole in the center of the paper pieced stack with a paper piercer.

Step 6:  Insert brad and tighten.

Step 7: Re-scrunch the paper pieces starting tightly with the top piece and more loosely with each layer following.

Step 8:  Fluff the paper pieces until it resembles a flower.

Step 9:  Add Stickles to flower tips to add an extra touch of bling!

For variation, punch out 4 flowers in one color and 4 flowers in another to create a variegated rose.

Or try using a different flower punches to create a different style of flower. The first flower shown uses the Paper Shaper punch called Daisy. The second flower shown using the Stampin Up punch called Flower.

Here is a look at all three different flowers.

If you like what you see, please leave a comment or become a follower of our blog.
Creativity Bugs ~ Sandy and Sue

Make Your Own Glimmer Mists

Glimmer Mists are all the rage, but can get pretty expensive to have every color in your collection. To save money, I found 3 different recipes to make your own glimmer mists for all your paper crafting projects.

Color Mist 1

Ingredients:

Liquid non aerosol hairspray

Small spray bottle

Pearl Ex powder 

 Directions:

1. Fill small spray bottle ½ full of liquid hairspray
2. Add ¼ teaspoon PearlEx powder & shake well
3. Add additional PearlEx powder as needed to deepen color

Color Mist 2

Ingredients:

White Glue
Popsicle Stick
Water
Empty Spray bottles
Metallic / Pearlescent Acrylic Paints

 

Directions:

1.       Fill your spray bottle about 3/4 of water

2.       Dip popsicle stick in white glue and mix with water in bottle. The glue will act as a binder.

3.       Add one to two drops of paint to water and glue mixture. Shake well.

4.       Spray onto white piece of cardstock to test out color.

5.       Add more drops of paint as needed.

Color Mist 3

Ingredients:

Spray bottle

Liquid decoupage lacquer or PVA glue

Water

Pearl Ex powder

 

Directions:

1.       In a spray bottle, mix equal parts decoupage lacquer and water, about 20 ml of each will go a long way.

2.       Add ¼ teaspoon of PearlEx powder, put on the lid and shake well.

3.       Spray on white piece of cardstock to test out color.

4.       Add more PearlEx powder as needed to intensify color

Try out some of these glimmer mist recipes and let us know what you think!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

I Won! Imaginisce d-stress Tool

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it!! 

I don't usually make comments on blogs with the belief that I am going to win anything. Mostly I post to leave recommendations, compliments,  and to spread the love with my fellow bloggers. However, last week on the Imaginisce blog you had an opportunity to watch a demonstration on the new d-stress tool, leave a comment, and have the chance of winning it. And I actually won!

The d-stress tool is a hassle-free way to distress your edges from Imaginisce! The distressed look is in! Now it's easy to get that archival touch for photos, cards, and other paper crafts - right down to the finest detail. This rotary tool comes with three different crafting tips. As well as being cordless, running on 2 AA batteries (sold separately), you can take this ergonomic tool with you and work anywhere.

I can’t wait to receive my package in the mail and post pictures of my completed projects.

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Recipe Friday: Side Dishes

Looking for the perfect side dishes for your grilled steak, fish, or poultry meals? Look no further and enjoy yummy roasted potatoes and fresh asparagus with prosciutto.

Roasted Potatoes and Lemon with Dill

Ingredients:

2 pounds new potatoes, halved

1 lemon, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

kosher salt and black pepper

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh dill

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 450° F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the potatoes and lemon with the oil, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
2. Roast, tossing once, until tender, 25 to 35 minutes. Toss with the dill before serving.

Asparagus with Prociutto Chips

Ingredients:

3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto

2 small bunches (about 1 3/4 pounds) asparagus, trimmed

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Place the prosciutto in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake until crisped, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool. 
2. Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add the asparagus and cook until tender, 3 to 5 minutes, depending on thickness. Drain and transfer to a bowl of ice water. Drain again and pat dry.
3. Cut the asparagus into 2-inch pieces. Transfer to a bowl. Add the oil, salt, and pepper and toss. Break the prosciutto into pieces and sprinkle over the asparagus

Happy Friday!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

BESTeam Weekly Feature - ElizabethMD Designs

Come check out this week's BESTeam featured site ElizabethMD Designs Etsy shop!

ElizabethMD Designs owner Elizabeth is obsessed with creating unique jewelry. Growing up she would buy clothes and jewelry, only to get irritated when someone else was wearing the same thing. She “couldn’t wear that piece anymore” after that. Finding that it was “too expensive” to have new jewelry and clothing every day, she started to take apart jewelry to make her own originals.  That was 15 years ago and now the passion has grown into creating unique jewelry for others to wear.

Fuschia Pink Adjustable Pearl Nugget Bangle

A yummy Macintosh apple wrap-a-round bangle. Adjusts to fit most wrists and gives you fun whimsy that can practically go with any outfit. The Coral nuggets are stranded on 7lb test memory wire, giving it durability along with flexibility in use.

Multi Chain Tassel Bracelet With Fuschia Coral Accent

This Multi-chain bracelet wraps around your wrist with a little fuchsia pearl nugget attached to the tassel that is sure to catch people’s eyes.

Red Flower Ring with Diamond Center and Silver Trim

This listing is for a silver lined lipstick red 2.2CM resin flower cabochon resting securely on a silver *NICKEL FREE* adjustable ring. These rings fit from sizes 5-9ish easily.

Copper Flower Filigree Necklace

A bouquet of flowers trickle down from this necklace. The bouquet is made up of copper filigree flowers. The bold statement made by this necklace is only accented by the double layering of copper chains.

These are only a few of the wonderful pieces of jewelry available. Please check out the rest of this beautiful collection at ElizabethMD Designs and also take the time to view the ElizabethMD Jewlery blog.

Happy Shopping!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue