St. Patrick's Day GIVEAWAY!! :)

I can't believe there's only a little more then a week left in February! That means only a few short weeks left until we will get to meet baby boy #2! (We expect to meet him around March 19th) But it ALSO means it is time for another GIVEAWAY!!!

St. Patricks Day is quickly approaching (Monday March 17th) so what better item to giveaway then a Handpainted St. Patrick's Day Beer Pint Glass?!

  

To Enter:

1. Like my Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/kendallmariescrafts

2. Comment your name on the contest post [Click Here]

 

Do both no later then February 28th

A winner will be randomly selected and posted on March 1st

Good Luck!!

 

Xo Kendall Marie

What crafts are you working on?

Saw this today and got a laugh out of it...it's SO true for me! Thought I'd share for my fellow DIY/Craft-lovers :)

 

What crafts are you working on this week???

First 3 to comment with what they're working on will receive a $10 gift certificate to my Etsy shop!

**Please include a valid email address with your comment so I can email you the gift certificate code!**  

 

Having just moved into a new house I have a nautical theme nursery, cowboy theme little boy's bedroom and craft closet all in the works each being put together with DIY projects - some of which will be added to my shop once they are done - can't wait to share pictures!  

 

For now here is a sneak peak of one of the canvas pictures I painted for my son's cowboy theme room - he was very specific in wanting it to look like him on a horse with a laso ;)

Can't wait to hear what you have in the works!

 

Xo Kendall Marie

 

DIY First Anniversary Gift

As two people who both really enjoy making things (my husband is the woodworker [check out his awesome fine hardwood cutting boards here] while I'm the crafter/painter/repurposer) my husband and I both agreed that for our anniversary gift we would keep the gifts more personal by making them.  Having just moved and being somewhat on bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy, I was a little more limited on what all supplies I could gain access to, and so to Pinterest I went to look for some ideas!

I posted in a craft group that I follow asking for suggestions, but unfortunately didn't get much more help then a friendly reminder that the gift of the First Anniversary is supposed to be paper.  Knowing I have a Cricut, tons of scrapbook paper and accessories, I figured going with this 'paper gift' tradition would work just right! 

Wanting to make the paper gift personal to us and our wedding day, I decided I wanted to find something that would include our wedding vows and/or first dance song.  With this I went to pinterest and google to look at some ideas, before deciding to make this Framed First Dance Lyrics Cutout.

If you'd like to make this Framed First Dance Lyrcis Cutout, doing so couldn't be easier (and more inexpensive) by following these instructions:

 

DIY Framed First Dance Lyrics Cutout

 

You will need:

Picture Frame (size of your choosing - I used a 5x7")

Scrapbook paper - 5 colors, ideally ones that match your house decor

Color 1 - Background

Color 2 - Tree

Color 3 - Heart

Color 4 - Bird #1

Color 5 - Bird #2

Cricut & Craftroom - OR - Scissors to cut on your own

Writing Utensil (Marker/Pen/Pencil)

Gluestick/Glue Dots

 

Steps:

1. Using the Cricut basics cartridge available for free to everyone in the cricut craft room OR a pair of scissors - cut out a two rectangles to fit the background of your picture frame using Color 1 and Color 2.

2. Using your writing utensil (I used a fine tip black sharpie) write the song lyrics to fill the rectangle you cut out on Color 2. 

TIP: If the lyrics do not take up the entire rectangle you may want to write them multiple times.  Not all the lyrics will show since the the tree pattern will be cut out of this, so the duplication will not be noticeable.

3. On the Color 2 rectangle that is now filled with lyrics, cut out the tree shape you would like keeping in mind that the larger/fuller the tree, the more lyrics you'll have showing.

You may have a design on your cricut you'd like to use, I drew the tree on the back of the rectangle and cut out by hand.

4.   On Color 3 using the cricut basics cartridge cut out a heart sized correctly to the trunk of your tree.  Write on this your anniversary date.

5. On Color 4 and Color 5 cut out equal sized 'love birds' (can be done using the 'A Childs Year Cartridge' or by drawing and cutting by hand) sized to fit on the tree branches.

6. Assemble: Glue the tree onto the background, heart onto the tree trunk, and birds onto the branches.  Place into picture frame.

 

I had the scrap paper, picture frame and marker on hand, so I was able to do this entire project for free.  If you need to purchase the frame I suggest checking out your local dollar store as they often have a wide variety of decent frames all for $1.  The paper you can get for around $0.50 each at your local craft store - possibly even cheaper elsewhere.  Basically this project can be done for less than $5!

As always have fun with it and make it your own! The biggest benefit behind a handmade project is just how personal you can make it! And please post pictures of your finished First Dance Lyrics Cutouts you make! I'd love to see them!

 

 

Part Two of my husbands Anniversary gift is something that kept with the paper theme but took a bit more work and time - stay tuned for more on my "Life is An Adventure" project!

 

Xo Kendall Marie

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day! (a few hours early!)

Having just moved into a new house (the boxes everywhere are enough to drive me crazy but I'm very excited about my 'craft closet' that will soon be set up!) having spent the past 48hours "iced-in" (this Florida girl has definitely learned since moving to South Carolina that ice-days aren't as fun as they sound, they're MESSY, and they come with some miserably cold weather !)  and being less than a month away from meeting our new little bundle of joy (did I mention we JUST moved and our whole house including the nursery are still in boxes?? AHH!!) my husband and I who usually celebrate holidays a bit on the extreme side decided to enjoy a more low key V-Day this year. As much as I love Holidays - I'm one of those people who truly LOVES buying gifts and planning unique ways to make the Holidays fun - I haven't been feeling the greatest this trimester and so a more low key Valentines Day sounded just perfect to me.
That being said however, I still couldn't just buy a box of chocolates and card and be on my way...that would just be insulting to my new Cricut machine ;) So in addition to buying a box of chocolates, I headed to my favorite place - the Cricut Craft Room! After years of wanting a Cricut, now that my wonderful husband has spoiled me with one I've decided that the time I used to spend reading thru dozens of greeting cards in the store, rarely being truly satisfied with whichever I'd settle for, will now be spent in the craft room making a truly personal and equally, if not more-beautiful greeting card! Cricut has SO many V-Day card options it can be a bit overwhelming, so rather then browsing thru all the available options, I decided to look for a card that fit a specific theme (I call my husband my 'honey bee' so I wanted a bee-themed card) and in a few short minutes had found, purchased, and cut the 'Bee-mine' card layout! Filled with a personal note, stuffed in an envelope and just like that I had my card!
In addition to the Bee-Mine greeting card and valentines day staple heart shaped box of chocolates, I wanted one more thing to complete my husbands gift, keeping with the theme behind the holiday and not so much the commercialization of it, so off to Pinterest for some inspiration I went! Having in the past made my husband the '52 Reasons I love you' (if you haven't seen this/made for your significant other, it's a really cute gift and very simple to make...take a 52card deck, and on each card write a reason you love your significant other.  I even included some pictures on some of them.  Bind them together with a metal ring and you have a great personalized gift to make your boyfriend/husband smile) I was on the hunt for something similar but obviously not the same, which lead me to my inspiration for "the ABCs of you & me"

Making it couldn't have been easier.  Thanks to my Cricut and Extreme Fonts cartridge the entire booklet was complete in less then an hour.  

To Create "The ABCs of You & Me"

1.  Obtain a mini note booklet or bind together notecards - if you want to do front & back you will need 13 pages, if you'd like to only do the front you will need 26 pages PLUS a cover 

2. Cut letters sized to fit on your pages yet still allow room to write.  I cut my letters using Extreme Fonts on my Cricut, Font: Junior, Size: 2" 

3.  Glue letters on each page, and fill in a memory/reason you love your significant other/etc. that starts with that letter on that page

4. Decorate the front as you please - I covered the front of mine with a solid cardstock, accented with some string and a heart and titled it "the ABCs of you & me" with the date of this Valentines day. 

*This project can easily be done without a Cricut as well and can be modified to be as simple/complex as you would like.  If you'd like to keep it ultra simple but still just as nice looking, draw the letters on each page rather then cutting/gluing - the options are really endless - have fun with it and feel free to share your finished projects in the comments! 

First 3 projects shared in the comments by March 1, 2014 will receive a $5 gift card to my shop!

67 Chocolate Kisses

I can't believe it is already February! I feel as though I was just posting about plans for the new year! This month has started off on a great foot with NEW items being listed, NEW orders coming in, and an exciting FIRST for Kendall Marie's Crafts - being asked to take part in a fundraiser! My shop will be donating an "I teach therefore I drink" wine glass as well as a gift certificate to my shop that will be included in an auction to benefit patients with PCOS. Just as I enjoy doing contests and giveaways, I also enjoy taking part in fundraisers and would love to be included in a couple more throughout the year! **If you or someone you know is hosting a fundraiser event, please don't hesitate to contact me via my etsy page or Facebook page!**

Speaking of giveaways...Incase you missed the announcement on my Facebook page - there were 67 chocolate kisses inside the Be Mine wineglass. Our contestant with the highest guess (she guessed 54 chocolate kisses) WON the glass full of chocolates! Congrats and Happy Valentines Day to our winner!! :)

If you like FREE stuff and haven't already, be sure to like us on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/kendallmariescrafts

I have contests and giveaways just about every month, and Facebook is always the first place they are announced!

:)

Also incase you missed it, as promised, we have quite a few NEW products in the shop! Be sure to check out the NEW teacher coffee mug, St. Patrick's Day wine and beer glasses, as well as burlap canvas paintings!

www.etsy.com/shop/kendallmariescrafts

I also have several wooden signs and a couple of new glass designs in the works that I hope to have up over the next couple of weeks - keep an eye out! :)

In addition to all I've already mentioned, I do have one more exciting announcement! (In my opinion I've saved the best announcement for last!) Kendall Marie's Crafts will officially become my full time job in just a few short weeks! I'm so very excited for this opportunity, and look forward to the challenges and rewards that come with growing a business! We are expecting baby boy #2 in mid-March, so aside from the few weeks that I may be out of commission while I recover and adjust to life with a newborn again (baby boy #1 just turned 5!) I am already excitedly planning the growth of my shop to include new designs, branching out in many different directions, and also adding to this blog to not only include updates on the shop, but to include a weekly DIY craft, homemaking tips, etc. So stay tuned for all that is to come! :)

Hand-painted Wineglass and Chocolate GIVEAWAY!

It's that time again - Time for our next GIVEAWAY contest! 

This is actually our February giveaway, but we started it a few weeks in advance to give everyone an opportunity to try and WIN!

Entering couldn't be easier!

Follow these steps:

1. Visit my FB page: www.facebook.com/kendallmariescrafts There you'll find a link for the contest with pictures that look like this:

2. Comment your guess on how many chocolate kisses are in the hand painted wineglass no later then January 31st!

3.  February 1st watch for the winner to be announced on the FB page!

The closest guess **without going over** WINS and will receive the chocolate candy and hand painted glass in the mail!  

 

Good Luck!!

 

**Also - Don't forget the 10% off special running now thru the end of January - Coupon Code: 2014SAVE10**

DIY Valentines Day Cards - As little as 5 Steps Using Cricut Machine

I'm not sure if I announced it on here or not, but my all time favorite Christmas present that I received a few weeks ago would have to be my new Cricut machine! (I've always wanted one! - thanks hubby!) The options with it are seriously endless! My mind has been non-stop thinking of the countless directions I can go both for new items in the shop as well as DIY projects! Needless to say, the Cricut Craft room has become my 2nd home lately! side note: If you have a cricut and haven't downloaded the craft room - you MUST! It is SO worth it!!
Every week in the Cricut Craft Room a different cartridge is featured as "Free For a Week." This week (January 13-20, 2014) the free cartridge (which automatically appears in your 'My Cartridges' in the craft room) is 'Spring Holiday Cards.' Not one to pass up free cuts, and also one who looks for just about any excuse to use my Cricut, it seemed the perfect time to print out Valentines Day cards for my son's preschool class! His class has 8 kids plus his teacher, so printing out 8 Valentines Day cards using the 'Spring Holiday Cards' cartridge, assembling them and having them ready to go took about 20 minutes! (Honestly the majority of that time was spent re-sizing and assembling the cards in the Craft Room - so I will provide the dimensions I used and save anyone who would like to use them the time of doing so!) I was able to size them to fit all 8 cards so that they could be cut out using as little as 2 - 12x12" papers - essentially you could cut out 8 cards under $2.00, or for FREE if you happen to have some scrapbook paper that could be used like I did! 

How to Create your V-Day Cards:

 

What You'll Need:

• Cricut Machine, Cricut Mat, Computer and Cricut Craft Room ready to go!
• 2 sheets (possibly 3 depending on colors chosen - see Step 5 below) of 12x12" scrapbook paper 
  **2 - 12x12" sheets will make 8 3x4" V-Day Cards
• Cartridges:
• Spring Holiday Cards (Free in the Cricut Craft Room the week of 1/13/14 - 1/20/14)
• Cricut Craft Room Basics (Optional if creating layer 3, Free to all craft room users)

Layer 1

(In the picture below this is the rose patterned paper)
(KMC Tip: This is selected thru the tabs along the top of your Cricut Craft room; using layers each a different color allows you to better visualize what you'll be printing at a time as well as what your finished product will look like.  Be sure when you get to your print screen to only choose the layer you'd like printed on that particular page!)

Step 1 - Choose the background for the cards from those available on the cartridge - I choose Bckgrnd5, sized them to 3" x 4" and rotated them so that 8 fit on my 12x12 page . (KMCTip: Because of the detail on the card itself (especially the lettering) I wouldn't recommend going much smaller as it might not cut very nice, but you could always choose to go bigger if you'd like!) 
Step 2 - Select the paper you'd like for the backing of your cards, load it into your Cricut, adjust your settings depending on what material the paper you're using is, select the layer you're printing (in this case layer 1) and let the Cricut work its magic!

Layer 2

(In the picture below this is the solid pink paper)

Step 3 - For layer Choose the design you'd like for the front of your card, or choose multiple if you'd like to have a variety. Rotate the 8 card fronts so they all fit on the sheet.  I choose Valntne1, and sized them to 2.6"x3.4" so that they would fit nicely onto the backing and into the convenient corner slits that have been cut out for your on your first layer.

Step 4 - Select the paper you'd like, load it into your Cricut, adjust your settings depending on what material the paper you're using is, select the layer you're printing (in this case layer 2) and let the Cricut work its magic!

Optional Layer 3

(In the picture below this is what makes the lettering and heart design white)

Step 5 - Depending on the color/pattern of paper that you used you may find that your contrast isn't great enough to make the letters really stand out. If this is the case, choose a third sheet of paper with significant contrast to your Layer 2 (I choose white) and select one of the rectangles off of the Cricut Craft Room Basics Cartridge, size it to 2.6"x3.4" and rotate the 8 cards so they all fit on the sheet.  Load the paper into your cricut, adjust your settings, select the layer you're printing (layer 3) and let the Cricut work its magic!

Assembly

Step 6 - Layer 1 is the backing for your card, Layer 2 will go on top of this and the 4 corners should be slid thru the crescent shaped slits the Cricut has cut out on Layer 1 to hold it in place, making 1 V-Day Card.
**If you did Layer 3 this will go behind Layer 2 and on top of Layer 1 to help the letters and design 'pop' better.

 

If you make a V-Day card we'd love to see it! Post a picture in the comments below!

Also - you can order a color coordinating 'Be Mine' wine glass (available both in stemless or regular) at http://www.etsy.com/shop/kendallmariescrafts

**Choose the chocolate option if you'd like your glass to arrive with Hershey kisses inside ready to be gifted!

 

Kendall Marie's Crafts