A Sad Polaroid Tuesday :: Week 76

Paying my respect. Not much to say except that MCA will be sorely missed.

"To all the mothers and sisters and the wives and the friends, I want to offer my love and respect to the end..."
~MCA

Polaroid Tuesday :: Week 75

Over the weekend I enjoyed some tea with some good friends in Niles. Niles is a small little town near
Fremont (do you see niles written out in the hills?). Afterwards we spent a good two hours in a record shop and loaded up on some good O' fashion vinyl and did some vintage clothing shopping at The Amoire Closet! More photos of the fun things I purchased coming soon.

P.S. Happy Birthday K!!

A woman is like a tea bag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.
~Eleanor Roosevelt

Music Monday :: Session 16

Happy Monday All! A mellow song today hoping you have a smooth beginning of the week! Lots to show you from the weekend coming soon!

For the Good Times
~Al Green

As of Late...

•Our house has been painted a sage green with white borders.

•Listened to the series of The Hunger Games, now I'm hooked on audio books.

•Working on 2 major projects.

•Helping a friend plan her wedding.

•Reseeded our lawn.

•Our 16 year old dryer died.

•Which lead us to rebuild the laundry room.

•Planning a weeknight soiree for a birthday girl.

•Found a $300 awning window for $45.

•Feeling like I'm never catching up.

"A man can believe a considerable deal of rubbish, and yet go about his daily work in a rational and cheerful manner."
~Norman Douglas

Polaroid Tuesday :: Week 74

Lots been going on around here at Pixie Paper Arts! I hope you all are doing well and keeping your head above water unlike me!

"I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim, and now I am overwhelmed by this decent and good feeling."
~Frida Kahlo

Polaroid Tuesday :: Week 73

“I think that the collection is very much sophisticated and very woman. It's elegant, not at all sportswear. But it's very much like daytime, but elegant.”
~Jean-Paul Gaultier

Recently Thrifted...

I've been keeping true to my goal list of Thrifting more.

I love this wood cake stand! Although it's only about7" wide or so, I imagine using this in a woodland themed party, covered with moss and mushrooms.

I'm usually not a huge fan of gold but these gold boxes do catch my eye, especially when it's lined with red soft fabric.

The earrings were also thrifted. They are vintage screw on earrings but I find myself removing them after about 4 hours of use.

The last but certainly not least, is this butterfly enclosed in a round glass dome frame. This will be fabulous amongst a table of curiosities and found objects.

"Industry, thrift and self-control are not sought because they create wealth, but because they create character."
~Calvin Coolidge

Library Books for Keeps...

I've been checking books out like crazy at the library and would love to keep these for myself.

There are quite a few awesome ideas in Upcycling that I would like to get my hands dirty with.

Did you know Sandra Bullock has a sister that makes candy?? Sugarbaby is her book. The photos are gorgeous and the candy looks delicious!

The Artful Bird has the most awesome directions on making bird claws! I've checked this book out a few times.

Every time I hear Momofuku I know it's going to be good food! I had to wait several weeks before I could get my hands on the Momofuku Milk Bar book from the library.

I've dreamed of opening a noodle house ever since I went to Star Noodles in Maui. I love noodles! Takashi's Noodles is right up my alley.

The Bust DIY Guide To Life is one of those books that has a little bit of everything. I Love the magazine and wasn't quite sure if the book was going to match up, I was pleasantly surprised.

I think these books are worth checking out from your local library!

"A library book, I imagine, is a happy book."
~Cornelia Funke

Polaroid Tuesday :: Week 72

The Crystal Eggs all wrapped up! Hope you had a lovely Easter.

"Good Idea: Finding Easter eggs on Easter Sunday."
"Bad Idea: Finding Easter eggs at Thanksgiving."

Music Monday :: Session 15

Because I haven't shared a song in awhile...

Flightless Bird, American Mouth
~Iron and Wine

Cactus & Succulent Show

Over the weekend we attended the Cactus & Succulent show hosted by the Cactus & Succulent Society of San Jose. I had no idea this was such a huge show!

This one is my favorite!! Teohrocactus Alexanderi, this one is about 14 years old I bought a small specimen in hopes mine will look like this!

We went on day 2 of the show and I heard we missed a lot of cool specimens.

Mental note: Go on day 1

This one reminds me of Harry and the Hendersons!

I consider it the highest compliment when my employees go out and start their own companies in competition with me. I always send them a plant to wish them well. Of course, it's a cactus."
~Norman Brodsky

Geodes AKA: Crystal Eggs

I have been wanting to make these Crystal Eggs since last year and I finally pulled all the materials together to finally do this!

I originally purchased the PASS Easter egg dye without thinking and tried it on this yellow egg. It worked but the color wasn't as vibrant as hoped. Being so close to Easter I had no time to purchase the Ukrainian Egg Dye that the directions suggested. I end up using food coloring.

These pictures really don't do them justice!

P.S. I could not locate large quantities of Alum around the Bay Area and end up purchasing 5 lbs from Talas online. I made about 18 jumbo Geodes with 5 lbs. But you can also reheat the solution to dye more eggs.

Geode:
A small, hollow, usually rounded rock lined on the inside with inward-pointing crystals. Geodes form when mineral-rich water entering a cavity in a rock undergoes a sudden change in pressure or temperature, causing crystals to form from the solution and line the cavity's walls.

Spring Carrots!

Carrot Surprises?

These carrots are actually "surprise balls". Unwind the carrots to reveal little treats!
If you need a quick project and a fun Easter treat this project is for you!

I purchased various treats from the party store that included mini maracas (these worked out well to create the shape of a carrot), fortune telling fish, stickers and candy of course!

One roll of orange crepe paper gave me one dozen carrots.

Try to use craft crepe paper to make the leaves, the party streamers don't have that stiffness to make it look like leaves.

"A nice blend of prediction and surprise seem to be at the heart of the best art."
~Wendy Carlos

Polaroid Tuesday :: Week 71

This was our kitchen table over the weekend, I've been crafting away and have lots to share stay tuned!

"And I believe that the best learning process of any kind of craft is just to look at the work of others."
~Wole Soyinka

Banner Tutorial

Happy Monday! There have been a few requests on a tutorial for the banners that our guests waved at our wedding.

To be honest these were a completely last minute idea, I had no idea that they were going to be such a hit.

Materials List:

Sew In Printer Fabric (I purchased mine at JoAnne's Fabric Store)
Fabri-Tac Glue
12" x 3/16" Dowels
Sewing Machine & Computer

Follow directions on printer fabric package. I used Illustrator to print out the words "smooch" however I suspect a Word program would do just fine. The font JFRingmaster was used for my banner and was able to fit 2 on one sheet. Make sure when you print it out that you leave a 2" border on one side of the banner to wrap around the dowel.

Now just trim right down the middle.

Using the Fabri-Tac draw a line of glue down the center of the side you allowed for the dowel on the back of the banner. Place dowel on glue and wrap the excess fabric towards the back.

Allow the glue to dry for a tad bit, using the zigzag stitch sew down the fabric you previously folded back.

Presto! Now go wave you banner!

P.S. I love the excess thread hanging from the zigzag stitch and the edges of the banner, if this bothers you just fold over the edges and run a straight stitch down it.

P.S.S. There have been many requests to learn how to make crepe paper flowers, I will create a tutorial soon.

"Learning never exhausts the mind."
~Leonardo da Vinci

2 Balloons, Newspaper, Water & Flour...

I know of a sweet girl that has a birthday coming up. What do you get someone who loves rainbows and zebras at the same time?
(sorry for the low light photos)

A Rainbow Zebra Pinata of course!

It's not a magical rainbow yet but the secrets out on what I'm using the crepe paper strips for.

Now when I was originally thinking of what to make, I googled Rainbow Zebra and actually found someone who had this idea originally. Who would of thought?

So far 2 punching balloons, water, flour, paper cups, cereal boxes and a gang of newspapers has been harmed in the making. Unfortunately you won't see the finished product until after the birthday girl sees it first. I need to keep an element of surprise!

“So you see! There's no end to the things you might know,Depending how far beyond Zebra you go.”
~Dr. Seuss quotes

Today I...

* Am wearing squeaky shoes in a office where you can hear a pin drop.

* Dropped my pear as it rolled under the couch amongst a dozen tennis balls and I couldn't tell which one was my pear.

* Wondered if I have to have kids to understand why parents have them leave an outgoing message on a voice mail?

* Woke up so groggy I washed my hair twice.

* Thought about a middle school friend but couldn't remember her last name to look her up on FB.

* Promise you I will have some good posts coming up.

"The power of imagination makes us infinite"
~John Muir