Cookie Party!

Our crafty Aunt Kay made us these super cute frilly aprons. So we wore them to the annual cookie party. We were voted best dressed!

Bead Heaven!

We just got back from the Bay Area Bead Extravaganza in Oakland where we finally got to meet the delightful Christi Friesen. She is a creative genius with polymer clay and author of the book Steampunkery which is not only inspiring and artistic, but also hilarious. Totally recommend!

We saw some terrific jewelry at the show and tried to restrain ourselves from buying too many sparkly things.

Some of our favorites:
Barb Switzer's wire work: http://www.beadswitzer.com/
Christi Anderson's PMC creations: http://www.elementaladornments.com/
Mikia Angel's seed bead pendant kits: www.buythekit.com/04/nikia.html

Happy beading!

Turkey Day Fun!

Check out Turkey Day Crafts For Kids, a slideshow we did for Parents Magazine's newsletter. They are all activities to keep the kiddos busy while you're prepping the Thanksgiving Feast. Happy Turkey Day!

This Topiary Is Bats!!

We made this batty topiary using black wrapped candies glued to Styrofoam. It came out so hilarious and cute! Check it out in this week's Woman's World magazine.

Jump Into Fall

Check out this piece called "8 Easy Fall Makeovers" we did for Family Circle's online newsletter. It's loaded with inexpensive, simple, and even free ideas to put your home in the fall mood!

Chinatown Girls!

What to do on a sunny day in San Francisco? Have a delightful lunch with Annie Niemiec, Editor of Pack-O-Fun! Annie was visiting from Chicago so we headed to Chinatown, had yummy Beef With Broccoli and Mao Pao Tofu, then we shopped like crazy! It was the bead store that really did us in. Can't wait to see you again, Annie!

Fall Fabulous!

The October issue of Crafts 'n Things is on sale now and it is Fall Fabulous! We love the cover craft and inside there are wonderful projects! We especially love the pretty Hankie Tote, the Birdhouse Bell Ornaments, and the embellished Towel Gift Set. Great gifts, and plenty of time to get started and finished by the holidays!

Steampunk Style

Are you loving Steampunk? Never heard of it? Here's a great introduction to Steampunk style. Look for cogs, dials, gears, watch faces, and watch hands at garage sales and flea markets. Or just buy a batch ready to be turned into cool pieces of jewelry. Only $7.85 an ounce at FireMountainGems. Steampunk rocks!

Designer Chic Cheap!

We found a pair of designer sandals for $975, then made our own for less than $20! We got the plain sandals at Payless and made the roses out of satin ribbon. See how we did it in this week's Woman's World magazine.

Beachcomber's Bath Salts

We love spa gifts. They just smell so good! We made these Beachcomber's Bath Salts by topping a jar lid with shells and sand, then filling the jar with aromatic bath salts. Our sea shells came from a trip to the beach, but you can buy shells at Michael's or the dollar store if you don't live near the shore!

Happy Birthday, America!

Get crafty this weekend and make a folk art flag using 13 yard sticks from the hardware store. (Less than $1 each!) Have a great Fourth of July!!

Steal This Palette!

Whether you are making a jewelry project, redecorating a room, or just putting together an outfit, creating a palette that works can be a little daunting. So here's a tip. Find an object you love, a painting, a scarf, or even a plate and just borrow its color palette! The colors already go together. And if the piece is current, so is your color scheme!

To see this in action, check out our latest article on HGTV.com, Color Palettes Made Easy.

Country Antiques and Folk Art Show

The Country Antiques and Folk Art Show is this Sunday in Los Altos, CA from 10am to 4pm. We went last year and were amazed at the quantity and quality of the antiques. You can expect to see wonderful folk art, samplers, and quilts. We loved last year's tramp art and hope to see more. Plus there should be lots of rustic stuff for your garden! We'll be there. Join us!

Whitewash!

We love whitewashed pieces for the garden. And guess what? You can whitewash wooden flea market finds in a snap. Just dilute white acrylic paint with water and sponge it on. You might have the urge to seal it, but leave it alone. We want that weathered look. Now we just need to make some lemonade. Pink, please.

We'd love to hear how you've decorated your garden. What are your favorite flea market finds?

Tea Time!

We can't resist vintage tea cups. We pick them up for $5 or less at garage sales, flea markets, and thrift stores. When we're not having a fancy tea party (complete with hats!), we like to turn them into pretty tea cup candles. They make great hostess gifts or a sweet thank you for someone special. And you can't believe how easy this craft is! Check out this week's Woman's World magazine for step-by-step instructions.

Make The Hottest "Mom" Necklace In Hollywood

Check out the May 3rd issue of Woman's World Magazine to see how we made a glitzy, personalized necklace perfect for Mother's Day. We think ours is prettier than Britney's!

Everything's Coming Up Rosettes!

Everywhere we turn we are seeing roses! Prima has released a garden of amazing fabric flowers. You can use them on your scrapbook pages, to make dimensional cards, or even to create jewelry. We love this gorgeous bib necklace featured in their Idea Gallery. Plus, you can buy the flowers by the tub! We love a tub of flowers.

Hedgie!

The forest friends get cuter by the minute. We found this darling decal on etsy. It's meant to be a wall decoration, but we think it would be super cute to use it as a stencil on a cigar box purse. Place Hedgie on the wooden surface then paint right over him using the decal as a mask. Then remove the decal. We'd give him a rhinestone to add a little glitz!

Hoot! Hoot!

The woodland creatures trend continues with some of the cutest owl rubber stamps we have ever seen. Hero Arts has loads of them. Just go to their web site and type "owl" in the search box. Then just try to decide which one to get! (Is this a rare Spotted Owl?! What a sighting!)

Squirrel Crazy!

We love the woodland creatures trend. At the winter Craft & Hobby Show, we saw deer, birdies, porcupines, bunnies, and owls on everything from scrapbook papers and stickers to rubber stamps and embellishments. It made us want to add cute critters to all our crafts. Check out this cute squirrel charm we found. We just might have to order a forest full!

Miracle Memo Board

This magnetic memo board from The Paper Source has changed our lives! Okay, maybe that's a little strong. But it keeps our to-do lists front and center on our desks. Kitty even made fancy magnets for hers out of glitzy vintage brooches. So pretty!

Key Discovery

We went to the flea market looking for skeleton keys and discovered...furniture keys! They are like small skeleton keys and were used to lock cabinets and drawers in old furniture. The best part is, they are abundant and cheap! You can find them for as little as $1 each! We plan to use them in jewelry and home dec projects. Steampunk style!

White Elephant Sale

Wow, what a sale! We previewed the Oakland Museum Women's Board's annual White Elephant Sale on Sunday. They describe it as, "the biggest, the best and certainly the most enjoyable rummage sale in Northern California." It is huge, the prices are crazy low, and the stuff is amazing. From everyday household goods to vintage collectibles and antique furniture. We picked up sheet music, old buttons, skeleton keys, and bags of wooden spools. Plus we found a working brass chandelier to makeover for Bead Unique. Only $10!

The White Elephant Sale will take place on March 6th and 7th in Oakland. It's a must!

www.whiteelephantsale.org

All American Craft Gals

We just got back from the Craft and Hobby Show in Anaheim. Highlights included visiting with Beverly Hotz (yellow scarf), editor of Create & Decorate magazine, and Pamela Hawkins (holding magazine), editor of Bead Unique magazine. It was so much fun to see them in person and brainstorm ideas for our columns. Look for steampunk-style flea market makeovers coming soon!

Contain Your Clutter For Free (Or Almost Free)

Seems like New Year's resolutions always include getting organized. But shopping at The Container Store is so expensive! Guess what?! You already have great containers at your fingertips.

Turn empty oatmeal canisters into craft containers - just cover them with scrapbook paper and make cute labels. Hang an extra canvas tote in the garage to corral your gardening tools, hat, and gloves. Since you never really use your picnic basket, put it to work in the bathroom to hold hairbrushes, curling irons, and your blow dryer. If you don't have one, they are cheap at the flea market and come in all sizes!  Just get creative and get organized!