Do you need a gift box with bling?  You can make one yourself!  I saw some little boxes at a nice store covered with pearls and rhinestones and I thought, "I could make something like that!"  (Isn't that what always gets us crafters in trouble??!)  I envisioned using a small paper mache box I was sure I had multiples of but of course I could not find one in my stash….so an extra box that held a Simply Adorned charm worked just fine!  I cut the center out in order to put a little window in the lid (with a piece of window sheet or transparency) and to save on rhinestones!  I planned to use pearls to cover the box with a few rhinestones mixed in, but since I didn't have enough pearls, I had to use mostly rhinestones.

It is so easy to use the Stampin' Up! Basic Rhinestones #119246 and Basic Pearls #119247 on any project.  I used my Paper-Piercing Tool #116631 to pick up each jewel and with the adhesive on the back they were easy to apply where I wanted them.  Some even come attached in a close string so it made it easy to do the edges of the box. And if I wanted just a few rhinestones out of that string, I just cut in between two rhinestones with my Paper-Piercer and got what I wanted. The pearls and rhinestones are so pretty!

If need a couple packages of Stampin' Up! rhinestones or pearls, just go to my Online Store and place your order!  Try making your own trinket box or jewelry box by covering a plain box with bling and your own decoration!  Let me know if you make one!

Today is May Day, although I've never really seen it celebrated! Supposedly you hang a small basket of flowers or gifts on your neighbor's door without being seen.  Now wouldn't that really be a nice thing to find on your door?!  I think this tradition has been transformed into a fun Halloween prank where you "Boo" somebody with a paper ghost and some Halloween treats.  Some say on May Day that if you get caught placing the May Day basket, you get a kiss!  I read that in London children get pennies for bringing flowers house to house and then those pennies are thrown into a wishing well and donated to charity.  In France people try to touch cows parading with flowers on their tails, which is supposed to bring good luck.  Whether or not these are real traditions, I think they all sound like nice celebrations of spring.

Here's my May Day basket, made with the Stampin' Up! Petal Cone die #121810.  It is being carried over from the Occasions Mini, which means we can still order it!

Click HERE to see which items are being carried over.

If you like this project and would like to make it yourself, send me an email and I'll get you started!

These beveled windowpane necklaces are so much fun to make!  The Beveled Windowpanes are acrylic frames to layer over your creation, whether  project like this or to highlight a stamped image on a card or scrapbook page.  All you need are a package of the Stampin' Up! Beveled Windowpanes #121881 in the Occasions Mini, some designer paper or stamps, ribbon and whatever embellishments you want to add.  Here is one I made for a gift, although since it had a "K" on it and my favorite color red, it was kind of hard to let it go!

You can see on this necklace that I used the Love Letter Designer Series Paper #117162 and stamped the initial with the Lovely Letters Alphabet (a must have!) #115030.  One layer of paper is punched with the Scallop Trim Border Punch #118402 and the red flower is made with one of the punches in the Itty Bitty Punch Pack #118309.  The only difficult part of this project is inserting a Hobby Blade #102449 through the little side slits in the windowpane in order to slice through the paper underneath if you want to put some ribbon through.  The ribbon is our gorgeous Stampin' Up! 3/8" Taffeta Very Vanilla #109071.  For a finishing touch you can adhere a little Vanilla Rosette #118774.

Be sure to check out the Occasions Mini Catalog because it ends April 30! And amazingly April is half over already!  You won't want to miss any of the great products in this catalog!

Just a little St. Pat's decoration!  I was going to make my own shamrock with hearts, but came across this stamp in the set "Got Treats" in the Stampin' Up! 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog on page 55.  It is available in either wood- or clear-mount.  In order to leave off the words this time at the bottom of the stamp, I just colored in the shamrock with a Stampin' Write Marker in Garden Green.  Then I punched out the circle and mounted in on a Garden Green Scallop punch….and to jazz it up a bit, mounted that on another scallop in Brushed Gold card stock.  With my white Signo Gel Pen #105021 I added a dot on each scallop edge.  I originally wanted to wrap the votive holder with vellum stamped with shamrocks, but due to the shape of the glass it would not fit right, so I just used some 5/8" Whisper White Organza Ribbon #114219 instead (it's my favorite ribbon anyway!). 

Wouldn't this be an easy little table decoration for your St. Patrick's Day party?
 

While still having fun playing with the Paper Daisies #119243, I got the idea to decorate a little gift bag.  For this project I used the Mini Lunch Sacks that were available in the Holiday Mini Catalog, but of course you could use this idea on any brown paper bag.

After folding over the top of the bag, I tied the 1/2" Stitched-Poly ribbon in Blushing Bride #119267 around from top to bottom and tied a knot right underneath the flower.  I put three Paper Daisies together, held together with a Clear Rhinestone Brad #113144.  They are sponged with Blushing Bride ink.  The flower embellishment is attached with a Stampin' Dimensional #104430 only at the top so the ribbon can be opened.  Last of all, I stamped a greeting from the stamp set "You're a Gem" on page 25 of the Occasions Mini Catalog. Actually, this is a great inexpensive Stampin' Up! set with little greetings perfect for little gifts.

If you need supplies for this or any other Stampin' Up! projects, please consider shopping at my online store HERE or contact me by email.