love me some heels :)

I picked up these lovely *plum* ladies while I was killing time this weekend in Roanoke, VA. The hubs was interviewing for a job and I was killing some time with the little man, so I thought what better way to get a feel for the town than go shopping, right? :o) I love any excuse to shop!

 

I'm a 3H kind of gal: Heels, Headbands, and Handbags make me one happy girl. And I got these for such a steal! I'd reveal how much I spent, but the hubs checks my blog.... But they were a good deal, I proooomise!;)

 

Just have to fluff my feathers a little bit, I was featured today over at a little blog called, Today's Creative Blog! What an honor to be featured by Kim. Thanks Kim! Be sure to go check it out. Kim gives me a bit of a hard time, but all in good fun!

*added later: I'm really not as obsessed about the color purple as it may seem. Really, I'm not. I promise.*

Paper Lollipop Ornament TUTORIAL

 I love that you guys aren't afraid to ask for a tutorial!! That's awesome! So, as requested, here's a quick tutorial for my Lollipop Ornaments.

Supplies:

• two 1.5"x12" strips of double sided pattern paper (this will make a 3" diameter lollipop)
  
• two 2" circles of coordinating paper
  
• button(s)
• 6" hemp or ribbon (to hang it with)
• double sided adhesive
• hot glue gun

Take one strip of 1.5"x12" paper and fold over about 1/2".

Flip over and fold again 1/2" so that your paper starts looking like an accordion.

Fold both strips of paper like this.

Then place the end of one accordion strip onto the end of the other strip. Overlapping one or two folds. Use your double sided adhesive to hold in place. I suppose you could use your hot glue gun for this as well, but I'd recommend double sided adhesive.

Then twist the other ends of the accordion strips around. You will have excess length that you'll want to cut off. Depending on how big your folds are will depend on how much extra length you'll have. I cut off about 7" (I pulled it straight to measure it)and my folds were roughly 1/2". I recommend folding extra because it seems like each lollipop I make the folds are slightly different and I need different lengths. With two 12" long strips, I usually have enough. (if you want really big lollipops, you'll use 3 or 4 strips of 12" paper) Use your double sided adhesive to hold the ends together.

Now squish the circle and try to the center whole as small as possible.

Put hot glue all around the center trying to get inside the accordion grooves as best as you can. (I tried other adhesives for this step, but this is what I found worked best for me. I tried glue dots and double sided adhesive strips, but nothing held for longer than 5 minutes. If you have something that works better, let me know) 

Then attach one 2" circle over the hot glue.

Repeat with the back side.

Attach the other 2" circle to the back.

Hot glue on your button. I threaded my button with DMC floss.

Put hot glue under the front 2" circle and slip your ribbon or hemp into the glue.

There you go! Simple, cute, and inexpensive!

Here's the original Lollipop Ornaments I made:

Be sure to enter the Cover Your Hair Giveaway! (giveaway ends on Dec. 11)

**Reader's Tutorial Week is coming up next week, Dec. 14-18. I have 10+ tutorials lined up and a fabulous giveaway each day. I don't want you to miss out on the great giveaways I have lined up, so be sure to check back each day!**

Cover Your Hair product review and GIVEAWAY

 

When Cover Your Hair contacted me to do a product review, I had never even heard of a Snood, let alone a Tichel! (yes, I am sheltered and live in a bubble. thank you very much.) Cover Your Hair is a wonderful company that offers affordable, stylish products to...(drum roll)... cover your hair! They also have other lovely hair accessories that made me drool, like their Thin Flower Headband (fabric flower + headband = instant love) and their uber cute Corduroy Buckle Hat.

Anyways, I digress. Back to business. Cover Your Hair sent me this Pre-Tied Bandana to try out. It is very soft and made of luxurious feeling fabric. And it fits very comfortably on my head. Since I had never worn a Pre-Tied Bandana before, I was a little worried about figuring out how to use it. But I had no problems putting this on at all. The hardest part was figuring out how to wear my hair underneath. I tried putting my hair in a ponytail and  then a bun, but my hair looked best just tucked up into the bandana.

Cover Your Hair's Pre-tied Bandana's are perfect if you cover your hair for religious reasons or covering hair loss due to chemo therapy, etc, or if you just want an easy way to put your hair up, this is definitely the way to go! It's made to fit around your head and has plenty of give with the soft, stretchy material and the two ties on the back give you a custom fit. If you know anyone that has lost or is losing their lovely locks for medical reasons, this would make a very nice Christmas gift.

And now what you're all waiting for: Cover Your Hair has offered to give away a  

$25 box of surprise Hair Accessories

to one lucky reader! AND this giveaway is open to my world wide bloggy friends as well!

To enter you must go to www.CoverYourHair.com and leave a comment on THIS post with which items you would love to have. Please include your email address.

For additional entries:

1. Follow Craftaholics Anonymous
   
2. Join Cover Your Hair's Google Friend connect, click "Join This Site" in the Google Friend Connectbox
3. Follow Cover Your Hair on Networked Blogs, go to www.coveryourhair.com/blog/ and click "Follow This Blog" on the Networked Blog Box.
4. Follow Cover Your Hair on Twitter, click http://twitter.com/coveryourhair
5. Subscribe to Cover Your Hair's blog feed, http://feeds.feedburner.com/coveryourhaircom
   

**Leave a comment for each additional entry.** If you leave one comment, you will only get one entry.

Giveaway ends December 11 at 11:59PM EST and the winner will be determined by random.org.
Good luck!

Don't foget to mail your Gift!

Today is the big day to get all those lovely handmade gifts mailed out! (for those that signed up for the Gift Exchanges) If life happened and you're unable to mail your package out today, please email your giftee and let them know when they can expect their package. I'm sure we all can understand that things come up sometimes.

* If you'd like to show off the lovely handmade gift you received, I will be hosting a linky party on

December 27 (because of course you're not supposed to open your gift until Christmas, right?!;) So be sure to come back on Dec. 27 and link up with your handmade lovelies.*

**If you were not able to sign up for this Gift Exchange, but want to participate in one in the future, I will be hosting a Christmas in July {handmade}Gift Exchange.**

Christmas Wall Hangings

I finally pulled out the Podge and ended my months long hiatus. {after Mod Podging my handbag, I'd had enough Podge for awhile! lol} But I'm happy to report that I'm back together with my smelly friend, Mr. Modge Podge :) I created this Deck the Halls wall hanging for my hallway {yeah, go figure}. But it actually ended up in the front room. oops!

Up close. Sorry, the computer doesn't like the small lines.They're actually small, STRAIGHT lines, even though they look squiggly.

 

And here's another Christmas wall hanging I did with some friends. I think it looks good next to my wooden snowflakes.

Blog Swap: Highlowaha

Today I have one last blog swap for you. The inspirational ladies from Highlowaha are here to show you their "Shine Ball".

Inside everyone is a little SHINE.

So convinced are we of this at www.highlowaha.com that we have started a shine revolution. Catch people in the act of shining and, together, we will make the world a brighter place.

Today we show you how to make a Shine ball - the perfect stocking stuffer for everyone on your list. Stay with us all the way to the end and figure out how to win the Shine Ball photographed.

Gather colored rolls of streamers, along with ribbons, rhinestones, buttons, and any other decorative accents you might use to decorate your ball.

Decide on small items to be rolled into the ball. Notice, I have included things such as stamps, fortunes, coins, stickers, pieces of candy, balloons, and more.

Lucky you that we so committed to spreading the Shine word. At the center of this Shine Ball is a sterling silver charm. Perfect for a silver chain or black cord.

Decide which item will serve as the core of your Shine Ball. It will take shape faster if you use something round at the center. I placed the shine ball in a small bag and then wrapped the bag around the smiley face ball to give it additional shape.

Begin wrapping streamer around the center item.

Continue wrapping.

While wrapping, continue rolling trinkets into the shine ball, periodically alternating directions. Note: Mine is not one continuous piece of streamer. Every three wraps, or so, I cut the streamer and start moving in a new direction. This prevents the ball from looking uneven.

Wrap until your shine ball takes shape..

Tuck and glue any pieces of streamer that are left puckering or sticking out.

Decide on detailing for your Shine Ball. I kept this one simple, but if you visit our blog post from yesterday, you will see a white "snowball" chock full of glitzy decorations (a festive variation for the holidays).

Done. Hand deliver to the hostess of your next holiday party or anonymously slip one in the Christmas stocking of an unsuspecting friend or family member. You'll be a hit.

Lest you think that's it - that's all we've got. No way. Not a chance. Highlowaha's daily comment section is where it is at. Our loyal readers are always, always, always ready to help improve on our daily idea or to just banter back and forth, making and reconnecting with their "virtual" friends.

Join us in the Highlowaha comment section today and you will be in the drawing to win the Shine Ball pictured above. You can give a shout out to Linda, who wrote today's post on Highlowaha, and make suggestions for other trinkets to be included in a holiday Shine Ball.

See you in the comment section and then, maybe, you will join us on Saturday to learn more about our Yellow Envelope Project.

Thanks for stopping by, Highlowaha!