Welcome Summer!

It's officially summer and I'm pretty excited -- lots of time outdoors, flowy dresses, sandals, popsicles, iced tea on the balcony, and lazy afternoons by the pool.

Enjoy the season!

A Little More Lettering

Hello everyone! I've been practicing my hand lettering. I've showed you some tools in my arsenal but my favorite to use are watercolors. Practicing this is an art in itself and helps improve the legibility of my penmanship. 

Here are samples of where I've applied it:

My own Thank You cards using blank correspondence cards.

Table numbers for a party or wedding reception.

These are little notes that I like to leave in random locations. My favorite place to leave them is at restaurants, on the bill tray after the check has been paid...I tuck the tip and this card inside the envelope for a staff member who has done an exceptional job. TADA!

I hope you liked these ideas. See you next week!

This One's for Dad

To all the great men we call "Father", "Dad", "Daddy", "Pops", "Papa", thank you for all that you do! Have an enjoyable day with all you love.

Bread Tags

Bread is a staple in our pantry. It's versatile to eat for breakfast, lunch, an afternoon snack, or dinner.

Because of this massive bread consumption at our house, I've collected quite a handful of these bread tags.

Bread tags. Bread ties. Bread freshness indicator (did you know that the colors indicate the freshness of the bread? Yes! You can read more about it here) -- whatever you call them, this little plastic thingy can be turned from blah to TADA!

Just add googly eyes and a smile.

Use it to secure a gift bag if you don't have ribbon, twine or twist ties.

It gives a gift a lot of character!

As another option, decorate with washi tape or stickers.

Use it to close a bag.

And if you want, add more embellishments...TADA!

Here are other ideas on how to re-use these bread tags. If you have other ways to use them, I would love to hear about it. 

Have a great day!

Another Use for an Old Belt

Hi there! For the past two weeks, I've been making these:

Sleek leather key chains.

They were both made from this belt that was so overused, it snapped into two. 

After two projects, there's still some leather left over. It's a gift that keeps on giving!

I used the remainder to update this pencil roll. 

It originally had a black elastic tie to keep it from unravelling. This belt (quickly sewed on with needle and thread) provides a more edgy look.

I made three different things from one old belt...TADA!

How To: A Leather Keychain

Hey, hey, Happy Monday!

Last week, I told you about this favorite belt of mine that broke. 

But all was not lost. I bought a new belt and made a keychain out of my old belt.

There's a bit more leather left over -- enough to make another keychain. 

All that's needed are a jewelry end cap, a jump ring, a metal key ring, hot glue, and a pair of scissors.

Trim the leather to your desired length.

Make the ends meet and stick them together with hot glue.

Apply more glue to the edges and attach this to the end cap.

Now we've made a handsome leather loop.

Place the jump ring on the end cap.

And hook this on a key ring.

A quick and easy leather craft...TADA!

There's a masculine and feminine version...double TADA!

Old Belt, New Life

I like to bring new life to old objects. I think eveyone, and everything, deserves a second chance.

Today, my willing subject is this belt:

It was an inexpensive find that I used many times as a cute accessory and to hold up troussers that were a little too big for me.

At some point, my default belt hole just got bigger and bigger, and broke beyond repair. Sigh.

Here's how I turned this blah into a TADA!:

I made it into a key chain! 

Let me show you how I did it.

I knotted some embroidery floss in the middle of my metal snap hook.

Then I cut a piece of my broken belt and placed it on the metal snap hook.

I used hot glue to stick both sides together. Notice that I sandwiched the embroidery floss in between the leather.

I used a binder clip to keep the leather in place while the glue dried. Then I strung on some wooden beads (these were rescued from an old necklace) onto the string.

I made a long tassel out of more embroidery floss.

Then added this at the end of the key chain, looping it through the end of the string, taking the end of the string all the way back through the beads, to where the last bead meets the leather. Then I made several tight knots and snipped off the remaining string.

Then take off the binder clip as the final step.

This key chain is also useful as a bag charm or a zipper pull. TADA!