DIY Snow Globe

Ashley at Cherished Bliss created a faux snow globe for Christmas that we just love!  This easy DIY project is something you can do with your kids and I just love that it doesn't cost a lot of money.  Grab a mason jar (an empty jar of pickles or jam) and wash it thoroughly to get started.

Using your Peanuts Peel & Stick stamps by PSA Essentials, stamp your favorite characters onto patterned paper (Ashley chose snowflake cardstock.)  Then color the characters up to make them pop!

Punch the stamps out and glue onto lollipop sticks.  Then hot glue them to the top of the mason jar.  Stuff cotton or stuffing into the jar to be used as "snow." 

It's a simple project that looks great on your mantel!  Thanks Ashley for sharing. Head on over to Cherished Bliss to read more about this project and see many great other projects.

Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukkah is even more exciting this year because it also falls on Thanksgiving! Millions of people everywhere are celebrating "Thanksgivukkah" which hasn't happened since 1825, and won't happen again for another 70,000 years! (Read more on Buzzfeed, how to celebrate "The Best Holiday of All Time.")
I find this exceptionally cool.  Certainly, this once in a lifetime holiday is something to celebrate.

Jennifer Ingle created a beautiful Hanukkah card to share with you today.  She has stamped The Star of David from PSA Happy Holidays (our mixed holiday Peel & Stick pack.)

She stamped onto white cardstock with royal blue ink loaded in her stamper, and then cut out with an X-acto knife.  Adhere the stars onto blue cardstock.   She used her corner rounder, too.   I love the clean and simple style of this card.

Have you seen our new line of Peel & Stick stamps for the Jewish holidays?  We have two new ones that I am loving and hope you will too!  Find all of our Peel & Stick packs on sale for $12.95 right now at The Paper Clique.


 



Have a wonderful Hanukkah and Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Tree

Time is ticking away until turkey, but you can still create your own beautiful centerpiece for your Thanksgiving Day table.  I just love this idea from Heidi Ferguson at Honeybear Lane.   She's used stamps from PSA Rosetta and various ink cartridges by PSA Essentials loaded in her PSA Essentials Stamper.

Heidi stamped onto white cardstock, punched, and adhered to scallop punched cardstock.  She tied with twine onto a branch which she potted with moss.  It's a very organic centerpiece.  You could write what you are thankful for on the back of the tree, similar to this popular idea posted a few weeks ago on PSA Stamp Camp. 

The Rosetta stamp set is a very versatile set, you can use the stamps for a variety of projects and backgrounds.   Our retailer, Cyber Savvy Shop is selling this pack for just $10.50 (normally $15.00.) Head on over to get yours now!  And don't forget about our helpful videos on how to change your ink cartridge or Peel & Stick stamps here.  

Pilgrim Hat Place Card for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is next week! If you are looking for a great way to set the table, try this idea from Jennifer Holmes.  Jennifer created a pilgrim hat that can be used as a decoration on the table or make multiple hats to use as place cards.  It's festive and fun and it's also an easy project that you can do with your kids!

Jennifer cut the hat from black card stock and added a white trim and a yellow buckle.  She stamped from Hello Kitty Trick or Treat available at The Paper Clique for just $12.95 (normally $15.00)

To use as a place card, replace the stamp that says  “thankful for you” with the guest's name. Place on top of crisp white napkins for a real pop of color.  

Are you ready for Thanksgiving? It's hard to believe that it is next week! 

Celebrating a Birthday

Last weekend, we celebrated my father's birthday.  Saturday morning the kids and I spent a few hours prepping. Molly and I made a cake, she made him a card, and Connor even participated in some crafting too! The best part of making a cake as a kid is the chance to taste the batter...

When it came time to make a card, naturally I chose to incorporate PSA Essentials Peel & Stick stamps. We released the sentiment collection last year which includes a "happy birthday  stamp.  It sounds like a marketing gimmick to say, "PSA Essentials is so easy, even a child can stamp."  But it's true so I will prove it with pictures! Connor is just 18 months but Molly has years of practice with PSA Essentials so she gave him some help...

Molly is getting quite good at writing!  There are some letter you need to show her first, but many others that she can write from memory.

When our cards were done and the cake was baked, we went over to my parents house to celebrate!  It was a fun-filled afternoon.

Here are some more professional looking cards for birthday made by our design team member, Carly Robertson.  She is so incredibly talented... maybe Molly will design cards like her one day!

All of these Peel & Stick stamps can be found here!  Look for Whimsy Cakes, Mom's Calendar, and Vanilla Peel & Stick packs to create these cards.

DIY Thanksgiving Place Mats

I've been eyeing some personalized Thanksgiving place mats on a few sites lately, but frankly, I just can't buck up to pay for them.  When Heidi Ferguson of Honeybear Lane designed these for us, I was reminded that with a little effort, I could make my own place mats for Thanksgiving. 

For this project by Heidi you will need: 

1. PSA Essentials Stamper 
2. Orange ink 
3. Black ink (comes in your PSA Stamper)
4. PSA Rosettas Peel & Stick pack 
5. Craft paper 
6. Taffeta paper 
7. A sewing machine 
8. A black marker to write your message ("give thanks" or "Happy Thanksgiving" - your choice!) 

Start by stamping all around the craft paper.  When it's dry, sew it to the taffeta paper.  Write with your marker your message. Really, it's a very simple project! Heidi added a pocket for silverware here for a rustic and homey touch. 

I love how this looks on the table and how simple it is!  It's also an affordable way to dress up and personalize your table this season.  Don't you love it?  Let us know your thoughts here and don't forget to enter our "what are you thankful for" giveaway! 

Veterans Day

Today we are appreciative of all of our veterans, active duty military, and their families who sacrifice so much for our freedom and safety.   Tami Mayberry created this beautiful card to honor our troops. She's used the flag heart stamp from PSA Country Home Peel & Stick by PSA Essentials. 

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -JFK.  Our friend Jessica over at Mad In Crafts reminded us of this great quote. 

Head on over to Support Our Troops website and see how you can actively honor these wonderful men and women who give us so much.  Pay it forward and do something great today! 

Thanksgiving Turkey Treat Bag

Do you have little ones coming to your house this Thanksgiving?  Here’s a great idea by Mae Armstrong.   She’s created seasonal treat bags to hang from kids chairs.  Fill these cute Turkey Treat Bags with toys, candy, activities, or little gifts from the dollar store.  Keep them busy a little while longer at the dinning room table this Thanksgiving and get extra festive with this idea by Mae.

Mae started by cutting a pear shape for the body of the turkey out of black felt.  Then she cut a bunch of feathers using a plain orange cloth.  Mae stamped the orange cloth with PSA Essentials Peel & Stick Rosettas to give the feathers a retro design.

She pinned the feathers and arranged them behind the turkey.  You can sew this by hand or you can use a machine.

 After sewing the feathers down, Mae heat bonded on the back of the turkey using her iron.

She created a simple 5X7 canvas pouch and ironed the turkey onto the bag.   She also sewed around the turkey to secure the felt.   She then added some googly eyes and a triangle orange beak to finish the design.

Mae picked a simple grosgrain ribbon to match the feathers. 

For those that sew, this is a relatively simple project!  And those PSA Essentials Rosettas look great on this project! Great idea, Mae.  

Thankful Tree for Kids

As we prepare for Thanksgiving in our household, Molly and I have been working on some seasonal crafts. By far, this kids activity for Thanksgiving is my favorite because it is interactive, ongoing, and a great teaching moment. It's a Family Thankful Tree!



We created a "thankful tree" by cutting strips of brown cardstock and mounting to the window with tape. We created leaves using green cardstock and scallop edging scissors.  Every day (or more than once a day!) we talk about what we are thankful for, write it down on a leaf, and put it on the tree.  

It's incredibly interesting to see what Molly comes up with.  They are talking about weather and seasons at her preschool now so yesterday she was thankful for "the flowers that grow in the spring and summer." She was also thankful that "we don't have tornadoes, hurricanes, or floods in this land now." 

We are developing a nice collection of things we are thankful for as a family. 

Yesterday, I received some horrible news about a friend from high school passing away very suddenly.  My friends and I are shocked and devastated.  I wrote on a leaf that I am thankful for my friend Kristen who was in my life.  Her friendship made life in high school fun.  She was a wonderful person who will be missed. I am truly thankful for her friendship and being in my life.  

I'd love to hear what you are up to with your kids this Thanksgiving!  Share some happy news and link up your posts, pictures, or give some blog comment love. 

What are you thankful for? Enter to win!

Of all the holidays, Thanksgiving is my favorite.  It's not about presents and it's not about candy.  It's about coming together and being thankful for all that we have.  2013 has been one of the hardest years I have ever experienced.  Transitions with work, raising a 4 year old girl who can be very emotional, chasing after a very active 18-month boy (who didn't sleep through the night until he was 14 months old!), paying attention to my husband, and trying to balance it all has been hard.

But I have it so good. I am so fortunate.  When I really step back and look at my life, if this is "hard" then what do people who really have it hard go through?  And that's when I feel truly grateful for my life.

I have very supportive parents, in-laws that I absolutely LOVE, and some true friends that have been loyal and uplifting whenever I feel down. I have a roof over my head and plenty of food in the fridge (though Connor seriously eats a lot...)   And we are all healthy.   For all these things, I am blessed.

We want to know!  Share what you are thankful for and enter to win our giveaway below!

To enter to win, leave a comment and let us know what you are thankful for this season! (You can earn an extra entry by liking PSA Essentials on Facebook and also tweeting about this contest up to once a day!) By commenting, you'll enter to win a personalized stamp by PSA Essentials, 2 Peel & Stick packs, 1 alignment tool, 1 black ink, 1 2-color ink and free shipping to a U.S. resident. (International folks may enter but agree to pay shipping!)

At PSA Essentials, we hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving! We have some great posts coming up, stay tuned for great ways to celebrate the season.

Card by the talented Kelley Eubanks uses Hello Kitty Trick or Treat stamps by PSA Essentials

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Candy Hangover

Do you have a candy hangover like we do?  After all that sugar, there comes an awful crash....

We had a great day yesterday!  Molly was home from school due to school conferences, so we got ready for Halloween by making some decorations for the party.  At 5 pm, 3 couples that we are friends with and their children (there were 10 in all) came over for a Halloween party and trick or treating in our neighborhood.

First we made some treat bags for our friends coming over.  We took white paper sacks (available at Michale's) and used SRM Stickers and our PSA Haunted Shack Peel & Stick stamps. Kroger was all out of a carving kit, but we scored these great "humpty-dumpty" like decorations.  They just stick into your pumpkins.  No mess!

I made mini quiches and chicken noodle soup, both of which turned out horribly! But I made some cute cupcake toppers with UBU Happy Halloween Peel & Stick stamps by PSA Essentials.

To make the cupcake toppers, just stamp on cardstock and punch out with your 1.5" circle punch.  Tape them onto lolipop sticks for a super quick fix. 

I cannot take credit for this adorable fruit by my friend Tricia!  Ghost bananas and clementine pumpkins! 

Molly wrote "Happy Halloween" all by herself! I am so proud of her writing at just 4 years old!

When it was time to get dressed, Connor was not loving his "Where the Wild Thing Are" costume... but Molly and her best friend Parker were quite happy being Princess Aurora and Ariel.

We had a great time trick or treating and a fun day with our friends!  We hope you had a Happy Halloween, too!