I'm not sure WHERE the day went but once again it was a slow and easy one ... and I actually got through a few things! Surprising, really, since I didn't sleep a wink last night! Those of you who pop in regularly may recall that my eldest daughter has had some REAL struggles with anxiety over the last 2-3 years but that this year she has made HUGE progress and is a completely different child! ... except when holidays roll around. Whenever she spends MORE time with me she seems to be MORE insecure. I suppose it makes sense - when she's around me 24/7 I'm her crutch - she doesn't HAVE to deal with things on her own - she has me to help her. Last night she was really insecure. She knew there wasn't room in the bed for me, Craig, the cat AND her ... so she asked if she could sleep on the floor beside me ... I said yes (she did this for about 6 months straight about 3 years ago!). Needless to say neither of us slept very well. Luckily I have coffee to help me through the day ... and I LOVE my coffee these days (we got a new coffee maker a week before Christmas thanks to our old one dying suddenly!). It's a Hamilton Beach single brewer and I have gone from one cup a day to two ... it's a slippery slope! *lol*.
Speaking of coffee (notice this seemingly effortless transition from lack of sleep to my child's anxieties and then back to lack of sleep? Amazing, aren't I?!!?? *lol*) ... right ... speaking of coffee(!) I couldn't WAIT to share this project with you for another day. It is the treat I put in with my club girls' orders this month and I absolutely LOVE everything about it ... Ready? Ta Da!
I purchased the cups at Costco (my other main addiction ... after Pinterest!). There are 100 Dixie cups and lids for ... mmmm ... I think it was $9.99 - maybe $12.99 - regardless, not too expensive! (I wasn't sure I needed 100 ... but you know me ... if 1 is good 100 is GREAT *lol*).
To make the *belly band* I simply grabbed one of the coffee bands from Starbucks that I had lying around andf traced it with a pencil onto some Early Espresso card stock and cut it out. You can see from the third picture that the *band* doesn't actually go all the way around the cup - it's just decorative and only covers the front of the cup. I used my paper snips to cut it out by hand and then I ran it through my crimper to give it that card-board look. Oh ... and I attached it to the cup with my hot glue gun (actually ALL of the pieces were attached with my glue gun - it just made things a LOT faster and I could be sure everything would stay in place!) Next up I added a little strip of the 1 1/4" Burlap Ribbon (which HAS been carried over to the Occasions Catalogue (page 37 - $9.95) - WOO HOO! Another hot item in crafting these days and I'm really learning to love this stuff!) - again, attached with my hot glue gun.
Next I stamped the sentiment re coffee and friends (from the main catty - Perfect Blend - page 37 - $13.95 clear ... GET THIS SET!!! It's a keeper!) - I stamped it in Early espresso on Very Vanilla card stock and then punched it out with one of the new toys from the new catalogue (one reason I'm actually GLAD I didn't get around to making these right away!!) - the speech bubble is made with the Word Bubbles Framelits - $30.95 (or 15% savings if you buy the bundle with the matching stamp set! See page 36 of the catalogue ... which goes live tomorrow!!!!) I just KNOW I'm going to use these framelits a LOT!! I glued the speech bubble on one side only on purpose - I liked the effect of it not lying flat.
You just KNOW what my favorite part of this project is, right?? I thought my head was going to explode right off my body when I thought of hot gluing actualy COFFEE BEANS onto the cup for the embellishment - GENIUS, right??!! I know!!! (or should that be *I know, right?* *lol*) I'm still giddy about it 4 days later ... you KNOW how these things make me happy :)))))
So! That's all there was to the actual cup. It really didn't take long to make 30 of them ... maybe 2 - 2 1/2 hours from start to finish ... pretty reasonable, I think! But Wait! There's more! I wanted to put something IN the cups! I have been keeping my eye out for weeks and weeks looking for coffee flavoured candies, drinks and so on. Most were fairly cost prohibitive when you start making 30 of them ... and then I was on Pinterest one day (what a surprise!) and I stumbled across a recipe for various home made coffee flavourings ... generally to give away in jars. That started the old juices flowing and before I knew it I had found a recipe for French Vanilla Coffee Mix over at www.roamingbuffaloranch.blogspot.ca - I ran out and bought all the ingredients needed and then whipped up a double batch. I had some small bags with ties in my stash o' bags (from Michaels - shhhhhh) which I used for 1/4 cup of the mix. I then went to my computer, printed off the recipe on Very Vanilla card stock ... then back to the craft room to cut them and stamp the little coffee cup on the front. That stamp is from the retired set "Voila to Go" ... I loved that recipe card/chef set and will never part with it ... I was glad to dust it off and use it again (with Early Espresso ink).
The recipe card (which just HAPPENED to measure 3" x 4" - PERFECT size!!!) and the bag of mix fits inside the cup for a nice little treat on a cold Canadian day ... in THE. CUTEST. PACKAGING. EVER!!!
I'm glad I made up a few extras of this little gem .. I have already met 2 friends for coffee this week and guess what I brought them??? Perfect - just like Coffe & Friends (SEE what I did there??!!!! MAN I'm on fire tonight!!! *lol*)
OK - I'm off to Rainbow Loom with the girls now. Until next time - have a stampy night!
Tam
WOW!! I love it and your enthusiasm!
ReplyDelete:) Thanks Pam … just MAYBE I drink too much coffee *lol*! Have a stumpy day!!
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