A Bouquet That Lasts Forever

Hi folks, it's Lauren here again. Mother's Day here in the US is this Sunday, May 13th, but you still have plenty of time to make your mom a beautiful bouquet that will look equally nice next Mother's Day! All you need are some Eyelet Outlet paper flowers, brads, bling and washi tape, plus a strong, fast-drying adhesive, some wooden skewers ...or popsicle sticks if you're crafting with kiddos... and a small jar to hold your finished bouquet.

Start by making flower stacks: it's good to combine sizes, shapes, and colors. Luckily all of our EO flowers come in sets with small, medium and large flowers, and there are loads of styles! In this bouquet I used purple, white and green Solid Color Flowers, plus Butterfly and Red Dot Flowers. My stacks range from just two flowers glued back-to-back, to stacks with three layers on each side. (I wanted the bouquet to look nice from every direction, so I made all of my flower stems double-sided.)

For the flowers with Pearl Brad centers, all I had to do was assemble my stack, hold them together with a brad, and then glue one flower to the back, in order to cover the brad prongs. For the blooms with Enamel Dot, Heart Pearl and Flower Jewel centers, I used dry adhesive to layer the flowers. Once I had a nice mix of flowers, I added the stems --which are bamboo skewers from the grocery store. I used a small amount of hot glue to attach the pointy end of the skewer firmly between the flower layers, but if you're crafting with kids, a strong adhesive like Aileen's Fast Grab Tacky Glue or Beaon's 3-in-1 adhesive also works well.

Once all my flowers had stems, I added leaves. I made them by cutting large Green Paper Flowers in half, applying a tiny amount of hot glue to the "stem" and then folding the flower halves around the stem. Then I used my spring-loaded wire snips to trim some of the bamboo skewers to different lengths, so that my bouquet would have a more interesting shape. Strong craft scissors or a utility tool would also work.

Now I just needed a vase. I chose a small glass bottle, but really any small container would work, since you won't be needing to add water! I recommend a vessel with a narrow opening, though, because it makes the bouquet stay together more neatly. If you use something with a wider neck, you might like to use some washi tape or a ribbon to keep the flowers from shifting around. I dressed up my clear glass bottle with a strip of Wide Flower Washi and then used bits of white Pearl Bling Strips to make it even fancier.

If this isn't enough inspiration for your Mother's Day crafting, check out the 30+ new styles of Washi Tape just added in the Eyelet Outlet store! (The City Washi miiiiiiiiight be my favorite... what's yours?) ♥

Lauren Bergold

gave this bouquet to her mother-in-law at an 

early Mother's Day celebration this weekend, 

and it was a big hit!

Deck the Halls

Warm winter greetings, Eyelet Outlet fans, it's Lauren here with a super-fast project that would make a great last minute holiday gift OR maybe a bit of decor for your own home?

When I found these triangular balsa wood trees in the clearance section of a big box crafting store, I immediately pictured them covered in Eyelet Outlet Paper Flowers, Swirl Bling and Bumpy Heart Bling, and I seriously could not get them into my cart fast enough! Of course, if you have the tools, they'd be easy to create from scrap wood. For that matter, a few pieces of nice thick cardboard cut into triangles would work equally well; you could even draw some triangular shapes on a card or canvas and make the surrounding areas "background"! Whatever materials you choose, the method will be the same:

Cover your triangles with torn scraps of sheet music, text paper, old dictionary pages, etc. Use a high quality gluestick to get thorough, edge-to-edge coverage on your papers, and if you're working with 3D wooden shapes, a little coat of gluestick on the wood, as well, gives you extra adherence. Wrap the papers around the sides, the back, and onto the base, smoothing out any bubbles or wrinkles as you go. When your trees are covered, decide where you'd like to place your embellished Paper Flower stacks. This will help determine where your doilies should go... if you're using doilies, that is! To adhere doilies or any lacy, fragile items, use the gluestick again, but apply with an up and down "dabbing" motion, since sliding the gluestick can result in tearing the paper. Add the paper flowers strategically, so they will become the focal point of each tree. Since each Eyelet Outlet Solid Color Paper Flower Pack has forty flowers, in three graduated sizes, you'll be able to make each stack multi-layered. Place a Bumpy Heart Jewel in the center of each stack. Finally, add Clear Swirl Bling around the flowers for maximum drama. I love that these come on a clear plastic backing sheet, which makes it easy for me to move them around before deciding exactly where they should go. Feel free to trim or rearrange bits of the flourishes to fit your design better!

Not a big fan of collage? Cover your trees with patterned paper, giftwrap, paint or Holiday Washi Tape! Then fancy them up with flowers, bling, pearls, brads or... well, whatever Eyelet Outlet embellishments you love most!

Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice or Festivus, I wish you a wonderful weekend full of family, friends and maybe even a handmade gift or two! ♥♥♥

Lauren Bergold's husband is lobbying strongly to keep these embellished trees at their house... 

and she's pretty sure he will be successful in this! :)

Decorated Jam Jars w/ video

I wanted to give some gifts to our neighbors for Christmas, so I made some homemade jam and decorated up the jars to pass out to everyone this season.

I stared with the plain filled and sealed jars, placed the label on the back, added a little flower on the top, bling along the lid, and them tied a sting with the label along the rim.  Here is a video on how I made this cute little decorated jam jar.

I used the white flowers, bling brads, and red bling strips from Eyelet Outlet to make make these jars look that much cuter.

Supplies Used
Computer Printed Labels
Flowers - Eyelet Outlet
Brad - Eyelet Outlet
Bling - Eyelet Outlet
Foil Paper - Rinea
Twine - Canvas Corp Brands
Tags - Canvas Corp Brands
Punch - EK Success
Sticker Maker - Xyron
Glue - Beacon Adhesives

Erin Reed - Designer & Artist

Blog

Facebook

YouTube

ETSY

Instagram

Dreamiest Washi Tape Pillowboxes

If you're like me, (Lauren) giftcards are always part of your holiday giving, but store-bought packaging always feels like a bit of a cheat... especially when there are so many cool alternatives that we can *MAKE* ourselves. The good old-fashioned pillowbox is still a favorite of mine, because the dimension makes it look like an actual gift. You can construct them from all sorts of materials, but my absolute favorite is plain old white cardstock decorated with Eyelet Outlet Holiday Washi Tape, because it's easy, quick, and you can customize the look for everyone on your giftcard gift list!

I still use an ancient print-n-cut pattern plus scissors to construct my pillowbox blanks, but if you have a pillowbox die or electronic cutting software, it'll be even easier! I keep two printed copies of my favorite pattern, one to trace the entire shape, the other to uses as a guide for scoring the curves. I like to completely cut out, score and fold all the moving parts before I begin the decoration phase. Since there are soooooooo many beautiful Eyelet Outlet Tapes, it's hard to choose just a few, so I decided to use lots of different ones to create a sort of woven effect on the blank pillowbox.

Start with one strip of tape (I chose Pine Tree) and place it on a diagonal, so that it covers both sides of the box, as well as the flap. Leave an inch or so at either edge, so you can wrap the ends around to secure them on the inside of the box.

Choose a second tape and place one or two strips of it perpendicularly to the first strip.

Work back and forth, adding layers in each direction, until two thirds of the box is covered. Use tapes of various widths, and let some overlap the edges of others, to add more variety to the design. I've mixed classic holiday designs like Tree Tape, Holiday Dots, Red Tree Tape, Merry Christmas Skinny Tape, Season's Greetings, etc, with other red and green tapes in my collection, like Heart Washi and Skinny Hearts Tape.

When you get to the end, if you've accidentally covered your sentiment, as I did with my Merry Christmas Tape, just go ahead and add a second strip on top! The translucency of the design makes it easy to line up a second layer perfectly!

Use your favorite dry adhesive to secure the flap. I like Scor-Tape, because it's very strong and comes in a bunch of widths. But remember, that it's a lot easier to attach Candy Cane Brads, Solid Color Flowers and other embellishments before you fold the box (!!!) and secure the flap with your extra strong, super-sticky tape! Do you notice anything about the picture above? Yes, I forgot it'd be hard to punch holes and place brads after the box was taped together. Hence the bold italics! If you'd like to be extra sure your box will stay together for all eternity, add another decorative tape strip or two after it's constructed.

Now that you're an expert pillowbox maker, I bet you won't be able to stop with just one Washi Tape masterpiece... I know I couldn't! ♥

Lauren Bergold

loves blogging and Eyelet Outlet products, 

especially the ones that make holiday gift-giving easier!!!

Just Say, "NOEL!"

What's your favorite crafty thing about the holidays? For me, (Lauren) it's got to be fancy giftwrapping! Don't get me wrong, I love making cards and presents, but it's my belief that upon seeing a really beautiful package, everyone kind of secretly hopes that it's for them! The good news is, it doesn't take much effort to make that be true for everyone on your list. My secret weapons: plain gift bags, bought in bulk; and Eyelet Outlet holiday washi tapes!

There are soooooooo many beautiful varieties it's hard to choose... so I didn't, lol; this bag has five tapes and five brad styles! But this idea would be just as lovely (and more CAS!) if all the letters had the same pattern. I really love the way different tapes mix and match, though, so I've used Holiday Ornaments Tape, Pine Tree Tape, Heart Washi (who says hearts are just for Valentine's Day?!) and Holiday Dots Tape. To construct the sentiment, I've lined up neat strips of tape on scraps of white cardstock, traced around some old chipboard alphabets, and hand cut each letter. But to save time, you could use alphabet dies, or dress up storebought diecuts.

After my letters were complete, I trimmed a piece of holiday sheet music and added a border made from Christmas Washi. Finally, it was time to add a few embellies. I decided on a Poinsettia Brad, a Cardinal Brad and a Holly Brad, as well as some Elf and Snowflake Brads. But again, you could still get a beautiful effect by choosing just a couple... why not mix and match a few new treats with styles you already have in your stash? Remember that hearts, flowers, foliage, musical notes and many other motifs can work for ANY occasion, so feel free to combine holiday and non-holiday elements!

I hope you'll be inspired to consider using items from your own crafty stash when it comes to wrapping presents this holiday season!

Lauren Bergold 

has nieces and nephews who don't realize you can BUY 

giftwrap and cards in a store, lol! :)

Monster Movie Night!

Hello again, Eyelet Outlet fans! I (Lauren) recently acquired an envelope maker, and I *love* making custom envelopes. The gift-card size is especially cool, because you can make a card and envelope that not only MATCH, but coordinate with the theme of the gift card; which, in this case, is for a movie theater. And who better to act as spokesmodels for movie night than our very own Eyelet Outlet Monster Brads! (Please note: the only thing scary about these guys is how cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute they are; but they think they're terrifying, so be a sport and go along with it for the length of the post, ok? Thanks.)

Double-sided paper is great for envelopes, but in this case, the reverse was plain, so I "lined" the inside of the envelope with Admit One Ticket Washi, which I applied before constructing the envelope. (If you don't have an envelope maker, this website has FREE templates for many different sizes, including giftcard.)

I wrapped another strip around the outside to give two of the adorable... (ahem!) ...I mean ferocious monsters a place to stand. Movie actors need dialog, obviously, for which I used my vintage typewriter; and they're STARS, so I diecut a few from plain cardstock with Glitter Black Washi.

These guys are *ALWAYS* ready for a closeup, lol!

The card coordinates with the envelope, naturally, but also features a few strips of Road Washi Tape, as well as some Popcorn and Ticket Brads.

I find the Purple Monsters are especially adorable... errrrrrr, I mean fierce! 

And very frightening! ♥

I hope you'll be inspired to make your own envelopes, or to decorate pre-made versions with super-fun Eyelet Outlet goodies!

Hey there, I'm Lauren. 

I love monsters and movies and blogging! 

Stop by for a visit!

Under the Strawberry Moon

Inspiration is such an interesting thing, don't you think? It can come from absolutely anywhere! For example, just over a month ago, I (Lauren) had never heard the expression "Strawberry Moon" (referring to a full moon in the month of June; traditionally thought to be the best time for picking strawberries) but as soon as I did, all I could think of was strawberry-themed papercrafting projects. Luckily I had nearly a whole package of luscious Eyelet Outlet Strawberry Brads to help me out!

I made a card first, mostly because I thought of a fun/punny sentiment, and I can never resist those, lol. 

I scattered Strawberry Brads and strawberry flowers --made from the smallest White Paper Flower Layers with Yellow Oval Bling centers-- in a cascade down the front of the card, surrounding the sentiment, for which I combined die-cut letters and a few tiny alphabet stickers. 

Next I decorated a little cardstock box with more White Paper Flower Layers held on with a Strawberry Brad. Gift-wrapping is probably my favorite "alternate" use for crafting supplies; because really, we all secretly want to receive a very fancy package now and then, don't we?

Were you inspired by the Strawberry Moon, as well? If so, I'd love to see what you made, leave me a link in the comments! ♥

Hi, I'm Lauren, and my blog is called, "...all the good blog names were taken..." 

Stop by and visit if you have some time!

Decorated Gift Box w/ video Tutorial

I wanted to make a pretty box for gift card to give as gift.  I used an old jewelry box and cover it over with paper, paint, and Eyelet Outlet Embellishments!

Here is a video tutorial on how I made the box.

Check ot the amazing silver foil washi tape and pink stickyback gems from Eyelet Outlet.

Here is what the box looks like open.

Now it is your turn to purpose something to make it look pretty!!

Supplies Used
Box
Washi - Eyelet Outlet
Bling - Eyelet Outlet
Papers - Prima
Flower - Prima
Ink - Prima
Paint - DecoArt
Adhesive - Beacon

Enjoy!

Washi Tape Gift Cards and Chicken Stock Gifts!!

Two of my favorite things to do are crafting and cooking, so why not combine the two together?!?  I made some yummy chicken stock in my crockpot, then used the Eyelet Outlet Washi tape as labels.  I then used the same washi tape for the cute little card when I give some of the chicken stock away to friends and family.

Here is a video tutorial on how to made the labels for the containers, how to make the cards, and the chicken stock recipe!!

Both of these items, the container of homemade chicken broth and the card, could be given as a gift to someone for when they are sick, need a pick me up, or just to let them know you are thinking about them.  So if you are giving a gift you have to have a card to go with it!!

Spring Bubble Brads, Confetti Washi, Bunny Washi, Geometric Washi

Without further ado here is my chicken stock recipe:

Crockpot Chicken Stock

Makes about 16 cups (6 quart crockpot)

Step 1 - Cook your chicken

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

1 onion rough chopped or a handfull of green onions (I used green onions from my garden)
1 whole head of garlic smashed

2- 3 Fresh Rosemary stems

2-3 Fresh Thyme Stems

1 lime - cut in half (or lemon)

Salt and pepper chicken

Instructions

1. Combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker: Place onion, garlic, and lime in the bottom of the pot.  Add chicken breast up.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Add fresh herbs on top.
2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Enjoy your yummy chicken for dinner!!!

Step 2 - Make the Stock

Ingredients

Bones from the chicken you just cooked

Veggies, Herbs, and lime from above

Carrots

Celery

Peppers

Eggplant

Squash

Greens

Other herbs (sage, parsley, etc)

Any other veggie you have

Instructions

1. Combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker: Place all the bones, skin, small bits of chicken, tendons, neck, etc all in the pot.   Roughly chop the vegetables and herbs and scatter them around the chicken.
2. Cover with water: Add enough water to cover the chicken bones.
3. Cook for at least 8 hours: Set the slow cooker to "low" and cook for at least 8 hours or just overnight.  When you wake in the morning just turn it off to cool.
4. Strain the stock: Set a strainer over a large bow l and pour entire stock through the strainer into the bowl.
5. Store the stock: Divide the stock between several containers and label with washi tape. Cool completely, then cover and refrigerate for up to a week, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Container Supplies
Plastic Storage Containers
Washi Tape - Eyelet Outlet
Marker - Copic

Card Supplies
Card Base - Canvas Corp Brands
Cardstock - Bazzill
Washi Tape - Eyelet Outlet
Brads - Eyelet Outlet
Ink - Prima & Clearsnap
Punch - Marvy
Adhesive -  Tombow
Paper Piercer
Foam mat (mouse pad)

Enjoy!!