Help [ME] Ronda

Gone

but not forgotten.  It's Memorial day in the US.  A time of bbqs, pool openings, and family gatherings.  But the original reason behind this holiday isn't a celebration of summer beginning but a time to remember the men & women who died while serving in the US armed forces.  Somehow thank you doesn't seem nearly enough gratitude not only for those who served but also for the families of those who we have lost.

Be Mine Banner

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, i knew i wanted to make a banner for  Lexi's dorm room.  I started this banner with the large square coaster from Maya Road.  On half of the banner i attached misted canvas fabric.  On the other half of the coasters, i used old book paper.  Repetition in design is always good so on the canvas fabric coasters i used large design elements. 

On the book paper coasters, i used the butterflies i created in January for this blog post with a few alterations to those butterflies.  

For the sheer titles, i added Popsicle mist like in this blog post.  Once i finished each coaster, i used the new Maya Road linen burlap ribbon to create those cute pieces that are in between each coaster.  I found that idea on pinterest.  Here are the details photos of each piece.

Hope & Love

Joy to the World

the Lord has come.  Wishing you & your family a blessed Merry Christmas. May your life be ruled with HIS grace & peace.

Evolution of a Cookie

We bake ornament cookies every year.  Part of our tradition is to purchase a new cookie cutter each year to add to our collection which contain a few cookie cutters from my childhood.  We love the trill of the hunt to add something a little different to our collection. It's a great tradition to start with your kids or grand kids. Last year we added a butterfly in remembrance of my sister who used to bake these with us each year.  It makes us feel like she is still part of our tradition.

This is the recipe we have been using since i was little.  Enjoy!

Christmas Ornament Cookies             375

3 3/4 C. Flour                        1 C. Butter

1 tsp Baking powder            1 1/2 C. Sugar

1/2 tsp Salt                            2 Eggs

2 tsp Vanilla

Blend together dry ingredients in separate bowl.  Whip together sugar, eggs, vanilla, and butter with mixer.  Gradually add dry ingredients.  Wrap dough in aluminum foil and chill in refrigerator for 2 hours.  Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut with cookie cutters.  Bake for 6-8 minutes on 375.  Remove cookies to cooling racks.  Decorate as desired. We like to use Joy of Baking's Royal Icing. 

You still have time to leave a comment over at the CK Blog for a $40 prize pack from Maya Road.  You'll also learn how to create the butterfly canvas piece on my layout above. 

Time for some Peppermint Bark

Last year was my first year making Peppermint Bark.  It was so easy & so delicious.  So today i plan to make a couple batches as gifts.  I love giving out small tokens of baked goods love to my neighbors & friends.  I might even try to make the snowflake peppermint bark pieces i have seen floating on pinterest. 

Here is my post from last year including the recipe:

If you want to get the kids involved, have them crush the candy canes, spread the chocolate, & sprinkle the crushed candy canes.  This is a combination of two recipes, one i found & one was shared with me by my friend Tina.  I like the cool peppermint taste so i also used some extract but that can be adjusted to your liking. Also important to note that the better the chocolate, the better the taste.  The chocolate should have Cocoa Butter and not so much vegetable fats.  Read the label on the back to check it out.  ;)

• 4 oz Bitter/Dark Chocolate (60% Cocoa or higher)
• 4 oz semisweet Chocolate
• 8 oz White Chocolate
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 - 2 tsp peppermint extract
• 1/2 cup crushed candy canes

other tools....

• cookie sheet
• parchment paper
• heat proof spatula (optional)
• baking/cake spreader
• parchment paper
• sauce pan & heat proof bowl or double boiler
• whisk

Place a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  Melt both bitter & semi sweet chocolate with 1/2 tsp of vegetable oil & 1 tsp of peppermint.  I used a sauce pan filled with water & my stainless steel mixing bowl to melt the chocolates. whisk chocolate as melting.  Pour on cookie sheet & spread evenly.  Scrap bowl with a heat proof spatula to get all that chocolate from the bowl.  Place in refrigerator to set, about 30 minutes.

Next crush candy canes.  Place in bowl & set aside.  Melt White chocolate using same method above again using 1/2 tsp of vegetable oil & 1 tsp of peppermint extract.  Pour melted white chocolate on top of the dark chocolate & spread until even.  Sprinkle with crushed candy cane chunks.   Refridgerate for 30 minutes.  Remove from cookie sheet & parchment paper and break into pieces.  Store in containers in the fridge.  So very yummy. 

Peppermint Love

Spool Christmas Tree

When i saw these tiny spools i always knew i wanted to do a mini Christmas Tree.  The season is upon us and i finally got a chance to put my ideas into creation.  We are celebrating Christmas in Doha with Andy.  Our decorations will be limited but i am bringing some small things to decorate his apartment like this tree. This cute little tree measuring 5 inches tall could be a simple decor to place around the house or use it as a place setting for Christmas dinner. I am going to give you step by step directions to create this adorable spool Christmas tree. 

Maya Road Supplies:

• 25 Skinny wooden SpoolsWood
• 1 Wood Mini Spool
• 1 vintage Wooden Spool
• 1 Crystal Star Trinket Pin
• approx. 12 inches of cream ruffled edge trim

Other: Book pages, Vintage Sheet Music, Baker's twine, Glitter Glue, Manilla Folder, Circle Punches, liquid glue, cream cardstock printed title.

1. Punch 5 Circles, one each of the following sizes. .5",  .75", 1", 1.25", 1.5" from the manilla folder.  I used this because it provided a stiff circle to hold the spools together and worked well to hold the trinket pin in place.
2. cut 26 .5 inch x 1.25 inches strips from book pages and one .75 inch x 2 inches strip from the music paper
3. Wrap all the mini wooden spools with your text paper.  *note i used a mini spool to top my tree to give it a bit more weight.  You could use a skinny spool too.  Wrap the Vintage wood spool with music paper. 
4. starting with the 1.25 punched manilla folder circle, glue 11 skinny mini spools to the outside edge using a strong liquid glue.  Glue 1 inch manilla folder circle to the top of the skinny spools.
5.  add next layer of 8 skinny wooden spools to the 1 inch circle.  Glue the .75 inch manilla circle on top the spools and add last layer of 6 skinny mini spools. 
6. Glue .5 inch circle to the top of the spools & add the single mini wooden spool.  Glue the entire piece to the vintage wooden spool. 
7. Add glitter glue to all the edges of the spools to give it a little sparkle.
8. Take the 1.5 inch punched circle and working from the outside in, glue the small ruffle trim in layers to create the tree skirt.  Three layers is all you need, leaving a small circle for the wooden spool. 
9.  Glue the wooden spool to the tree skirt. Wrap baker's twine around the vintage spool and tie it in a bow.
10.  Print out your holiday sentiment on cream cardstock.   Trim to a banner piece leaving a little excess off the left side of the printed title.  Add glitter glue to the banner & let dry. 
11.  Wrap the banner piece around the stick pin and glue the excess to the printed title.  Add stick pin to the top of the tree. 

Peace & Love

Christmas Memories

Yep that's me in the green dress and Chrissi in the red.  Can you see my sister Rose in the background in the red dress?  My sister Sandra is somewhere in the house in a green one.  My mom made those dresses for us.  Sandra & I were always dressed alike and Rose & Chrissi.  I am not sure if it was of our age order (Sandra, Rose, Me, Chrissi) or because we had similar personalities.  I think it could be a little of both.  I so remember those rocking chairs & the baby doll on the ground.  Totally digging the cards just taped on the walls.  I love that stereo cabinet in the background.  I remember playing records on it.  I used to "borrow" my brothers records and play them over & over again.  It's funny how a picture can be bring back so many memories.  I wonder what my kids will think looking back at our photos. 

Just In Time For the Holidays - Free Maya Road Bottlecap Printouts!

Roadies, thank you for a wonderful 2011. We wanted to share with you some FREE bottlecap printouts you can use for your Holiday Decorations!

Fun little printables you can cut out and decorate our bottlecaps like this:

And then you can turn them into fun ornaments and magnets like this:

Check out our latest YouTube Video on how to make these fabulous projects.

Then download these printables for our 2", 3" and 4" bottlecaps!

Just download the size you want and send to your printer (be sure not to resize the file to fit the page and to print as is). Then cut them out and glue them into your bottlecap and decorate! How easy is that?

2" Bottlecap Printout (MAB)

3" Bottlecap Printout (MAB1400)

4" Bottlecap Printout (MAB1765)

Enjoy!

via mayaroad.typepad.com

Merry & Bright: Noel Cover

This mini album using Cocoa Daisy's Merry & Bright Project Kit is 4 x 6. It can be a simple album with just 4 x 6 photos or a little more complex with pages, titles, etc.  I am going to show you how to create this simple cover with just a dab of paint, some patterned paper, and a few layered stickers on top a cool "vintage tag."



I painted the interior of the pages because the paper tape in the merry & bright kit are a bit translucent.



Next i added the My Mind's Eye paper and grabbed the paper tape. it was the right pop of color.



I tried each paper tape until i settled on the striped one. The tape hasn't been simply folded over the edge yet. I wasn't too worried about how the tape looked on the back because i had a plan.




Once the front was done, i flipped it over & covered up the edging tape with the polka dots. Honestly at this point i wasn't sure if i was going to use the text or the polka dots for my cover both were so pretty. 




the vintage tag was created with the simple tags that came in the kit. I am a huge fan of walnut ink. I have walnut ink crystals from 2002. Its one of those oldies but goodies. Simply spritz the tag & let it dry. Don't have walnut ink? Try stamping some distress inks on wax paper or a craft mat and spray it with water. Then dip the tag into the wet concoction.




Next crumple up the tag and then open it up. Hit those edges & ridges with some more brown ink. Now you have a vintage looking tag.





Now just layer the bits & pieces together. Try popping up a sticker to give the cover a focal point. Leave room for the title.

Merry Love

Oh the Joy: Tutorial

The other day i shared with you this joy cover using Cocoa Daisy's Merry & Bright Holiday kit.  Today i wanted to show you how to create your own.  I am using a thick piece of chipboard found in the kit.  it's excellent for making covers. 



Supplies:
Heavy Chipboard
Jillibean Frozen Lobster Tail
TCW Stencil
Echo Park Stickers
Pebble's Button
Gesso & Playing Card
Gel Medium & Foam brush
White Paint
Blue Mists
Fine Black Pin

This album is a 6 x 8 album.  I wanted you to see how you can cut the one piece of heavy chipboard to create these two album covers. This heavy chipboard can be purchased separately from the kit HERE.  You can decide which on you want to use & save the other for later!

I grabbed the 6 x 8 album covers for this piece. I covered the front & back with the jillibean paper. I picked this particular piece because i knew the red would really pop under the gesso. When adhering the patterned paper you want to have the piece glued even underneath otherwise it will bubble when adding the next layers. Once it is on, then using a foam brush & gel medium coat the entire top surface of the patterned paper. This seals the paper.



Place the stencil on the dried background. I like to place mine going off the page to create movement. I decided on the bottom half of my page. Push it around until you find a placement you like. Next take a palette knife or playing card and scrap the gesso across the entire page including the stencil. I scrap in different directions to give it texture. I also left bits of red peeking through the gesso.

It should look something like this when you are done. You want the piece covered entirely but still have texture, movement, and some patterned paper peeking through.



Wash off your stencil and let the gesso dry. Pat dry your stencil because we will need it again!



Put the stencil back into place and paint the background white. Gesso has the appearance of white but it more like chalk so i like to add paint. If some paint slips under the stencil, simply wipe it away. This is why you sealed the background paper.



Add in touches of mists. Mist can act like watercolor so i love the soft touches it brings to my projects. I used two Maya Road Blues (Popsicle & Turquoise Metallic) to get the color of the snowflake sticker. Add a little or a lot. Don't forget to just play around with it.



I really wanted that snowflake to pop so i added in a fine black pen around the stencil. If it doesn't exactly line up with the gesso, i am okay with that. I think it just adds to the look.



Lastly i added the stickers, buttons, binder rings, and twine. I love the simple yet graphic messiness of this cover using sparkling snow as my inspiration. It brings to mind those crisp snow covered winter morning in Colorado. I love those pops of red & back. Did you see the clever lyrics in the patterned paper? Totally love that.

Joyous Love