Cake Mix Cookies and Cute Packaging

One night, I needed some cookies. I mean, I NEEDED some cookies. Some nights are just like that. At the end of my twin pregnancy, I was gaining 2-4 pounds of water and baby weight PER DAY. Everything else was going well on paper, but I couldn't walk; couldn't even bend my knees or close my legs for that matter and was on total bed rest, or should I say, chair rest because I couldn't sleep on a bed due to the legs thing (again, with the water). If I tried to turn on my side, one leg would have to be totally up in the air and that was just plain silly. I ended up giving birth at exactly 200 lbs. I am normally right around 100lbs so that tells you something! Here is a photo- we had to take it quickly before I collapsed- notice the legs; that was as close as they would go together. Oh my, did I actually just post that? YIKES! It was probably the worst physical time in my life up to that time and what I craved more than anything was cookies. Now, I don't mean any store-bought kind! Oh no! Those would not do! I needed them to be hot out of the oven, home-made cookies. Ever since then, from time to time, I CRAVE cookies... NOW! Last week, we did not have the right ingredients for good homemade cookies so I had to improvise. After scouring the internet, I mixed up a few and came up with these semi-homemade cake mix cookies. Super simple and made it in-and-out of the oven fast! Here's what you need:Any cake mix- my daughter adamantly insists on Funfetti- but any flavor should work.
1/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all 3 ingredients and drop by teaspoon full onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Give them a bit of a pat on top to flatten them slightly and bake for about 10 minutes. Easy peasy! Fresh baked cookies! Now these will not be the best cookies you have ever had- they are, after all, from a cake mix; but they are better than anything at the store!

So, earlier this week, we found out Abby's little friend is moving from about 7 houses down from us to about 4 houses down from us. We wanted to bring them a moving-in gift and Abby absolutely INSISTED on the Funfetti cookies. It was really last-minute and I needed some cute packaging and then I remembered these DARLING Pringles can makeovers at Bayberry Creek Crafter I have been wanting to try and I happened to have just such a can all cleaned out and ready to go! Her's are just darling and mine don't do her's justice, but the intent was there! I love finding great ideas through awesome crafty sites!
I happened to have some paper that was already printed two-toned from Creative Memories so all I did was measure, cut and add some ribbon and a tag. Looking now, I sort of cringe as I should have added some punctuation, but oh well, we were in a time crunch!
We filled the decorated cylinder with our cookies and took them to their destination.
Here they are... isn't this cute? (There is an equally cute family right behind her as well).
Welcome to your new home- now even closer!


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Cereal Box Notebooks

Need some new notebooks for school or just to stock up on while they are dirt cheap? Make them cuter while also reusing stuff that would normally be trash! Just take some food boxes, a notebook, a ruler, a mini-hole punch, jewelry pliers and a paper cutter or scissors. Cut your box down to size using a page out of it as a template.
Carefully remove the coiled wire from the notebook. You will probably have to un-bend and then re-bend the ends, but it is super-easy.
Then mark the holes on the back of your cut box and punch them out with a mini hole punch- not a little punch that makes regular-sized holes, but a regular-sized punch that makes mini holes.
Hold the notebook together being especially careful to line up the holes, and replace the wire coil. Remember to bend the wire back at the end to lock it in place.
To give it a finished look, use a corner punch on the bottom two corners.
Then make MORE!!! And use the cute images on the sides and backs of your boxes to make book marks.
To make your bookmark fancier, you can punch a hole and thread it with ribbon at the top (wow, that kind of made me sound like an old lady, eh?... FANCY!!!)
By the way, I totally recommend this book. It is a twist on the Rapunzel story and it is in a graphic novel type format. My daughter got it from her best friend in Utah who sent it to her in the mail which makes it super-extra special.
It works with a full-size notebook as well. Note: You may have to go into the side panel a little bit, but it doesn't matter in the end.
I made mine into a two-subject notebook by placing the old cover in the middle of the paper ream.
Again, punch the holes, line up the whole stack and replace the wire coil on the side.
Ta-da! Way cuter than the generic, plain cover it came with.
I can't exactly call this a recycling project as the paper is all new, but it is re-purposing PART of something you would have thrown away anyway so it's all good. Plus, I think they turn out way-cute and they only take minutes- even the big one with all that punching. These would make a fun end-of-summer craft to do with your kids to get them back in the mood for school!

Abby's 3-D Art Project

If there has been a signature comment Abby has developed this summer, it would be, "I have a GREAT idea!" And you know what? More often than not, she does. Last week for example she took out an empty wooden box that she had saved after making the project it had contained (that was really fun for her in and of itself- a Melissa and Doug Decorate-your-own Frame) and said, "I have a great idea; Why don't I make a picture and put it in the little square places and this box will sort-of be like a frame?!" My response? "That IS a great idea! Let's do it!" She had the idea to layer things and make a 3-D type effect and I knew just what to do!You can take any wooden box, display case, or shadow box and measure the inside(s). Cut two to three pieces of card stock paper for each section.Now, start with your background. It will probably be pretty plain. It is a good idea to plan and roughly map or sketch your idea- especially if you are doing this with a child so they can understand where they are going with this. This "boring" background part caused a stir at first until we discussed the final project and then she was just as excited to do this part as the rest.When the background is complete, it is time to start on the second layer by drawing and coloring your image on the corresponding, pre-cut pieces of card.
Cut them out with scissors and/or craft knife (obviously, an adult job).
Then use 3-D puffy dots on the back of your cut-out element and add it to the picture.
Then add more and more elements in even more layers! Remember to double the glue dots if your third layer is not attaching to the second layer, but is going all the way down to the first layer so it is the proper depth. Adjust accordingly if there are even more fabulous layers.
This is a photo Abby took... she obviously forgot to stage it just right so you would miss out on all the mess. Then again, doesn't everyone's crafting area look like a disaster area in the middle of a project? (Please say "yes", but if the answer is "no", PLEASE share your secret!!!)
I was really proud of how creative she was. She thought of and created every single element. I just did the cutting!
I think it turned out just lovely. Now I just need to find a way to cover it with Plexiglas... maybe Gorilla Glue? Suggestions?
We had a family reunion/art show to honor my Grandma's Sister-in-Law and her best friend who used to travel to Arizona in the 50's to study painting under Ted DeGrazia, with whom they developed a lasting friendship. To celebrate their lives, her son invited all the relatives to come and enjoy their paintings along with other family artists. All were invited to bring their own artwork and Abby had been stressing for weeks about which ONE to bring. Well, this piece quickly rose to the top of the list and it was a big success. The whole event was for that matter! Here she is next to her picture, sharing an easel with one of her grandma's drawings. She was a little shy but very pleased.
What a great experience the whole thing was; from the idea, to the development, to the creation, to the exhibition. I am so grateful to have been raised to celebrate creativity and was encouraged in every artistic expression- even if it wasn't ever perfect or great. I hope I can do the same with my children!

Find and Make Your Own Box Templates

So, here is the post I contributed to 733- A Creative Blog's annual Creativity Week. I'll leave the intro for those of you who are new or who are visiting for the first time! Welcome and I hope you find something useful!

My name is Bethany and when I am not running after my soon-to-be first grader or 20 month old twins, I like to rest or watch Days of Our Lives or eat things-obviously there is chocolate involved- but I usually don't do those things. Usually, during nap time or late at night, I pretend like the house is in perfect array; the laundry cleaned, pressed and put away; lawn mowed, dinner finished and there is nothing else to do but make and do crafty things. Those things- the good, the bad and the REALLY bad- I post on my blog, The Paper Pony. Do you find it difficult to find just the right box and packaging templates? For some reason, I can never find the templates I need, or they cost money, or I can't download them or some other issue. To remedy this, I started saving the packages of things we bought and started turning them into templates and it was super-easy! I might even have been known, on occasion, to buy a product just for it's packaging. And now, I have a selection of packaging options. So, here is how to turn these:
...into THESE!! (note: I left them fairly plain because I wanted to show how the boxes look at there most basic... oh, and the fact that I am TERRIBLE at cute embellishments- you should see my attempts at making cards!)So, first, you carefully take your box apart. If there are glued seams, I usually just tear as carefully as possible. You will be using a ruler in the process, so if you tear a couple of things, it's no big deal.
Lay the box open flat and study it so you understand how it works. I like to do this first so as I attempt to recreate it, there are fewer mistakes. Then place it on the "wrong" side of your chosen paper.Trace all around the outside with a pencil so you can erase it later if you wish.
Then, carefully bend each crease back that you can and trace those as well. It is important during this step to use a very sharp pencil and line everything up precisely.
Do the same with the lid...
Then, using your ruler, straighten up the edges and draw in the lines you missed or couldn't mark by bending back. I use dashed lines to indicate folds to which I need to pay particular attention or those that go opposite ways.
After you're happy with your traced image, cut out and fold using the original package as your guide. The original has the folds intact and it makes it so much easier to recreate when you know which way everything is supposed to go. Great for visual and hands-on learners like most of us creative people are!
Then, glue where you need to and put it all together. In a lot of cases, you might find it easier to embellish before you glue everything together.
Here's the final project!
Sometimes, the tracing method can be more difficult with certain kinds of packaging. Especially if the box is awkward or requires some odd cuts or is a "two-parter"; that is a package that is too big for one piece of paper and you are required to make it in two pieces. Like this box, for example.
I used the "trace" method and was running into all kinds of trouble; partly due to a dull pencil and the fact that it was really late at night, and also because it is just an awkward box and required some odd cuts with a craft knife. Just look:
Not pretty! It was much easier to just scan and print onto card stock. Most packaging is white on the inside so you will need to adjust the brightness and contrast. Also, it helps to back it with a colored piece of paper. I like to add notes as well so I know what I'm doing. Here is what I did with this one so you can click on it to enlarge, cut, paste, print and make it yourself!
Here's the final result!
One more note! You may need to adjust the top openings so you don't have to glue them all shut like their originals are. For the cream carton, I flattened out a simple loop and slipped it over the top to keep it closed until I have need for it. The ol' "punch a couple of holes, thread ribbon and tie a bow" method also works well in a lot of cases.
So, here is what I ended up with! I kept all the original templates and put them in a big folder so now, I have a bunch of options when it comes to cute boxes AND a great excuse to buy some things I might not normally get. "I HAVE to HAVE this BOX!"