Thursday, March 31, 2016

~LIP LOVE AT EASTER (AND ALL THE YEAR THROUGH!)




My last lip balm post inspired me to do another one, and since the Easter Lip Smackers were so cute this year, I decided to go right ahead and do so.  This is an idea that could be done any time of year, without the Resurrection Day accoutrements; for example, non-seasonal lip balms could be tagged with verses without any Easter packaging, such as eggs.  Christmas and Valentine lip balms can also be cute, so keep those holidays in mind as well.




























I think enclosing lip balms in beribboned Easter eggs is a sweet way to wrap them; however, I found that it's surprisingly difficult to tie a ribbon around an Easter egg!  The ribbon slips up and down the egg, and if you grasp the egg too tightly, it pops open.  My saving grace was to tape the ribbon in place on the back of the egg and then tie.  I'd suggest using clear gift-wrap tape and then leaving the tape on so the ribbon won't slip around later.  Or even better, glue the ribbon on at the back, and let it dry before tying your knot or bow ☺.






































 





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Monday, March 28, 2016

~EASTER QUOTATIONS & INSPIRATION





"Easter," all her birds are singing,
Easter, and the souls of men,
Lying long in strife and shadow,
Take the light of heaven again.

~ J.J. Britton (1832-1913), "Easter" ~

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 I recently came across a rusty nail outside on the street, and then days later, a cross made its way into my life in the form of two french fries (☺).  A bit later, I came across a heart-shaped leaf lying face-down on the sidewalk, and a couple of weeks after that, I caught sight of the heart-shaped leaf pictured above, and I took its photo in the sun.  I think it looks like it has a wound/scar on its right side.



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"Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time."
~ Martin Luther ~

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Wednesday, March 23, 2016

~AN EOS EASTER




I recently espied several cute Easter egg-like eos lip balms at Target and then subsequently came across Easter cards on pinterest that incorporate these fun, all-natural treats.

I bought a few of them that have striped exteriors, as this pattern adds to their Easter egg-likeness, and set to work making some cards of my own.




First I did a google search for printable rabbit and flower templates and clicked on the "Images" tab to see the results.  I was happy that I had some decorative paper on hand that I thought would work color- and pattern-wise for the cards I had in mind.  

I recommend doubling up and affixing the top decorative paper layer to a piece of cardstock (either in the same or a different shape, such as a square) in order to make the cards stiffer since these lip balms have some weight to them--that way, the cards won't flop around as much after the balms are glued on.  I think double-sided tape or glue dots work better as an adhesive for two pieces of paper than liquid glue, as there's sometimes a bubbling-up effect with liquid glue.  




Vintage, mother-of-pearl buttons made sweet bunny eyes.




To give my cards some dimension, I put adhesive foam dots under the small pieces of paper that have text on them--that way, they stand up off the surface they're on.  Here's a close-up shot of these handy little things.










I used decorative paper in a check pattern for this bunny's ears and some scruffy twine for his whiskers ☺.






A final tip I have is that if water-soluble glue (such as Elmer's Glue-All) is used to adhere the balms to the paper, then a quick dip in warm water would probably make it very easy to simply peel the glue off the bottom of the balm after it's taken off the card.  Just set the balm upright in a bit of water for about ten minutes.

Everyone on pinterest cut holes in their cards and then put the balms through them, opening them and screwing them onto the paper, but I think a simple glue worked better for mine since it allows them to lie flat (and on a couple of my cards the balm hangs off the edge, so I'm not sure if it would have worked for those anyway, as they might not have held).  Furthermore, I don't have a circle cutter, and my X-Acto Knife is ornery, so that method didn't really appeal to me.


Hoppy Easter everyone!!!

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*Here are links to some other eos Easter treats on pinterest...


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