12 Days of Christmas...Day 2

Etsy Shop Update: My new kits inspired by today's post are up in the shop. Perfect for a fun crafty session on a cold winter's night. Enjoy! And thank you for your nice comments....Melissa and I have done a ton of planning for our 12 Days of Christmas, so of course your nice comments are just icing on the cake. :)
Hi friends. Welcome to Day 2 of Melissa's and Mishie's 12 Days of Christmas. Today's theme is Shimmer and Shine. During the holiday season, the sparkles and glitters seem to take on a magical feel. I am particularly loving the look of Mercury glass latey in our home. The vintage, worn look of it is so pretty.
I even found some candles that have that same look. So sparkly resting on our fireplace mantle.
And even prettier when grouped together on a mirror with a glowing candle. These pieces from my home were my inspiration for today.
I wanted to recreate that beautiful shimmery, worn, silvery look on my projects...thinking of old cards and letters from long ago...tucked in an old hope chest. With the nice variety of products these days, it's easy to get the look you're after. Here are some of my favorites when wanting to create that mercury glass look: Real German Glass Silver and sparkly glitters. These are made from real glass and have a fine but chunky, shiny look to them......Papertrey's Vintage Tea Dye Duo inks....Wrinkle Ribbons in wonderfully faded and muted colors....Papertrey's Chocolate Baker's Twine....found objects like these beautiful, real glass sequin pieces.....faded sheet music and vintage ledger sheets.....my Dainty Doilies that you can distress with inks.....little envelopes in Kraft....you just have to do a little searching, then group all your goodies together.
Here, I've used all my goodies to create a very soft looking card with beautifully faded yellow colors. Old sheet music ties my card and envelope together by the use of Papertrey scalloped border die and the envelope liner die.

By using old ledger paper along with newer patterned papers, the old and new blend together beautifully. A little glitz from some Silver German Glass Glitter on some clothespins and a little German Glass Glitter on a felt butterfly embellishment adds just the right touch. A few of my glass sequins finish off the card along with some nicely faded Wrinkle Ribbon. To get a faded, old look on my Parcel Tags, add a section of a doily and simply ink the edges with the Tea Dye Ink Duos.
I love to add these little clothespins into the mix. So pretty to clip on a little note. I use Scor-Tape to get a nice, sticky adhesive for the glitters.
I used some of my extra supplies to embellish the inside of the card too. So fun to write your card message on lined, vintage ledger paper.
For my next project, I created something that evoked a lot of memories for me. Jordan loves to open my grandmother's hope chest that is full of old items from our heritage. As we took out the items one by one the other day, my heart swelled with love just thinking of my ancestors that have passed. We saw my pink baby quilt that my grandmother made for me...my brother Jeff's and my baby brushes....some silver pieces wrapped in soft cloth....aprons and potholders that my grandmother made.....a tiny, faded bible that was given to my grandmother by her sister Ruby in 1912....my grandmother's clip on earrings that she wore every day....an old rouge compact that smells just my grandmother.....so many items that are treasures to me. And will some day be handed down to my girls.

It got me to thinking that I need to add some of my own treasures to that wooden chest. How wonderful will it be some day for my girls to see some of my things in there. Then it dawned on me that I don't save many of my paper creations. So today I created an item especially for that chest. I made a beautiful little envelope that will hold a special message tucked inside.
I used more of the same goodies from my Mercury glass set up to create a beautifully embellished butterfly that is adhered to my envelope. I lined a Mini Kraft Envelope with more sheet music, adhered half of a Dainty Doily, some old sewing pattern pieces and some Chocolate Baker's Twine. A little rusty safety pin holds some yellow buttons.
Inside my little envelope, I used a White Parcel Tag that I distressed, then stamped and added some Cork Paper and Wrinkle Ribbon. I'm going to write a message about how I always enjoy going through Grandma's hope chest with the girls...and maybe to encourage them to add some of their own items from time to time.

Well I hope you are inspired by today's sparkly and shimmery post. I know that Melissa will have something even more beautiful so be sure to check out her blog. Stay tuned because later today I will be putting a kit up in my Etsy shop that uses some beautiful items from my projects today.....and tomorrow Melissa and I will continue our 12 Days of Christmas with our Day 3 post. :)

Edit: I almost forgot to add my recipe. This is a recipe that is very simple to make but very handy. We make a lot of veggie trays during the holidays and there always seems to be those last few veggies leftover, looking a little wary. This recipe is a great way to use up those scraps...hence the name Scrap Dip. Enjoy!

Scrap Dip
1-2 packages cream cheese

Desired seasoning: garlic powder, season salt, ground black pepper, coarse salt, red pepper flakes, parsley, etc

Leftover veggie tray foods: cauliflower, broccoli, celery, carrots, green peppers, radishes, jalapenos, onions, etc


Chop all veggies very finely. Dump into bowl with cream cheese and desired seasonsings. Mix thoroughly. Refrigerate to let flavors blend. Serve on crackers. Also great on bagels or sliced, crusty breads. Perfect for using up the last of the veggies from a holiday veggie tray. Enjoy.

Michelle Wooderson November 2010.