Just made 16 of these for a care package --and they are super delish. http://www.food.com/recipe/fan​tastic-double-chocolate-pecan-​biscotti-141395 also made 16 of these vanilla chai biscotti http://www.myrecipes.com/recip​e/chai-spice-biscotti-10000001​156062/ Biscottis are terrific for mailing! I know it is too soon for Christmas unless you freeze them, but keep it in mind around November! :) Very yummy with hot tea or coffee or cocoa! CHRISTMAS IN JULY Make a cookbook scrapbook in multiples for family gifts! http://www.ehow.com/how_506874​2_make-cookbook-scrapbook.html How to Make a Cookbook Scrapbook CHRISTMAS IN JULY Or even simpler, this style easel calender with your scrapbooking supplies and a mini cal from the dollar store! http://gottheartart.blogspot.c​om/2009/11/2010-easel-calendar​.html Gott Heart Art: 2010 Easel Calendar --was posted NOV 29, 2009 if you can't find the permalink from this url above. gottheartart.blogspot.com CHRISTMAS IN JULY easel chipboard calend...

I just love this idea--mainly because it is a project I have ALL the supplies for in my home right this minute. I have about 100 large white 6x9 envelopes from a garage sale sitting in my studio. I also have lots of chipboard and a guillotine cutter that can trim those down to any size. This project uses just a couple of different sheets of paper so I can use up my oddball papers--and this little album can serve a function. I plan to tuck a greeting card in each pocket and label the four pockets: Birthday Get Well Congrats/Thank You (People probably send more thank yous than congrats?) Thinking of You and thus making it a card organizer if they want it to be. Maybe I will make it a 6 pocket if the folded spine can accommodate that many pages. I plan to make about 20 of these adorable envelope albums by assembly line method. Cost??-negligible! Just my time and I really figure I can do all 20 in one day if I start organized. Use that stash! http://www.making-mini-scrapbooks.com/envelope...

If you have a QuickKutz Letterpress or a Sizzix set of Letter Press plates, you can make your own note cards for gifts. Break out those tools you rarely use and get your money's worth out of them! They yield such lovely results and are very worth the time it takes to learn to use them. Go for it! get inspired here http://papercrave.com/farmee-letterpress-cards/ watch tutorials here: Letterpress video on Quickutz or Sizzix Letter press Plate video

CHRISTMAS IN JULY -Holiday tags! Use that stash http://itsacreativeworld.typep ​ad.com/its_a_creative_world/20 ​11/01/twelve-tags-of-christmas ​.html

Reduce, reuse, recycle, refurbish, and re-ignite your creativity! Got fabric? Make a reusable lunch back or three for someone you love. If you give a set, it is easier to wash and dry the first one up while using the second one. A tutorial here on how to make these little treasures. And if you are using fabrics you already have, the more the better! No harm if junior loses one at school. or they get worn out from use and reuse! You will know how to make a few more for next year. http://www.purlbee.com/back-to-school-lunchbag/ and if you want to try another style, here are about 2 dozen more styles and how to's for them http://tipnut.com/lunch-combo/ It's kind of like sewing three sides of a pillowcase--so not too hard for beginners!

Personalize and card front for any friend or rellie with ease by using WORDLE.NET http://www.wordle.net/ On Thanksgiving I asked my family and each of our guests to write down THREE specific things they are grateful for in 2010. At Wordle.net you input a list of words and click on the “Submit” button. Wordle takes your list and magically turns it into a beautiful word collage. If you want one or two words to be larger than the others, simply put them on your list multiple times.

If you have a garden full of produce or fruit, consider making a gift of the heart for your family and friends. Consider how great these summer flavors will taste in the middle of winter! Mmmm! Jellies or Jams with a hint of herbs are delicious reminders of your affection and caring. http://gardening.about.com/od/craftsanddecor/ht/HerbJelly.htm and http://www.kiowacd.org/Tips_Links/recipes.htm Some great combos are apple and mint lemon balm and lemonaide berry and cinnamon all-herb savory cherry and clove Tuck a real sprig of mint or other herb into the boil just before canning. You want the herb sprig to be sterile (ie kill the bacteria) but not be too wimply. I have even made an all-fruit jam from combininig the following all together in a pan: strawberry, rhubarb, apple, pie cherry, marashino cherry, peach, raspberry, and blackberry and cinnamon. Hey, what can I say? I had a little dab of each! :) Turned out super tasting --a lot like triple berry. We have used the all-jam as a b...

I love paper! I know you do too. And I also love a bargain. So when I saw this fun way to wrap a gift, and use up newspapers as well as strips of colored cardstock, I was hooked! http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/paper_crafts/ 12 inch strips will cover a 4 inch or less square. To get larger dimensions, glue two or three of same color together before weaving. The contrast of the fonts in black and white against the woven colors has impact! You can choose to do this for any season and any color scheme---but you can certainly also use traditional colors during the holidays. Keep this one in mind year-round. Rock

Let's use up some of our lighter patterened and lighter colored lightweight cardstocks in a fun new way. It's not on a scrapbook page--oh no. It's as stationary. Trim your papers down to 8.5x11 and stack them into the printer. Make some personalized 8.5x11 letterhead with your gift recipient's name and address. Or choose some great clip art and some fun sayings like these: http://www.etsy.com/shop/creativitycards?ref=seller_info and print out a dozen sheets for each person. Let the paper colors be mixed and random. Of course you can print half sheets too in landscape mode. Leave a lot of open space in the center for them to write in. You can also run borders up the side with fonts and art too. Lots of ideas here. http://www.etsy.com/shop/sentimentalist Let the designs be simple and quick. Classic and fun. Tie the bundle up with some extra ribbon and you have a gift. Let's use up some paper! Rock

Now you probably need to know that I live in Minnesota. And while currently we have had some hot hot weather, I do know that the winter weather will be back....with a vengeance. In about 3.5 months, so will the sub-zero freeeze and the snow and the cold hands and snuffly noses and the chilly feet trying to warm up after snow-boots. This is why THIS idea is so darn great. And heck, I can pick out 3 sweaters right now from my husband or my son's closets that will up-cycle into hot water bottle covers just fine!! Here is how you go about it. http://tipnut.com/hot-water-bottle-covers/ Even if you live in Cali or Florida or Texas or Arizona, this would be a great item to snuggle up with when you feel chilled. Make one for an elderly relative or anyone who is prone to a back ache or a charlie horse. Make a few for your friends. Again it would be a great guy gift for the man who THINKS he has everything! Rock

Ohhh yeh! I just happened across this one from an Etsy blog posting. So glad I saw it so I can share with you. Wouldn't a set of these be fantastic for Dad or Grandpa or Grandma? Or just for your own self? How adorable. You choose any assorted pics that you have digitally with the instructions she shares. http://www.ambrosiagirl.com/blog/tiny-polaroid-magnets/ Start now! Make multiple sets in assembly line style and you will have many gifts taken care of at once in a day! My daughter gets back from Greece (honeymoon) tomorrow....hmmmm ideas are brewing here... Rock

Let's get a jump on the 2011 holidays NOW! Love to craft? Need a financial break from holiday shopping overload? Here is how I do it. Start with a list of all the people you hope to give gifts to for the holidays 2011. My list every year has pretty much the same people with just a couple additions of newcomers. For example, let's say you have 25 people you would like to give something to. But only 10 of them need 'bigger' gifts and the other 15 can be smaller tokens. Next assess what you have a LOT of to work with. What are your already available resources? Paper crafting? Beadmaking and jewelry findings? a large and bounteous garden? a lot of paint and canvas? Tons of basket-making materials? Or dried flowers? Or oodles of cotton fabric aka quilting supplies? How about unfinished kits for specific crafts? Make a list! Be specific ...Now count it up ... Which of your friends needs a travel album? How many dried wreaths do you have the grapevine for? Does Grandma need so...

And another variation on the pens-- if you have FIMO or that style of clay, you can make these! So beautiful! Wonderful for teacher gifts, religious ed teacher gifts, office mates, etc. If you have some pens and you have some FIMO style dough, you can do this! You can even use UGLY pens because the clay goes on the outer case. Just make sure the pens write smoothly before you begin! Be creative! http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/claypen.html

Make one for everyone on your holiday 2011 list! Start now! Use up some of those pens around the house as well as some of your papers! Personalize them for different people in sets of 4 pens per person too! Have fun! http://www.casasugar.com/DIY-Paper-Covered-Pens-2501764 and here is a visual step by step. Nice work! http://www.onepearlbutton.com/2008/11/paper-covered-pen-tutorial.html

It is the second week of April! Is your kitchen out of control? It's time to try to decrease our extras in the kitchen area! Clutter freaks--come out of that pantry!!! Yes you! I can see the Tupperware and plastics exploding out of the cabinet. I can see the old stale cereal behind the maple syrup bottle! Let's get busy this week in the kitchen zone. Foods : If it is old and stale --toss it. If you really don't like it (think salad dressings, marmalades, sauces, mustards, food gifts from December that you haven't even opened, etc) but it is still good, then donate to a food shelf TODAY! It's not getting any more tasty or fresh sitting in your cupboards. Kitchenware: you know we all accumulate a LOT of it over time. Seems like every fast food and gas station chain has a promo and a plastic cup collection. LOL Recycle the cups and plastics or donate them. HALF is the goal. Decrease the food storage plastics in your kitchen by HALF this week. Keep the sizes that WOR...

In a Funk? Let's chat... All right. It's just you and me here. Me typing on my end and you reading on your end. Let's ignore the other 9900 people on the SC list that read this at other times during the day and chat a minute. You and me being real. As the moderator you hear my little speeches and emails almost daily. I try to encourage everyone as a group every day to MOVE toward those goals that we have in common. Now, I am just talking to you. You may not know me in person. But I can tell you are waiting for something. You are waiting for some sort of a 'go' signal from the cosmos, from me, from the groups you belong to, or from yourself before you really kick start yourself and make a change. You might say you are waiting for the loved ones in your life to do x, y, or Z before you tidy up your life. You might be waiting for a raise before you can 'afford' to organize. You might be waiting for the kids to move out so you can have more space. There are lo...

From our discussions this am --and from other talks with friends lately-- I think we need a Halfsies (50%) Household Challenge. What is that? Is is an aggressive Spring Cleaning challenge for those of us who have waaaaayy too much stuff. A room or a whole household...it doesn't matter. If you can't walk through your home and say that it is pared down and perfect, join us! Do as much as you can. If you feel overwhelmed by your belongings and your household disarray, join us. If you feel like no one can come over because things are a wreck, join us. If you just want some focus and encouragement in each room, join us. If you can truly say with an objective eye that HALF the stuff you own (50%) has to go for you to get back to happy, let's do it! April will be HALFSIES month. We will go around the home room by room and cut in HALF our inventory inventory in all the places we can. You may not even realize yet that you have as much in each category as you will find.... Half the ...

Finding time to scrapbook--or any other personal hobby time, really--is tough. It is about balance, I think. As a 25 year stay-at-home mom and parent of two children, I know how kids can keep you super-busy, especially in the early years! So can housework, families, homework, outside-the-home work schedules keep you hopping too. How do we as women MAKE time--not find time--to do the things we really want done?? We all put things on our "to do" lists daily. Mentally, or on paper, we CHOOSE parts of our day that we can control. Also we choose how we respond to the rest of the normal pressures of life. The best laid plans always get thrown off kilter. But how do we regroup and re-prioritize our time? From getting your nails done, gassing up the car, helping with homework, grocery shopping, appointments, to taking the kids to the park, we alot our time and our priority to various things in our day. For some women shopping is a 'me time' outlet, for others it is getting m...

Claiming Mine in 2009 I am thinking to get a pre-2009 start on my goals for 2009. I usually move kind of slowly into the New Year. And that may be part of the problem. LOL I dilly dally a bit more than I need to and then I wonder where the time went! Or I focus on only one part of my life and let the rest kind of dwindle as far as goals go...do you do that too? This year I hope to make a bit more headway on my personal goals, hobbies, and LIFE in general. I do have several goals for the year and while I don't believe in making huge resolutions, I do believe in having GOALS and breaking them down into more managable bits and then making them come true by implimenting some sort of step by step progress daily. I will start off this week with an urgent--but small-- list of what needs to be done before the New year even hits. 1. Take the garbage OUT This includes not only the literal holiday trash like used wrapping paper and old foods, but other items too. I noticed some dishware an...

Holiday Countdown Week 3 November 16-23 Sorry for the late posting this week. Shhh, I was super busy getting an 8x8 gift album done for my daughter and time slipped by as I submerged myself in that project. I can't share pics cause she might read this but suffice it to say it turned out super and I will share pics of it and other holiday gifts later on this week if I can. Week 3 is BAKING WEEK!! I inadvertently fulfilled that part of my holiday list today. My friend Deb asked me to come and bake cookies with her to freeze for the holiday. We made about 6 dozen assorted cookies for each of us in about 4 and a half hours. Her house smelled fabulous with the aromas of coconut-chocolate drizzle macaroons, molasses-gingerbread men, pecan turtles, classic sugar cookies, and adorable oreo snowmen. We sure had fun and talked and talked while we worked. :) Here are our recipes from today's baking adventure. Coconut Chocolate Macaroons: You can dip them half way as shown here or you can...