It's getting close to Christmas!

Sorry about my delay in blogging but I have had some PC issues. But I think we have it all worked out now and just in the nick of time.

I am starting to get into the Christmas mood so I was flipping through my magazine Scrapbooks etc and I saw these cute paper lantern ornaments. I got super excited because they had directions to make these online. So I logged on and went to their site found the ornaments and followed the link. A window popped up and said I needed to join first, ok no biggie typed in my info hit enter and all I got was an error message. I tried three times to join and it was just not going to let me. So I was a little bummed out but I put my thinking cap on and told myself I can do this!

So here is what I came up with. I love how they all came out and I still have more to make.

Here's what you will need:

Christmas Paper
Ruler
Scissors  or a Cricut
1/16 Hole Punch
Fishing Line
Needle
Beads

I went to Michael's Craft store looking for some Christmas paper and I found this book. It was suppose to be 19.99 but it was in a slot marked 9.99 (which is why I picked it). At the register it rang up 19.99 so I told the lady I didn't mind paying that for it but let her know there were many more in that slot. So she discounted it to 9.99 and thanked me for being honest and letting them know so that there were no more mistakes. So BONUS for me!

Sorry about the side ways pic, for some reason it will not let me adjust it :(

Pick out 3 different colors. Once you do this you will need to cut 5 strips of each color. Measurements are 1/2 inch wide by 4 inches long. If you have a cricut you can cut out rectangles just adjust the measurements. I have SCAL so I made my own template.

And I let my Cricut do all the work for me.

Once you have your strips cut you will need to punch a whole in to them at each end about 1/8th of the way in. I did 5 strips at a time and had no problem.

After you punch your hole you want to stack them into one pile alternating the colors.

Now it's time to cut a piece of fishing line about a foot long and tie 4 knots at the end. Now you need to add a few beads. I have clear glass beads on mine, but you can choose any colour or size that you want. Once you have your beads on you will want to thread your needle with the fishing line. Now pick up your stack of strips and start color side facing you and put your needle threw. Then flip it over and insert the needle back into the paper on the plain side. Once you do this add some more beads to the top.



This is what it should look like when your done.

Now comes the tricky part. Pull the line from the top taunt and at the same time fold your strips in half. Now about an inch to an inch and a half up from the last bead you put on, you want to tie 4 knots again. Once you do that you can let the strips go and this is what it should look like.

Once you have that done you want to start from the outside and start separating your strips.

 

Continue doing this until you have all the strips separated. And walla! You have one paper lantern ornament.

I haven't found a way to make the strips stay in place yet but I am working on it, In the mean time I just love these!

Hope you enjoy making them as much as I did!

Making a comeback

OK so I am going to give this another try. After we moved I was in a car accident and then had to have surgery. So now that I am on the road to recovery  andI want to share my goodies and crafts with everyone, along with a little bit of myself. So here we go........

I LOVE making cheesecakes! It is an obession of mine. I was asked to make a Cinnamon Swirl Cheesecake for a friend. I looked all over for a recpie but couldn't find one. So I made my own.

This is right out of the oven. I was so glad that the swirls didn't turn into one big blob!

The cinnamon swirls cracked a little as it was cooling.

After I added the icing it looked like one big sticky bun!

I received a phone call about an hour after they got the cheesecake. They told me it was the best cheesecake they had ever had. That made me feel great! I was so happy that they liked the it!

If you would like the recpie and directions for this cheesecake just leave me a message and I will email it to you.

Have a GREAT weekend everyone!

Craziness.....

My life is turned upside down and flipped all around. That is the only way to describe it. Well we finally got all moved in! Yeah~WooHoooo! And now to unpack UCK! I need a genie to unpack, do the laundry, cook dinner, and potty train the three year old! Yep I think that covers it. Well I can dream.....

But back in the real world I am so excited that we got moved in although it took forever with the weather not so pleasent at times. My Father-In-Law had come up from Florida to help us move and on our first day of moving it rained first thing, so we got a late start. Then on the fourth trip over to put in my washer and dryer he got stuck in the mudd. So I call my mom to go tow them out with her 4 wheel drive, she got stuck. So I then call my brother, who as you guessed it already he got stuck. Wait I am not done yet, our new neighbor saw the dilema we were having and thought he could help, but to no avail he got stuck too. So now I had four trucks stuck in my yard and no clue what to do. Well lucky for us the neighbor had a tractor and he came over, hooked up the chains and pulled everyone out but in the process he almost got stuck. So needless to say it was just a regular old MUDD FEST! My poor yard already needs some much needed love for sure now. Oh and did I mention my foster dog Reba went into laor the night before we started to move and I was up with her from 2am to 5am, and my husband ended up in the hospital. Oh yes I just  LOVE moving!

But were here now and I can't wait to start decorating and making this house our home!

My very first Blog

Well this is going to be a first for me. I love reading others blogs and seeing their projects all looking for ideas for my home. So that is how I chose my title Inspiration Seeker, but I had to set up url a little diffrent. Oh did I mention I am new at all of this. It's like I want to say Hello Dana and welcome to the 21st century. Believe it or not I just got a cell phone again too. I think I took a break from everyone and everything for a few years due to some serious stress in my life. I know most would just DIE without their cell phones but not me it was nice to not have an eletric leash on my life anymore. I remember before cell phones (ok showing my age) but we use to have a big metal bell out in the yard at our lake house. And when our parents wanted us to come home they would ring it and we would come home. Simple and carefree was how I use to spend my days, but then it all got messed up somewhere along the way.

Anyway I guess what I am saying is give me a little time to get use to this blogging thing please.

What I look forward to sharing with whom ever or what ever is pieces of my life and the decorating of our new home.