Class Valentine Pillow Boxes & Upcoming giveaway!

I made 24 of these adorable pillow boxes for my class. It took me a little longer than I expected, but did them in stages. I started with a toilet paper roll.  I measured around it to cut my paper. I used the Divine Swirls Cuttlebug folder to emboss the paper then added it to the TP tube with my adhesive. (Maybe should have used hot glue because the paper kept coming off until I put ribbon around it.) I filled the tubes with some candy and heart-shaped erasers. I just folded in the ends and tied a cute little ribbon around it. Slapped a heart that was stamped with Happy Valentine's Day from the Happiest Moments stamp set from My Pink Stamper and called it quits! I did add a pencil that was disguised as an arrow, but forgot to take a picture of that. At one end was 2 hearts and the other end was the end of an arrow (both cut from the Sweethearts cartridge). Sad I didn't take a picture of the finished product. They turned out ADORABLE!!

Also I wanted to tell everyone that I will do a giveaway once I hit 100 followers. Remember a great way to share my blog with your friends or blog followers is to grab my blinkie on the side bar and add it to your blog.  Thanks for looking and check back soon for my first *giveaway*!!!!

Strawberry Valentine Cupcakes

Strawberry cake is my favorite!! Recently I had THE BEST strawberry cupcakes (with strawberry icing) at a work luncheon. Come to find out, it was a Paula Deen recipe. So, you know I'm telling you the truth when I say it was the best!!! Well, since we were snowed in AGAIN today, I had plenty of time to make a delicious Weight Watcher's Potato Soup recipe and these amazing tasty treats. I did change it up a bit since I didn't have strawberry extract, but I used almond extract instead. (I usually add almond extract to all my cake batters to give it a little kick.) Also, I used frozen strawberries without syrup. I added a little extra strawberry puree to my icing and only used 4 1/2 cups of powered sugar. (I had TONS of icing left over after icing 36 cupcakes.) Before delivering the heavenly cupcakes to my neighbors, I cut out hearts and cupids from the Sweethearts cartridge (cut at 2 1/2 inches), attached them to toothpick and added them to the tops of the cupcakes. We enjoyed our strawberry dessert after our healthy dinner. YUMMO!!

Create a Critter Valentine Cards featuring MPS stamps!

I am so excited about these great little Valentine's Day cards. I made them for Karli to take to her friends at daycare and a couple extra for my 2 helpers at school. I cannot take credit for the idea, so I will give credit where credit is due. Pam, over at P-Kay Sunshine Creations made the Cricut Chirp newsletter with her adorable creations. While she added ribbon and computer generated sentiments, I put my personal touch on mine by adding Stickles *my fave* and My Pink Stamper stamps *another fave*. Robyn has created several stamp sets that pair perfectly with the Create a Critter cartridge as well as other cricut cartridges. I used the Punnylicious, More Punnylicious, and Everyday Occasions stamps. Click here to see her retailers and product line. (If you click on a picture you can see them in more detail.)

Recipe for the cards:

• The base (white cardstock) is cut at 4.25x5.5 (These cards will fit in a standard A2 envelope.)
• The printed paper (K&Company Specialty Paper Pack) is cut at 4x5.25
• All critter images were cut at 4 inches.
• My Pink Stamper sentiments were stamped on scraps of white cardstock and cut down to fit the card.
• Assorted Stickles
• Pop dots

Hopefully I will get my class set of pillow boxes made in time for Monday. Oklahoma is forecasted to get another big snow storm on Wednesday. (boooooo!) That means I better hit Hobby Lobby & Michaels TOMORROW on my way home from work!!! Thanks so much for looking and I'd love to hear yoru comments or feedback.