This is one of the newest designs on my website: That’s A Wrap! Designs
Set with Green and Yellow, these sets are ideal for when you don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl. Two sets with this design: Standard Set and Napkin/Side Mint Set
Standard Set includes: Bookmarker, Lifesaver Bottle Favor, Mini, MintBook, SOE (standard open-end)
Napkin/Side Mint Set includes: Napkin Wrap (3), Side Mint Book
Thanks for stopping by. . .
TTYL
I know you hear this phrase all the time – nothing like overusing it, huh? Well when it comes to crafting. . .you need to keep this on your mind. If you intend to sell your wares at craft shows, you should already have quite an inventory now or at least in the middle of creating.
I haven’t decided whether or not I’ll be doing the craft show scene this year, but. . .because of economics, I will be making most of my Christmas gifts. The first craft will be a Ribbon Pinecone Ornament. This is one of my favorite Christmas crafts. I like doing crafts that are relaxing. . .the ones that you don’t even realize the time has passed. Another craft I’ll be doing next week will be the Giftcard Box. Very simple. . .yet very addicting!
I will include a Supplies Needed list, Instructions and Photos for each craft as I make them. This will be fun, because I’ll be teaching my daughter at the same time. She’s quite the crafty one.
TTYL
Here’s another movie on my ‘Best Ever Movies’ List:
Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope – 1977 – Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Sir Alec Guiness, Peter 
Cushing, David Prowse and the remarkable voice of James Earl Jones.
I don’t know if there’s anyone out there who hasn’t heard of Star Wars, but I do know there are some who haven’t yet seen the movie. Hooda thunk?!! For being 1977, this was by far the best Sci-Fi movie ever made. The special effects in the movie were years ahead of it’s time. George Lucas definitely had a vision of how he wanted this to turn out. The music was unique – I can hear the Cantina Band playing in my head right now. The characters he depicted in his mind and put out on the screen were definitely unique and out-there (love the Jawas). He made Tatooine look so desolute, but interesting enough that you would want to stop in for a super quick visit, if it were real.
I remember the first time I saw it – it was a Sunday, around noon, we had just left mass and my mom and us four kids all piled into the car. My mom surprised us by driving to the movie theater instead of home. She bought the tickets and we went to find our seats. Seems others had the same thought, because we saw two other families from church come in to watch the movie. Needless to say, I fell in love with it right there and then – ok, yes - Luke Skywalker (Hamill) and Han Solo (Ford) did have something to do with it (blush).
The destiny of Luke Skywalker was at it’s beginning. He leaves his home on Tatooine after realizing he has nothing there anymore, following his new-found mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi (Guiness) and robots C-3PO (Daniels) and R2-D2 (Baker). They hire a ‘scoundrel’ (Ford) and his companion, Chewbacca (Mayhew), for a ride to Alderaan, to help rescure Princess Leia (Fisher). She’s been captured by Darth Vader (Prowse, Jones) and Grand Moff Tarkin (Cushing). Their journey together is sealed in fate and
there begins a terrific run of six (6) great movies, total. I love the action, combined with the humor in this movie. The power of the Dark Side was made real by the domineering voice of James Earl Jones. The sound of evil just spilled out of Vader’s mask, and lingered long enough to send a quick chill down the back of your neck.
I would encourage you to watch Episodes IV-VI first, then you can watch Episodes I-III. This is the only way I can explain my reasoning: Episodes IV-VI are the story of Star Wars, Episodes I-III explains the cause for Star Wars. Does that make any sense? In my head I have a whole page for this reasoning, but my mind is keeping a tight grip on it and saying ‘nope, say this instead’. I think I actually hear a chuckle going on in there. I would love to hear your synopsis on this. . .not the chuckling part, the order in which to view the Star Wars series.
Anyway, moving on. . .I got one of the thrills of my life when we went to Florida in May of 2006. We went to MGM Studios for the day and lo-and-behold it was Star Wars-Jedi Mickey weekend. WOOHOO! Was I excited. Anyway, we saw Jedi Mickey and even got a pic with him and we watched the shows playing in the park. We saw Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers and other characters. It was really fun, I enjoyed every bit of it. . .I felt like that little girl watching the movie for the first time again. Here’s the best part. . . Chewbacca was there. . .I mean the real Chewbacca – Peter Mayhew. OMG I had already used up all the available space on my camera disk when I saw him walking around amongst the spectators. I quickly started deleting all the blurry pics and asked my kids to come with me to get a pic with him. . .they didn’t want to. I think his size intimidated them. Well I asked someone in the crowd to take a picture for me, hubby was off on the sides with the kids, Chewbacca gladly agreed. Needless to say, this is one of my favorite pics!!
To give some perspective on size: I'm 5'3"
Thanks for stopping in. . .
TTYL
Occupation? Definitely, YES!!
Have you ever had to buy party favors? At a child’s party, didn’t you usually provide a goody bag? At a wedding, didn’t you offer a scroll or mints for the guests? Well this is exactly what the candy wrapping industry is about. . .except we cater to the customer on a more personal level. We PERSONALIZE your favors. . .a more ‘from the heart’ favor.
Favors have become an important piece on the ‘party planning’ checklist. People want their guests to feel their presence is very much appreciated. . .and in some part, let’s be honest, we want it better than the last party we went to. 
Yes, I said it. . .there is lots of competitiveness out there for ‘Bigger and Better’ than little Johnny’s party or Marge’s daughter’s wedding. . .lol
As for gift-giving, this is a wonderful niche – who doesn’t love to receive a gift with their name, wedding date or new house on it? You’ve now taken ’just a gift’ and upped it a level or two. A gift which would have been tossed after it’s use, will now be placed in someone’s scrapbook or favorite book to keep forever or used to hold other memories.
Click image for full view
Example: I made all my nieces and nephews a ‘movie night’ gift pack. Sorry, no pics of the actual pack. I made movie tickets with the kids’ names and some other little info and placed them, along with the candy and popcorn, in a small popcorn container. They loved these, because of the personalization. They’ve kept the tickets and the container, also.
Customers have ordered minis, mintbooks, sticks of gum, etc, to pass out at hometown events/local fairs to get their name out to the public. . .usually for elections.
The great thing about my occupation, is I can do this all in the comfort of my own home. We are a home-based, small-business industry. There’s no large overhead to deal with, no need for a large inventory supply. Stay-at-Home parents are enjoying the flexibility this business offers. Being home for the kids/family is a big bonus.
Not much equipment is needed. If you have a computer, printer, paper, paper cutter/scissors and glue/tape. . .you are good to go. Having a candy wrapping program makes it that much easier, as well. I have WrapCandy. You get lots of templates and graphics, plus there’s a forum with thousands of members, who are more than willing to help out and share their skills, knowledge and ideas.
There are many candy wrap designers out there with websites, me included, that offer wonderful sets already made up. . . just purchase, print and wrap! There are so many different templates to choose from: Holidays, Special Occasions, School, Religious, Birthdays, Weddings, Showers, Business, Fundraising, Customer/Employee Recognition, and Just Becasue. There are also many designers that offer graphics and clipart to make your own wrappers.
Check out my site and see what I have to offer: That’s A Wrap! Designs - I will be posting new sets here as I make them.
If you have any questions, please dont’ hesitate to ask!!
TTYL
This is perfect advice for the construction industry and just as important for SEWING, as well. Measuring once should be a given, but that fact totally escaped my mind when I needed that bit of ‘common sense’ the most.
I was planning on making two dresses to match for me and my daughter, to attend a party for my brother. I picked out the material, all the accessories and the sundries needed. I already had a pattern for myself, so I went and bought a pattern for my daughter. I know the rule of thumb on sizing – you need to get a size larger, which I did.
I sat up all night making the dress, it was gorgeous. When my daughter woke up, I had her try it on and yep. . .it didn’t fit. One size too small. Not the happiest person that day, but hey. . .too late to do anything about it and I really didn’t want to go buy more material, so we bought her a new dress for the party. . .LOL I deserved a new outfit for all that hard work, but it was pretty hard to justify with a closet full of clothes.
Moral of the story. . .Always – Always measure your subject. . . and Measure Twice!!
I will be making that matching mother/daughter set – I think I’ll make it for Christmas and have a family photo done – show off my sewing skills.
Speaking of Christmas. . .I’ve come up with a rather great gift involving my sewing, designing and candy wrapping. This year I will be making a fabric Advent Calendar with pockets for the days. In each pocket I will be placing a wrapped Hershey’s Mini, which I will design. The design will come after I have picked the material for the calendar. I may just pick up several different patterns for a nice variety. Some cute, some elegant. 
I don’t have a pattern for this, so I will be winging it and I’ll make sure to write it down, step-by-step and post it here. . .if anyone is interested in trying it. I love combining my crafts together.
TTYL
Hey!
I’ve been counting down the days to the beginning of football season. I have my calendar marked for the Hall of Fame weekend. I’m going to start prepping the kids as to the rules for football season: 1-LEAVE MOMMY ALONE DURING GAMES, 2-Go to Daddy, 3-No friends allowed, unless they sit and watch the game, 4-Playing outside is best, 5-Take messages if the phone rings, Mommy’s busy. There’s a few more, but I don’t want to overload them right now. I still have a few more weeks.
I am a huge football fan, with the Minnesota Vikings being my home team. I love the Vikings and I am loyal to the Vikings – win or lose. I also love the rivalry that comes with this great sport, especially with the Packers. I love the bantering and insults going back and forth, but in the end, I enjoy a well-played game with a tough team – it’s the game I love.
I love that this game is full of hard-hitting action. I couldn’t stand by and watch ‘golf’. I can see myself being carried away for being loud: Woot-Woots, ‘Sink that Ball’ or ‘Way to get Par’. Same thing with Tennis – these are ‘quiet’ games – something I’m not. At least not as a spectator, that is. LOL
Who are my favorite players?
Quarterbacks: At the top of my list is Joe Montana (49ers), undoubtedly one of the best Quarterbacks of all time. Brett Favre, even if he was a Packer, is right below him. Their ‘hail-mary’ plays are unprecedented. I know if there were just seconds left to the game, they would pull off the win!
Wide Receivers: Cris Carter (Vikings, Eagles, Dolphins) and Jerry Rice (49ers, Raiders, Seahawks): Great Wide Receivers. Randy Moss (Vikings, Ravens) is incredible: that guy can really jump high to reach some of those overthrown passes. He did a great job for us in Minnesota!!
Running Backs: Tony Dorsett (Cowboys, Broncos), Emmit Smith (Cowboys, Cardinals), Barry Sanders (Lions) and of course, Robert Smith (Vikings)
Obviously, most of my favorite players are or were Vikings, but I do recognize greatness amongst all the players. There’s just too many to actually name.
Sorry Brett, but at the time. . .you were a Packer!
I do want to send out a ‘Congrats’ to John Randle for his Hall of Fame enshrinement this year!! I’m so excited, now we need to get Jim Marshall and Cris Carter and many others in there as well!!
Here is a list of Minnesota Vikings Hall of Famers: Dave Casper, Carl Eller, Jim Finks, Bud Grant, Paul Krause, Jim Langer, Randall McDaniel, Hugh McElhenny, Warren Moon, Alan Page, John Randle, Jan Stenerud, Fran Tarkenton, Ron Yary and Gary Zimmerman.
Several of these players will be joining John Randle in the Hall of Fame!!
Congrats!, also, to the rest of the Hall of Fame Enshrinees: Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Rickey Jackson, Russ Grimm, Floyd Little and Dick LeBeau
TTYL
Hi!
Have you ever watched a movie and thought to yourself ‘This is the BEST movie EVER’, then a movie or two later, you thought the same thing? Well, that’s me. I have a pretty long list of the ‘Best Movies Ever’ – In my opinion, of course. I’m going to share a few with you, along with my reasons for making it to my list. If you haven’t seen them already, I recommend running to the video store and checking them out.
1) Goodbye, Mr. Chips – 1939 – Starring Robert Donat and Greer Garson – This is a wonderful movie chronicling the life of a boaridng school teacher, set in England - his relationship with his students. A very moving story. Terrific performance by Robert Donat.
2) A Few Good Men – 1992 – Starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollack, Jack Nicholson, Kevin Bacon and Wolfgang Bodison – This is an outstanding cast with outstanding performances. The dialogue, in and of itself, makes this movie just as powerful as the actors. Tom Cruise is put in the position of having to defend two Marines accused of murder – they were following orders. Jack Nicholson, although not as much screen-time, gives a very powerful and memorable performance. Those that know me, understand why I favor this movie so much. There’s a quote from the movie, given by Demi Moore, which I included in my favorite quotes on Facebook: . . .because they stand on a wall and say ‘nothing’s gonna hurt you tonight. . .not on my watch’ . This movie is filled with this type of dialogue – again, powerful.
3) Heart and Souls – 1993 – Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Alfre Woodard, Kyra Sedgwick, Charles Grodin and Tom Sizemore – This is a really touching movie. Four people become attached to one baby boy, when their untimely death coincides with the birth of Thomas (Downey, Jr). They have unresolved issues and need his help so that they can move on. There are a couple of tear-jerker moments, so have some tissues near by. Makes you think of what needs to be done in your life. . .well, it did for me anyway.
4) Arsenic and Old Lace – 1944 – Starring Cary Grant, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, John Alexander, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey and the wonderful Peter Lorre – I love this movie because it is HILARIOUS and I love Cary Grant!! Mortimer (Grant) finds out his ‘sweet’ aunts (Hull, Adair) have been committing murder on the day he gets married to ‘the girl next door’, literally. His criminal brother (Massey) and friend (Lorre) show up, as well. Grant’s reactions and facial expressions are priceless. This is the cutest comedy/thriller I’ve ever seen!!
Okay, well that’s all I’ll share today. . .there’s always another day. If you have seen these movies, I would love to hear your comments on them – good or bad. Please feel free to share your favorite movies with me. . .if I haven’t seen them, I will. Who knows, I may just add them to my ‘Best Movies Ever’ list.
TTYL
