Little Pink Studio

Snail Mail

Hello! Have you been aware of the fact that "snail mail" has been making a big comeback these days? I kept seeing all sorts of cute snail mail packages on instagram and pinterest, and lots of penpal things as well. I had penpals when I was a teenager, and even at one time had a penpal that loved to send me lots of little paper goods and misc. things in her packages. I always enjoyed writing letters and putting together little packages for my penpals, and it was exciting to have international penpals long before the days of email and the internet being so readily available. It was so much fun to receive a letter in the mail from France, or Germany. Although I hadn't really thought of penpals or snail mail in years, I was happy to see it making a comeback. My friend Rachel and I agreed to be penpals and send each other letters and little bits of stuff, and so now at 43, I have a penpal again! 

For my first penpal package to her I wanted to send her a little organizer that would hold all sorts of snail mail supplies that she could keep in one place and take on the go with her as well. 

I found this plain passport organizer and thought it would be perfect, especially if I could alter it a bit to be more our style. I added vintage fabric and trims, and what you see above is the result. 

I also covered the very blah grey mesh inside pockets with bits of vintage lace as well. Then, I filled her organizer with vintage and new stationery, tags, cards, some of my wood veneer cards, and other paper bits. She should have everything she would need to write letters in her little organizer! 

For my letters, I decided to make some little envelope booklets to hold my letters and mail tag answers. I just took some vintage envelopes, folded them in half and stitched down the middle. This allowed me to create little pockets to hold my letters and such. 

I used a mixture of vintage and new stationery, as well as little scrapbook bits to make my letters and tags. 

This was so fun I was thinking of taking on a couple more penpals. If you'd like to be penpals with me, and send each other little letters and happy mail packages from time to time, shoot me an email. If several people are interested, maybe I'll assign some penpal partners. :)

What about you? Have you been bitten by the snail mail/penpal bug? 

xo, Cerri

Let's talk about gingerbread houses

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Hello! Not quite ready with my tutorial this week yet, so let's take a moment and talk about gingerbread houses, shall we? There's just something so magical about creating a house of cookies, candy, and frosting. It's been a long standing tradition in our house to make gingerbread houses, starting way back when my girls were just little and their houses were more of a candy and frosting mess than anything. Over the years it became a bit competitive, and we've had everything from tiny little houses, to full on gingerbread ships. (My husband won that year) We don't compete with them as much anymore, but I still really enjoy making them. Just thought I would share some of the wonderful little houses I found on pinterest. 

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(I couldn't click through for an original source for this, but here is the pin)

I am quite smitten with the idea of using your gingerbread houses as a centerpiece for your holiday table!

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Follow the link for a tutorial, more ideas, and a template for your gingerbread houses!

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And just how sweet are these tiny houses? Wouldn't they make darling place settings? Sorry, I could not find an original source for these sweet houses, but I just love the idea!

I think I'm leaning towards tiny houses myself this year. We'll be making them this weekend, so I better get busy collecting my candy. :)

Do you make gingerbread houses in your family? Do you make them from scratch, or buy the premade kits? 

Be back soon, Cerri

Let's talk about place settings

 

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Hello! I'm sorry to have disappeared a bit on you. Last Friday, I had planned a giveaway for the blog, but then the tragedy in CT happened, and I didn't feel right about posting something as trivial as that. In fact, I haven't felt like posting or being on the internet much at all since then. My heart is broken for the families of all of those involved. 

I'm trying to just concentrate on Christmas, and all that needs to be done before then. So today, I thought we would talk a bit about place settings. Have you already set your holiday table? I have seen some really lovely and inspiring settings around the net this season. I am quite smitten with the bow napkin fold above, as well as the lovely colors! I have really had a fondness of green and ivory this year. The link above will not only take you to the source of the photo, but a great tutorial for making the bow fold yourself. 

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This photo is not pictured as a place setting, but I think it would make a one! Sweet little ornaments nestled into a vintage tart tin. Lovely.

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And just how lovely are these ornaments hanging from ribbon on the back of each chair? 

I also love this simple and sweet idea. Just drill a hole in a wood slice, place a small branch inside a glue a star to the top. Each of your guest not only knows where to sit, but can also take home a little memento.  (This photo came was from marthastewart.com as is noted on the photo itself, but I could not find it on the website, sorry!)

What do you do for place settings? Please share your ideas, or links to photos in the comments. We would love to see. 

I will be back with a tutorial on Thursday, and we will try again for a giveaway on Friday. 

A quick note about the shop: I will take any last minute orders that need to be expedited throughout the day on jWednesday, but after that will not be shipping again until after the first of the year. My girls are both home, and as you might remember, last year was a really, really tough year for us, so I want to snuggle in and enjoy my family as much as possible. 

I will be happy to email gift certificates and tutorials at any time though! 

Cerri 

Free, printable holiday tags!

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Hello! I am switching the schedule up a bit this week, and tomorrow I will have a lovely ornament tutorial for you. Today, I'm sharing a lovely bunch of free, printable tags offered by various artists around the net. I No need to buy tags when there are so many sweet, printable ones out there! 

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(not exactly Christmasy, but so cute!)

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So many cute tags, right? Be sure to visit each link to find the actual download of the tags, and I'm sure it would be lovely to let the artists know how much you like their tags. :)

If you know of other cute, and free tags please post your link in the comments, we would love to see!

Check back tomorrow for a sweet tutorial, and on Thursday for a sweet, holiday giveaway. 

Enjoy!

Cerri

Tuesday tutorial: A Little More Vintage Kitsch

Hello! I hope you had a lovely weekend. We had a fabulous weekend celebrating my Mom and daughter's birthdays. Mom's birthday is the 8th, and my baby girl will be 21 on Wednesday! Hard to believe I have a daughter turning 21. Time goes by so fast, it really does. To celebrate,  I threw them a jewelry making party in my studio and will be sharing some of that soon. It's always such fun to get all of the ladies in my family together to craft and spend time together. 

 Today's tutorial is actually my take on someone else's darling tutorial. But first, I have to tell you, I had an awful time taking photos of these little "snow globes". I retook photos several times and edited and edited, but just couldn't get them to look that great, but at least you will get the general idea of how I made mine. 

These daring ornaments were our inspiration. And I don't know how she was able to take such fabulous photos of these plastic snow globes, but they're lovely.  (To see the full tutorial and the rest of her ornaments, click here. ) You'll never believe that these sweet little snow globes are made using disposable plastic wine glasses! 

My daughter and I made our little snow globes during our craft sessions when she was home for Thanksgiving. She actually made 3 of them while I worked on one and made these ornaments.  

The tutorial thoroughly shows you how to create these, but you simply cut off the stem of the wine glass using a dremel. Create your little scenes using whatever vintage elements you would like on a paper base, glue them in place, and add mica flakes through the top openings. 

In the original tutorial she used beads to seal and hang the snow globes, and I had some beads that would have worked perfect for that, but I recently got rid of them thinking, "I'm never going to use these...". Isn't that how it goes? So instead, we used small vintage glass ornaments, and just pulled out the little loop.  To create the globe above, my daughter used some plastic deer that I had completely covered in silver glass glitter. Love that look!

This is the only snow globe that I made, my daughter made all of the others shown in this post. Gotta love a vintage Santa and his little helpers. :)

The snow globes are quite easy to make and would be a fun activity to do with your children of any age. :)

A couple of things...

If you're part of the vintage stocking swap, you should be getting ready to mail your stockings. 

And if you're waiting on an order, rest assured that I have been working around the clock trying to get all of the orders shipped out. I'm getting close to being caught up, thankfully. 

I would love to see if you make any snow globes from the plastic wine glasses! 

Happy creating! Cerri 

Let's talk about Advent calendars...

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Hello! Do you do an Advent calendar in your home? I have done various ones over the years as my girls were growing up, but most years we simply decorated a smaller tree, and there would be a in expensive gift to unwrap each day counting down until Christmas. -We would rotate days for each member of our family. I have always loved the idea and excitement of the Advent calendar, and searched for a few ideas on pinterest. I found tons, but these ideas were a few of my favorites. 

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Click above for the diy of this sweet idea. Wouldn't this also be cute on a vintage door? :)

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I have loved this tag Advent calendar for a couple of years now, it's just so beautiful. You can purchase the tutorial to create this by clicking the link above. 

That's it for today, I'll be back tomorrow with our take on a super sweet tutorial. I'm back to the shipping room. Hi ho hi ho...  

If you've made your Advent calendar already, will you add your link in the comments? I would love to see!

Cerri

Handmade gifts

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Hello! I hope your week is going well! This year, I really want to spend time creating some gifts for the people I  love. Other than a couple of things for my Mom, I haven't really made any gifts in a long time. I want to change that. I haven't started yet, but all of these are things that are on my "to do" list. 

I love the way the natural beeswax candles look in the simple jars above, don't you? So pretty. Apparently, burning beeswax in your home is a good thing as well. I adore candles, always have, but I have pretty bad allergies and as I get older they get worse, so I actually have a hard time burning anything with a scent. I am hoping these will do the trick.  If you want to make some beeswax candles too, you can find out how here, with a lovely tutorial (and more pretty pictures of the candles).

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I love, love this idea. These beautiful framed doilies are actually for sale as an instant collection, but I was thinking this would make a fairly easy and lovely gift to make as well. Though, I have a lot of doilies I don't think I have any quite as beautiful as these. 

I also think beautiful pieces of lace would also be great framed in the embroidery hoop frames. Wouldn't it be wonderful to gift someone a collection of hoops that have framed pieces of family wedding dresses? 

Anyway, I'm definitely looking for more doilies, and Mom, if you're reading..hint. hint. ;)

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These little truck pin cushions are definitely on the list for my girls. So cute, right? I just love this idea. My youngest daughter is a country girl at heart, you rarely catch her out of her cowgirl boots, and having an old truck to haul her vintage camper is definitely one of her dreams. So I think this would be right up her alley. When I pinned this though, my oldest daughter proclaimed that she wanted one too. :) I'm on the hunt for some old trucks. 

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And last for today, I think this idea is adorable. But for Christmas/winter holidays I think it would be darling to make a kit like this with hot cocoa. Think cute mugs, cocoa mix, marshmallows, sprinkles, candy canes, etc...It would be a great gift for a "family" gift, a neighbor gift,teacher gift, a college student care package, or even just for your nieces and nephews. 

I can't wait to get started making and putting together handmade gifts!

What about you? Do you make gifts? What's on your list this year? 

xo,Cerri

PS, Starting tomorrow I will begin showing you what's "in store" for the our holidays in the shop. I think you'll find something for everyone. 

Happy Friday!

Hello, and happy Friday! Sorry to have missed the tutorial this week, but truth is, as we all know sometimes life is a little messy. I've just been in a bit of a funk and not feeling my normal self. I look at my supplies and don't have a single idea.. Hopefully, I'll snap out of it and we will be back to our regular tutorials next week. In the mean time, the photo above is a little snippet of my studio today. See the background paper? It's the end paper from a really old children's book. I've been trying to replicate it today, but I can't get it just right with my printers so I may take it to the copy shop and see what I can do. I would LOVE to paper the back of my studio shelves in this paper. Wish I had rolls of it. :) 

Speaking of the studio, that's what I'm working on this weekend. I. HAVE. TO. GET. THIS. ROOM. FINISHED.  Hold me accountable, will you? Maybe I should post some progress photos each day? Or maybe just on Monday? 

But, just in case you're working on some Halloween projects, here's a few images for you. 

I found this fabulous old photo on pinterest today, but could not find the original source. I cleaned him up a bit, and think he would be just fabulous on some Halloween projects, don't you? 

Or just in case you need a fabulous old pumpkin with eyelashes.... 

What are your plans this weekend? Will you be carving pumpkins? Visiting haunted houses or corn mazes? Planning to attend any scary movies? 

I am hoping to fit in a couple of scary movies myself....if I get my work done. :)

Cerri xoxo

Tuesday tutorial: Halloween inspiratioin

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Hello! I hope you had a lovely weekend and your week is off to a great start. My weekend ended up not as expected at all, and instead we had a family emergency. Such is life, I guess...but hoping for a much better weekend next time. Anyway, so today I don't have a tutorial I have prepared for you, but I have gathered all sorts of neat Halloween ideas from around the web to inspire you.

Here's a tutorial for some super cute painted pumpkins. Love the silhouette pumpkin!

Love these cute treat bags just created by folding newspaper (or other scrap papers) together and stamping on them.

These darling printables would be perfect for cutting out and adhering to your treat bags. They can also be cut out, sandwich a toothpick between two of them and made into really cute cupcake toppers. Or print them on sticker sheets and include them IN your goody bags for your little trick or treaters. For only $2, I am sure you can think of a million things to do with them! (besides, they're designed by the sweetest designer I know--my daughter)

LOVE the glittered pumpkin favor boxes! I bet you can probably find some paper mache pumpkins on clearance in the craft stores now. Just cover them in glue and silver glass glitter! Easy, and so charming.

And lastly, I love how simply a bit of washi tape can turn a little tin into into a special treat. 

For even more ideas and images, you can visit my Halloween pinterest board, so much inspiration there!

What's inspiring you for Halloween? Do you go all out for decorating and treat making? Link in the comments if you have a great idea, we would love to see!

Happy creating, Cerri

Tuesday tutorial: Tutorials from around the net

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Hello! I hope your week has started off lovely! I am in Nashville for a few days helping my daughter set up her first apartment. Yep, she is moving into an apartment, and will stay in Nashville now until she graduates college. She will still come home for a couple of weeks here and there, but her long extended stays over the summer and such are done. And yes, this breaks my heart even though I thought I was thoroughly prepared since this is her 3rd year in college, but I wasn't. Not at all. I wasn't prepared for the empty bedroom. Anyway before I start blubbering, I am excited for her as well, and we have several diy projects going on to make her apartment cute. However, none of them are quite ready to show you yet. So today, I hope you'll enjoy some cute tutorials I have found around the web in place of my own tutorial. 

The adorable bows above we will actually be turning into push pins for her inspiration board and possibly a little bow garland. We were both pretty smitten with the felt bow idea. :)

(tutorial somewhere on this blog)

The file cabinet project above is on my to do list for my own studio as soon as I get home. I found a great file cabinet like that at an estate sale, and it's waiting for it's make over. I won't do mine as brightly colored as that, but such a cute idea. (I searched all over the blog this was linked to, and couldn't find this tutorial, but I know it's there somewhere)

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How sweet are these embellished lanterns? Super easy project, too. 

That's it for me today, I need to get back to helping my daughter get unpacked and organized. To visit more of my tutorials, just click here, and of course most of today's inspiration came from pinterest.

I'll be back soon.

xoxo, Cerri