Easter Berry Basket + Free Image

Easter baskets come in all shapes and sizes.  Large ones are great for an Easter Egg Hunt or for putting out for the Easter Bunny to fill.  I was curious about the origins of the Easter Basket.  I really wasn't too surprised to learn that Easter Baskets originate from Germany (we get a lot of our Christmas traditions from Germany after all).   It's most likely that Easter
Baskets come from German folklore involving the Easter Hare, who would leave candies, colored eggs and other goodies for kids.  Sound familiar?

Not only do Easter baskets come in different shapes and sizes, but they're also made of different things, too!  I used a white berry basket to make this one.

I really like the look of the double handle.  I wanted them to be at slightly different heights.  That was easy to do by adhering them together and tilting the top one just a little bit.  Then I just stapled them to the berry basket.

All the little bows are made with a bow builder punch.  They are adorable and so fast!  Curving the pieces with a bone folder really helps.

I use glue dots, but I also put a little dot of liquid glue, too, just for good measure!

I've been buying organic free range eggs.   I love the pretty brown color.  They look so cute dressed with mini bows!

This is the image I used to create the scalloped circle.  

You can download the full image and the circle HERE.

Have a lovely week!

Easter Best + Free Image

Hi, there!  Apparently I've developed a little obsession with bridge tallies.  Are you getting tired of them yet?  I think they are so cool - I can just picture sitting down to play bridge and one of the most important things being:  How cute are the bridge tallies?   

This reminds me of how Lauren would pick what sports to play.  It was all based on the uniform.  She was one cute golf player I'm here to tell you.  I think the players on another team started calling her "Miss Fancy Shoes."  Well, I guess she came by it honestly - forget the actual play - it's all about the accessories!  

This girl's all decked out in her Easter Best complete with frilly cap, flouncy dress, basket and friends!  She's certainly got all the accessories!

If you would like, you can download her HERE.  

Have a lovely rest of your week - we're sliding toward Friday!

Easter: He Is Risen + Free Image

Keren (Free Pretty Things for You) has created a beautiful Easter image for you!  Actually, she has created three different versions of the cross: the one above, a yellow and a pink version.   You can see them below.

I printed the cross at about 4".  I wanted the butterfly wings to be a little larger so I printed it again at 6 3/4" and just used the wings of the butterfly.   I glued the larger wings right over the smaller ones.

The background embossing, beautiful die cut, and scalloped embossed border at the bottom are folders and dies from Anna Griffin's Lace Trimmings collection.  The entire collection is just lovely!

I wrapped a sentiment printed on vellum around the entire front.  If you would like a download of the sentiment, you can get it HERE.

All three images are available to download.  You can get the pink version by visiting Free Pretty Things for You.    To download the yellow version, click HERE.   And click HERE for the light blue.

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Are you wearing green?  You don't want to get pinched!  These little darlings are from Peggy Loves Vintage.  She's got some cute vintage images.

Wishing you a 

Happy (Pinchless) St. Patrick's Day!

Happy Belated π Day! + Free Sweetie Pie Tags

π or Pie?  Well, if you ask my architect husband you might think he would say π.   But it just so happens that Dennis makes the best tasting pies in the world!  So I choose PIE, too!

Well, I am a day late wishing you Happy (Pie)  Day!  Yesterday, 3-14-15 was National π Day.  That works because 3.14 is what we use for π and 15 gives us the next two digits in the infinite string of numbers that is π.  

After I found this adorable pie image at Goodness and Fun, I decided to make some Sweetie Pie tags.  Goodness and Fun has some darling papers and sweet images.  You can find the pie as part of an adorable Miss Baker clip art set.  Vanessa is as sweet as her images:  she's got a Buy 2, Get 1 Free going on right now and she agreed that I could offer you these tags (featuring her pie) to you for free!  You can download the Sweetie Pie Tags HERE.

Happy (Late) Pie Day, Sweetie Pie!

St. Pat's Beauty (Free Image)

She's a beauty all right!  Don't you love her top hat and bright pink cheeks?  She's got the sweetest plaid bow tie, too.  She's another bridge tally from my collection.  

It's amazing how many cute bridge tallies are out there.  Bridge reached its heyday in America during the 30's and 40's and that's the era many of my tallies are from.  (If you would like to know more about the history of bridge, you can read about it HERE.)

She's been hanging from the knob on my office door.  I love seeing her every day!

Do you like her?  You can download her HERE.

Have a great rest of your week!

St. Pat's Fun + Free Image + Who Won?

All smiles - that's me!  We just got back from visiting my daughter and her husband (and, of course, their HUGE Airedale puppy, Percy). Let me just say, he is already 60 pounds and is not through growing!

Margarida from All Is Full of Love and I have a giveaway going on that ends now!  Who won?  Let's look at another project first!

Margarida has a lovely selection of colors available in these pillow boxes - go to All Is Full of Love to see them all.  You'll also find patterns:  stripes, dots and hearts - so cute!

I used a vintage bridge tally for decoration.  Love her costume!  You can download her HERE.  Just right click and download.

I've got a couple of quick tutorials to make shamrocks.  One to make the chenille stem shamrock that I used on the last post (on the handle of the shamrock treat cup) and also the felt shamrock that I used on the pillow box above.

To make the chenille stem shamrock you just need one chenille stem.  The last picture doesn't even have any adhesive yet - it holds together really well.  I used hot glue and just pressed the middle of the shamrock to the handle of the treat cup.  

I used a die to cut the hearts and just cut a strip for the stem using scissors.  Easy!

On to the giveaway!!!

Who won the 

The winner of all the green is:

Jenny!

Thank you to everyone who left such sweet comments - wish we had a giveaway for everyone!  As always, Jenny was selected randomly by my darling husband - plucked her name right out of the bowl!  We like the old fashioned way sometimes!!  

Jenny:  please email me lhairston@cox.net or click on it in my right sidebar.  I'll need your address to mail you all your goodies!

Happy Sunday everyone!

St. Pats Day + A Giveaway

Have you seen Margarida's Etsy store :  All Is Full of Love?  She has some wonderful paper and template sets - I just can't get enough!  Go ahead, go look, find out what you need (want)  and come right back.  You don't want to miss the two sweet St. Pat's Day treat cups created with Margarida's cupcake wrappers and the awesome GIVEAWAY!

I love the idea of the gold at the end of the rainbow.  When I saw the rainbow cupcake wrapper, I immediately thought of a little candy cup filled with chocolate coins.  

If you would like to download a copy of the little "Lucky Me" tag above, click HERE.

You'll also find a shamrock cupcake wrapper at All Is Full of Love.  

So how do you get from a cupcake wrapper to a treat cup?  Pretty easy!  Here's how:

Print  and cut out the cupcake wrapper of your choice.  Form a base with a scallop and a plain circle.  Use a bone folder to curve the cupcake wrapper.

Stack and glue the four 1 3/4" circles and glue them to the base.  Wrap the cupcake wrapper around the 1 3/4" circles to form a cup.  Adhere where the ends overlap.  Fill and decorate!

Margarida and I have put together a giveaway with lots of awesome green things!  Digital downloads, trims, cards, sacks, labels, straws, pencils, cookie cutter, clothespins, sequins, roses, stickers...

To Win:

1.  Like All is Full Of Love FB Page.

2.  Like ChouxChoux Paper Art FB Page.

3. We would love it if you would share this post on your facebook page and leave a link to your page in your comment on this post.

Don't have a facebook page?  Just leave me a note in your comment that you would like to win.

Winner will be selected on Sunday, March 8th by random selection.    So come back on Sunday not only to see if you've won, but also for another St. Patrick's Day project with Margarida's cute green pillowbox and a quick tutorial on how to make the chenille stem shamrock above.

See you Sunday!  

You're the Cherry on Top + Free Image

You're the Cherry on Top!  We hear that a lot, but it's such a sweet way to say a Thank You and "You're Great!"  I'm lucky that the people in my life are all cherries!  My husband, my daughter and her husband, my parents, my friends and all of you!

My friend, Kim in Altus, asked me to create a card for a friend.  She asked for a sundae and the sentiment "You're the Cherry on Top!"

Luckily, I had this cute vintage valentine!  I just cut off the valentine part.  

If you would like a copy of this image, you can download it HERE.  Just right click and download.

Have a wonderful week!