happy halloween

If I had it my way, this is how I would offer candy to my trick-or-treaters.

But instead, this is my plan...

...minus the be scary part judging by my costume track record:

Hippie and Lunchlady

Vampire and Brian Fantana from Anchorman

The Batman Team (I'm Batman in this picture.)

Malibu Barbie. In cold weather. It was 2005, gimme a break.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

branding: mon tresór

You may not know this about me, but by day I am a graphic designer working for a local church and various freelance clients, and by night I am a crafter/DIY-er/blogger.

I haven't been taking on a ton of extra freelance graphic design projects because I feel like my plate is kinda full, but when my friend Steph asked me to help brand her business, mon tresór, I couldn't say no.

I love making logos and designing business cards. Plus, I love Steph's products - she makes the most beautiful baby blankets.

Steph is my ideal kind of client - she sent me some ideas she had for what she wanted and then she trusted me to do my thing. One idea that she mentioned was including some sort of 'french bee' in her logo since mon tresór is french for my treasure. I couldn't get away from this idea because I had seen Steph wearing this gorgeous bee necklace with her sons' initials attached.

 photo by the ever-fabulous A.M. Photography

So, I took that idea and ran with it. And I love the end result.


I knew I wanted to incorporate sewing into her business cards because that represents what her business is all about. So I thought it would be fun to put her information on tags that could be sewn onto kraft paper business cards.


These are easily customized with thread color and stitch pattern.


I was so excited to give her the final product.

Be sure to visit the mon tresór etsy shop and show some love.


For graphic design inquiries, please email me at honeysuckleblog@yahoo.com.

a baby for the nursery

All that time spent decorating the nursery was time well spent.

Sebastiana Lauren Haley is here and she's beautiful.

So Kerry asked me if I would take some photos of her.

And while I'm no photographer, I do have a nice camera and know a thing or two about photoshop. 

And I had an adorable subject to work with.

She's impossible not to love.

a statement neckline

Along with the doilies, I was given some other assorted Goodman heirlooms. One of my favorite things was this pearled sweater collar.

Apparently, they used to keep the same sweater but just change out the collar using snaps.

Well, times have changed, my friends. And I had new plans for this collar.

First, I needed to separate the pearls from the lining. 

Snip, snip.

Now I had an un-lined collar.

Then I grabbed a favorite, good-fitting, crew neck t-shirt to apply my collar to - I chose white so it could be a go-with-anything combo.

I sewed along the crew neck collar.

A few minute later, I had a new statement neckline.

(Sorry I wasn't prepared for a full outfit shot - maybe later.)

Living in a world where everything is disposable just makes me more devoted to the idea of holding on to things and passing them on. Maybe one of my great granddaughters will wear this someday.

Wanna try for yourself? There are some fun vintage collars on etsy.

What are you hanging onto in hopes of passing it on?

Shared at: Remodelaholic

reuse old jars: gifting

Yesterday I showed you how I like to repurpose old jars. A great use for them is gifting.

Recently two of my very best friends who live too many miles away came to stay with me to meet Baby Ana.

I got so anxious waiting for them to come - to pass the time, I decided to make my homemade granola. But I also wanted to give some to my friends when they got here as a sort of welcome/happy fall gift.

Enter repurposed jars.

These jars are so easy to customize to whatever you're putting in them.

Stickers are always a great option. For this jar, I put stickers on and then painted over them.

And this jar got embellished with stickers and washi tape.

My friends love me cause I'm sentimental and cheesy. 

With Christmas around the corner, this is a great idea if you're opting for homemade gifts!

Here's some more gift contents for jars to get your wheels turning:

Cookies

Spices

Pie

Cocoa

I mean, who wouldn't want a gift in a jar?!

Shared at: Blackberry Vine, Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie

reuse: old jars

I don't throw away glass jars. They're just too great for repurposing - easy storage, quick vase on the fly, and great for gifting.

But somehow giving someone something with a pickle jar cap just doesn't seem right.

So, here's how I remedy that:

- Glass jar

- Mod Podge

- Scrapbook paper

-Bowl/Circular object

First, trace a circular object that is bigger than your jar lid. I used a cereal bowl.

It doesn't have to be a ton bigger, but enough to fold over the sides of the lid. This ratio worked well for me.

Then, trace the outline of your lid on the un-patterned side of your paper.

Cut strips all the way around the circle but only to the outline of your lid.

Now for mod podge. If you used a bowl for tracing, go ahead and use it for spreading the mod podge.

Put mod podge all around the inside of your lid.

Then start folding your paper strips down over the side of your lid.

Then mod podge the whole thing to protect it and seal it.

Let it dry.

Once it's dry, put it back on your jar. 

Now, you have super cute jars ready to go for chic storage or easy gifting!

And if you really do use an old pickle jar like me, throw some baking soda in the jar and let it sit for a bit  to get rid of the pickle smell.

Tomorrow I'll show you how I put mine to use already!

Seriously, go eat that last pickle and save your jar!