10% off Mabel's Labels purchases made in August 2009

- clothing labels for camp and school
- return address labels for you
- Ultimate Back-to-School Combo (now with Teeny Tags™!)
- stationery kits
- child ID wristbands and more!

E-mail MabelsAgent at NSCcards dot com
with a subject of "coupon"
to receive your coupon code for
10% off your next Mabel's Labels purchase!^#

^# By sending your e-mail address you agree to receive periodic newsletters from your Mabel's Labels agent. You may unsubscribe from these newsletters at any time. Coupon code expires at the end of August 2009.

Win an Ultimate Back-to-School Combo (now with Teeny Tags™) !

As a Mabel's Labels agent, I'm happy to offer you a chance to win an Ultimate Back-to-School Combo from Mabel's Labels.

Click through for contest information and details.

Contest closes Monday, July 13th at 11:59pm (EST).

Easter craft round-up

Easter egg ideas

Bird's nest

Paper mosaics

Easter Bunny

Easter basket

Valentine, you amaze me!

[Download the PDF for this Heart Maze.]
[Download the PDF for Heart Maze Valentine's Day cards.]

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Heart-y round-up

Woven heart pockets

Quick and easy Homemade Valentine's Day cards

Heart sun catcher

Heart necklace

Stained glass light catcher

Materials:

• scrap tissue paper
• 2 sheets of construction paper (letter size printer paper shown)
• scissors
• tape
• white glue
  

Instructions:

• take one sheet of construction paper and fold it in half lengthwise
  
  
  
  
  
  
• cut out the centre piece (which includes most of the folded edge), leaving a 3cm (1.25") frame
  
  
  
  
  
  
• open out the frame
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• take the second sheet of construction paper and cut several 2cm (0.75") strips lengthwise
  
  
  
  
  
  
• begin arranging the 2cm strips over the frame, cutting as required to fit your design
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• tape the strips down to secure them to the frame and to each other (this is the back side of the frame)
  
  
• cut tissue paper big enough to fit over each of the holes in your frame, dry fit them (overlay them on the back side of the frame to make sure they're the right size, but don't glue them until you're sure they are!)
  
  
  
  
  
  
• glue the tissue paper to the back side of the frame
  
  
  
  
  
  
• let dry overnight
• hang on a window and enjoy!
  

As you can see from the photo below, if you use lightweight paper such as printer paper, the frame will be translucent. For best results, use thick opaque construction paper for the frame elements.

An advanced method (for adults) of doing this, would be to use a single sheet of paper for the frame and an X-Acto knife to cut out the "window" parts of the decoration.

Stained glass bell

(This idea came home from school.)

Materials:

• waxed paper
• different coloured tissue paper cut into small rectangles (approx 2cm x 3cm)
• white glue
• construction paper
  

Instructions:

• layout a sheet of waxed paper
• have child glue pieces of tissue paper on the waxed paper (it's okay to have the tissue paper overlap)
• leave overnight to dry
  
  
• have adult cut out the shape of a bell out of the construction paper, and then cut out the inside leaving a 2-3cm outline of a bell (make sure the overall size of the bell is smaller than the sheet of waxed paper covered with tissue paper)
  
• trace the outline of the outer part of the bell onto the dried sheet of waxed / tissue paper
• glue the construction paper bell outline onto the tissue paper covered side of the waxed paper
• let dry
• hang on a window and enjoy!