Money Doesn't Grow on Trees...

...But, sometimes it does grow on flowers.

My niece, Julia, turned 6 this weekend and I was so busy with VBS last week that I totally forgot about a gift for her. Bad Aunt! I didn't want to go anywhere because I was worn out, so I got the great idea to take dollar bills and make her name out of $1 bills.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any tutorials on folding dollar bills into letters.

So, I decided to make flowers and put them in a vase. I didn't have any cute vases, so I looked around my craft room and found some Starbucks Frappuccino bottles that I had cleaned and was using to hold buttons. Perfect!

Then I used some crinkle paper (what is that stuff called anyway?) that a friend gave me because she wasn't using it and thought I might come up with something to do with it.

I followed this tutorial for the dollar bill rose and this tutorial to make the 6-petal flower. The rose was time-consuming, but I thought the tutorial was very clear. The 6-petal one was super easy. Next time, I'll make 2 or 3 of the tulips (they kinda look like tulips, right?) and it will be faster and easier.

I put the flowers in the vase first and then held them in place with alternating layers of the hot pink and neon green crinkle paper.

Then I made a card that was so, so simple, but turned out exactly how I wanted. I stamped the image on white cardstock and colored with my Copic markers. Then I stamped the same image on a piece of velum and didn't do anything else to it. I layered them and it softens the look of the ballerina dress. Simple, but perfect.


Here's the finished bouquet.


Here's the back so you can see the fun layers of crinkly paper.


And here's the sweet birthday girl!


Happy Birthday, Julia-bug!

University of Alabama Refrigerator Scrapbook

I recently had a mom of a soon-to-be college Freshman ask me if I could make a tin for her daughter to take with her when she left for college. She wanted it to be black and white houndstooth paper with red accents. Perfect for The University of Alabama's colors. She wanted to give it to her daughter to put on her mini fridge to fill with either pictures of her new friends at college or her family and friends from back home.

I had a hard time finding the paper, but right when I was going to order some online, Hobby Lobby got in a shipment and they had exactly what I was wanting, b/w houndstooth with a small print.

Here's the tin.


I hope Madison enjoys filling it with pictures and making lots of new memories off at college.