Are you ready for some AWESOME stuff?!?!

I can't thank all of you enough for making blogging so much fun!

Today not only marks my 500th post, it is also my

VERY LAST POST...

...of 2010!

You were sweating a little, right?

I've decided that with such a monumental post, I needed to bring in the
big guns! 
I've got the crème de la crème of crafty mamas here to help me celebrate!

First up... well, she really needs no introduction...

It's BECCA from Blue Cricket!



Hip hip hooray! It's party hat day!

 

"The Charlie Bug Party Hat!" is ready to rock and roll any special birthday girl, boy, mom, dad, girlfriend or perfect strangers head! Customize yours with your favorite designer fabric and call it good! I've even included my free Birthday Patch pattern and instructions!

Order your very own pattern emailed straight to you in PDF format!

Print it off and get started!

Sewing level: Beginner

Estimated time of project: 30 min.

And to celebrate Shannon's 500th post celebration, I'm giving away
5 FREE Hat Patterns!

Be sure to come and enjoy all that Blue Cricket Design has to offer! BCD is a blog chuck full of DIY inspiration, craft projects, sewing tips, recipes and more! Amazing giveaways EVERY Wednesday and a "Show and Tell" linking party where you can link up your latest and greatest projects and have then seen by THOUSANDS! Come join in all the creative fun!

Thanks so much, Becca!

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Next is my very own crafty mama, Jenny from
Bisque It Pottery Painting Studio!

Bisque It is a do it yourself pottery painting studio. You can select from hundreds of pieces of bisque: dinnerware, serving ware, decorative pieces, banks, picture frames, figurines... the list goes on! We also offer clay building; from pinch pots, to coil pots or slab building to wheel throwing.

We provide the materials and you provide the creativity!

 

Our studio fee includes the use of our tools, paints, glazes, and firing process. No experience or reservation is required. If you are in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area, come visit us and create a personalized masterpiece to keep for yourself or give as a gift!

Mention Shannon's 500th blog post and receive 20% off of one piece of pottery!

Visit

http://www.bisqueitpottery.com/

or find Bisque It on Facebook for more info on the studio!

 

My crafty mama has created this awesome car air freshener especially for one of my readers!!

Pretty cool, right?! 

Thanks, Mom!

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I hope you aren't too partied out!  Let me introduce you to a fellow Fort Wayner, Lorri Courtney!

As far as my history, I guess like a lot of crafters I started as a child. My mother was very creative. She sewed a lot of our clothes when we were growing up but she also knit, crocheted, and did embroidery and crewel work. My grandmother tat and did embroidery. I don't really remember being taught, it was just always around. My sister and I were encouraged to try different things. I remember being very proud of the necklace I made by stringing paper hole punches onto thread.

I started knitting seriously after I graduated from college. I knit a bunch of sweaters, scarves, gloves and mittens. I still love knitting but I seem to have less time to devote to large projects. It wasn't until I went to my first indie craft show several years ago that I really thought about making and selling my things. I love the whole indie movement and the creative people it attracts. It sounds dumb but at that first show I really felt like I was around people like me. After that show in Columbus, OH I got organized and signed up for some area church and school holiday bazaars. I also got a shop on Etsy, the on-line site for crafters.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/llcourtney

Lorri is giving one of you a super-duper cute octopus!!

These things are too stinkin' cute!! 

Thanks, Lorri!

---

You may know this next guest as

Sumo!

Yep, that's right...

It's Summer of Sumo's Sweet Stuff!!

My real name is Summer, but my husband nicknamed me Sumo when we were dating (not sure if I should be offended or not!) so that's where the name Sumo comes from! I'm a huge fan of Diet Coke, peanut butter and chocolate (together and separate!), popcorn, chips and salsa, Christmas, the color black, and cats.

After I found out that my first baby was a girl, I started experimenting with bows and clips. I made the decision to dive right in and start selling things after I discovered how obsessed I was with it! You can imagine my delight when we found out our second was a girl, too! Our house is overflowing with bows, ribbons, headbands, and bracelets!

I decided to start my Sumo's Sweet Stuff blog when our family blog was starting to get a little taken over with my crafting. I never imagined that it would grow to what it is today! It's now a fun place for me to share my crafting habit, my new sewing obsession, giveaways, reviews, and feature other people's great ideas!

If I had to choose my favorite mode of crafting, right now it would have to be anything that involves fabric and sewing! I love buying fabric, and would do it all day long if we could afford it! My sewing machine is about to turn one, and I don't know how I ever lived without it!

To celebrate my 500th post, Summer is giving one lucky reader one of her gorgeous handmade charms and chain necklace!

  

Beautiful! 

Thanks, Summer :o)

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Our next visitor comes from the land of candy!  More specifically, GUMBALLS!

Greetings! My name is Alycia D’Avino, I am a full time artist and business owner with a B.S in Art Education. My YUMMI shop consists mostly of felted items. I love felting! It is a wonderful, but time consuming process. I have wonderful and talented team members who assist me in the creation of my products. YUMMI products are flying off the shelves! I can't make them fast enough! Whimsical, colorful and fun! Definite conversation starters, proven to steal the spotlight anywhere you go!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/yummishop

Alycia has donated this sweet little clutch to give away to one of you!

Handmade Gumball inspired "yummi" change purse. Made out of wool. Created by using a felting process.

* 4 inches H X 6 inches W *
Beautifully lined, closes securely with zipper!

Thanks, Alycia... so creative!

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Last but certainly not least, put your hands together and help me welcome the original crafty mama,

Abby Pecoriello!!

Abby is the author of the book, Crafty Mama!

Hey Everyone! Crafty Holidays! I'm Abby Pecoriello, a Crafty Mama...just like all of you! I've been crafty ever since I was four years old and was introduced to GLITTER. Glitter rocks! It adds everlasting OOMPH to every art project...as well as to the floor and your hair (just ask my mom!) As I got older, my glitter obsession turned into rhinestone one. Indeed I had a bedazzler and studded pretty much everything...my shoes, my shirts and even my dad's wedding tuxedo (oops!) Rhinestones turned to beads...and beads turned to tye-dye...and my snazzin' n' pizazzin' craziness continued right up until I had kids! I blinged out their onesies, teensy booties and even their wipe boxes and I loved every minute of it....and so did my playgroup! Every week we met and jazzed things up together...which led me to start my Crafty Mama Classes...which led to a few magazine articles...and next thing I knew, I was hot gluing my way into a book deal! It was awesome...and messy! You should have seen my small NYC apartment as I crafted those 49 projects in two weeks!

Lily and Sasha eating ices - they love EVERYTHING and ANYTHING sweet!

My teensy babies are now big (Lily is 7 and Sasha is almost 5) and they are super crafty too! When we're not coloring, gluing, blinging or making costumes on a random Tuesday and driving my husband Mike crazy with our mess, we all like to watch 80s and 90s movies, eat cereal, and sing and dance around our apartment to Glee! I have a full-time job now, but I still find time to craft...even if it is at 7:45 a.m. and I feel I just NEED to put some sort of funky iron-on onto Lily's shirt!? (That drives my husband nuts too!) Crafting has and always will...make me feel fantastic. And at the end of the day, a little glitter goes a long way!

Abby has so kindly shared one of her favorite crafts with us!

RECYCLED CRAYONS

Have kids? Will crayon! From all of the goodie bags, trips to the dollar store, visits to grandma and kid-friendly restaurants (oh wait, are there any other kind?)...we must amass about 100 crayons a year! We give a lot away, lose a lot, break a few, and even eat a few (no joke)...but at the end of the day we still have 50 extra at any given time...and they're sorta janky (so is my bag from them being at the bottom of it!) So we decided to give them a little holiday makeover...

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Peel off all the wrappers (if the wrappers are still on. My kids do this naturally)

Shave off any of the crayon scum with a knife (who knew crayons could be cheese doodle stained?!)

Break the crayons into small pieces (My kids do this naturally too!)

If they're chunky and hard to break into 1/4" - 1/2" pieces - cut them up carefully.

Spray mini-muffin tins with some cooking spray.



All nice and arranged in their mini-muffin tins.
We added glitter for some crayon pizazz!



Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until they're all nice and melty. The longer you let them melt, the less swirly they'll be.

All done (we might have cooked them a liiiiitle too long. d'oh!)

Take them out and let them cool. If you want to speed things up, put them in the freezer.

Pop them out of the tin.

A heaping bowl of crayons.

Stack 'em up!

Our favorite is the brown chocolatey looking one!

Color away!

 

They look soooo pretty that you can always slip them into a narrow cellophane bag, tie it up with some ribbon and give them away as gifts.

You guys can not even begin to understand my excitement when I saw that I got an email from Abby!  I immediately called Mike at work and told him my super huge, I-got-an-email-from-a-famous-person news, and he just didn't get it!  This book really got me started in crafting! 

Now, one of YOU can make the fab projects too because

Abby is giving a copy away!! 

AHH!  I know!

Thanks so much, Abby!  Truly an inspiration!

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There you have it!  I know you all are jumping out of your seats, screaming like I just gave you all new cars Oprah-style, right?  Only this is so much better!

Want to win one of these awesome prizes?

You can do so by:

1. Comment below and tell me which prize is your favorite or if you like them all, just give me a "PICK ME!!  PICK ME!!" Make sure you leave me your email address if I don't already have it!
2. Follow me!  If you are already a follower, comment again and tell me so!
3. Blog about this super awesome giveaway!  Comment AGAIN and tell me you did so!

I will randomly pick winners for each prize after the first of the year.  You need to leave separate comments for each entry.  I will email the winners so make sure I have your email address!!

Giveaway ends on January 1, 2011!

I wish everyone could win.  I enter giveaways all the time and have never won.

Aw heck, I can be like Oprah, too...

YOU ALL WIN!!

Seriously!  If you leave your email address in the comments below, I'll send you the printable PDF of my Household Organizational Binder!

It brightens my day to read your comments and visit your blogs, as well.  Have a very merry Christmas and a safe and happy new year!! 

See you in 2011 :o)