Cheers! Bottle Bag

Hi Everyone!

Need a quick hostess gift?  Just pop your favorite beverage into this easy bottle bag decorated with Joy embroidered iron-on letters.

I painted these letters with two kinds of DecoArt paint - a red acrylic and a glitter paint.  For all the instructions, see the Creating with Joy blog.

Of course, there are lots of options for making this in your own style - use your favorite word for a toast - and paint with your favorite colors.  This would be great for New Year's or any festive occasion.

Cheers!  All the best in your holiday festivities!

Bottle Bag

Joy-ful ideas

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for stopping by!

Over on the Creating with Joy blog, there are always great ideas on how to embellish your projects with Joy letters and embroideries.

Here's a few that I have created recently as a member of the design team.  (I receive compensation for these projects and a lot of letters!)

I like to create games for the grandkids.  Here's a Bowling Game that I designed using chocolate milk bottles.  I love when you can reuse things.  This uses some multi-surface paint from Plaid.

And, for the graduate, I made a Mortarboard Gift Box, which can hold a gift card, or your graduate's favorite gift - cash!

Here I've use some Kunin stiff felt and a recycled box.  Add your favorite saying and personalize it with the school colors of your grad.

And, back in April, I created a sign for the yard to point the way to the Easter egg hunt!  Joy letters make it so easy to create a sign!

There are so many ways to use JOY letters - games, signs, gifts.  Stop by the Creating with Joy blog and see more ideas from the design team!

Happy Fall!

Happy Fall Y'all!

I love fall!  It adds a lot more color to the world - yellow and red leaves among the green, orange pumpkins, and ripe apples and tomatoes in shades of red.  The fragrances of fall add to the rich ambience - damp earth from an early shower, homemade jams and pies, and the rich odors of ripening grapes.

And, I love creating things to celebrate the season -

Here's a little sign for fall that I created for JOY Iron-on letters.

You can find all the details to make your own sign on the Creating with Joy blog.  Want to add a little more to this sign?  Add two more pumpkins - one with an "I" and one with a heart - to make "I heart fall".

These are small wood slices, so they will fit anywhere among the fall décor you already have on a windowsill or shelf.   And, the tiny leaves are die cuts made with a die from Spellbinders.

These leaves were part of the Wreath Elements in the Four Seasons set and were the perfect size for my pumpkins.  I love that die cuts work for so many crafts besides cardmaking!

Stop by the Creating with Joy blog for more fun fall and Halloween ideas.  Happy fall creating and decorating!

Summertime Projects with Joy Iron-on Letters

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are having a great summer!

Here are my projects for the last three months using the iron-on letters from Joy.  All the instructions can be found on the Creating with Joy blog , where you will find my projects and those from the rest of the fabulous design team.

We spend a lot of time outside around the barbecue during the summer, so I created projects for the patio.  This is a quick and easy burlap pillow that is great for any of the patriotic holidays or just everyday.  It's so easy even the kids will enjoy it.  Make it patriotic or use their names or any short word.

Patriotic Pillow

Silverware Caddy

This silverware caddy uses chalk paint on the canning jars as well as distressing over the letters and the caddy and tags.  I love the distressed look on the letters.

Upcycled Gift Box

This last project is an upcycled cheese box that I did for May, but you could use it for any occasion.  It would be a great box for a small gift such as jewelry.  Joy letters are great for any occasion, and you can color them in so many ways.  Here, I used ColoriQue inks to color them.

Drop by the Creating with Joy blog and see all the other wonderful creations from our design team!

Creating with Joy April Roundup

Hi Everyone!

We've had a busy month on the Creating with Joy blog.  Here's what we created in April.

We decorated everything from a spring frame for your special photos and pots for your herbs:

Some very cute kitty slippers-

A bag and a shirt--




A journal for your gardening ideas--


A beautiful sign for spring--

A plaque to commemorate a wedding--


A cowboy hat--


And, a tropical birthday banner--


How's that for a variety of ideas!  What will you create with Joy letters?  Head on over to the Creating with Joy blog for more inspiration!

Upcycled Mixed Media Wall Art

Hi all,

Today I'm sharing a piece I did for the Creating With Joy blog, where we use Joy iron-on letters in our artwork and crafts.  Take a look there for my materials and instructions on how to create your own canvas.

Upcycled Sunflowers

I collect and re-use materials like cardboard coffee sleeves and the foil that seals coffee cans.  (And, a lot of other stuff!)  I like the coffee sleeves as they come in a lot of different textures.  I used three different textures here.  And, the foil is really fun.  It usually has a texture, too; and, it can be cut and bent easily.  The Joy Iron-on letters can be painted or dyed as you like and add a nice dimension to the piece.  So, save some of these fun materials and create your own fall art.  These materials are easy enough for kids to use, too.

(I am a member of the design team for Joy iron-on letters and receive their product with which to create my art.  Check out the Creating with Joy blog for more great ideas from our design team.)

Baby Date Blocks

My youngest daughter takes photos of her daughters on a regular basis with numbers and words to indicate the date.  It's a very popular idea right now and helps you to remember the progress of your baby's growth when you look back at the photos.  Some of the numbers are on stickers and some are on shapes.  Another popular type is blocks.  So, using the JOY letters and numbers, some Smoothfoam blocks, scrapbook paper and washi tape, I decided to create some. 

Here's another view:

As you can see, you can change the words on the large block for different periods of time.  This is a different side of the same large block. 

You can also add more numbers on the small blocks, like this, and rotate or move the blocks to create a new date.  You can also lay them out in a line instead of stacking them.

These are very versatile.  Here, I used coordinated scrapbook paper in girly pinks, but any color combination would look great.  And, JOY letters are easy to color with dye, paint, ink or pens, so they don't have to remain white.

And, as a friend of mine suggested, you could use these as a countdown to Christmas with a change of papers (Thanks, Karen!).  I'll bet there are even more ideas out there - what would you create?

For all the information needed to create these, check out the Creating with JOY blog.

(As a member of the JOY design team, I receive JOY Iron-on product with which to create.)

Monogrammed Wreath

Hi Crafty Friends!

Today, I want to show you something I created for JOY Iron-on letters.  They have a lot of new items out now, and one of them are these nice large monograms.  These are 5" high.  I used it to make a monogrammed spring wreath:

The monograms come in white, but for this wreath, I wanted a softer tone.  Since the iron-on letters are dye-able, I used some RIT Dye to add a soft tan color.

The dye I used is Ecru, but that particular color is not available anymore.  You can use Tan or Taupe.  Leaving it in the dye bath for a shorter period of time will give you a lighter color. While you have your dye bath, consider dying some ribbon to match.

If you want a little more structure to your letter, you can iron it onto some heavy fabric like canvas or denim and trim the fabric to make a border for your monogram.  Or, you can iron it onto some lightweight wood or tag board, depending on how you want to display your monogram.

A note on the materials used:  The wonderful script wired ribbon is from Offray (purchased at JoAnn's).  The little foam eggs are available from Smoothfoam.

For all the instructions and materials on how to make the wreath, go to the Creating with Joy blog.  If you need more ideas, check out Pinterest under Monogrammed Wreaths!  There are so many ways to Create with Joy!

Have fun!