I found the cutest stationery box made by one of our readers and stuck it in my "to-do file" for later. Wouldn't this make a perfect Mother's Day gift? While looking for a pattern that I could link you all to, I found another blogger that actually has an awesome video tutorial showing step-by-step how to make this darling box. It's got pockets to fill with handmade cards, gift cards, and tags, as well as stamps and an address book. My favorite part is how they all coordinate!

Thanks to Stampin' Up! demonstrator Dannie Graves for letting us share her pictures and link to her video with you! She makes the whole project really simple. Isn't this a beautiful set?


Reader Tiffany Cordero, winner of our card swap contest and also a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, made these sets--LOVE the color combos!

You've still got 10 days until Mother's Day (or should I say only 10 days?). Either way, you have time to make this box and a bunch of cards. Your mom is going to love it. {You're welcome.}

All the wonderful sponsors of our Reader Appreciation Week giveaways were entered to receive a free month of advertising on our site. Thank you to all of those who so generously offered our readers such fabulous gifts! So without further ado, the winner of a free month of advertising is. . .

Lisa Leonard Designs

Well, the giveaway week is officially over, and here are the rest of our lucky winners!

Love Bug Momma of Little Love Hugs



The winner of the My Mommy Can Draw giveaway is


The Titmi



The winner of the Boogaboo Babies is


Michelle Underwood



The winner of the Book Bound giveaway is


Anne of The Molino Family



The winner of the Maisy Daisy giveaway is


TWINkle Moments



The winner of the Heather Mann Photography giveaway is


Jessica of Variety is the Spice



The winner of the Your Every Color Jewelry is


Lena of One Day At A Time

We wanted to let you know about a great promotion going on with one of our sponsors. Sugarhouse Ink offers photo cards of every flavor! You can pick a photo card for any occasion and they are simple to order.

Right now, Sugarhouse Ink is offering 20% off any graduation announcement order with the code GRAD09. What a great deal! It's the perfect time to plan and order your graduation announcements and save some money as well. Right now you can also take advantage of a great deal on any digital print-yourself design. You can order them for only $12! They are regularly $25. Use the code DIGITAL for this great offer.

Head on over to Sugarhouse Ink and get some fabulous announcements with these great offers.

I purchased this Edith Twirl Skirt pattern from YouCanMakeThis.com. Love it. It is so easy to follow and really simple to make. This is the third one I've made! I definitely recommend this pattern. I’ve gotten a ton of compliments on this skirt--it's darling on little girls and big girls. The pattern is for girls sizes 2-6.

Sorry for the break in our regular quilt-along series. Hope you had fun with all our great giveaways last week while you were waiting!

So now on to the final part of our denim blanket project. I did make a modification to the supplies list to ensure the vinyl tablecloth would hold the bottom part of the snap. There is more than one way to reinforce the edges, but I'll show you how I did it and you can do it however you want to. I wish I would've seen this article on Martha before I started this project--it would've saved us all some time! If you don't want to take the time to make a denim blanket, you can really use any blanket and attach the vinyl tablecloth for the same effect.

I used about 9 yards of twill tape and sewed it around the edges on the back side. I found it for .37 a yard.


I stopped, backstitched, and broke off the thread, then folded the edge over at the corners. Then I started sewing again around the corner. I did this on all the way around, then on the inside of the twill tape all the way around again.


When I got to the end I just overlapped the tape and backstitched a few times.


You could easily just use a small piece of twill tape where you will have your snaps to save money (and time). Or, a reader suggested using a small piece of a denim patch, like you use to patch the knees in a pair of jeans, under each snap. This would work great, too.

On to the snaps. Here are the supplies you'll need:

*Heavy-duty denim snaps (since it's only one layer of denim, these might not be necessary, but it's what I used)
*Snap setting tool (to match the size snaps you bought)
*Fabric marking pen
*Pencil with eraser
*Hammer (don't use a wimpy one like the one pictured here--I endedup switching to a full size hammer because the little one was too weak)


These are the four pieces of snaps. The first two (from left to right) are for the top (blanket). The second two are for the tablecloth.


These are the tools to set the snaps. You can use the instructions on the back of the package, or follow along with me below.


1. Lay out the tablecloth on the floor with the waterproof side down. Lay your finished blanket on top. Mark on your blanket where each snap will go, then make a corresponding mark on the tablecloth so you can match up the sides of the snap. I did the four corners plus a few in between on each side.


2. Put the snap head on your mark and press the prongs down through the denim.


Using your eraser, press down on each prong. This will help the prongs go through the denim without poking you!



3. Set the corresponding piece over the prongs.


4. Place the protective cover on the top of the snap (so it doesn't get dinged up when you hammer it).


5. Hold it there and turn that part of the blanket over. Place on a hard surface (don't do this on the carpet--the pieces won't set right). Protect your hard surface if you need to (I used a cutting board on my tile). Put the other tool over the top of the back side of the snap. Hit it with your hammer 2-3 times. This should set it.


6. Find your mark on the tablecloth. Repeat the steps for setting the bottom side of the snap using the other pieces. Put a snap on each place you marked.





That is it! Now get out there and have a picnic!


Just joining us? Here are the other parts in this series:
*Invitation and supplies
*Part 1
*Part 2
*Part 3

The first half of giveaways from last week have officially ended and we are excited to announce the winners! If you aren't one of the winners make sure you enter the giveaways that are still open until Wednesday so you can have some more chances to win a fabulous prize.

Here are the winners:

The winner of our Maker Spot giveaway is



Yvonne

The winner of our Simply Silhouettes giveaway is



Malinda of Four Little Monkeys

The winner of our Little Lilies giveaway is



Kelly A.

Giveaway #12

It's time for our last giveaway for this week. Thanks to all our sponsors who have made our first Reader Appreciation Week a success! And thanks to all of you who have visited our sponsors and left such sweet comments. We love you all!

You're going to love the funky pieces our last jewelry artist creates. Andrea of Your Every Color makes simple but stylish jewelry using fun components like glass tiles and fabric-covered buttons. We love the pendant and earring sets.

These are so pretty and perfect for spring!



Aren't these earrings sweet? Look at all the amazing colors and patterns she's used!


Your Every Color is giving away two pairs of fabric button earrings to one of our readers! You know the drill--visit her on Etsy and leave us a comment with your favorite item from her shop. Do it by Wednesday, April 29 by 11:59 pm PST for a chance to win!

Our winners for the first half of the week will be posted on Monday. Winners from the second half of the week will be posted Thursday. So don't forget to check back and see if you're one of our twelve winners!

Giveaway #11

It's our last day of giveaways--can you believe it? This has been such a fun week for us. We're already looking forward to May's giveaway week!

This giveaway features a totally awesome photographer in the Seattle/Puyallup, WA area. Heather Mann Photography is fresh, colorful, and playful. Heather is pretty awesome herself--she even lists a few reasons why on her "my story" page. We love that she can touch her tongue to her nose. She would be so fun to work with! She has a fun blog, too. Check out some of her amazing work.

We love her "hot mama" sessions. This would be such a Mother's Day gift to yourself (drop a hint to your DH)!

Heather says, "As mom's we are always on the go, cooking dinners, cleaning baby's bums, cleaning houses, and just being busy! And sometimes we forget just how beautiful we are. So here's the deal, every mom wants to feel and look beautiful...and a photo shoot with a professional makeup artist is the perfect way!

sessions start at $150 and include:
• professional makeup artist to help your look your absolute best
• photographer's time and talent
• high resolution CD of ALL images
• password protected online album
• 1 8x10 print

Doesn't that sound awesome?

Well now that you love Heather as much as we do, here is her great giveaway. This is available to anyone in the Puyallup/Seattle, WA area, or anyone willing to travel here!

100% FREE photo session giveaway includes: