Craft Fair ABCs

I am now on the other side of my only craft fair event of the season, and I would say that it went well for me, even though attendance was a lot lower than the preschool hoped it would be. I thought I'd share a couple of my favorite ABC projects that are new this year.

Last year my tumbled tile coasters were a big hit at the fair so I figured I'd better make some new ones. Click here for the SCS tutorial on making these. I was working on some other designs and trying to think of what else I could do, when I thought of the Vintage Ornament stencils I'd just received. They are in the Decor Elements catalog, and they are really wonderful! This one was the best size to fit on the tiles - it actually would have fit the whole thing but I liked it better offset a bit. I used daubers and Stazon ink in black cherry and jet black, then added the sentiment from Berry Christmas.

Here's another project - Christmas countdown blocks. I just loved how this set turned out. I made some of these when I first started doing craft fairs two years ago, but I never posted them here. I did find the idea somewhere but I'm afraid the link is long gone... I don't believe a tutorial was posted with that link, though, so here is mine.

1. From your local hobby store get two plain wooden blocks (I used 2" blocks) and an appropriately sized base, and sand edges.

2. If desired, paint base and edges of blocks with acrylic paint. These look great natural too, but I wanted to paint mine white. It took two coats to cover the base, but the blocks looked okay with just one.

3. Cover each side of your blocks with a square of designer paper (my squares are 1 7/8"). I used Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses paper. If possible, it's nice to use 12 different prints so you know two of the same print won't end up next to each other. But if you don't have that many prints to choose from, putting the duplicate prints on the same block will take care of that problem.

4. Add the numbers. You need the following: 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. My numbers are embossed chipboard numbers (naked chipboard by Basic Grey, embossed with old olive craft ink and clear EP). The easiest way to emboss these is to leave them in the chipboard sheet, cover them with ink, emboss, and punch them out.

5. Adhere the numbers to the blocks. In theory these Basic Grey numbers were backed with adhesive but I used Tombow mono multi just to make sure they would stay on. VERY IMPORTANT: It matters how you arrange the numbers so you will be able to make all necessary combinations. On one block you need: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and on the other block, 0, 1, 2, 6, 7, 8. Note that you need to make sure your 6 can be turned upside down to make the 9 - for that square use a paper that can be turned any direction and a number 6 that looks OK both ways.

6. I printed the "Days till Christmas" text on the computer onto whisper white then adhered to the base with sticky strip.

For selling these sets I wrapped them in clear cellophane and tied them with a ribbon. I only had two sets and both sold in the first half hour of the fair! So I'd say these were a hit and I'll definitely be making more. I think my kids would love them too, so I'd better make a set for them to keep!

Thanks for stopping by. I know I've been quiet this week - I was actually hoping to stamp today but I woke up with a horrible headache that hasn't really gone away. Maybe tomorrow... I thought I would at least share these projects today, and hopefully I'll be back with more cards soon!