Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of you, my dear A Cup of Sparkle readers. I wish you a wonderful, a better year with lots of love and happiness....

Handmade Snowman New Year Cards Tutorial

I have a fabulous tutorial for you today! This year I was ambitious enough that I handmade new years cards for the family. I decided to go with a snowman winter scene card design and used multicolor backgrounds for the base of the snowman.

This interactive snowman card rolls out into a 3 section snowman once you pull the hat upwards. Then, the family photos appear on the two sections of the snowman.. Woila!! There is also a new years note if you turn the back of the cards. It is super adorable, don't you agree?

It took some time to make these cards but, it was totally worth it! If you are thinking about making this handmade snowman cards, here is a step-by-step photo instructions. I bought all my supplies from the Joann's store close to my house. I used a circle cutting tool for the three circles. For the photo of my dog, I used a punch. I cut the family photo by hand as well as the hands of the snowman, the carrot nose and the hat.  The largest circle is attached to the base with foamy adhesives to create an extra dimension. I also used a punch for the snowflakes which I borrowed from a friend.

Hope you enjoyed today's tutorial and having a memorable, fun holiday!!!

Mother of 3 Daughters Jewelry Set

Happy Holidays! I am very excited about the upcoming holidays and the new year. I have completed and shipped all of the A Cup of Sparkle orders couple days ago and hoping that they will there on time for the Christmas time. This is one of the personalized jewelry sets I made for a customer. It is from the husband to his wife and they have three daughters. So, I personalized the mamma nests with three pink freshwater pearls. Isn't this beautiful?

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and stay tuned for an exciting new tutorial I will be sharing with you soon... Lots of love!

Simple Transformation of iPhone/iPad Chargers

Apple Charger Duck Tape Transformation

It is a beautiful Sunday in Seattle and today is the day that I have ended the iPhone and iPad charger craziness at home. My hubby will no longer be able to claim my chargers as his, or neither will I... Does that happen at your house, too? If so, there is a super easy solution to this problem. Buy a piece of duck tape (mine is from Joann's Fabric store) or a washi tape, and cover all parts of the chargers.
I picked the color hot pink for two reasons; 1- I love pink! It matches to my devices well as you can see and 2- My husband doesn't like pink so, he is less likely want to take my chargers. All the great reasons to go with pink!! Don't you agree?

Frida Kahlo Halloween Costume DIY

Frida Kahlo Outfit DIY

I had a fantastic Halloween this year and dressed up like the famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. I based my fun homemade costume on one of her self portraits with her colorful flower crown. Here is what I wore:

1- Handmade flower crown with mixed artificial flowers. I used this tutorial.

2- Lots of statement jewelry in gold, turquoise, green and red coral

3- Red lipstick

4- Red nail polish

5- Red shawl

5- A traditional Mexican embroidered top I bought during my last visit to Mexico

6- A colorful fabric belt

7- A black ruffled skirt that I sew a short yellow pom pom at hem

8- Black eyeliner for drawing the uni-brow and lots of eye make-up

9- Heavy red blush for my cheeks

10- Black suede boots

For the hair, I made two simple braids and wrapped the braids high on my head, just like Frida does. The large flower crown covered most of the braids, which got the most attention of all the costume. I picked a short skirt for a dance party but, you might consider a full length skirt in order to resemble Frida. The costume was easy, inexpensive, and so much fun to make and wear. Cheers and happy (belated) Halloween to you all!

Personalized Mother/Grandmother Necklace

I would like to share my recent personalized jewelry order with you. I created this personalized necklace as a birthday gift for a mother/grandmother with 2 kids and 3 grandchildren. Isn't it adorable? 

Per my customers request, I combined large and small size eggs in ivory and white colored freshwater pearls. The gold nest is embellished with a hummingbird charm hanging on top Since it is a birthday gift, I packaged it in a heart shaped gift box to send a little more love inside the envelope...

To inquire about or set up a custom order please email acupofsparkle@gmail.com.

Family Keychains with Hummingbirds

Labor day marks the change in seasons. Yet, I do think there are more summery days ahead of us, earlier sunsets suggest that autumn is on its way. And then, comes the winter. For some of you, it might be too far ahead but, for early planners it is never too early. I just finished making these personalized family keychains for a customer as Christmas gifts. 

These hummingbird keychains are customized with the number of children of each family member; grandchildren, sons and daughters. Pink for girls and blue for boys... I customized 5 different keychains for the family using heart shaped key rings.

I packaged all of the keychains in A Cup of Sparkle handmade green and red Christmas jewelry bags as well. It will be perfect for the season and ready to be presented. I hope that these keychains will make all the moms happy....