Mystery Giveaway WINNER!

Wow you gals sure love a good mystery!

Biggest turnout YET for a giveaway. 

Thank you :)

The winner of the MYSTERY GIVEAWAY drawn by the giveaway sponsor and according to www.random.org is:

#71: Meghann

Congratulations Meghann! 

I will be contacting you with the info of your winnings.

Didn't win but far too curious? 

here's a HINT!

Guest Blogger: Beauty From Ashes

Hey friends!!

You just HAVE to meet my friend Steph, we met a few years ago through mutual friends and she's just great girl and has this fantastic new blog Beauty From Ashes. 

So, today she's going to guest blog at The Birds Papaya. 

My very FIRST guest blogger!

Enjoy :)

-Sarah

Hello Bird's Papaya lovers, I am Stephanie from "Beauty From Ashes".

When Sarah asked me to be a guest-blogger I was over the moon.

I often look to TBP for inspiration and Sarah is such a sweetheart, right?

Anyways, just a bit about me and then enjoy the tutorial...

I started "Beauty From Ashes" in October of last year (under my husbands encouragement and prompting) as a way to get myself out of an identity crisis.  

No matter what has happened through the years my passion and love for crafting has remained in tact.  I spend HOURS stowed away in my crafting room or searching for projects on the internet.  I find inspiration in broken down, tossed aside, bits and pieces and do my best to turn them into something beautiful.  

Hope you enjoy the tutorial!  Come visit me at Beauty From Ashes.

Tutorial: Felted Case For Your Readers Or Sunglasses

Now, I know it’s not summertime but on a sunny winter day the glare from the snow is so bright! In my effort to minimize “crows feet” (what a gross word) I try to wear my glasses when driving the car or walking the dog.

So, I came across this cute project – a felted case for you glasses. I actually think that this project was made for reading glasses but if you don’t have bulky sunglasses they will fit just fine.

Now, I just happen to have a pile of felt pieces stowed away in my room and a box full of buttons from old clothes – lucky me!

Here’s the final product. Cute right?

Here is what you will need to complete the project…

Felt (one 9” x 10” piece in 1 color, and some various colored scraps)

Embroidery thread in various colors

Tapestry needle

Straight pins

Craft or fabric glue

Ruler or measuring tape (and pen or chalk)

Button

Scissors

And here’s the tutorial…

1. Cut an 8” x 11” piece of felt (this will be your “main” color)

2. Mark and cut your felt as follows

3. Using your scrap felt, cut out your leaves or flowers or whatever applique design you like (making sure it will fit on the font panel) and temporarily glue the pieces together

4. Turn the project over so you are looking at the “right” side of the felt (the RIGHT side panel will be the design side).

5. Using the embroidery thread sew on your applique to the front panel in the design of your choosing *make sure you are tying all your knots on the “wrong side" of felt

6. If you like, with a different color thread, using a double back stitch sew a stem like mine to connect your leaves and/or flowers

7. Sew on button to the front panel

8. Turn project over so you are looking at “wrong” side of project - fold panels in (right panel over the front, left panel over that) leave flap up

9. Using straight pin, pin left and right sides in place, for the meantime

10. Blanket stitch the bottom of the case (through all 3 layers) with embroidery floss

. 11. Sew around the rest of the case using a running stitch starting at the bottom RIGHT of the case, up the right side, LEFT over the opening, up the left side of the flap, across the top and down the right side (knot on the inside).

12. Fold the flap down and cut your buttonhole in line with the button and stitch around the buttonhole if it’s your preference.

And you’re done!

You could use this for a number of things other than glasses – like lip-gloss or anything else floating in the bottom of your purse!

All the best trying it out – let me know how yours turns out!

Valentines Garland

My sweet sweet 4 year old, Maya just LOVES holidays. 

Valentines is a special one for her because she loves to sit down and make cards for people. She calls all cards 'Valentines' and puts hearts on everything. 

This is HER holiday.

So it was no surprise that recently she began insisting on, and I quote:

"a string of hearts from here to there over the fireplace"

Who am I to tell her no?!

So we made one!

There's really no tutorial or how-to with this. We simply bought some felt heart stickers from the Dollar store and attached them on both sides of a string of jute twine.

So cute, right?

Maya was also SUPER proud of her "pattern" that she made.

Can't wait until it's actually Valentines and she can hand out her TANGLED Valentines cards & tattoos to all her friendsies at school! 

eeeek!! 

Also, there's a MYSTERY GIVEAWAY going on this week, ends Sunday so go enter!

check out my Link Parties tab to see where I'll be partying it up this week!

If only you could smell my house through the computer...

...then you would be invited in by the smell of Cinnamon-Vanilla. 

You may think I'm baking, but no...my lazy butt is just chilling out by the fire while my kids are napping.

This is bliss.

Why?

Because this is my very first week with my Scentsy warmer.

I'll back up a bit and tell you how I first heard about Scentsy. 

In blogland, I've been reading about for months, but I never took the plunge. 

I guess out of fear of being disappointed. 

Then I read this review from Little Miss Momma. 

She is always SO honest & transparent. I knew this wasn't just another plug for a product.  

I then got connected with LMM's Scentsy Consultant Cyndi.

Last week, Cyndi sent me my very first Scentsy warmers & bars!

I pretty much ripped into the box when it arrived with a steak knife to get my hands on it!

 My poor daughter was still in her snowsuit abandoned at the front door as I was being a little ridiculously excited. 

I opened my warmer, put in a little "Welcome Home" scent and so it began.

What began, you ask?

My OBSESSION!

That's right, I'm obsessed. 

I'm a Scentsy lifer.
I just don't think there's any going back!

I've always been a fan of house scents & candles. 

Here's my repeated problems with them in the past:

Plug ins-don't last, often smell cheap, expensive for the good smelling ones, stay plugged in so you don't get to pick & choose when you'd like to experience it.

Candles-often smell very synthetic, the good ones are usually about $15-20 for a jar candle. Not safe with kids, can only use them up HIGH (above my preferred nose smelling level) or when the kids are in bed. 

Why I like Scentsy:

• The warmers are beyond nice. They're an addition to my decor. 
• Plus, it's a LIGHT! I love that part. 
• It never gets too hot, so my kids won't hurt themselves (even the wax doesn't get burning hot). 
• The wax doesn't burn away, so you can use it over & over again until the scent is gone (typically at least 50-80 hours per bar). 
• You can choose when you have it on (like before a guest or a nice evening at home). I turn mine on for a few hours and then enjoy the lingering smells for the rest the day. IT ROCKS. 
• once you've purchased the warmer, the refills are mighty inexpensive for how much you get outta them!
• Last but not least, out of the 80 testers, I would personally use about 50 of them in my home. That's huge. Each one can remind you of different things. Isn't that amazing how we're wired that a scent can take us back 10 years in a sniff? so cool. One of God's little gifts to us.

Some of my fave scents:

• Radience (so refreshing!)
• Home Sweet Home (perfectly described, sweet & warm)
• My Dear Watson (From the Scentsy Man collection, reminded ME of CKone)
• Reggae Sunset (so familiar, kinda like Body Shop's Satsuma)
• Beach (can't tell you how amazing it is)
• Blueberry Cheesecake (pass the fork!!!)
• Satin Sheets (smells like fresh laundry, without the work)
• Black Raspberry Vanilla (bang on to my fave B&BW handsoap scent!)
• Cozy Fireside (ummm...how did they get it to actually smell like that?! insane)
• Paradise Punch (or as Maya would say "smells like sugar strawberries!")
• Flirtatious 
• Coconut Lemongrass (it doesn't get anymore refreshing & summery)

I could go on...

Lets get to the photos of the loveliness...

Fresh outta the package, I was surprised at it's size. 

Larger than I had expected, and mine is Mid-Sized Warmer in SOAPSTONE. 

{Gorgeous}

In it's official "home" all on & glowing with two cubes of "Welcome Home" 

to show you the light effect.

love love love.

 Here's my bars!! Sweet Pea & Vanilla, Cinnamon Vanilla, Welcome Home & My Wish

A look at the 8 break-away pieces in a bar. You can use 1-3 at a time. 

I've been using the same 2 cubes in mine all week!

Melting away, smelling amazing.

After it was all melted, I tested how easy it was to clean out and change up the scents! 

I simply poured the warm wax back into it's container to harden up again and gave the warmer dish a quick wipe with a paper towel. No big clean up. Took my like 5 seconds.

If you're not changing the scent, you can be like me and let the wax harden in the dish and turn it on when you're ready to use it again.

But here it is clean:

 Melted wax back in it's package:

So, if you're considering trying this stuff out and want some more info go and check out www.wantwickless.com!

If you decide to buy, PLEASE buy from my Scentsy Party going on RIGHT NOW until Monday.

(Canadians & Americans are welcome) 

Click the "buy" tab and then join "Sarah's Blog Party" and shop away.

Wanna ask me a question? 

email me at thebirdspapaya@gmail.com or leave a comment below!

Also, I've got a mystery giveaway going on this week. 

ENTER HERE.

Let this review serve as a HINT to what it's for!! 

(hee hee hee)

Also, have to mention some of the deals going on over at Scentsy right now for the month of January 

(so hurry up if you want in!)

• 10% off Warmer of the Month (Margot)
• 10% off Scent of the Month (My Wish)
• 10% off Hugs & Kisses warmer
• Bring Back My Bar (for the month of January only Scentsy brought back 20 discontinued scents)

Mystery Giveaway!

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED! 
Thanks to all who entered :)

source

You may have already seen & entered a giveaway that I've got going on this week.

If you've already entered, you're in the loop and know what this giveaway is all about...no worries, your submissions have already been entered.

For those that have absolutely NO idea what I'm talking about,

THIS IS A MYSTERY GIVEAWAY.

It's a fantastic one, and smells delish too :)

oooh, was that a hint?

yes...yes it was...

All you need to do to enter is email wantwickless@gmail.com and you'll be automatically entered!

Then you'll be emailed back with TEN EXTRA WAYS to enter!!

That's ELEVEN entries total!!

So go email wantwickless@gmail.com right now and enter enter enter!!
GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED!
Thanks to all who entered.

The Scrabble Tile Pillow

In December, my friend who you've read about HERE had a birthday!

This year she got a new place and I knew I wanted to do something fun, personal and a little funny to go in her new space. 

I knew months ago what this would be. 

I found the idea from the wonderful Krystal at Sassy Sanctuary.

(you should know her if you don't, she also designed this blog)

So of course I had to do a double sided pillow, because one side I just had to do Diet Coke. Now that she's kicking the habit, I wanted her to have a second option on the flip side of the pillow. 

So I started thinking about what other things she loves. 

I considered Robert Pattinson's face 

source
but knew I wasn't nearly talented enough to stencil it. 

Then I thought about her love for games. 

So, then was born the Scrabble Tile pillow!! 

It's actually pretty perfect, as her nickname is "Deedee" 

(DD...and the value of a D scrabble tile is a 2! kinda like D squared, but not really...you get me right?!)

If you're wondering HOW I did it... 

It's freezer paper stenciling!

Never heard of it?

It's actually surprisingly simple...just a little time consuming.

Here's the steps:

Step 1: Buy Fabric 

(I used canvas. I yard yields approx 3 pillows)

Step Two: Cut out your fabric pillow shape 

(square, lumbar, circle perhaps?)

Step Three: Print out the image you want from your computer.

Step Four: Trace out the design onto the matte side of the freezer paper.

Step Five: Cut out the stencil using an exacto knife. 

(Remember to keep any insides of "o's" or "e's" etc...)

Step Six: Iron the freezer paper stencil onto your fabric, silicon coated side down.

Step Seven: Paint in the stencil using fabric paint

Step Eight: Sew up & stuff your pillow as you please :)

Here's some pics of the stenciling:

Loved this project so much, I actually made more. 

I'll post them soon to show you what I did!

Make sure you check out my Link Parties tab to see which parties I'll be participating in!