Sweethearts

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and what a great reason to pick up some extra candy! And what would Valentine's Day be without that most recognizable of Valentine's Day staples; Sweethearts. Today I stumbled upon a bag of Sweethearts with a unique twist; "Dazzle Sweethearts." Each heart has a very fine mica glitter sheen to them. So FUN!

In case you were wondering who makes these popular Valentine's treats, here's a bit of history:

The candy heart has been in existence since the mid 1800s when the brother of the New England Confectionary Company's (or more commonly known as NECCO) founder, Olive Chase, devised a method for printing cute sayings onto the surfaces of the candy. Originally, these printed candies were used as novelty items at parties and weddings and weren't specifically designed with Valentine's Day in mind. In the early 1900s candy heart history was forever changed when the Sweetheart candy heart made its debut, capturing the minds (and hearts) of candy lovers everywhere.

As you might imagine, candy heart messages have changed considerably over the past 150 years, although some of the original sayings are still being used today. These include the classics such as "Be Mine" and "True Love." Today, in 2011, you can find some fabulous sayings like these:


Here are some fun ways to use Sweethearts for your Valentine!

Grab a glue gun and a picture frame and jazz it up with candy!

Embellish a handmade Valentine!


Or even make a hair clip!

We'll be posting some more fun and creative Valentine's Day ideas this week.

Dress To Impress

Check out the progress of our Dress To Impress class. In the 8 week long session the girls are learning hand sewing, how to install snaps, how a sewing machine works and basic machine sewing skills. They will use their newly acquired skills to sew a super cute elastic waisted dress. Its only week 2 but we've already covered so much! The girls finished a hand sewn all over flower clip that can be worn on clothing or in their hair. This week they started making a pin cushion bracelet! Too fab.

Its storming like crazy here! Makes me wanna stay up all night and make stuff...

xoxo Ellie

Loft Love: Part Deux

So here's a few more pictures of the progress! Its getting there. Our first party in the space is this Saturday. We're in the home stretch!












Oh and did I mention you can register for our Fall 2010 Classes?

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE CALENDAR!

Peace, Love & Glitter,

Ellie

Pretty Little Pens

I always loved back to school time because it meant one thing- school supply shopping with mom! This past weekend at the CHA Super Show we met a lovely little lady named Margaret. She owns a company called Sparkle N Sprinkle. She sells glitter = we loved her. She had these pens laying all over the place and they are SO easy to make. We bought Tear-ific Tape from Margaret and I think it made the project way easier. Its super sticky and easy to work with.












Tips:
- Don't wrap your pen in double stick tape! Lay it in strips going from top to bottom around the pen.
-Use extra fine glitter.
-Hot glue the stone on the top.

Have a good night!

Smooches & Hugz,

Ellie

Loft Love: A Sneak Peek

Here are few pictures of the loft and its progress. Jodie, myself and couple of our extremely generous, patient and giving friends are literally designing and creating every part of this space. We are stripping old furniture and rehabbing it, painting the walls, drilling, sawing, rewiring and repurposing EVERYTHING. Everything you see here was formerly a piece of junk. This is the DIY headquarters. Here's a little taste of the overall look and feel. We have an interview and photoshoot with Daily Candy on Tuesday so we are pedal to the metal all weekend long to get this place in grand opening shape (almost)!

REMINDERS:
1. AUGUST 14th- We officially open for parties!
2. AUGUST 16th- We will be the feature article in Daily Candy Chicago!
3. AUGUST 17th- WGN Chicago will be filming live in the loft for their "Around The Town" segment of the morning news. Tune in from 7am-8am!
4. SEPTEMBER 7- Fall 2010 After School Programming and Daytime Mom & Me classes begin. CALL 773.698.8071 to register or ask questions.

Thats it, thats all! Ellie

CHA Super Show

Happy Saturday to all of you! Jodie made me go to Home Depot at 6 am (like we were there at 6 in the morning) so I was a little cranky this morning. But then we went to the Craft and Hobby Association Super Show and that put the glossy smily right back where it belongs. It was awesome. I would have to say the highlight for me was meeting a few crafting high rollers. These people eat glitter, sleep in uncut bolts of fabric and have more swarovski studded clothing than Ed Hardy. My kind of peeps. Our two faves were THE CRAFTY CHICA and Sarah Moore from CRAFTCRITIQUE.COM. Oh, there was also a man with Hello Kitty underpants. He was pretty killer as well. Check out the pics!

Immediately following this post I'm going to post some pictures of the loft and the decorating/design process...since thats all you people keep asking about!

Peace, Love & Glitter,

Ellie

Rain or Shine: Summer Camp at Little Threads

So I'm a bit late in my post. I was in Northern Michigan chillin with the fam over the weekend. It was nice to get away and relax with my family and Matt (my fiance!).

Okay so lets get to it. Here are the pics of your vibrant little women crafting away in the sunshine last week.











Dont forget we're making towel wraps tomorrow from 11am-12pm at Little Threads.

EXCITING NEWS ALERT!!!!!!

1. Our after school program calendar will be available TOMORROW! We will be offering a series of classes for girls K-7th grade. Don't worry moms, we have a handful of daytime "Mom and Me" classes for your 0-3 year olds that will rock your socks off too!
2. I'm going to post a little sneak peak at what we've been up to in the Loft tomorrow.
3. BOOK YOUR PARTIES FOR FALL NOW (If I could capitalize my capital letters i would)! Word is out that we're opening the Loft and its booking up fast.

Thats all chica's!

Ellie