I live in the charming town of Mahtomedi which is a suburb of St. Paul, in Minnesota.

This is the Mahtomedi "Badge" which I have used to honor my town and for the sake of "school spirit"!

I painted these badges on an ornament-shaped piece of wood.  I have not done this kind of thing before, but school spirit is a pretty wonderful thing and is good all-year round!

These pieces are hand painted and varnished with a glossy finish and I attached baker's twine to each ornament.

Yes, I know this is not a Christmas ornament and is a pin but I thought it was close enough! I guess you could even hang it on a Christmas tree?  They are really cute, are made of wood with pin back and are hand painted by me. 

These would be great for the cat lover you know, for teacher's gifts, Halloween and so much more.

The pin measures 2" x 2" and would be shipped either in an envelope (padded hopefully) protecting the pin.  I will take just the same amount of care shipping my ornaments as I would any of the products I sell.

Thank you for shopping with us and hope you come back and see us anytime you have the time!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

This is an E-PATTERN and not a finished product.  This painting pattern is sent to you by way of your computer and you then can download it and print it out if you so choose.  Autumn/Halloween/Thanksgiving will be here before you know it.  All three designs are included in the pattern...a little something for everybody!  These were  fun to design and paint and I hope you have fun painting them as well!  I left the pockets empty - fill them with whatever your heart desires!  The E-pattern comes with full written instructions, supply and paint list, digital photographs and a line drawing.  

Please be sure to download the pattern soon after receiving it as there is a time restriction.

If you would prefer a paper pattern, please email me for more information (thesunflowercupboard@gmail.com).

We are already seeing Christmas ads and that has me exited - excited to be making great quality handmade soap just for you!

These bars are made with top quality ingredients using handmade soap dough to create the embedded leaves and blueberries.   The blue swirl was fun to do and goes through the soap loaf!

The ingredients used were olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter, sodium hydroxide and distilled water.  The mica colorants are blue and green and the soap dough has the same ingredients as the basic soap recipe. The soap was scented with Moon Child fragrance oil which has become one of my new favorites!  Of course, each soap is made with LOTS OF LOVE!

Average weight of each soap bar is 4.5 ounces.

Shipping charges are on a per soap basis.

I wanted to design a piece that covered all four season in one pattern.  I had a round paper mache box in my "stash" and used that as the surface.  This pattern could also be painted on any flat surface, limited by your own imagination!  It was a fun piece to design and paint and hopefully for you to paint as well.  

This pattern was published in Pixelated Palette in May of 2015.

This is an E-Pattern and not a finished product and will instantly be uploaded to your computer upon completion of the sale.  Written instructions, supply list, line drawing and photographs are included.

Please be sure to download the pattern within 24 hours of receipt as this is time sensitive.

Original design.  This is an e-pattern and not a finished product. Once purchase is made, this E-Pattern is available for you to upload it to your computer (almost instantaneously!).  Then you can download it at your leisure.  Included with the pattern is full written instructions, supplies list, digital photos and line drawing.

This is painted on a paper mache witch hat (6 inches).  It is a smaller hat which will fit in nicely with a smaller space or perhaps a Halloween grouping?  A fun piece to design and paint and hopefully a wonderful piece for you to paint.  Have fun and happy painting!  

Please be sure to download the pattern within 24 hours of receipt as this is time sensitive.

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This is an E-Pattern and not a finished item. Upon completion of the sale, the pattern will be emailed to your computer and then dowloaded by you at your leisure.  The pattern includes written instructions, supply lists, digital photos and a line drawing.

This is the "triple threat" of Halloween characters - the ghost lurking in the back, the pumpkin in the middle and all being supported by the witch's hand! I have added a jute hanger with a hand painted paper shipping tag. Let your imagination fly and think of all the fun places to hang this!

Please be sure to download the pattern within 24 hours of receipt as this is time sensitive.

If you would like a hard copy of the pattern, please email me at thesunflowercupboard@gmail.com

This is a pattern and not a finished product. It is instantly uploaded to your computer and then downloaded as you wish. The pattern includes full written instructions, supply list, digital photos and line drawing.

I must have been in a mood...a mitten for a surface, but I think it worked!

This was a fun design that will hopefully be painted and used to decorate for the upcoming Halloween Season and perhaps brought out for many years to come.

Please be sure to download the pattern within 24 hours of receipt as this is time sensitive.

This is an E-Pattern and not a finished product. Once payment is received the pattern will be electronically sent to your computer and then you download it, print it if you wish and you are ready to paint! The pattern includes full written instructions, supply list, digital photos and line drawing.

This is a whimsical piece with a grinning Jack O'Lantern and candy corn. Who does not remember this familiar refrain...Trick or Treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!

Please be sure to download the pattern within 24 hours of receipt as this is time sensitive.

HAPPY PAINTING!

This was originally a design that I painted and I have now converted it into an E-Pattern so that others may paint it to use as they see fit.  It was a fun design to create and it is one of my favorite old songs by George Gershwin.  I hope you like it as well!

This is a pattern and not a finished product.  Upon completion of the sale, the pattern will be emailed to you and then you will download it to your computer to use at your leisure!  The pattern includes full written instructions, supply list, digital photos and line drawing.

Please be sure to download the pattern within 24 hours of receipt as this is time sensitive.

This is my first attempt at doing an ocean/beach soap and I love how it turned out!  I can almost hear the roar of the waves and the pounding sound when a wave cuts and runs up the beach!  As a child my family spent 2 weeks mid summer at the Jersey Shore and those were 2 weeks of pure bliss! 

It was very important for me to show the layers of a wave with three colors - white, blue violet and an aqua turquoise.  I am just as excited by the sand layer which was made with a gold mica mixed with vanilla bean powder which I think definitely defined the grains of sand.  The top of each bar is equally spectacular with the blue colors and white defining the swirl of the sea.  

The ingredient used were olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter, distilled water, sodium hydroxide, titanium dioxide, there were 4 micas used - blue, green, white and gold sparkle as well as vanilla bean powder to help add color and dimension for the sand.  The scent I chose for this soap was very well-named - Sea Salt fragrance oil.  The best ingredient is always included in each bar of soap I create - LOTS OF LOVE!

Average weight of each soap bar is 4 ounces.

Shipping charges are per soap bar.

This pattern was designed for an old sifter I repurposed.  I pictured an old New England road side pumpkin stand, filled to the brim with pumpkins!  I had fun designing and painting this.  The design can be used on many surfaces, you are only limited by your imagination!

This pattern was published in Painting E-zine in September 2015.

This is a pattern and not a finished product. This pattern is an instant download pattern and will sent to you upon completion of the sale for you to download at your leisure.  The pattern includes full written instructions, supply and paint list, digital photographs, and a line drawing.  

Please be sure to download the pattern within 24 hours of receipt as this is time sensitive.

This is an original design that I painted for a metal coffee pot that I found in a "junk shop".  I love to repurpose things, to give them new life and when I saw this pot I already had the design imprinted on my brain.  There are quite a few interesting details to this pattern from the leaf wings, the check border on top, the flowing golden orange hair and stars in the sky.  This is further embellished by a torn fabric covering the handle and the raffia bow.  I enjoyed designing and painting this and hopefully you will enjoy it also!  Happy Painting! 

This pattern was published in the Pixelated Palette in August 2015.

Even witches need to test drive their brooms. That was my thought when I designed this piece. This was a very bright piece to design - lots of greens, oranges, bright blues and purples. The piece was initially based with Burnt Orange and then I dry brushed areas of green, purple, rusty colors and bright blue. There is lots of very fine line work. The witches themselves are dressed in bright colors as well and have all kinds of different hairstyles too!. I would happily place this on my front door all alone or in the center of a wreath. Great gift for a Halloween-loving special person we all know. Happy Haunting and wishes for a "smooth ride"!

This pattern was published in Pixelated Palette in September 2015.

This is an e-pattern and not a finished product.  Upon completion of the sale, you will receive notice that the pattern is ready to be downloaded to your computer at a time that is best for you.  The pattern includes full written instructions, supply list, digital photos and line drawing.

Please be sure to download the pattern within 24 hours of receipt as this is time sensitive.

If you have any questions whatsoever, please do not hesitate to contact me at:thesunflowercupboard@gmail.com

Happy Painting!

I have been reading a lot about soap makers using a combination of lavender and eucalyptus essential oils to scent cold process soap.  Well, I actually had both oils (and never would have thought about combining them) and poured a drop of each on a cotton ball and sniffed it all day and guess what....it is a very strong scent and very crisp and clean...just what I was looking for!  I chose a swirl using off white, lavender color and a teal color and then dusted the top with a biodegradable glitter on the top.

The ingredients used were olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter, sodium hydroxide, and distilled water.  As mentioned above, i scented the soap with a mix of lavender essential oil and eucalyptus essential oil. The mica colorants were lavender, off white and teal and then added a purple biodegradable glitter on top of the soap loaf.  When the soap is set aside, under a "blanket" to "go through gel phase" in which it heats up and then saponifies and voila...in the morning it is cooled and ready to be cut!  When I cut the soap bars, I am like a kid on Christmas morning looking at all the bars - very exciting for me!

Average weight for each soap bar is 4.5 ounces.

Shipping charges are per soap bar.