I Got Crafty Again...Disney Character Name Letters :)

I made these "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse character letters" for my boyfriend's nephews 1st birthday. He is a big "fan" of the television show so I thought it would be a great addition to his cake table. These are the standard characters but if you have a longer name, you could always switch it up. There are also many variations of each character letter, these were just the ones I liked the best from all of the research I did.

First things first, you will need to gather some of the things you will be using for this craft:

• hot glue gun
• variety pack of paint brushes that include all sizes and foam brushes as well
• pencil
• scissors
• acrylic paint--the ones I got were $0.69 cents each and worked wonderfully
• ruler
• 8" paper mache letters --only craft store that had these by me was "Joanns"
• various colors of card-stock--choose the colors you will need based on the character styles you are choosing. They will be used to cut out the ears, bows, bones and hats.

Start out by drawing lines with your pencil on the letters to separate where the different colors of paint should go, think of this as a guide. I used a ruler to give me clean lines. Once this preparation is done, its on to the fun stuff, the painting!

Before painting, I suggest throwing down a plastic table cloth that can be thrown out or some newspaper to avoid mess. Grab your cup of water to clean each brush, paper towel and foam/plastic/etc. disposable plate for mixing and prepping colors. Each color shown aside from the red and black had to be custom mixed--it is so easy so don't worry :)

I find that the foam brushes worked best for covering large areas. I used the smaller brushes for crevices and detail work.

After your letters are painted (this took me a few days as I let them dry on one side first etc.), now begin decorating them. For this I went online and found outlines of a Minnie Mouse bow, a Donald Duck hat and being that I couldn't find a goofy hat, my boyfriend free-handed it :) Print these out and use them to trace on to your card-stock.

Once they are cut out just glue them onto the completely dried painted letters with your hot glue gun to make your characters come to life :) For any details on the card-stock cutouts, ex: the letters "pluto" on the bone, I just used my very fine tipped paint brush and some black paint. Also, I couldn't find the perfect (did I mention I'm quite the perfectionist when it comes to things like this?) blue for Donald's hat so I painted over the card-stock color I did find and it worked out quite well !

When I took on this craft, I thought it would be way more overwhelming than it actually was, painting and crafts for me in general are rather therapeutic. This could be why I enjoy paint by numbers so much :)

Here is how it turned out on the table. From this angle it looks blocked a little but it looked quite swell--send praises my boyfriend's sisters way, she pulled off a pretty awesome Mickey table ;)

To the Disney in all of us,

xox

DIY: How To Make A Diaper Cake

If you read my last post on making a "hospital survival kit" then you know that there is some sort of baby fever lingering in my life somewhere! My boyfriends sister is having a baby boy! (Actually at this very moment she may indeed be in labor!) When I was asked to help plan and execute different things for her shower it was as if a light bulb went off in my head---DING! I get to make all kinds of crafty things and get those "creative juices" flowing!! YAY!

A diaper cake is simply a cake looking structure made entirely of diapers and some other little decorations, it is SO easy to make, trust me! A diaper cake isn't a necessity, but is a nice table top piece for the guest sign in table or the gift table or even the table where the escort cards are sitting, YES this shower had escort cards haha The theme of this particular shower was sports so I took that idea and went with it!

I am going to link to the video that I used to guide me through making this little guy.  I didn't follow the video to a T, but watched it a few times beforehand and got a general idea of what I was supposed to do.  I even used things that we had leftover from the centerpieces we made to tie in the theme and save some $! :)

Here's what I did:

You will need anything you want to use to decorate the cake:

1. Ribbons are usually a simple yet super awesome thing to use to decorate a diaper cake.
2. Diapers in newborn or size 1 work best. I needed about 63
3. Scissors
4. Tons of Rubber Bands of all different sizes
5. Inner tubing from a paper towel roll
6. Hot Glue Gun
7. Optional Cake Base which you can easily find at your local craft store!  

Heat up the glue gun and roll each diaper tightly into a little "log" haha Secure them together with a rubber band.

 

Your rows are going to go 6,12,18 diaper logs for the base layer, second layer will be just 6,12 and final tier will just be 6 :) remember secure everything together with a rubber band like shown in the photo above. At times I could have sworn that the rubber band was going to snap on me but it held up perfectly! :)

In the final product shown at the very top, I used shredded green paper as "grass" in between the layers to conceal the layer seams :) I also used some rubber sports balls as a header and glued those bad boys on with the glue gun. Hymm, what else, oh I actually glued down the diaper cake in its entirety to the cake base that I bought because these particular diapers I used were not going to be used on baby. The photo above reflects the cake base before I trimmed off about 1.5 inches all the way around so that it was more proportionate :) 

To fill anything in that I may have missed because I know I probably missed something, here is the video that I was inspired by when making this piece :) It was the most understandable that I found! 

Good Luck and anymore questions just hit the "Contact Me" tab above and shoot me an email and I will respond as soon as I can!

Sure, I know I could always have just bought a diaper cake, but for me, making things makes them more from the heart <3

Diaper Cakes INSTEAD of Dirty Diapers haha,

xox

DIY: Hospital Survival Kit

If you happen to know anyone that is expecting a baby, family or friend, or maybe you yourself are and just want to treat yourself to something cute that will definitely help you through your labor and delivery, this is the DIY for you! You do not need to be crafty at all for this DIY, as a matter of fact, its just a matter of throwing everything into a bag! You do, however, need to throw your thinking cap on as far as what to put into the bag.  I did my research on an actual 4 time new mother and these are the things that coincided with my online research, hope this helps you make one expectant mama super happy! Let's get started :)

What you will need (these things are optional based upon what YOU want to include): 

• Elastic Headbands-Pushing with hair in your face, def a no-no! This also allows mama to whip that "labor and delivery" hair into shape for the pics that we know everyone is going to be snapping of baby and her in no time ;)
• Shower Shoes-Keep those feet protected from the possible germs that can be lingering around on that hospital shower floor!
• Roll of extra soft toilet paper- After giving birth, I'm assuming one would appreciate something that isn't the hospital sandpaper toilet paper :)
• Tissues-The birth of a child always evokes a lot of emotion
• Nail File-In case of a rough nail, don't want any roughness that could possibly harm baby.
• Lip Balm- So I've heard that your lips tend to get SUPER dry during the long hours of "no water allowed" during labor. 
• Gum- In case you have an unexpected visitor haha
• Moist Facial Cleansing Towelettes- A quick way to freshen up so Mom can always look her best
• Pretty Hospital Gown- This is optional, but always a nice treat. Who wants to wear a gown that someone else wore for one of the biggest days of your life anyway right?!  I got this beautiful pink one from Diapers.com 
• Hand Sanitizer- Try and get a fragrance free one, I got the Dial brand, fragrance may irritate mom or baby.
• I inserted a "post-baby birth" card in the bag too. I instructed this mother to be (my boyfriends sister!) and her husband to open it after things settle down after baby is born. Inside you can write your congratulations etc. and also anything else you may wish to add :) (In case she is reading this, I can't tell you the fun things I wrote in her card! haha) 

I bought a plain white bag from my local craft store or even Target sells these, and I decorated it myself with some markers to add a personalized touch. Inside I also got some cute stationary and wrote a list of everything that she could find in the bag and explained why I included it.  It was very well received so it was all well worth it!

Congrats to all the Mommies to be out there and Hooray for those of you who have gotten inspired to make one of these little bags for them!

xox

DIY: A Wreath To Display Spring/Summer/Fall!

If you have been reading my blog for some time now, then you know that I also made the wreath we use around the holidays. You could say I am somewhat of a wreath lover! haha I always see those pre-made ones in my local craft stores, but that just seems like the easy way out. If you are however, on a time crunch, or maybe your creative juices are just lacking lately, getting one of those pre-made ones may just be exactly what you're looking for. Personally speaking, I like starting from scratch, this way you not only save a little money, but have tons of fun making it just as YOU want it!

I went out on a whim today and stopped by a craft store because I had gotten a 20% off your ENTIRE purchase coupon in my email. After the long cake tasting I did today for another event I am helping coordinate, I figured since this craft store was on my route home, I would stop in and see if they had the sunflowers I was looking for for this particular wreath I had mapped out in my mind. Boy did they have them, and SO much more! I could swear they had just replenished their entire stock of silk florals because let me say, they had so much variety!

I looked around for some inspiration and didn't really see anything comparable to what I was thinking that I wanted to make but I did gather some "data" and figured out that a wreath of the sort that I made could cost you up in the price range of  $55-70! Keep reading below if you would like to see the one that I made for under $35! :)

Here is what you would need if you are thinking about making one of these bad boys:

• Silk flowers of your liking and some greenery to go in the gaps
• A grape vine wooden branch wreath like the one in the top side picture above
• Some wire cutters and scissors
• A few yards of gardening wire (green) --This is in case you need to secure any stubborn flowers down.  As you may be able to see above, the bottom sunflower was being VERY stubborn and would not bend properly, so I used this gardening wire to secure it the best I could)
• A device that will allow you to hang your wreath on the door. 

It was hard for just me to take photos of myself doing the actual assembly of this wreath, but in a nut shell you just separate any bunches of flowers into single flowers leaving some stem so that you can easily intertwine them in the branches of the wreath.  You then just maneuver each individual flower in between and underneath the branches of the wreath and secure them with some garden wire if need be.

This wreath was SO simple to make. The worse part was the soreness I now have on my fingertips from tightly working with each branch. This wreath will last me way into the Fall season. I love the colors I chose because they are really suitable to Summer and Fall :)  Let me know if you make your own wreath!

Sore Fingertips,

xox

Spicing Up Your Humble Abode For Fall!

Let me first state that I am no professional home decorator, I just know what I like when I see it, and those are the tips I am going to be sharing with you today :) Decorating your home doesn't have to be a huge task as many think. I think it is the word in itself that can be intimidating to those on a time constraint or those who just don't have confidence in the creative person inside of them, but fear not, making your home look "spiffy" is not rocket science, I promise!

Lets jump right in as I have so many pretty awesome things I want to show you guys.

1. Fall Floral Centerpieces--Displaying floral arrangements in areas where a lot of people gather (ex kitchen, living room, front foyer) can be an excellent way to add some pizazz to your home! You can use either silk flowers or fresh ones depending on the type of maintenance you are able to do. The good thing about the fresh flowers is that you get to enjoy the scent, but I think for lasting power it may be smarter to use the silks! A few examples of some flowers that can be included in your fall arrangement would be sunflowers, chrysanthemums, gerberas, roses, lilies etc.  Fall colors include shades of red/burgundy, oranges, yellows, greens, almost any color that can be found on the changing colors of the leaves on the trees :) 


** Choose a rustic looking vase for an optimal look, and don't be shy to add a plaid bow with some plaid ribbon that can be found at your local craft store, this really ties everything together. You will see that ribbons are something I mention a lot in this post because I really think its such a simple way to spruce things up! 

 2. Outdoor Decoration Florals: --Mums are a very popular Autumn floral that can be found outside many homes as decorative pieces.  They really add curb appeal if you ask me :) I love the vibrant colors they come in, and honest to goodness, they last forever! haha Something I like to do with these is change out the pot they come in (mine come in a cheap plastic pot with some cellophane wrapped around it), and place them in ceramic clay pots, pretty inexpensive but makes all the difference! Next I love buying many different patterns of ribbon from my local craft store, plaids, reds etc., and tying a bow around the pot with these.  It adds something so homey feeling to them and makes them look even more "handmade".  

*If you are really feeling nifty, you can also buy some pumpkin garland (pretty much garland but with mini pumpkins and leaves etc) and use this to decorate your pots as well, use your imagination and go crazy! 

Pumpkin Garland

3. Decorative Votives: --I don't know about my readers, but there is nothing I love more than feeling warm and cozy during those brisk Autumn nights.  What better than creating your own Fall votives?! This is something I am definitely going to be trying out this year. It's so simple and requires only what you want, oh and a candle of course :) 

*Some common things to include when making a decorative fall candle would be gourds, decorative apples/pumpkins, decorative leaves, Indian corn etc. What you want to do is place your candle on a dish a few inches larger than the diameter of the actual candle, preferable something appealing to the eyes :) Next overlay some of your decorative pieces around the candle on the dish. So Simple I tell you, yet looks so beautiful when you take your time with it.

4. Glitter Pumpkins! --Ok, I had you at glitter right?! haha Anything with glitter seems fun to me, and no this does not have to get super messy if you follow directions carefully, it's actually astonishingly simple but by far my favorite craft for the Fall ! No, I didn't come up with this idea myself, I have to give credit where it is due, and I shall. I actually came across this in a video on YouTube and thought oh my goodness, I HAVE to do this! She makes it look so fun! Below I am going to link the video so that once you gather the three things you need, you can watch and create :)

* If you choose to do this on real pumpkins, they should last a few weeks as we know the pumpkins will eventually go bad. However, if you choose to do this on decorative fake pumpkins, they can last very very long! You can do the entire pumpkin, like shown in the video below, or you can even just do the parts you would normally carve out to make funny faces in glitter for kid approved ones! :) 

5. Fall Flare Wreath--Wreaths are perhaps one of the staple items that stay around for 75% of the year throughout many of the holidays.  They are something that, with a change in colors and theme, can always decorate your door for something splendid.  In the Spring, we do a wreath made of Lavender and boy is it gorgeous, in the Fall, we do wicker handmade wreaths and in the Winter, we do the Balsam wreaths in typical Winter Fashion.  

 

Well that's it for this edition of my Fall rambles haha I really truly hope this blog post made some of you want to go out there and get your "creative on"! lol I love being inspired to make my home look nice during different seasons/holidays, so I thought I would pay it forward to you all. I am not the most crafty person so all of these things are for beginners trust me! Just think of how amazing your home will look, I bet you will have people asking you who you hired to do it ;)

Gourds, Indian Corn, Pumpkins and Glitter Galore! ,

xox