Nursery Wall Letters

For both my kids and my cousin's daughter, I handpainted letters for their nurseries. With baby cousin #2 due to arrive in a few weeks (you'll never guess what her name is going to be!), I decoupaged them and WOW! did they turn out great and they took about a tenth of the time of handpainting them!

What You Need:

• White Wooden Letters (available at craft store)
• Patterned Cardstock
• Mod Podge
• Scissors, Pencil
• Foam Brush
• Fine Grit Sandpaper

How To Make Them:

• Place letter backwards on back side of paper and trace outline.
• Cut letter shape out of paper.
• Apply thin coat of Mod Podge to wooden letter and align paper letter on top, smoothing down. Let dry.
• If there is excess paper around edges of letter, either trim with scissors or smooth edges down with a fine grit sandpaper.
• Apply at least two thin coats of Mod Podge, allowing each one to dry completely before applying the next.
• Note: if you don't want white edges, paint them with acrylic paint before applying Mod Podge. I ended up painting a coat of white paint to brighten up the edges.

Places I'm Partying:

http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/

http://craftskeepmesane.blogspot.com/

http://www.flourmewithlove.blogspot.com/

http://www.thirtyhandmadedays.com/

 

My entry to  the appliances online  crafty creations competition. You can enter too at Lil’luna!

She's Ready to POP! Baby Shower Favors

My cousin will be welcoming her second little girl into the family in just a few short weeks. I was excited to make the favors for the beautiful baby shower she had last weekend.

SHE'S READY TO POP, AGAIN! POPCORN BOX FAVORS:
I was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest for this.

What You Need:

• Popcorn Box for Template (Michaels had a package of little red & white popcorn boxes for $2.99)
• Decorative Cardstock (baby girl-themed for my purposes)
• Adhesive
• Scoring Tool
• Scissors
• Labels (I used Gartner Studios Printable Scallop Circle Labels from Michaels)

How To Make It:

• Disassemble the popcorn box and trace for template.

• Cut out template. If cardstock is two-sided, make sure your box is oriented correctly before scoring.
• Noting fold lines on original box, score lines on your new template.
• Fold and glue together flaps to form box.

• Print and affix labels, then fill with popcorn!!!
• I made a mix of popcorn and pastel pink & white m&ms. I had some leftover pink candy melts from some dipped strawberries and drizzled that over the popcorn too.

• To finish, I placed each popcorn box into a cellophane bag and tied with a pink ribbon.

Places I'm Partying:

http://todayscreativeblog.net/

http://www.lilluna.com/

www.bluecricketdesign.net
http://sewwoodsy.com/2012/02/whats-up-wednesday-link-party-12.html
http://thistlewoodfarm.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/a-journey-of-1000-steps/
www.thirtyhandmadedays.com
www.whipperberry.com

 

Elmo Birthday Party

As most 2 year olds do, my little cousin LOVES Elmo. I jumped at the chance to help with her Elmo-themed 2nd birthday party. We wanted it to be a girly Elmo party, so made sure to use lots of pink!

Favor Bags:

We just bought a pack of simple pink paper gift bags at Michaels and adhered Elmo die-cuts made using the Cricut Elmo Party cartridge.

Banner:

I used the Cricut Accent Essentials cartridge to cut flower shapes out of pink polka dot cardstock, and the Elmo Party cartridge for the Elmo shapes and the letters. To give the letters a little more dimension, I did a white layer under the red. Then strung them all together with some narrow red ribbon.



Elmo Cookies:

I am not a professional cookie decorator (clearly), but love to try my hand at making cute cutout cookies.

The recipes I used for the cookies:

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies

Sugar Cookie Icing

Note: the eyes are Wilton Candy Melts with dots of black icing

The Elmo cookie cutter was purchased from http://www.cheapcookiecutters.com/

Places I'm Partying:

http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/

www.lilluna.com

Mini Muffin Gift Box

I love to bake and often will give away my baked goods to friends and neighbors. An empty saran wrap or foil box is the PERFECT size for a nice row of mini muffins!

What You Need:

• Empty box from foil, parchment paper, or saran wrap
• Wrapping paper
• Ribbon or string
• Button, needle & thread
• Tape/glue
• Paper napkins

How To Make It:

• Cut wrapping paper to approximate size for wrapping the box, making sure to leave extra for going inside the box and top flap.
• Lightly coat outside of box with glue (non-toxic Elmers glue would be a good idea since it will be near food) and adhere paper.
• Use tape to finish wrapping the box, making sure the paper goes onto the inside of the flap. Also may want to put a strip of tape over the metal cutting edge so no fingers get cut.
• Glue down one end of ribbon or string to center of top.
• Sew a button onto the center of the top over the string.
• Line box with paper napkins and add muffins!

For you other bakers out there, my all-time favorite mini-muffin recipe: Donut Muffins.

Places I'm Partying:

 

http://www.lilluna.com/
www.bluecricketdesign.net

Christmas Magnet Board

I got asked to help make crafts for my son's school. I was so excited to help! A few girlfriends and I got together to make magnet boards for the school. Friends and crafts together always make a great time!!! I love how they came out!

What You Need:

• Mod Podge
• Tin Sign (Got mine at the Dollar Store)
• Foam Brush
• Scrapbook Paper
• Glass Beads
• Clear, Flat-Backed Glass Marbles
• Magnets

How To Make It:

• Cut Scrapbook paper about 1/2 inch larger than tin so you could wrap around tin.
• Once paper is cut, brush mod podge on tin.

• Center paper on to tin and press down. Then smooth paper to make sure you seal bubbles. 

• Once dry, turn it over and mod podge excess paper onto the back of the tin. Do 2 opposite sides first. Once that is dry, do the other 2 sides.

• Follow these instructions to make the Scrapbook Magnets with the same paper used for tin.

• When everything is dry, place it on a frame stand or hang it on your wall!

P.S.  If you are wondering who took those amazing pictures, they are from Snidershots Photography. She is amazing!!!