One Day When I Have Time

Look What I Made

2011-08-11T09:14:00.000-07:00

Look at this darling sign I came across while shopping the other day:

Count Down to Valentine's

2011-06-09T19:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know Valentine's Day is way far off. But that is what this site is for. To remind me of all the darling ideas I have seen. This is a cute idea for a Valentine's count down by Secrets of a Super Mommy. She ROCKS! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her ideas!

Birthday Wreath

2011-06-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

I am so going to make one of these:

There are lots of tutorials out there. But this one on "Two More Seconds" makes it seem so easy:

Here is another one at "Bits of Everything". She adds ribbon that adds a cute touch:My Cousin made one and had a place to hang a photo of the birthday person in the middle. Cute Eh?

Welcome Blocks

2011-04-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

Look how cute this idea is by Super Saturday Crafts

Tile Magnets

2011-03-26T09:18:00.000-07:00

Now that I have my Silhouette, I am looking for fun vinyl projects. There are so many out there! This is a cute idea from Super Saturday Crafts:

These guys aren't vinyl but they are so cute!!

Vinyl Board

2011-03-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

I love this idea from Super Saturday Crafts
When I make mine, I think I will put the days of the week in the menu section:

Chocolate Boquet

2011-02-10T11:18:00.001-08:00

I love this darling Chocolate Boquet from Wendy at Wickedly Wonderful Creations:

Tangled Rapunzel Birthday Ideas

2011-01-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

My 2 year old, turns 3 on Wednesday. She wants a Rapunzel Birthday Party. So here are a few ideas from Super Mom Moments.

I think this is the cake we are going to shoot for:

This is where she has some great ideas for activities like this darling Pascal blower:

Disney has a great website w/ lots of activities to keep a party going.

I Love Wassail!

2010-12-20T15:11:00.000-08:00

I am loving this Wassail recipe this season. Try it out:

12 c. Apple Juice
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp. Ground Cloves
1/4 tsp Ground Allspice
3 Cinnamon Sticks
1 Orange Studded with Cloves (this means buy whole cloves and stick 15-30 of them in an orange)

Put in a crock pot on low for 2-3 hours. (I can never wait the 2-3 hours so I just simmer it on the stove top).

It makes your house smell so yummy and tastes yummy too!

Preschool Pumpkins

2010-11-22T11:50:00.000-08:00

Someone made the cutest little Thanksgiving dish for preschool. They peeled a whole bunch of mandarin oranges and put a pretzel rod in the middle to make them look like pumpkins. Look how cute:

Baby Carriage

2010-11-17T04:51:00.000-08:00

Look how sweet this baby carriage is:

I originally saw it on Dannie's Designs. But she gives a link to the blog that she saw it on.

Post it Note Holder and Pen

2010-11-09T07:13:00.000-08:00

Look at these darling little post it note holders and pens. The first one here with the tutorial is from Dawn.

The second one was from Jill.

Stamped Candles

2010-11-09T07:03:00.000-08:00

Look how cute these stamped candles are from Jill's Card Creations:

She gives a little tutorial too!

Cute and Simple Box

2010-11-07T06:28:00.001-08:00

These little boxes From Dawn's Stamping Studio are so cute. I am making 22 of them to give to the teachers in our Primary...

Alphabet Bean Bags

2010-08-31T13:45:00.000-07:00

These Alphabet Bean Bags are such a cute idea.

Paper Backpack Bag

2010-08-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

There are some very crafty people on Splitcoaststampers. Check this out:

4th Of July!

2010-07-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this Blog!! She has some darling ideas for the 4th of July and the 24th of July (Pioneer Day)

Post it note holder

2010-07-17T07:18:00.000-07:00

HEre is a darling post it note holder. I love Chic' n Scratch.

Top Note Gift Bag

2010-04-29T08:18:00.000-07:00

Look how cute this little bag is from Paper Pleasing Ideas:

Magnetic Shopping Pad

2010-04-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

Look at this fun idea for a Magnetic Shopping Pad from Jill's Card Creations:

Coasters

2010-04-15T17:45:00.000-07:00

Look at these Beautiful coasters from Jill's Card Creations. I love this idea:

Blog Book

2010-03-22T12:40:00.001-07:00

Here is a great review on blog books if anyone is thinking of doing one. I know I am! I would love to have all this fun stuff in a book!

Loving this site!!!!

2010-03-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted to be a super mommy! This site teaches you how! She has such fantastic ideas!! I am so excited to try some of these. One of my favorites is the Birthday Board and all the fun birthday ideas!

Tissue Holder

2010-03-06T12:08:00.001-08:00

Here is another cute one from Dannie.

New Take on the Gharidelli Box

2010-03-06T12:03:00.000-08:00

This site has a very cute Ghiradelli box.

I originally saw it here.

CD Holder

2010-01-19T10:05:00.000-08:00

This is a cute idea from Creative itch for CD's or DVD gifts.

Thanksgiving Treats

2009-12-08T16:41:00.000-08:00

In looking for cute Christmas treats, my sister came across these darling Thanksgiving treats.

They are originally from the Family Fun Magazine.

Christmas Treats

2009-12-08T10:34:00.000-08:00

Here are some cute treat ideas for Christmas goodie plates. The first is a Rudolph cookie from Jill's Recipes:

The second is from Jill's Recipes too. These are little Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites:

I love these little oreo truffles. This recipe is all over out there. It is so yummy! I did white chocolate and red accents:

Last for this post is the Pretzle Hugs that I believe I posted before. I made them w/ Rolos and regular M&M's (one per pretzle):

I just found another one:
This is yummy Peppermint Bark popcorn.

Enjoy!

I Heart Bakerella!

2009-09-28T17:20:00.000-07:00

I Love this woman! I also LOVE Fall and all the pumpkin foods that come along with it. These little pumpkin pies are so cute! I can't wait to have an event to make them for.

Holiday Planner

2009-09-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

Look How cute this idea is from Mish Mash! I love it! Another cute version is over at The Creative Itch.

Gift Card Holder

2009-09-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

This is a cute gift card holder idea from Andrea Walford:

Fabulous Asian Pasta Spinach Salad

2009-09-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from my friend Kris. It is so yummy! I took it to a picnic today and everyone was raving about it!

Asian Pasta Spinach Salad
Dressing:
1 c. Olive Oil
2/3 c. teriyaki
2/3 c. white wine vinegar
6 Tbls. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper

Cook 1 box of Bow Tie pasta according to directions on box. Marinade 1 box of cooked pasta in 1/2 dressing overnight.

Other items in salad to trhow together right before serving:
10 oz. baby spinach
2 (15oz) cans mandarin oranges
1 (6 oz) bag crasins
1 cup candied almonds (see below) or 3.75 oz honey sliced almonds
1/2 cup cilantro
2-3 diced green onions
2-3 cups diced grilled chicken
and whatever else floats your boat.

Candied Almonds:
1 c. sliced or slivered almonds
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbls. butter

Heat almonds, sugar and butter in skillet over medium heat. Stir constantly until almonds ae toasted and sugar is golden brown. (about 10 minutes) Spread on greased sheet of foil or wax paper. Cool and break into clusters.

Halloween Ideas

2009-09-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

These things are so cute! I can't wait to make some. Inking Idao is so great!:

Dr. Suess Baby Shower

2009-07-31T04:29:00.000-07:00

Oh my word! One day when I have lots of money, I will throw a party like this! Seriously, this is amazing! check out all the details over at Design Dazzle. It really is amazing!

Scallop Envelope Box

2009-07-30T05:14:00.000-07:00

One day when I buy the scallop envelope die cut, I will make this darling box. I found it on Stampin' Pretty. She has a great tutorial on her site.

Apparently I have been doing a no-no in coping and pasting (called hot-linking)from people's blogs. I always give them credit but i guess when you copy and paste, it uses there bandwidth for you all to view their info even if it is on my site. I am a big dummy when it comes to how you are all viewing this stuff. I just know it works...somehow. So I am sorry to those of you that I have copied and pasted your info. I just really like your work. Hopefully this is the correct way to do it.

Child Frendly Nativity Sets

2009-07-29T05:09:00.000-07:00

Since I can't find the Me and my big ideas nativity stickers to make these, I thought I would share this idea that I found on The Creative Crate:

How many of us have those non-child friendly Nativity Sets that we set out every year... and HOPE... that they won't get dropped or broken in some way??? Yes...I am SURE they are very BEAUTIFUL...but wouldn't it be FUN to have one that your children or grandchildren can play with and really learn from?!!

Check out what Mckay from SayItOnTheWall came up with!!! I think these are AbSoLuTelY AdOrABLe!!! Not to mention their functionality. How FuN would these be for your kids:

9 PIECE NATIVITY SET:

The nativity story block is a neat idea because it has a different picture of the Christmas Story on each of the 6 sides. It's a great tool for both teaching and telling the story. Mckay says that her kids have been loving looking at each side... and telling that part of the story!

NATIVITY STORY CUBE :

Also...here are pics of two of her most popular products:

TILE CLOCK :

GLASS BLOCK NATIVITY :
I LoVE them!!!
Wouldn't any one of these make a great Super Saturday project!!!
If you would like to order...or check out more FuN projects and ideas... with awesome prices......CLICK the banner below!!

AND...

FOR ALL OF MY AWESOME READERS...

YOU WILL RECEIVE...

10% OFF YOUR ORDER...

BY USING THE CODE:

"CRATE"

at CHECK OUT!!!

THANKS a bunch Mckay!!!

Happy Crafting!!

Bookmarks

2009-07-28T06:32:00.000-07:00

Post It Note Holders

2009-07-28T06:27:00.000-07:00

Reallly cute post it note idea from Kerry's Paper Crafts:

I’m a big fan of making post-it note holders. They are cute, useful - and they actually sell REALLY well at all my craft fairs. They just make nice little gifts for anyone - Teachers, Friends, Co-workers…etc.

I saw this video on Dawn’s Blog and loved how she made use of these Acryllic Frames! So off to the Christmas Tree Shop I went - and stocked up on some of the 4″x6″ sized ones. They were only 89 cents a piece. Score!

Here are a few that I whipped up. They didn’t take long at all and I think they came out super cute. The good thing about these sized ones is that I had enough room for some ribbon at the top.

Supplies: Acryllic 4″x6″ Frames, SU! Hawaiian Papaya, Good Morning Sunshine DP, Cheep Talk, Darling Dots Stamp Sets, Kiwi Kiss Ribbon, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Choc. Chip, Pacific Point Cardstock. Pacific Point Ink. Colorbox Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan.

Summer Tips

2009-07-28T05:46:00.001-07:00

More great ideas from Parent Hacks. This time it is Summer Tips:

While my search-and-browse system isn't the best (for now! for now!), you can find lots of great hacks to keep your summer going smoothly. Here are a few to get you started. And don't forget the piles of family travel tips in the Travel/Going Out archive, including our series of family camping tips.

Instant s'mores

Clean summer toenails with a toothbrush

Tape combination to padlock so it won't be forgotten over the summer

Fill baby's high chair tray with water for warm weather splashing

Coffee sleeve makes frozen drinks easier to handle

Washing the water table is almost as fun as playing with it

Bath toys gain new life as pool toys

Old-fashioned ice crusher makes a perfect hot weather distraction

Frozen yogurt tubes stand in for ice cream treats

Baby food stains come clean in a sunbath

Put toddler girls into boys' swim trunks for extra sun and knee protection

Turn the Pack n' Play into a shady hangout for baby

Talk amongst yourselves: favorite sunscreen? (This conversation could use some updating as sunscreens have changed so much in recent years -- click through and comment!)

Apply sunscreen to kids' faces with a makeup brush

Sunscreen as face paint

Nightlight on a timer tells early risers when it's morning wakeup time

Financial Planning

2009-07-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

Here are some great tips from Parent Hacks. I know this one seems boring but it is something we have been thinking about and trying to complete. We just finished getting life insurance. Now we need to do our will:

Last weekend, there was a sudden death in my extended family. He was young, he was healthy, he was the father of two.

As I sit with my family marveling at how instantly life can change, I'm also watching one of my dearest relatives struggle with the financial realities of this terrible event. We always say we'll plan for the eventualities...we'll get the will together, we'll make sure the life insurance is up-to-date, we'll pay attention to where our money's going, we'll clean up the filing cabinet...but life tends to get in the way. The urgent pulls our attention away from the important. We get busy. Usually, it all works out.

But sometimes it doesn't.

My cousin's friend, a retired financial planner and stock broker, is helping her through this by tackling the unopened statements and unanswered questions and hopefully making sense of it all. In the process, we've been talking about simple preventative measures everyone should take to avoid such a mess themselves.

Share the responsibility for financial matters. The simplest, most important thing you can do is to talk to each other about your money. If one person is responsible for the bill paying and record keeping (or the insurance levels, or the investment plans, etc.), imagine what would happen if that person suddenly went away?

Sit down together (possibly with a glass of wine) and talk about where you are financially and where you want to go. Each of you should have a sense of how much is in the various accounts, how much you pay for utilities, and how much you owe on your credit cards. If necessary, hire a financial planner to help you have these conversations. Things sometimes go more smoothly while sitting a nice office in the presence of a objective party.

Put recurring payments on autopay. There is no reason to ever forget an insurance or mortgage payment. Set up automatic payment of those bills, either via direct withdrawal from your bank, or through autopay via your online banking system. Last resort: pay your bills automatically using your credit card. If cash flow is an issue (you're not sure if you have enough in your account every month to pay all of the bills), at least put your life, disability, and car insurance on autopay. The consequences of letting them lapse are dire.

Buy life insurance. Everyone with a family needs life insurance. Term life insurance is CHEAP. Get some and put it on autopay. Your financial planner will help you with amounts. If the main breadwinner were to die, the surviving family would rest a lot easier knowing the house/the debt/college/whatever were paid off. If the person responsible for most of the child care were to die, the surviving family could pay for good-quality day care and (if necessary) housekeeping and gardening help. If breadwinning and child care are shared, life insurance makes sure that a death in the family doesn't also mean a massive shift in lifestyle.

Get a will. Everyone needs one. Pay a lawyer or a paralegal a few hundred bucks to do it for you, or use software such as Nolo Press Willmaker. Get it done now.

Co-sign on the safe deposit box so each spouse can access it. If you've been putting off this 10-minute job, do it on Monday. Consider putting a third trusted signer on the list in case you both die at the same time.

Consolidate your financial records. Spend 15 minutes a day cleaning up your file system. Create a master list of contact and account numbers so anyone can have it all at their fingertips. The master list should contain:

Account numbers for all bank accounts, investment accounts, and retirement accounts.
Account numbers for all credit cards and loans.
Account numbers for all insurance policies.
Contact information for all financial and legal advisors.
Contact information for each person's workplace benefits department.
Social security numbers for everyone in the family.
Location of the safe deposit box.
Passwords, maiden names, mailing addresses and other secret keys to accessing information about these accounts on the phone or online.

Keep copies of this list in sealed envelopes in the safe deposit box, in a locked file, and with a trusted family member (ideally the executor of your will), and update it as details change. Be careful to keep this list accessible but secure -- it's a crib sheet for identity theft.

Update beneficiary information. Whenever there is a birth or death in your family, update the beneficiary information on your accounts and investments. If you have a will or trust, check with your lawyer; in some cases, the primary or contingent beneficiary should be "estate."

Don't put off the conversation. If there's anything this last week has shown me, it's that everything can change instantly. Set aside time this week to get started on these steps, whether with your spouse, your parents, or on your own.

By the way, we're talking about the death of a spouse, but this list works just as well for the loss of a job or any other sudden life change. It takes much less than a death to knock you off your rational feet for a while, and knowing the money matters are squared away removes an incredible amount of stress.

Have I missed anything? Any other financial housekeeping suggestions to offer? I know this stuff can be uncomfortable, but once it's done, it's done. You owe yourself and your family that peace of mind.

Confetti Popper Rockets

2009-07-28T05:26:00.000-07:00

If you are up to the mess, check out these Confetti Popper Rockets from Alpha Mom:

Fourth of July Confetti Popper Rockets
By Brenda Ponnay

Who says you can't have fireworks in the house? With these confetti popper rockets you can blow things up inside without ever catching anything on fire! Explosive, yet completely safe and super fun for kids: That's how I like to celebrate my independence. Get your vacuum cleaners ready cause we're gonna blow this craft up!

I know paper rockets have been made before but this rocket has a trap door in the bottom. When you pull the string, that dangles there ever-so enticingly at kid height, a small compartment opens up and a tiny bucket full of confetti will land on said kid's head. It's great. We tried it and my kid definitely gives this craft a thumbs up.

This craft is fun for many ages. My kid liked it because she got to decorate the rocket and what's not to love about confetti raining down on your head but I think older kids would really enjoy the engineering part of this project. You can get creative with it and maybe have a contest to see who can build the best rocket. Some explode spectacularly, some are a bit of a dud. There are lots of ways you can make these. They also make great decorations for a party!

Here's how you make it:

First you will need to gather your supplies.

Paper towel or toilet paper tubes cut to rocket-like lengths

colored paper (we chose patriotic colors and used everything from origami paper to scrapbook paper), make sure you have at least one sheet of something stiffer, like card stock too

tissue paper (we used red)

stickers and marker pens (feel free to get crazy here) to decorate with

confetti (homemade or store-bought

bakers twine or string

tape

glue (any kind that works on paper will do)

beads (these will not show so it doesn't matter what they look like)

ribbons for streamers

Tools you will need:

a stapler

scissors

a craft or needlework needle

fun craft punches for confetti (if you make your own)

hole puncher

Now to build it! First you will build the "propulsion system." Of course this rocket isn't really going to take off and fly around the room but the confetti is housed where a normal propulsion system would be so we call it that.

Cut yourself a small square of tissue paper that will be big enough to cover the bottom of your cardboard tube--about three inches across. Cut a small disc out of a sheet of card stock that will fit just within the radius of the cardboard tube. With some glue attach this disc to the center of your tissue paper. Let it dry for a few minutes. Thread about an arm's length of twine onto your craft needle and tie a bead to the end for a not. With this, puncture the center of your disc that is attached to the tissue paper. This is the trap door.

Next you will need to glue this tissue paper trap door to your cardboard tube with a small line of glue around the bottom of the tube. Make sure you attach it with the bead side inside the tube and the string (or fuse) side hanging outside of your tube. You can add a pull tab to your long dangling fuse or just let it hang. We added stars to some of ours. Let this dry and you're done with that part! Now onto decorating!

There are lots of ways you can decorate your rocket but the most important part is to cover the tube with some decorative paper so that you don't see that it used to be a toilet paper roll (or paper towel tube). This decorative sheet (roughly 6.5x4.25 inches big, depending on your tube) also holds your tissue paper trap door on, or at least covers the ruffles of tissue where it is glued to the tube. We attached ribbons to the bottom inside of our decorative covering so that the rockets looked like they were flying--or just pretty and festive.

Roll your paper around the tube and staple at the top for strength. You can't staple the bottom because your tissue paper trap door keeps the stapler from getting inside but I found that a couple of pieces of tape did the trick.

Now you can fill your tube with confetti. We just put in a few handfuls but feel free to load this sucker up. Just think about how much confetti you want to clean up later and act accordingly. I say the more the better but then I'm a bit of a free spirit who doesn't mind a little mess for the sake of some good old fashioned American fun.

Attaching the cone to the top of your rocket can be a bit tedious. It's purely aesthetic so if you opt out of this part that's totally fine. I just really wanted my confetti poppers to really look like old fashioned Fourth of July fire crackers so we made rocket cones.

Here's how you do it:

Cut a circle about 3.25 inches wide across, then cut one snip all the way to the center of the disc like you see above. Take the edges of your cut and pull them together, probably about a half an inch or more. When your cone has reached a desirable height, staple it at the base.

Now for the tricky part: attaching the cone to your rocket. The important thing here is creating a strong holder that you can use to hang your rocket from. Since these rockets will be tugged upon, it's important that the rocket holds together and doesn't come crashing down on your head instead of releasing it's payload of confetti. I found the best way to hang these rockets was to put the weight bearing string through two holes punched in the top of the rocket body. Then I strung the two sides of the string through a center bead (just to keep it centered) and up through the center of the cone so that it came out of the point or top of the cone. The cone itself can't really hold the rocket together so taping it wouldn't work.

An easy way to string the cone is to open up your stapled cut from the inside of your cone and pull your string through the gap. This will take some patience but you can do it!

Here's a super scientific diagram (it's rocket science hee hee!) in case you've gotten confused along the way.

Now you can hang them up and let the festivities begin!

I found that I needed to "prime" some of the rockets to ensure maximum explosiveness. You can do this by simply poking some small holes (or cutting with a sharp blade) around the bottom of the trap door. Just make sure you don't cut it completely out because the ripping sound of that trap door being yanked out is probably the biggest part of the fun.

That and the confetti party you can have afterwards! Woot!

P.S. I wanted to step this craft up a notch by adding those strings that pop with real explosives but I couldn't find any at the time of this writing. If anyone tries this, I'd love to hear how it goes. Of course exercise caution. I don't want anybody really burning down their house!

Treats to keep the kids cool for Summer

2009-07-28T05:02:00.000-07:00

Cute Picnic idea from Make and Takes:

Here’s some yummy treats to help keep the kids cool this Summer, as it’s already a HOT one. I think even you’ll be tasting these cold concoctions to stay cool too!

Frozen Watermelon Pops by the Hungry Housewife (pictured above)
Frozen Grape Pops by Make and Takes
Strawberry Sorbet by Our Best Bites
Oreo Pudding Pops by Gourmet Mom on the Go
Ice Cream Pie by Make and Takes
Mint Lemonade by Make and Takes
Ice Cream in a Baggie by Make and Takes

If you’ve been making some yummy “cool down” sweets, share them in a comment below!

Father's Day Ideas

2009-07-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Little Birdie Secrets shares links for father's day gifts...maybe next year. I love the golf cup cakes.

Martha Stewart has these adorable cupcakes featured on her site right now. You can get the recipe here.

She also has these corn on the cob cupcakes. Don't these look so real (and adorable)?

Martha also has a whole section of recipes that are perfect for father's day. A lot of them are recipes for the grill. How perfect! I know my man loves a good meal straight from the grill. You can also find many Father's Day meal ideas at Food Network.

Another adorable sweet treat is from Kraft Foods (they always have great stuff). They have a recipe for a "Hole-in-One Cake". Although my husband likes golf, it's not one of his major hobbies, but I think I could easily adapt this cake to be a "fisherman's cake". Here is another great cake that would go perfectly with our shirt and tie card.

So, take a few of these meal and dessert ideas and run with it! Or, you can always just whip up his favorite of your homemade meals. How about breakfast in bed? You can't go wrong with that. I am sure the Father in your life would be happy with any of these ideas. Happy Father's Day!

Double Box Holder

2009-07-25T07:06:00.000-07:00

Double Box Holder with Dawn

Hi Stampers:

Here are the supplies I will be using in todays video :

Big Shot #113439

Box #2 Bigz Die #114518

Oval all stamp set #113790

Scallop oval punch#114889

Chocolate chip 5/8 GG ribbon #109055

To the Nines Designer paper Specialty # 114038

( you will need 1 Sheet of 12 X 12 )

Wide Oval Punch # 112082

Sticky strip #104294

Dimensionals #104430

Until later... Happy Stampin!

Posted at 05:58 AM in Dawns Stamping Videos | Permalink

Harry Potter Party

2009-07-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

This is an amazing Harry Potter party idea post from Design Dazzle:

In celebration of the new movie release Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I've included some fun ideas for a Harry Potter party. Wouldn't his flying blue car be a hit at a Harry Potter party? Fun, fun photo op!! Some very good art skills would be required to paint the moon and car - photo from here.

Hogwarts Express from here.

"Minerva McGonagall" from Seattle put on this fabulous party for her daughters 8th birthday. These photos are from the Potions Class.

Hogwarts Express Platform 9 3/4 sign
Not interested in making your own sign?
Harry Potter Hogwarts Express Wooden Sign

This is my favorite idea of Minerva's. The platform 9 3/4 brick wall made out of an old curtain. Check out her blog for fabulous Harry Potter birthday party ideas.

Awesome and amazing Ace of Cakes Hogwarts Castle Cake - image from here.

Harry Potter Cupcake Tower - image from flickr.

Download paper Harry Potter glasses. Via blog.miragestudio7.com

Fold-up paper models would be an inexpensive way to make a castle. This would be a time consuming but cheap way to make a paper castle - not quite Hogwarts.

Dalen OW6 Gardeneer 16-Inch Molded Owl

It's a free down loadable label for drinks at your very own Harry Potter Party. My family loves root beer, but cream soda is a close second! Since wizards love "ButterBeer" (cream soda), I made these drink labels for fun. Budget wise the 2 liter bottle makes sense for a large group. A fun activity for party guests would be to make their own butterbeer - add butterscotch syrup to cream soda!

The label reads:

Ingredients:
Cream Soda and Butterscotch Drops
Concocted for Centuries

I hope this post helps you get started with some fun ideas for planning a Harry Potter party of your own. Some of these ideas are over-the-top party ideas, but hopefully they inspire you to create your own Harry Potter party - whether it's a simple party or over-the-top celebration! Keep a look out next week for another party post with more Harry Potter party ideas - table decor, favors, etc...

2009-07-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

I missed it this year, but this is for next year. These Fire Crackers from Heartland Paper are so cute!

Celebrate your Independence with these cute fire crackers!

Supplies: Life Savers, pattern paper, cake stem, tag, & tiny clothes pin.

Just take the outer wrapper off the Life Savers leaving the silver wrapper on. Cut three strips of pattern paper 5/8" x 3 1/2". Glue strips to Life Savers. Poke a cake stem into the top where the hole would be. Add a cute tag with a tiny clothes pin.

*Note: You can buy the cake stems at stores who sell cake decorating supplies.

My Life Print Outs

2009-07-21T19:09:00.000-07:00

U Create has a great link to Becky Higgins' print outs called My Life:

Are you kidding me? Free printouts by Becky Higgins {can you tell I'm a huge fan}?

Get the details, here.

I really love this concept for an album. Simple. Priceless.

Teenager pdf

Adult pdf

Recycling Baby Food Jars

2009-07-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

I love the matching game included below from Homemade by Jill:

Baby food jars are just too cute to throw in the recycling bin. I'm using some of mine for color-coordinated button storage, but I'd like to think of more uses.

It would be cute to fill the taller 6oz baby food jars with homemade lemon curd for holiday gifts. With a festive label and some ribbon, they would be a perfect little item to have on hand.

Oscar loves to play with the baby food jar lids. To make them a more interesting, I put some simple pictures inside. When he's older we can make it a matching game.

Would you like to play, too? Click here for the .pdf.Print two copies on cardstock or photo paper, cut out the circles, and press into the inside of (clean) baby food jar lids. It is a tight enough fit that no glue is required. For an older child, though, you could paint the lids a pretty color and glue the images to the inside for a longer lasting (and cuter) game.

Good Deed Advent Calendar

2009-07-13T18:44:00.000-07:00

This is such a cute idea. It is a good deed advent calendar for Christmas from Controlling My Chaos. Check it out:

Did I mention that my Mama Llama was flying in to celebrate Thanksgiving with me?

Yeah, well, about that.

She missed her plane.

Can you believe that? Who misses their plane?!!!

Well, apparently my Mama Llama does.

She was driving to the airport, she got halfway there, and then she realized that she forgot her purse. Clearly she wasn't going anywhere without her purse, so she turned around and the rest is history.

She'll be flying in tomorrow now, a full 24 hours after her scheduled flight, but at least she's coming. She had to pay $170 to reschedule her flight. The worst part about that, is that she bought flight insurance on her original ticket, but forgetting your purse is apparently not an acceptable reason to miss your flight.

So she's supposed to get on the plane without her purse? How is that even possible with the check-everyone-for-ticks and bombs tight security we've got going on these days?

Seriously. What's the point of buying flight insurance?

The moral of this story is never buy flight insurance.

Oh yeah, and make sure you have your purse when you're going to the airport.

Mom. Are you reading this? You better not be! You better be on your plane. Get your purse and get on that plane, dang it!

So, since my Mama Llama isn't here yet I had extra time to procrastinate on my cleaning today.

So, I finished this.

It's a magnetic Christmas Countdown Good-Deed-A-Day Calendar.

Wow, that was a mouthful.

Want to see how I made it?

First I gathered my supplies. If you want to make it you will need: 1 12x12 scrapbook frame (minus the glass), 1 12x12 sheet of metal, 1 sheet of 12x12 scrapbook paper for the background, 5 sheets of coordinating scrapbook paper, 25 magnets, 25 clear flat marbles, chipboard glitter letters and a few sheets of coordinating card stock.

In place of the 12x12 scrapbook frame and the separate sheet of metal, you could also just use a magnetic board with a 12x12 magnetic area. If I had it to do over again, I would definitely go that route because the metal didn't fit perfectly into the frame, so Peanut Head had to attack it with his tin snips. That was pretty scary because that stuff is sharp when it's got a smooth edge, let alone after it has been worked over with the tin snips.

First I put lots of Photo Tape on the sheet of background paper so that it would lay down and never move again.

Hey, that sounds like a movie title.

Here it is. You can see that it didn't fit perfectly, but that's okay because that little bit will be covered up by the frame.

This next part is a little tedious. You will need to cut 50 2" squares out of each of your five scrapbook papers. That is, you will need 10 2" squares from each piece of pattern paper.

You will also need to cut 25 2" squares from your coordinating card stock. As you can see here, I cut my 25 2" squares from chipboard, which was a bad idea. It isn't necessary to have the squares that thick, and it makes it harder for the magnets to do their job when they have to go through that extra thickness.

After you get all the squares cut, you will want to ink the edges with a sponge dabbed in ink, and then scraped along the top edges of your paper squares.

When you're done, they look like this. Vintagey. Or, as The Barefoot Contessa says, dirty.

Really, what this does is gives the paper a bit of depth.

And it looks dirty. But I like dirty, so that's okay.

Next, I took 5 squares from each pattern, a total of 25 squares, and I laid them out on the board so that they would look nice, but not be too patterny looking. Randomy instead. All technical terms, of course.

I found the exact center of my board and started working from there. I did a minimal amount of measuring.

I so dislike measuring, which is why I usually measure once and cut twice. Bob Vila would be so disgusted with me.

As I was saying, I started in the exact center and then eyeballed the rest. It's a tinsy bit tippy, but it's good enough for me.

I nailed the squares down with excessive amounts of Tape Runner because, again, I do not want them to move, ever.

Next, I gave my frame a couple coats of watered down paint, so it would look more rustic.

Shabby Chic, I believe is the correct term.

Although if it were truly Shabby Chic, I would have tossed it about in some gravel, and maybe rubbed some dirt on it too.

But I don't like dirt.

Here's the next step. These little squares are going to be the Good Deeds for each day. You'll want to take a piece of card stock and a piece of pattern paper and glue them together real good. Repeat 24 times.

Again, I used my Tape Runner and I used way more than I would ever use if I were scrapbooking. Because I don't want the paper to moo . . . Oh, never mind. I think you get the idea.

Anyway, remember how I told you I used chip board and that was a bad idea? Well, here's another good reason to convince you to use card stock instead of chipboard. You don't have to paint the card stock. It took me extra time to paint all those little squares. So not fun.

Next was the really fun part. I got to make up good deeds for my kids to do each day and stick them on the backs of my cute little squares. That part was so much fun, I can't even tell you.

Clean the baseboards is one of the good deeds. I'm so excited to have clean baseboards once a year.

And another one is to make a special lunch for Daddy to take to work. Hee hee. I'm thinking he needs a Lunchable, a peanut butter sandwich with sprinkles, and some Pixie Sticks. Oh, and a juice box. This is so much fun!

Of course, the girls are already complaining that it's not a treat-a-day calendar.

"Where's my treat, Mom? Don't I get a treat for doing something good?"

"No! You get to be a better person and do nice things for people. You get to build character."

They're so not into the building character part. They're going to do it anyway. Even if it kills me.

Once all the good deeds are done, you stick them on the calendar with the marble magnets that you are going to make. You do remember how to do that, I hope? Go here if you forgot. The only thing that's different is that you're going to put sticker numbers on the paper circles before you adhere them to the magnets.

Pretty cool, huh?

Oh yeah, don't be dissing me for posting this before Thanksgiving. I have none of my decorations up, and I'm not playing the Christmas music yet.

Happy Thanksgiving, Turkeys!

Necklace

2009-07-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

This is a way cute necklace idea from The Creative Crate.

Here is another FuN necklace idea:

I came across this idea at Mod Podge Rocks! I LoVe this blog!! Amy has so many CuTe CuTe crafting ideas using Mod Podge. She has instructions on how she made hers here!!
I LoVe personalizing stuff...so I made these for my girls.

You could get pretty CrEaTiVe with these...you could put shapes, pictures, photos, and you could even glam them up with that glitter glaze!

I first drilled a hole with a 1/16" drill bit in the top of the circle...then painted mine with regular craft paint...then traced the wooden circle on some scrapbook paper... cut it out...glued it on...then when the glue was dry...I used the drill to make the hole in the paper.

Then used my Cricut to cut out the letter...and Mod Podged it on. I would think you could use that Diamond Glaze that we used on the washer necklaces too...if you would like that glassy look. I haven't tried it yet...but I think it might turn out really CuTe! {FYI} The M was made out of scrapbook paper...and the A was made out of vinyl.
Then...I just attached a 7mm jump ring that I bought at JoAnns!!

Very Inexpensive and Very FuN to Make!!

HaVe Fun!!

Car Seat Tent

2009-07-09T05:16:00.000-07:00

I saw this on the Thrifty Chick. I wish I had the sewing skills to make this for my new niece Charly.

I saw one of these for the first time, a few months ago at the grocery store. It was darling! It was for a little girl and of course was embellished with bows and flowers and other girliness. I knew I was having a boy, and mine wasn't going to be anywhere near as cute, but also knew I had to go home and make one of my own!! Anyway, now that my little one is here, I whipped it together. Easy-Peasy Project, and so worth the time. In the summer it is fabulous to block out the sun and rain, and of course the winter it's perfect for keeping out snow, wind and unwanted strangers wanting to touch your little one!!

To start off you just need to figure out how long you want your tent to hang over either end. This is my car seat...

I decided to make my tent a yard and a quarter long. You need to pick 2 coordinating fabric pieces. I chose a polka dot pattern for the top, and solid blue for underneath.

Next, cut them to the desired width. For mine I chose 31 inches wide. So it was 31 inches wide by a yard and a quarter long. Place them with there front sides facing each other and pin around the edges, leaving a small gap to be able to turn the fabric right side out when your done sewing. (Now that I'm done with mine, I almost think it would have looked better had I rounded the corners, to soften it a little bit. Now would be the time to do that if you would rather have the rounded corner look.)

Next cut out 4 rectangular pieces for the straps to hold the tent to the seat. I cut mine 4 in. x 7 inches. You'll need 2 pieces in each fabric pattern.

Now you'll want to sew around the edge of the entire tent and straps, and then turn them right side out.

Pin the hole shut, and sew around the edge of all pieces again. This top-stitch gives it a more finished look.

Now you'll want to take the fabric piece for the tent, and drape it over your car seat to determine where the velcro straps will need to go. Pin them in place.

After I pinned mine in place, I layed the fabric on the table and made sure the straps were even with each other. I ended up pinning mine almost right in the middle of the fabric, with each strap being 10 inches away from the edge.

Next I sewed them to the fabric in a rectangular fashion. I felt like this would hold better, rather than just sewing them on with 1 straight stitch. I even double stitched for extra hold.

Next I added the velcro pieces. I just used the commercial grade sticky back velcro, since this tent wasn't going to be taken on and off. If I were making this as a gift or to sell I would have used the sew on velcro. Anyway, your choice.

And thats it! Now you just velcro it on. Since this is for a boy there wasn't much embellishing that could be done. I probably could have added some giant size buttons to the top of the straps or something. For a little girl you could even use ribbon in place of the straps, and just tied the tent on with bows around the handle.

Start-Studded Mini Pies

2009-07-05T05:25:00.000-07:00

These are a cute idea you can use next year from Our Best Bites:

I had a total disaster while making something I had planned for today. You don't think Kate and I have disasters? Oh, we do. You're going to hear about mine around Christmas time (when I post the blue food that magically turned green when I cooked it against everything I tried to prevent it! ) So I realized I was going to have to scrap it and come up with something else and I was pounding my brain trying to think of something new and different. I started thinking about pie, but didn't want to make a pie because everyone makes pie. Then I thought about mini-pies, because miniature versions are always cool. Then I thought about a darling little sugar-coated cookie-ish topper that would make these things the coolest thing on the party table. Perfect. Adorable. Delicious. And pretty darn easy too since you can use store bought dough and canned pie filling. You can certainly substitute homemade filling, but I love the bright artificial color of the canned stuff :) Plus, it's easy. I like easy.

Star-Studded Mini Pies

Pie Crust Dough (or buy refrigerated ones in a pinch)
canned pie filling (something red and something blue)
2 T butter, melted
1/4 c granulated sugar

Preheat oven according to pie crust recipe.

Roll out your pie crust so it's about this thick:

Don't ask me how thick that is, I don't know. I have fat fingers if that helps you gauge it from the picture. If you're using a store-bought crust 1) Don't tell Kate, she'll TP your house in disgust. 2) Don't buy generic (especially Walmart brand) and 3) Roll it out about 2 inches larger than it comes and you should be about right.

Using a cookie cutter, or a cup with about a 3 1/2 inch diameter, cut out circles of dough.

Place each dough circle center in one of the mini-muffin tin wells. The edge should over-hang a little. Gently roll the edge down with your fingers and then crimp it so it looks pretty.

They really don't have to be perfect, I like that these little guys look rustic and homemade in the end.

Using a spoon, (I don't know what else you'd use...) fill each mini pie a little over half full with filling. Don't go crazy and fill them to the top. Catastrophic things happen. More on that to come.

Next you'll need your cute little stars. My star cutter is about 2" across and it was the perfect size. If you can't find a cookie cutter you could always print out a stencil and cut the stars with a knife. You'd have to want these pretty bad though to go through that effort. Look through your kid's playdough bin. That's where I found mine!

Now the fun part. Dip your stars (both sides) in butter and then dredge in the sugar. Make sure to lick your fingers after the sugar starts piling up and making buttery sugar globs on your hands. Curse because you just finished working out and canceled it out with one lick. Wash hands and repeat.

Place a star on top of each little pie. It's okay if it sinks down, it will puff up when it bakes.

Pop them in the oven and bake 15-20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Remember when I told you not to fill them too full? This is what happens. Just so you know.

I filled the next batch only about 1/2-3/4 full and they still spilled over a bit, but I thought it was a perfect amount. I love how they spill out and look a little messy. It makes me want to just gobble them all up. And I love how festive they look with the red and blue.

You can serve them warm or at room temp. And they can definitely be made hours ahead of time.

darling, right?

2 pie crusts should be plenty to do 24 mini-pies. Depending on the recipe or brand of crust you use, you may be able to get closer to 30.

You'll definitely have left-over pie filling- make these if you need more treats (and really now, who doesn't need more treats?)

And if you're not into berries, try one of these ideas:
gooey cookie filling
quiche filling for breakfast or brunch
use shredded apples in this apple pie filling
Bake the shells and stars separately and fill with Kate's banana cream pie filling

Happy 4th of July Bakerella Style!

2009-07-04T04:42:00.000-07:00

I loved this post from Bakerella. I am proud to be an American! My husband became a US citizen this year. It is his first 4th of July as an American citizen. Thank you to all of you men and women who are fighting, and have fought, for our freedom!
And now for Bakerella's thoughts:

Freedom, independence & a marine named Carlos. Last week I was trying to decide what kind of Fourth of July sweets to make or if I was even going to make anything at all. Then I received an email from a reader's boyfriend and I knew I wanted to… had to… do something for the holiday.

Here's his letter. And by the way, I couldn't make anything sweeter than this.

Hi there Bakerella!

My name is Carlos and I'm a United States Marine, and have been one since 1998. If you wouldn't mind just giving my e-mail some thought, I'd be grateful. Here's the story:

My girlfriend just went away to Marine Corps bootcamp not yet a month ago. She LOVES to bake, but unfortunately didn't get much time to do so because her job took up most of her free time, so she lived vicariously through you. She's a fan of photography also, so your blog was a welcome reprieve from a long, hard day at the office. As you may or may not know, bootcamp for Marines is 13 weeks long; the only contact with the outside world is through snail mail. I miss my girlfriend immensely and while I know she's doing something for her country that she's always wanted to do, it's hard on me. I digress, she loves your blog. I know the 4th of July is coming up and I ask you this not only for her, but also for the men and women in the Armed Forces who really know and FEEL the meaning behind this holiday. I think it would be very patriotic and meaningful to bake and decorate something in the spirit of the military, not just flags and sparklers like everyone else is doing - but something to show people that our military needs support and we need to remember them while we're lighting off fireworks at the family BBQ. You know?

Now, I'm asking this because I think it would touch a special place in some of your reader's hearts. I'm willing to bet you have quite a following amongst military wives and/or girlfriends. How nice would it be to show your support? I've served 3 tours in Iraq and am due to go to Afghanistan for a year in the next few months. I won't get to see my girlfriend graduate from bootcamp in September, I won't get to see her looking sharp in her uniform, I won't get to see the pride on her face as finally, at 28 years old, she joins the ranks of The Few, The Proud... so this would be my chance to show her I thought of her. This is your chance to show you think of our military, as many others should be doing. Maybe it'll get people to look for ways to support us with baked goods? During the colder months overseas, my girlfriend would bake cookies and anything else she could that would hold up to the travel and heat, and send on enough for my whole platoon. A taste of home, a taste of love... opening up a box with the smells of back home was something you just can't explain. It was magical. My girlfriend didn't stop there though, she adopted Marines, Soldiers and Airman through Anysoldier.com and sent them care packages and notes of encouragement.

I realize I'm all over the place here, but trying to get my point across is difficult without writing you a novel. I think you get the gist. 4th of July is about more and I'd love to write my girlfriend a letter and say, 'Bakerella appreciates the Armed Forces, when you get back to the real world and have access to a computer... go see her 4th of July post.' Now, I don't know if you'll do this or not and it's fine either way. I just wanted to tell you a little story and hope that maybe a tiny blurb in your blog would entice your readers into caring just a tiny bit more and thinking just a bit deeper on our Independence Day.

I appreciate your time in reading this!

Carlos

What a sweetheart. When I read his letter, I immediately wanted to make and send something to surprise his girlfriend. I thought, how cute would it be for her to open a box of colorful cake pops! Then, Carlos informed me that they can't receive food during boot camp. I pictured her being forced to eat all the pops at one time and then made to run 10 miles or something. I don't think she'd like that too much. Picture it. Cute little cake pops. Marines. Lollipop sticks. Marines. Sprinkles. Marines. Not the best idea for her sake.
Now, I can't send her anything sweet, but I can send her these sweet simple words of appreciation.

It's not much, but I hope that if you do see this when your 13 weeks of boot camp are over, that it puts a smile on your face. And know that you and all members of the armed forces were thought of this July 4th.

Plus… that Carlos… he sounds like a keeper.

What about you? Is there someone on your mind… or in your heart… this holiday?

Hope you all have a happy, safe and sweet Fourth of July!

I Love July!

2009-07-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

30 days has a fun patriotic list.

There are so many great 4th of July ideas out there. I decided to highlight the ones I haven't seen as much. Here are my favorites:

4th of July wreath by Pampering Beki

Joy's Hope's 4th of July outfit (LOVE)
Katherine Marie's red, white & blue post

Old fashioned 4th of July crafts from Create My Event

Kids 4th of July crafts from The Crafty Crow
How to photograph fireworks from Digital Photography School

4th of July dessert round up by Hostess with the Mostess

Flag etiquette from The Finer Things

And check out my 4th of July post from last year for more ideas.

Rainbow Cupcakes

2009-07-03T07:42:00.000-07:00

This is such a cool idea. I first found it on creative itch
using red white and blue. SO CUTE! Then I went to the link she had to Our Best Bites and saw the rainbow ones. SO FUN!

Here is the photo from Creative Itch:

I'm excited to try this same idea for other holidays too. Think how cool they'd look using Christmas colors....and Valentine colors.....and pastels for Easter! Yummy!!

Info from Our Best Bites:
My Mom is a really creative woman. I didn't realize it until I grew up and became a mother myself. Now that I look back on the birthday parties she threw and the incredible cakes she created, I'm really amazed at the things she came up with back in the day when you couldn't run to Target or Walmart and basically buy a party in a bag. Halloween costumes were no exception. We never, ever had store-bought costumes growing up. My Mom was a great seamstress and her creativity had no boundaries. I look at old family pictures and I love how she took simple ideas and turned them into something fun. Take me for example, around age 5:

That my friends, is a rainbow. And I thought it was the coolest costume ever. [Insert joke here from my husband about how I'm being prepped for my first parade. You know, as in *parade*. Now ignore joke.] I was obsessed with this chick, and if you look at every picture I ever created out of any sort of art media between the ages of 3 and 9, it undoubtedly included 3 things: hearts, flowers, and rainbows. To this day, I [clearly as a heterosexual woman] still get a little bit giddy inside when I see all of those colors together. Something about rainbows just makes me happy.

If you read the CafeMom feature from last week, I noted that my youngest son just turned one. For my first son's birthday I made an adorable cake with matching mini-cake and matching cupcakes with matching favors and decorations for the hordes of people I invited to his first party. In keeping with second-child-syndrome fashion, my second son's first birthday rolled around and all that I had collected was this:

Not much. But see the colors? I told you I love that stuff. The bright combo just made me happy and they looked as bright and happy as my bubbling little boy, so I decided to just use that as a theme. Like, uh..balloons. Ya, it's a colorful rainbow balloon theme. Or at least that's what the scrapbook pages will indicate when he's old enough to wonder why no one was at his party and it had no theme. I really wasn't in the mood to make a big fancy cake (since no one was even coming to this party... ya, I'll erase this comment when he's old enough to read), so I decided to do cupcakes and make it easy. A few months ago, I spotted a great rainbow layer cake on a food blog I love, Omnomicon, and decided that I'd make a fun cupcake version of my own. Using a doctored cake mix made it even easier.

(I would like to make a special note to my friend Britanie that I am in fact using a cake mix. See? I'm not a total snob :)

You'll want gel food colors for this, not the little bottles of liquid. Gel color adds a ton of color with a small amount of dye. You can find gel colors at craft stores like Michaels and Roberts, and in the cake decorating isle of Walmart. If using red, make sure to get the one that says "No Taste"

Colorburst Cupcakes

1 white cake mix
2 eggs
1 C sour cream
1/2 C milk
1/3 C vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients until incorporated (about 30 seconds). Scrape sides of bowl and then beat on med-high speed for 3 minutes.

Divide batter according to how many colors you are using. I used 5 colors and it worked out to a little over 1 cup for each color.

Use food coloring to color batter to desired intensity. I used a 1/4 t and they were very bright! You could easily make pastel rainbows using a little less.

To get a layered stripe like I used, you'll want to put a spoonful of each color in the cupcake one at a time. The batter is thick, so it won't spread on it's own. A great tip is to set out a little bowl of water where you're working. Dip your finger in the water and then gently spread the batter out. The water will make it so the batter doesn't stick to your fingers.

Another tip is to use a measuring spoon and some water to measure out how many teaspoons/tablespoons are going to fit in your cupcake. Then divide that by how many colors you have so you know how much of each color to use for each cupcake. For my 5 colors, it worked out perfectly with 2 t of each color in each cupcake. So I put in 2 t of blue in the bottom of each cupcake and spread it out with my finger. Then I put in 2 t of green on top of that, then yellow, etc.

Bake them according to the package directions, until a toothpick comes out dry. Check these babies out! I swear I didn't photoshop these. True crazy colors. I love how you can see the rainbow through the papers. If you want blue on top, just reverse the order (duh, right?)

I topped mine with this frosting. A double batch made enough to put crazy high tops like this on all 24 cupcakes.

Pop on another cupcake liner for presentation if you want...

And when you open that little cutie up...WOW! Check this coolness out:

What's fun is that the insides are all different just depending on how they bake. Biting into these is the best part!

Check this one out- for the last couple when I was tired of the whole layering thing, I just spooned batter in randomly all over to make it spotty. It baked up with love on top. Ahhh... that's for all you guys. I heart our readers :)

Now your turn to show some love and bake up some of these. If you're a sports fan, these would be really cool with team colors. How about black, green and brown for a boys camo party? Or holiday color combos are endless.... Have fun!

4th of July Ideas

2009-07-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a great list of patriotic ideas from Pioneer Party:

I love the 4th of July! Not only does it remind me that I truly am proud to be an American, it is a great time to be with family, have a picnic or barbeque, watch beautiful fireworks light up the sky, the list could go on and on! I came upon a great list of ideas that might help your party the party to be at this weekend! Thanks to Studio 5 for letting me use this... and if you have ideas or traditions that you love, let us know! Leave a comment and let us know what fun things you have done...

Studio 5 Party, Holiday and Idea Contributor Alisa Bangerter shows how to make it a fun, festive atmosphere.

Invitation Ideas:
• Simple invitations could be printed and attached to small flags. If these need to be mailed, simply roll the flag and mail in mailing tubes.

• A creative invitation would be to fill a balloon with red, white and blue confetti or paper shred and a rolled up invite. Fill the balloon with helium and tie on a ribbon. Attach a small tag that states the recipient must pop the balloon to find the invite. Balloons filled with confetti would also make fun centerpieces the kids could pop at the end of the party or take home as favors.

• Attach a printed invitation to a box of sparklers. Ask the recipient to bring them to the party and at dusk everyone can do fireworks.

• Create a "formal" invitation written in the same language was the Declaration of Independence as an invitation to your barbecue. Print on parchment paper, roll it up and tie it with a ribbon. You could even fold it and use a wax seal on the envelope.

• Attach an invitation to a patriotic photo.

• Be really creative and have someone dress like Uncle Sam, Betsy Ross or the Statue of Liberty and deliver the invitations personally.

• Ask guests to come dressed in red, white and blue.

Table Setting and Décor Ideas:

• Cover tables with white paper and sprinkle red and blue crayons on the table for guests to use. • Tables covered with newspaper and stamped with red and blue stars using acrylic paint can look nice and save on the budget. Newspaper can also be used as sandwich wraps.

• Print the Declaration of Independence on paper and use as placemats or napkin wraps.

• A quick centerpiece would be to fill red or blue sand pails with sand and insert small flags or stars on wire.

• Sprinkle red, white and blue wrapped candy down the center of tables. Another option would be to fill different sized jars and containers with candy and place on tables for easy snacking.

• Hang flags around everywhere or line walkways with them. Place some string or strong fishing line across the area of the barbecue and hang small flags and/or stars from the line. (You could also hang festive paper napkins, fabric triangles, curled ribbons, etc.) This will create a low ceiling effect and add to the atmosphere. Tiny lights and paper lanterns also would add if at dusk.

• Play patriotic music in the background.

• Print coloring pages (patriotic images) for children to color. Place them on the tables. It might be fun to create and print 11x17 (or similar size paper) placemats with patriotic puzzles, trivia, images to color, facts, etc. This is similar to what kids would get in a restaurant.

• Wrap silverware with napkins and a band with a patriotic trivia question or fact on it.

• Have patriotic stickers for kids (and adults!) to decorate their drinking cups with.

• Use inexpensive kitchen towels as napkins. These wash up great and are nice when having messy food such as ribs, sloppy joes, etc.

Creative Food Ideas:
• Place large bowls of popcorn in the center of tables for everyone to snack on while the food is grilling.

• Use flag picks in food such as burgers and sandwiches.

• Serve bottled drinks in an ice filled red wagon. Stick some flags in the ice for a festive touch. An ice filled child size swimming pool is also a great way to serve drinks for a large crowd.

• Wrap bottled drinks and water with customized bottle wraps. If they will be in ice, cover the wrap with clear packing tape.

• Use red apples with blue or white ribbons tied to stems as centerpieces. Place them in baskets, bowls or tiered display pieces to create a fun and tasty edible display.

• Be creative when grilling food. Use circle skewers for kabobs, cut stars out of cheese to melt on burgers, etc.

• Set up an ice cream bar with a variety of red, white and blue toppings and ice creams.

• Serve red, white and blue chips. Terra Chips makes some exotic vegetable chips called: Stripes & Blues. They are made from red sweet potatoes, blue potatoes and candy striped beets. They are found in local grocery stores and are very fun!

• Float a few raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and/or blueberries in a drink jar.

• Set up a cupcake decorating station where everyone can decorate a cupcake or two for desert. Have several icings to choose from and lots of red, white and blue candies and sprinkles for toppings.

• Serve homemade ice cream. You could have a homemade ice cream making contest.

• Ask guests to bring a homemade pie and have a contest. Give a prize to all and then serve the pies for dessert.

• Make star watermelon pops. Simply cut slices of melon and then cut into star shapes using a cookie cutter. Insert a wooden Popsicle stick in the side and freeze.

• Make s'mores over a fire pit using red, white and blue star marshmallows available at grocery stores.

• Serve patriotic floats by scooping vanilla ice cream in red or blue soda. Use three straws in each…red, white and blue!

• Serve red white and blue fruit on skewers. These would also be fun used as drink stirrers.

• A creative way to make a flag using fruit is to alternate strawberries and banana slices on skewers and lay them on a platter side by side to make flag stripes. Thread blueberries on the top of several of the skewers to create the blue portion of the flag when the skewers are set on the platter.

• Take the time to place chips in bowls and buns on platters. Something simple like this can add to the presentation of the food.

• Press the sides of purchased ice cream sandwiches in red, white and blue sprinkles for an easy and quick treat.

• Serve foods in single serving cups such as cut up fruit, salads, etc. This can add a fun dimension to serving the food and even can help control portions.

• Use ice cream cones as serving containers for fruit, salad or candy.

• Use name cards or food picks to identify foods served. Use creative names such as star spangled sloppy joes, patriotic potato salad, liberty lemonade, firecracker chicken, etc.

• Remember to use food coloring in cakes, salads, breads, etc. to create fun red, white and blue looks.

Simple Activity Ideas:
• A fun activity would to give each family (or group of 5-6) a sack with some random items in it. Give the groups 15 minutes to come up with a skit using the items. Have the skits be patriotic in theme and maybe give a specific word or line each must say somewhere in their skits. Have some items in the bags that are red, white and blue or patriotic in nature. These skits are often hilarious and a ton of fun!

• Make cards for someone in the military. It might be nice to have a veteran come and give a little presentation about his/her service for our country.

• Have a karaoke time and make sure to include some patriotic songs.

• Make up a patriotic trivia quiz and give a prize who can answer the most.

• Have readers take turn reading the Declaration of Independence. Have the readers dress the part.

• Hide paper stars or tiny flags all throughout the yard. Have the kids find them and give prizes. • Hold a sidewalk chalk mural contest for the kids. Tell them to draw something patriotic and give prizes.

• Play a game patterned after "Who Wants to be a Millionaire". Create patriotic or American history type questions. This is a lot of fun and can be educational.

• Have a photo station for families or individuals with lots of fun patriotic props.

• A favor packet, bag or basket could be sent home with each family or individual. Place simple items inside such as wrapped patriotic cookies or star shaped rice krispie treats, simple fireworks, handmade patriotic games or puzzles, a copy of the Declaration of Independence, red, white and blue popcorn or other items, etc. Make these simple and inexpensive but a fun surprise for your guests to have. . You could also make grab bags for each child filled with simple activity items, candy etc. and give these at the first of the barbecue.

All Things Lime

2009-07-02T15:30:00.000-07:00

These women at the Secret Stitch Club are so cute! I LOVE the stuff they make. Sign up for a chance to win a free apron.

I love lime. With a sweet passion. Or a tart passion. Whatever way you see it. The color, the flavor, the fruit...I love it all. I've had this idea in the back of my mind for awhile to make Key Lime cupcakes with a Key Lime filling. Key limes were on sale so I picked up 20 for $1 and started searching for some good filled Key lime cupcake recipes. I found quite a few, but none were quite was I was looking for. So I combined and adapted recipes to fit my taste...a Graham cupcake (by Vanilla Garlic )with Key Lime curd filling (by Coconut & Lime) and a lime whipped cream cheese frosting (from allrecipes). I so loved the final product and wanted to share! Oh, don't worry. It's not just a recipe...if you make it to the end there's a giveaway too! Lime themed. :)

Filled Key Lime Cupcakes

Graham Cupcakes by Vanilla Garlic
Makes 20-24 cupcakes / 350 F oven

What You’ll Need...
1/2 cup of butter, room temperature
1 cup of sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 cup of milk
1 cup of flour
1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of salt

What You’ll Do...1) Beat the butter for about 30 seconds until well creamed. Add the sugar and mix for 3 minutes using a paddle attachment until light and fluffy. 2) Add the eggs, one at a time, being sure to beat for 30 seconds for each egg. 3) Place graham crackers in a food processor or in a plastic bag and beat the crud out of them until it's been ground into small crumbs and powder. 4) Sift together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda and powder, and salt. Add about 1/4 of the mixture to the butter mixture, then add some of the milk. Continue to add the ingredients in a dry-wet-dry method, ending with the dry. Continue to mix until just combined. 5) Scoop into cupcake papers, only fill half-way, and bake for 15-18 minutes in a 350 F oven or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Key Lime Curd adapted from Coconut & Lime
3 eggs
6 TBLS butter
¾ cup sugar
½ cup key lime juice
1 tsp lime zest

Directions:
Over low heat, melt butter in saucepan. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk continuously for 8-10 minutes, or until mixture becomes a custard. Allow to cool. It will thicken as it cools. Pour into a jar or bowl, cover and refrigerate.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting (with added Key lime zest) from allrecipes
1 (8 oz package) of cream cheese
1 cup of white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups of heavy whipping cream
1 tsp lime zest

In a small bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside. In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar salt and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Fold in whipped cream with cream cheese mixture. Add lime zest.

Putting it all together--

I use a really long tip (Wilton 230) to fill cupcakes. Just jab the tip into the middle of the cupcake and squeeze the curd into it. You know you have enough when the cupcake starts bulging on top. You can also cut a hold in the cupcake, fill it with the lime curd, and replace the cake.

Filled cupcakes.

Top it with the whipped cream cheese frosting and eat!

It seems like a lot of work, but it's really pretty easy. I made the key lime curd and the frosting the night before, so the next day all I had to do was make the cupcakes, fill, and frost. It's so worth it!

Now, in celebration of all things lime-y (is that a word??), we are giving away a Key Lime apron. Trimmed in ric rac, with a sweet bow and a pleated ruffle, this apron is perfect for baking (and eating) some Key Lime cupcakes in! Check it out:

You have three chances to win.

#1. Leave a comment telling us anything your heart desires. (Personally, I'd love to hear what your favorite cupcake flavor is...but whatever you wanna say, we'd love to hear!)

#2. Post on your personal blog about this giveaway and then come back a leave another comment telling us where to find it.

#3. Check out our Etsy site and then leave a comment telling us what you love. There are some new items up now, and more to come in the following weeks!

You will need to leave three separate comments to be entered three times. We will be using the Random Number Generator to determine the winner! You have until next Monday, July 6th at 11:59pm to enter. Good luck!

BONUS GIVEAWAY: Hey... this is Maren. I found this darling apron that I made for Etsy & decided it was too lime-a-licious to miss out on this fun limey giveaway so I decided instead of selling it I will just give it away for FREE (to celebrate me joining Etsy & Christie selling kids aprons). We will have a winner for Christie's green and white scrumptious apron above, and another pint sized winner for my "Cherry Limeade" child's apron. This is for a child size apron 2t-4t.

#4 - To enter for kid's apron, just leave a comment with your favorite summer drink and an email or way to contact you if you win!! Good Luck! Giveaway closes Monday July 6th 11:59 pm.

Top Note Box

2009-06-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

This is a cute idea from Chic' n Scratch and I just got the Top Note Die Cut. I am excited to try this little box out:

Hi, my video today demonstrates how to make this Top Note Box.

Enjoy!

Stamps: Lots of Bots & Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Not Quite Navy, Celery & Black Stazon

Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Walk in the Park Designer Paper & Whisper White

Other: Top Note Die, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Big Shot Die Cut Machine, Blender Pen, Silver Brads, Paper Piercer, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals & Chic Stand

Flower Pot Pocket Card

2009-06-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

Here is a very cool pocket card from Sunny Stampin':

I’m sure you’re all familiar with the Flower Pot Card – it was wildly popular early on in the year (January/February) – and featured on blogs all over the place. I was checking out a few of the many samples posted and came across a tutorial on Stephanie Luman’s Blog. As I was reading through her great tutorial, I was suddenly hit by a thought – what if, rather than having to carefully measure and cut the angles on the flower pot base, I created a printable template?

Why a printable template? I’ve found that in my classes, when dealing with a finished project that has angles, mistakes are less common when I used printable templates, plus they’re a lot faster. So that’s what I’m going to share with you today. I drew out a template for the flower pot base and then put two on 1 page. The template is true to size which means that you don’t have to shrink or enlarge it - it’s already at the finished size. All you do is print it out directly onto your cardstock or designer paper. Each 8 1/2″ x 11″ page you print will give you 2 flower pot bases. Below I have a picture of the base and the insert shown separately. My color choices, stamp set and DP inspiration came from THIS gorgeous card created by Brenda (don’t know her last name but she is known as Qbee on Splitcoaststamperes). You can see her blog HERE.

Now if you want to make a lot of these cards you’re probably not going to want to do all the cutting out of the flowers that I did, so that’s where your flower punches and/or Big Shot flower dies would come in.

First thing you’re going to need to do in order to make this card is to Download the Template HERE and save it to your computer. If using DP you are going to want to trim your DP sheet so that it is 8 1/2″ x 11″ (I left mine at 8 1/2″ x 12″ because my printer can handle it). Make sure you check the options on your printer and if you can, change the paper type to cardstock. Open up the template pdf and print out the template – BUT – if using DP make sure that you print on the REVERSE side of the pattern you want to be on the outside of the pot.

Now just a quick note – I adjusted the template after I printed mine by placing a dotted line in the center of the two pot “bases” to make it easier to score. So that’s why you’ll see the dotted line on the template, but not in the picture to the left. Once you’ve printed out your flower pot template, you then want to cut it out. As you are cutting it out, make sure you cut just to the INSIDE of the black lines so that you don’t see them. Dont worry about the line at the bottom of the pot “lip” as that will be covered.

Next thing you’re going to do is to score along the bottom “lip” of the pot (directly on the line) and along the dotted line in between the two angled portions. Once you’ve done that you’re going to fold along the score lines.

Note that you want to fold the rectangular flap portion in a “mountain” fold and the center score line in a “valley” fold – the dotted line will be hidden on the inside of the card. The picture to the left shows you a side view of what it should like like.

Because I wanted a solid color for the “lip” of the pot – I cut a piece of Kraft CS at 1 7/8″ x 3 3/8″, so that it was slightly bigger than the lip of the pot. I then scalloped along one 3 3/8″ side and sponged around the edges with Creamy Caramel Classic ink and a wedge of Stamping Sponge. I stuck the Kraft CS onto the lip of the flower pot with Snail adhesive.

To create the insert you will need a 2 1/4″ x 4 5/8″ piece of Whisper White CS and a 2 3/8″ x 4 3/4″ piece of Kraft CS. I sponged the Whisper White CS with Baja Breeze Classic ink and stamped the greeting “Wonderful” on it in Basic Black ink. I centered and matted the Whisper White CS onto the Kraft CS.

I stamped and cut out a whole bunch of flower images from the Petal Pizzaz stamp set in three different colors: So Saffron, Riding Hood Red and Baja Breeze Classic ink. My leaves were stamped in Kiwi Kiss Classic ink. I then pulled out three different button collections (Baja Breeze Corduroy Buttons, Button Latte and Button Bouquet). After that I just played with the flowers and leaves until I liked the final look. Tip: place your flower pot with insert onto a sheet of grid paper, or have a ruler beside it because as you are arranging your flowers you want them to stay within the bounds of a regular card size so that they will fit in an envelope. As you can see in the picture, I used paper clips to hold my flower pot together as I slid my ”tag” insert in and out to see what it would look like. For the buttons I used a small sliver of CS to create the look of a coordinating thread (what I call “faux thread”) and then stuck them onto the flower center using a mini glue dot.

Once I was done arranging the flowers the way I liked I stuck them on using a combination of Stampin’ Dimensionals, 2-way glue, mini glue dots and Snail adhesive. Once you’re done creating your tag, insert it into the card. Take a 14″ piece of Baja Breeze satin ribbon and tie it in a knot around the flower pot to hold it closed. You can see a close-up of the flowers below. I should mention that the finished size of this card with insert is 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″, so it does fit inside a medium Whisper White envelope.

I hope you enjoyed this mini tutorial and have fun with the template!

Stamps: Wonderful Favorite (115144), Petal Pizzaz (113417)
Ink: Basic Black Classic Ink (101179)
Paper: Sweet Slumber Specialty (114037), Kraft CS (107070), Whisper White CS (100730), Baja Breeze CS (111352), Riding Hood Red (111348), So Saffron CS (105118)
Accessories: Button Latte (114333), Button Bouquet (112092), Baja Breeze Corduroy Buttons (114344), paper snips (103579), Snail Adhesive (104332), Mini Glue Dots (103683), Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430), 2-way Glue Pen (100425), Ribbon Originals Valet (114318)

Car Book

2009-06-29T18:22:00.000-07:00

Great Car Book idea from 30 days:

Here's solution number 1:
custom car books
I have 2 out of 3 almost done with less than a week to go
(which is WAY good for this procrastinator)
I gathered pictures on my computer and
using PSE7, I created this fun, interactive book.

For my 3 year old I did some tracing, matching and coloring.
For my 7 year old I did cursive tracing, favorites and car games.
Only my 9 year old to go- he's the tricky one. ;)
Laminated them up.
Next I will bind them at Kinko's.
I'm bringing along dry erase markers from them to trace
and color on their books (and erase and repeat, I hope).
{Click on pictures to enlarge} the 3 year old's the 7 year old's

I also plan to make cool car bags to organize all their ~~junk~~ stuff for the trip.
Think crayon roll/journal keeper/tote bag.
Of course I will post about it when they are done. To join in on the Brassy Apple's fun series go here.
And check out other creative car ideas here.
Thanks for hosting this Meg!

Orange Crush Gift Set

2009-06-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

Very cute little party favors from Impressions:

Well, soft ball is officially over. Both girls loved it. Between the two of them we had 4-9 games a week plus 1 practice. We were super busy. Tony was the coach of Molly's t-ball team and the assistant coach of Sarah's softball team. It was a lot of fun. We are having a pizza party for Sarah's team tonight. They are getting their trophies tonight. They took 1st place in the league this year. Woo Hoo!! I made each of the girls a little something to congratulate them.

Bag toppers:filled with those orange slice gum drop things. Sarah's team name is Orange Crush. I printed orange crush off of the computer and stamped the orange slice in only orange and then went over the segments with orange stickles.

RSVP pens: I haven't made these in a while. I forgot how much fun they were. I know the girls will love them. I went to Wal-Mart today to get the pens and my Wal-Mart doesn't sell them anymore. I was bummed, but I found them at Staples. However, they cost more there. Boo!!!

Peppermint Sammiches: I love making these. I whipped them up in like 10 minutes today. I love how easy they are. I just finished putting all the stuff in clear goodie bags and will pass them out to the girls tonight at the pizza party.
Thanks for being patient with me in my absence. I am getting more time to stamp lately so I should be getting back on track soon. Thanks too for your e-mails. They are getting me more excited about stamping, and getting back to my blogging friends.
Stamps: Tart and Tangy
Paper: Only Orange, Whisper White
Ink: Only Orange
Accessories: Silver Brads, Orange Slice Candy, Orange Stickles, SU Scallop Punch, SU Circle Punch, Peppermint Candy, RSVP Pen, Tacky Tape Sheets, Address Labels, Micro Beads, Heat Gun

Stationary Box

2009-06-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

Very cute stationary box I found on Creative Itch:

I'm always on the hunt for simple, cheap, and cute craft ideas. I hit the jackpot when I stumbled on this cute stationary box!!

When you take the lid off, it opens up to look like this. It has a place for your cards, cute little 3x3 cards, and some tags. The little notebook you see is an address book, and there's a place for stamps and a pen. Isn't it just adorable?
Here's the cards and tags I made. There's a total of 4 of each.

Traveling w/ Kids

2009-06-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

This is one I will need next month for our travels. Great Traveling w/ kids ideas from 30 days:

Make & Take's packing for a trip with the kids
and check out her other related posts:
traveling with kids in the car
busy bags

House on Hill Road's clever kids packing list
Mommy Monsters, Inc tips for traveling with kids
Getting road trip ready video found via Tip Junkie
Kids neck pillow from Make It and Love It

Here are some free printables to check out:
Family Fun's travel games section
Travel games for kids at Kids Turn Central
Mom's Minivan printables
Best Westerns Fun on the Road

{What tips do you have for traveling with kids?}

Another Father's Day Card Tutorial

2009-06-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

This looks so cute and easy from card of the week.com:

Click here for the tutorial.

Origami Necktie and Shirt Card Tutorial (Video!)

I was surfing around on the Internet and came across directions for this origami necktie -- the perfect accessory for all those Father's Day shirt cards. I was trying to figure out how to make a tutorial that would be easy to follow and I decided to try video. Please comment and let me know what you think.

Time to Weigh In

2009-06-04T11:43:00.001-07:00

This is a cute game idea from Pioneer Party. Maybe I will do this for the baby shower with people's diaper bags/ purses.

That’s right! Bridal Shower games are hard to find, and sometimes just a bore...so try this idea: Every woman knows that purses are a necessity. You can carry pretty much anything in them. So do a weigh in. Have all the guest line up to weigh their purses and have prizes for the lightest purse, and the heaviest purse! The prize can be anything from a small bag of chocolate coins, to a brand new purse! Get creative! This activity could also be done at any gathering - Bunko night, girls night, family reunions, etc.!!

Do you have a good idea for a Bridal Shower? Drop us a comment of what has worked for you...let's share!

Wedding Favors

2009-06-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

Darling Wedding favors at DIY:

What a lovely thoughtful thing to do! Now providing li’l day-of care packages to your maids is as easy and pretty as can be. The very talented ladies over at 100 Layer Cake created this template for your downloading pleasure. Gorgeous, simple, practical and yup, f-r-e-e!

Card Box

2009-06-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

I love the card box idea. It is so cute! Another great one from Rochelle:

We made this boxed card set yesterday at stamp club. Isn't it gorgeous? The box holds all six cards with envelopes. I am going to do more like this for teacher gifts. I love the colors of this set.
*Four of these cards are from Andrea Walford's Card Class By E-mail*

Here is a close up of the cards.
Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Paper: Basic Gray, Not Quite Navy, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Urban Garden
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Not Quite Navy
Accessories: SU Scallop Border Punch, Silver Brads, Mat Pack, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Kiwi Kiss Striped Grosgrain Ribbon

Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Paper: Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Urban Garden DP
Ink: Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, Not Quite Navy
Accessories: Silver Brads, Mat Pack, Baja Breeze Striped Ribbon, Ticket Corner Punch, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Circle Punch

To make this box you will need 2 pieces of cardstock 7 1/2 inches by 7 1/2 inches. Score around three sides at 1 1/2 on both pieces. Cut flaps and put together to make a box. For the lid, cut cardstock 6 7/8 inches by 3 7/8 inches and scored 1 1/8 inches from the outer edges all around.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Box

2009-06-04T11:19:00.000-07:00

I have decided to do a Stamp Camp for the girls in my area this summer. So I will be putting together some ideas here of what to do. I am loving this little Ghirardelli chocolate box. In fact maybe I will use this at the party favor for a shower I am throwing.

Make a box to hold four Ghirardelli® chocolates.

Supplies

One 4 1/4" x 8" piece of cardstock

One 2" x 8 1/4" piece of patterned paper, optional

Paper Cutter

Scoring Tool, Scor-Pal™ used here

Scor-Tape™ or other strong adhesive

Scissors

Foam Tape or pop dots

Stamps

Ink

Additional Cardstock

Step-by-Step

Step 1

Score the short side of your cardstock strip at 1" and 3 1/4".

Hint:
When using the Scor-Pal™ score at 1", then turn paper 180 degrees and score the other side at 1" again.
Step 2

Score your long side at 2", 3", 5" and 6".
Step 3

Cut off the outer strips 3" up on one end. This will create your box flap.
Step 4

Use a bone folder to crease score lines.
Step 5

Cut the 1" score lines on both sides.
Step 6

Add Scor-Tape™ both 1" x 2" strips next to the box flap.
Step 7

Flip your cardstock over and add tape to the 1" tabs.
Step 8

Remove the tape liner from the 1" tabs and fold inward.
Remove the liner from the 2" strips and bring sides together to form box.
Step 9

Trim box flap. Here, it was cut down 7/8".
Your box is done. It's time to decorate it.
Step 10

Apply adhesive to the back of the patterned paper.
Step 11

Adhere patterned paper around your box.

Note:
The ends of the paper will overlap a bit.
Step 12

Create a closure for the box by stamping or punching a small image.

Add foam tape on the lower part of the back of that image.
Step 13

Remove liner and adhere the punched piece to the lower part of your box so that the lid can slipped underneath.

Fill with chocolate.
Your box is finished. You can find it here in the gallery (with a listing of all supplies).

Another cute take on the same box from Rochelle:

This is another project that we did at stamp camp. It is a box that holds Ghirardelli® Chocolates. There is a tutorial on splitcoast which you can find here. However, our box only holds three chocolates, the one on scs holds 4. It was super easy to make too. Another fun gift to give to teachers. Just remember that when you put the dimensionals on to put them on the bottom of the scallop so you can tuck the lid under the top of the scallop to keep it closed.

Paper: Always DP, Pink Pirouette, Pumpkin Pie, Regal Rose
Accessories: SU Scallop Border Punch, SU Scallop Circle Punch, SU Hearts Punch, Dimensionals, Tacky Tape, Ghirardelli Chocolates

Last Chance- Stamp Sets

2009-06-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

Stampin' Up is coming out with a new catalog next month. They have a whole list of stuff that they will be retiring. The previous post is all of the accessories. This link will give you the list of Stamps that are being retired by page #. This link is an alphabetical list.

Stampin' Up Last Chance List- Accesories

2009-06-01T17:49:00.000-07:00

Item #	Product Description	Price	Discount	Sale Price	Availability
112735	RUB ONS HIDDEN GARDEN BLOSSOMS	10.95	0.5	5.48	Available
112970	LO MEJOR DE TODO	19.95	0.5	9.98	Available
105143	DAYS TO REMEMBER 6X6 FR	9.95	0.5	4.98	Available
113888	RUB ONS MANY OCCASIONS	10.95	0.5	5.48	Available
109044	PUNCH SNOW BLOSSOM	10.95	0.5	5.48	Available
111364	RIBBON POLY TWILL SO SAFFRON 7/8"	8.95	0.5	4.48	Available
106961	STAZON REFILL WHITE	4.95	0.5	2.48	Available
114341	COURDUROY BUTTONS PACIFIC POINT	9.95	0.5	4.98	Available
114316	RIBBON ORIGINALS PIG TAILS	13.95	0.5	6.98	Available
111414	RUB ONS HIDDEN GARDEN	10.95	0.5	5.48	Available
114351	DESIGNER HARDWARE HOORAY	4.95	0.5	2.48	Available
114338	COURDUROY BUTTONS KIWI KISS	9.95	0.5	4.98	Available
114019	ACCENTS & ELEMENTS FLEURETTES	9.95	0.5	4.98	Available
114317	RIBBON ORIGINALS DRESS UP	12.95	0.5	6.48	Available
102875	HEMP TWINE RED	2.95	0.5	1.48	Available
101259	HEMP TWINE BLACK	2.95	0.5	1.48	Available
113979	ACCENTS & ELEMENTS CANVAS CUTS	7.95	0.5	3.98	Available
114350	DESIGNER HARDWARE SOHO	4.95	0.5	2.48	Available
111363	RIBBON GROSGRAIN PINK PIROUETTE 1 1/4"	7.95	0.25	5.96	Available
111365	RIBBON TAFFETA RIDING HOOD RED	6.95	0.25	5.21	Available
111847	RIBBON DOUBLE STITICHED BAJA BREEZE 1"	8.95	0.25	6.71	Available
111371	RIBBON GROSGRAIN STRIPED TANGERINE TANGO 5/8"	9.95	0.25	7.46	Available
111373	RIBBON GROSGRAIN STRIPED PINK PIROUETTE 5/8"	9.95	0.25	7.46	Available
111372	RIBBON GROSGRIAN STRIPED KIWI KISS 5/8"	9.95	0.25	7.46	Available
113884	RUB ONS FASHION DISTRICT	10.95	0.25	8.21	Available
114318	RIBBON ORIGINALS VALET	12.95	0.25	9.71	Available
111374	RIBBON GROSGRAIN STRIPED RIDING HOOD RED 5/8"	9.95	0.25	7.46	Available
111370	RIBBON GROSGRAIN STRIPED PACIFIC POINT 5/8"	9.95	0.25	7.46	Available
111415	RUB ONS GREATEST MOMENTS	10.95	0.25	8.21	Available
113887	RUB ONS BRIGHT DELIGHTS	11.95	0.25	8.96	Available
111416	RUB ONS CHATEAU BELLA	10.95	0.25	8.21	Available
111338	NOTES TEXTURED LOVE ASSORTMENT II	12.95	0.25	9.71	Available
111879	RIBBON SATIN KIWI KISS VERY VANILLA	7.95	0.25	5.96	Available
111277	RUB ONS A PERFECT DAY	10.95	0.25	8.21	Available
110730	DIE CUTS POCKETS & PIECES	8.95	0.25	6.71	Available
107272	PUNCH KEY TAG	15.95	0.25	11.96	Available
113980	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER CANDY LANE	9.95	0.25	7.46	Available
111375	RIBBON GROSGRAIN STRIPED BAJA BREEZE 5/8"	9.95	0.25	7.46	Available
112010	DIE CUTS BLOOMS AGAIN	8.95	0.25	6.71	Available
113991	TASTE OF TEXTILES	9.95	0.25	7.46	Available
101399	STIPPLE BRUSHES	6.95	0.25	5.21	Available
112092	BUTTON BOUQUET	7.95	0.25	5.96	Available
112139	NOTES CAROUSEL II	11.95	0.25	8.96	Available
111336	NOTES SCALLOP II	11.95	0.25	8.96	Available
111840	CLASSIC STAMPIN INK REFILL PACIFIC POINT	2.95			Available
111841	CLASSIC STAMPIN INK REFILL TANGEIRNE TANGO	2.95			Available
111843	CLASSIC STAMPIN INK REFILL PINK PIROUETTE	2.95			Available
111839	CLASSIC STAMPIN INK REFILL RIDING HOOD RED	2.95			Available
111842	CLASSIC STAMPIN INK REFILL KIWI KISS	2.95			Available
112161	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER PATTERNS KIWI KISS	9.95			Available
112042	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER URBAN GARDEN	9.95			Available
112156	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER PATTERNS PINK PIROUETTE	9.95			Available
112150	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER PATTERNS PACIFIC POINT	9.95			Available
112153	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER PATTERNS TANGERINE TANGO	9.95			Available
111844	CLASSIC STAMPIN INK REFILL BAJA BREEZE	2.95			Available
111836	CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD RIDINGHOOD RED	5.95			Available
111838	CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD PINK PIROUETTE	5.95			Available
113966	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE	9.95			Available
109123	STAMPIN WRITE JOURNALER BASIC BROWN	3.25			Available
113981	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER BELLA BIRDS	9.95			Available
112157	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER PATTERNS BAJA BREEZE	9.95			Out of Stock
113975	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER RASPBERRY TART	9.95			Available
114037	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SPECIALTY SWEET SLUMBER	11.95			Available
113978	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER URBAN OASIS	9.95			Available
112041	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER BELLA ROSE	9.95			Available
112468	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SWEET ALWAYS	9.95			Available
111834	CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD TANGERINE TANGO	5.95			Available
114039	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SPECIALTY ROCKABILLY	11.95			Available
108590	CARD STOCK NATURALS ASST 12X12	8.95			Available
111337	NOTES GIFT ASSORTMENT II	9.95			Available
112471	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER RAINBOW SHERBET	9.95			Out of Stock
112464	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER MANCHESTER	9.95			Available
112006	ACCENTS & ELEMENTS FLOWER FUSION II	14.95			Available
111837	CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD PACIFIC POINT	5.95			Available
112461	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER WASHINGTON APPLE	9.95			Out of stoc
113993	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SPECIALTY PARISIAN BREEZE	11.95			Available
112155	DESIGNER SERIES PAPER PATTERNS RIDING HOOD RED	9.95			Available
111353	CARD STOCK KIWI KISS 8-1/2 X 11	5.5			Available
111348	CARD STOCK RIDING HOOD RED 8-1/2 X 11	5.5			Available
112172	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN ROCK A BYE BOY	19.95			Out of stock
100900	GIFT SACKS WHITE	2.95			Available
114605	SIMPLY SENT CARD KIT MORE THOUGHTS	42.95			Out of stock
102264	COLUZZLE STARTER KIT	19.95			Available
111346	CARD STOCK IN COLOR 12 X 12	8.95			Available
111835	CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD KIWI KISS	5.95			Available
111350	CARD STOCK PACIFIC POINT 8-1/2 X 11	5.5			Available
105668	TATTOO KIT I	13.95			Out of stock
111349	CARD STOCK TANGERINE TANGO 8-1/2 X 11	5.5			Available
109231	SIMPLY SENT CARD KIT SENDING HAPPY THOUGHTS	54.95			Available
111351	CARD STOCK PINK PIROUETTE 8-1/2 X 11	5.5			Available
112165	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN ROCK A BYE GIRL	19.95			Out of stock
113950	DIE CUTS BUILD-A-FAIRYTALE	8.95			Available
111345	CARD STOCK TEXTURED IN COLOR 12 X 12	11.95			Available
105669	TATTOO KIT II	13.95			Out of stock
111833	CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD BAJA BREEZE	5.95			Available
113936	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN HOPPY MEMORIES	19.95			Available
111347	CARD STOCK IN COLOR 8-1/2 X 11	7.95			Available
107288	ENVELOPE WHISPER WHITE EXTRA LARGE	5.5			Available
104310	CRAFTERS TOOL KIT	39.95			Available
111352	CARD STOCK BAJA BREEZE 8-12 X 11	5.5			Available
113943	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN 2 SWEET	19.95			Available
113925	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN SWEET NOTHINGS	19.95			Available
112179	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN LOVE STORIES	19.95			Available
113911	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN SUNSHINE GARDEN	19.95			Out of stock
112054	SIMPLY SCRAPPIN BEST EVER	19.95			Out of stock
111253	Blooms & Bulbs	6.5			Available
109684	Doodle	8.5			Available
111257	Happy, Happy Birthday	8.5			Available
109692	Love	6.5			Available
109568	My ABCs	6.5			Available
109682	Perfectly Pretty	6.5			Available
109687	See You Around	8.5			Available
109683	So Swirly	8.5			Available
111260	Something Fishy	8.5			Available
111262	Stems & Silhouettes	8.5			Available
105516	Watercolor Joy	6.5			Available
11452	Embosslit Flower	11.95			Available

Teacher Gifts

2009-05-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some teacher gift ideas from The Creative Homemaker:

Here is one of the teacher gifts I did this year...

This one was really simple- Just type a quick saying like, "There's no 'Sub'stitute for a teacher like you" and print it on cardstock, 2 per page so it will fold into cards. Grab a gift card from your favorite sub shop and stick it on with mini glue dots. Write a nice note of appreciation inside to make it even more special, and throw it in a celliphane tied with ribbon. Walla! A gift any teacher would love and appreciate! (Got the idea from SkiptoMyLou.)

If your life is as crazy as mine and you missed "Teacher Appreciation Week", don't worry! You still have a week or two to throw something special together for an End-of-the-Year thank you gift. Here's what I did last year. I got the idea from EverythingPink, via TipJunkie.

Here are some other ideas via TipJunkie.

Ribbon Storage

2009-05-30T11:30:00.001-07:00

I really need to organize my ribbon somehow. When I have my own house, I think this is a great idea by The Thrifty Chick:

So I made this ribbon storage" thingy" :) a couple of months ago, but my sister saw it and wanted to duplicate it, so I have been asked to put up pics of it! So here ya go! It was extremely easy. I am one of those lucky ones who have a "craft" room, and in my craft room I like to be able to SEE what I have, and I also like useing my stuff as part of my decor. I am all about bright colors, and especially organization. So I have a ton of ribbon that is used for all my hobbies (scrapbooking, sewing, decor, making bows for my girlies hair, etc.) and I wanted to be able to see what I had at all times. So I used some old wood from a past project, a piece of 1x4 wood, cut into 2- 2 foot pieces, and some leftover beadboard. The beadboard was cut into 2, 4 x 2 1/2 foot pieces. Then I just nailed them to each end to make the sides. I used my drill gun to drill the small holes on each side (which I did before I nailed them on) to put my dowels through, and voila! It was really simple, and even better"cheap" (all I had to buy were the dowels). If you want to duplicate it and need better instructions leave me a comment and I'll try to do a better job at explaining!

So I was looking at the sides of this and wondering why I didn't finesse my job by adding cute wooden knobs to the end. And then i realized why I didn't. If I had glued cute wooden knobs to the end I couldn't have pulled my dowel out when a spool of ribbon ran out and needed to be replaced! So that's why it just has the bare dowel ends poking out. Plus as you can see I hang yet more ribbon on them also!!

And this is how I store all my loose ribbon. In empty bottling jars!
So anyway, there ya go, my home-made ribbon storage thingy!!

Family Yahtzee

2009-05-30T06:20:00.000-07:00

This is a very cute idea. Family Yahtzee by The Thrifty Chick:

With Summer coming up and kids home from school, I thought I would post this fun game I made for my family a few years ago. We have a family night at our house every Monday night. Games are always a BIG hit with the kids! I decided I wanted to try and duplicate some of our favorite games, but make my versions a little more personal. The first game was Yahtzee!! It is really easy to do, but I will admit is a little time consuming (there is a lot of waiting going on in the process of making this game). But in the end it is worth it!!
Supply List:
5- wooden blocks/cubes, (These can be in any size you prefer. When I first made this game 3 years ago I used 3 x 3 paper cubes. It was fun that they were so big, but awkward to store the game) The cubes I used for this tutorial are 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" wooden cubes. I just purchased a 10 foot piece of 2 x 2 wood for $2.50 at Lowes and cut the amount of cubes I needed. (I don't know why wood is measured this way, they say the wood is 2 x 2 but the actual size is 1 1/2 x 1 1/2??) I did find these wooden cubes for a farely decent price on oriental trading If you want to buy some ready made.
Acrylic paint for the actual color of cubes you want (mine are painted in white)
1- 12 x 12 sheet of scrapbook paper in whatever pattern you choose
Mod Podge
3 sponge brushes
A container to store your finished dice/cubes in ( I just bought a small chipboard box with a lid from Michaels Craft store)
6 different pictures cut in squares
The first thing you'll want to do, regardless of where you get your wood is lightly sand all the edges so they are smooth, and then paint each entire cube with 2 layers of whatever color paint you choose. (Oh and I didn't have my box in this picture, but if you are going to store your game in a chipboard box you'll want to paint it also with 2 layers of paint at the same time)

You'll want to let them dry at least 45min to an hour, or until you know for sure they are totally dry. In the meantime you'll want to cut your patterned paper into the right size pieces to place as a background on each side of the cube. You will have 6 sides to each cube, and 5 cubes. So you will need 30 small squares of paper. How big you want them, is based upon how big your cubes are. (I cut my patterned paper into 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" pieces, so there was a quarter inch wooden boarder around each piece of paper.)

Next you'll want to spread 1 layer of mod podge onto one side of the wooden block and place a square of patterned paper over it. Making sure you rub all over on the paper pushing out any bubbles underneath it and sealing down the edges and corners. There was no rhyme or reason to what angle my patterned paper faced, it's just whatever floats your boat!! Once you have placed the paper on, you'll then want to paint a second layer of mod podge over the patterned paper, completely sealing it on. This is where the waiting begins. You'll want to do the mod podged pattern paper on all sides of the cubes. But you'll want to wait at least 5 - 10 minutes to let each side dry before placing it face down to do another side.
If you want to add a matching patterned paper game title to your box like I did, this is when you'll do the same process as the cubes. By painting one mod podge layer, then sticking your patterned paper over it, and then painting a final mod podge layer over your patterned paper.

All of the patterned paper mod podged to the cubes and now drying...

While waiting for my cubes to dry, I spent about 25 minutes picking out what pictures I wanted to use on the cubes and printing them. You will need 6 different pictures, and then each picture duplicated 5 times. I just used my Photoshop to line up my pictures and print them all on 1 page. (My pictures were 1 inch x 1 inch squared. You can cut your pics out any size you wish for your cubes. I wanted mine to be about 1/2" less than my wood size)

While editing and cropping my photos down to size, I used my round paintbrush in photoshop to add a white dot to the corner of each pic. I then assigned a number to each pic, representing the number the pic would be on the dice(cube).

Once all the mod podged dice were totally dry...

I then added my pictures to the blocks the same way I added the patterned paper. With a layer of mod podge, then the pic smoothed down, and a sealing layer of mod podge over the pic.

Again, you'll want to let the mod podge dry for about 5-10 minutes between layers and pics. After it's all mod podged you'll want to leave it drying on a cooling rack over night. And that's it! By the next day it should be totally dry and ready to play with!!

These are some pics of my original game I made a few years ago. I made them with cardstock cubes, so they didn't hold up as well, and they were really big so they had to be stored in one of these big plastic containers.

We only had 4 family members at the time and 1 family pic, so I just used the word Family as the last side of my dice.

I printed up my own game cards to store with my game. These are totally identical to the actual games cards that come with the game of yahtzee, just in a cuter font to go with my home-made game.

A close-up pic of the final storage box the game goes into..

A close-up pic of the final dice/cubes...

Obviously you don't even have to make this a family yahtzee game. You can personalize it with any theme!! It would make a great gift to a family member who loves games!! Whatever you decide to do, hopefully you will have as many fun hours enjoying your game as we have!!

P.S. So I was thinking that giveaways on blogs are just too stinken fun to not do them on a regular basis. I was thinking of my next giveaway to actually be one of these personalized Yahtzee games. Where the winner just emails me there 6 pics they want on the cubes and I make them a game? Is it cheezy? Or if I did this as a giveaway in a few days you would totally be interested??

Crafty Garden Markers

2009-05-24T19:04:00.000-07:00

I should make these w/ my kids. From Make and Takes:

We’ve just planted our summer garden and needed a few markers to label our vegetables. So we made these fun and easy foam garden markers that will make it through any rainy days and help us remember what we planted. And they also add a touch of whimsy.

Supplies for Garden Markers:

craft foam sheets
craft popsicle sticks
hot glue (for an adult)
scissors (kid friendly)
permanent markers

On the craft foam sheets, have your child draw the shape of the vegetable, try to use the same color of foam as the real veggie. Then have them cut it out around the drawn veggie, or you can cut it out for them. Also write the name of the veggie onto the front of the cut out shape. It’s good to write the words, giving them more exposure to reading.

For the adult, hot glue the foam veggie onto a craft popsicle stick and let them dry. Now they’re ready for the garden.

We also made some garden markers for my herb garden. But we used white foam squares and drew the picture onto that instead of in a shape.

These are going to help us remember what we’ve got growing in our garden, we’re just awaiting the spoils.

Chicken in a Pan w/ a Tan

2009-05-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

Yummy looking recipe from Little Birdie Secrets:

Emily from Freshly Baked by Georgie Tees is here today as my guest sharing a favorite recipe Chicken Divan… aka Chicken in a Pan with a Tan!

One of my favorite dishes growing up was my mom’s Chicken Divan, aka Chicken in a Pan with a Tan. This creamy, cheesy, broccoli-filled casserole has since become a family favorite in our home. Where did we get “Chicken in a Pan with a Tan?” Let’s just say one dinnertime rhyming game got a bit out of hand…trust me, the name was a lot longer than that!

Besides being a great way to teach rhyme, here are the other reasons why I love this dish:

It’s easy and I always have all the ingredients on hand
We always have leftovers my husband can take to work the next day
I have yet to hear of a child who doesn’t like it.
It makes a great dish for taking to a neighbor or family member in need.
The recipe doubles (and even triples) really well.
Cream and cheesy…need I say more?

But one of the main reasons why I love Chicken Divan is its sentimental value. I made this dish for my good friend when she was on bed rest pregnant with twins. I can still remember leaving it in the kitchen with a batch of homemade rolls, explaining to her husband that I’d added a bit of curry to the recipe and I hoped that was okay. The second time I made Chicken Divan for her was two years ago after she moved across the country. While visiting her I made it for her family along with a batch of my famous homemade rolls. It was like déjà vu only much tastier!

Since then she has made this recipe for her family multiple times as it is now a family favorite in her home as well. I am visiting her again next week and I’m sure we’ll be whipping up another batch of Chicken Divan—it’s tradition! Here’s the recipe with a few of my own notes and suggestions thrown in for good measure. Enjoy!

Recipe for Chicken Divan:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
1/4 to 1/2 cup milk (enough to make it creamy but not soupy)
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken
1-1/2 to 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/8 to 1/4 tsp curry powder or to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 package frozen broccoli (florets or chopped, your choice)
Cooked white or brown rice (I use about 4 cups)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13-inch pan or similar casserole dish. Mix mayonnaise, soup, milk, chicken, cheese, curry powder and pepper. Cook broccoli according to package directions. You can either layer the rice in the pan or leave separate; I prefer to layer. In greased pan layer rice (I use about 4 cups), then broccoli, then chicken mixture. Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes or until heated through and bubbly on top.

Post script:
For a family of six I suggest doubling the creamy mixture (mayo, milk, soup, cheese and curry powder) and using three chicken breasts. I prefer cream of chicken but if doubling I’ll often throw in a can of cream of mushroom so the cream of mushroom doesn’t get its feelings hurt. If you don’t like curry powder, leave it out. Instead try topping the casserole with grated Parmesan cheese! I use brown rice because you can hardly taste the difference and it’s healthier than white rice.

Make it even healthier by using low-fat or low-sodium soup and low-fat mayo. To make life super easy I buy the steam-in-the-bag broccoli florets. If it’s a smaller bag I use two for our family. They’re not as cost effective as my huge Costco-size bag of broccoli, which I also have in my freezer, but it saves on dishes and often saves my sanity.

For cooking chicken I love, love, LOVE my Pampered Chef Micro-Cooker pictured above. Just throw in 2-3 frozen chicken breasts (depending on size), cover with water and microwave on high for 20-25 minutes. Voila! No boiled chicken smell throughout the house!

Chicken Divan tastes best served with a side salad and homemade rolls. Perhaps I’ll have to do another guest post on Make and Takes and share that top-secret recipe with you!

Thanks, Emily. Oh my my, does it look good. Who can say no to all that creamy goodness. I can’t wait to make it! I love to know about those secret family recipes! You can see more of Emily at her blog Freshly Baked.

Stationery Box

2009-05-24T18:52:00.000-07:00

Very cute Stationery box from Little Birdie Secrets:

I found the cutest stationery box made by one of our readers and stuck it in my "to-do file" for later. Wouldn't this make a perfect Mother's Day gift? While looking for a pattern that I could link you all to, I found another blogger that actually has an awesome video tutorial showing step-by-step how to make this darling box. It's got pockets to fill with handmade cards, gift cards, and tags, as well as stamps and an address book. My favorite part is how they all coordinate!

Thanks to Stampin' Up! demonstrator Dannie Graves for letting us share her pictures and link to her video with you! She makes the whole project really simple. Isn't this a beautiful set?

Reader Tiffany Cordero, winner of our card swap contest and also a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, made these sets--LOVE the color combos!

You've still got 10 days until Mother's Day (or should I say only 10 days?). Either way, you have time to make this box and a bunch of cards. Your mom is going to love it. {You're welcome.}

Puppy Party

2009-05-24T18:25:00.001-07:00

Tara would like to have a Bolt birthday party. In case she keeps w/ that idea, I thought I should keep these ideas. Some would work well for a Bolt party. More from Design Dazzle:

Puppy Party
A puppy party theme is a perfect party for a combined boy/girl party. Depending on the ages of your child depends a lot on if they want to invite the opposite sex to their birthday party. What I found is in their early years they want all their friends invited. Late elementary school years they decide they don't want the opposite sex at their birthday party; then in the middle school/high school years they decide they want them back again:) Of course, every child is different:) This is a great theme for a first birthday "paw"ty.
Check into hiring an agency that will bring puppies to your party (kind of like a petting zoo but with puppies). Most children adore puppies – you'll be sure to hear lots of oohhs and aahhs!

Puppy Party Table Decor: I purchased stainless dog bowls from the dollar store - great for serving ice cream and cake! Dog bone cups are a must for a puppy party; when will you ever get to use bone cups at a party?

Dog Invitations are very important - they set the mood for a party! We all know that first impressions can make or break you - the same goes with an invitation. It's the first thing someone sees when invited to a party, so it's important to make the invitations as nice as possible. I made this invitation at home with striped card stock and a computer. Use a word program to insert puppy dog clip art onto a blank document. Type the wording and party details into the text box above the graphic and print.

Cake and cupcakes from here.

Puppy Party Theme - Food/Cake: If possible, have your cake or cupcakes match your party decor. Fun food to serve is a "dog bone" sandwich - cutout peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a dog bone shaped cookie cutter (purchased at wal-mart or craft store).

Dog Party Games:
Put the Dog in the Dog House Game: This game is a take-off on "pin the tail on the donkey" and was made with clip art and printed at Kinko's on a 3'x 2' vinyl. I purchased little card stock puppies (scrapbook store) and laminated them with clear contact paper. The kids loved this game!
Dog Trainer Says is another party game and is a variation of "Simon Says". Play this game like “Simon Says” and have the kids do dog tricks like: Sit, Stay, Rollover, Jump, Growl, Hide, Back-up, Play Dead, Bark, Turn around, etc.

More puppy party ideas for kids:

Face painting is always fun for little kids.

Whimsy-girl constructed a dog house out of a cardboard box - so cute with the roof shingles!

She also passed out sugar cookies (dog bone shaped) for the adult guests. More photos here.

Invitation from Design Editor.

Design Editor - "On the invitation: Guests were asked to "Join us for puppy chow and a howlin' good time!" The who, what, when, where turned into Come! Stay! Rollover! and best of all, "ARF" RSVP.

Directions to make easy dalmation dog ears hat.

Print your own puppy origami for free.

Personalized Blue Dog House Each

Instructions on how to make these cute puppy cake pops here.

How to Make a Balloon Puppy:

Party Pups Party Supplies

Dog Bone Crayons Party Supplies

Puppy Ear Headbands

Puppy Cookie Favor

Dog Bone 20" Pinata Party Supplies

DIY Fabric Memory Game

2009-05-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

This is way cute! It would be so much fun to have a memory game of family photos. This is another one from Design Dazzle:

Vanessa made a photo memory game of her children with fabric scraps; this is such a fun DIY project. Photos from here.

Instructions to Make This Game!
You’ll need:
18 digital images, sized at 2 x 2 inches (if you don’t have photo software, try shrinkpictures.com)
6 sheets ink-jet-printable fabric
Scissors
1 yard 36-inch-wide wool felt
½ yard 45-inch-wide printed cotton fabric
Acid-free glue stick
Sewing machine
Zigzag pinking shears

1. Print out two copies of each picture on photo fabric; cut out the image, leaving a white border around all sides so that you end up with a 3 x 3-inch square.
2. Cut wool felt into seventy-two 4 x 4-inch squares.
3. Cut printed cotton fabric into thirty-six 4 x 4-inch squares.
4. To make a tile, stack the fabric layers as follows: Place the cotton printed side down. Place two layers of wool felt on top of the cotton. Then center the photo fabric, image side up, on the stack. Before you sew, dot a bit of glue between each layer to hold all four pieces together without pinning (a pin might leave a hole in the photo-fabric layer).
5. Machine-stitch through the tile layers around the outline of the photo. (The bottom layers are a bit larger than the photo fabric, so it’s easy to keep all the layers lined up.)
6. Trim all the layers of the tile at once with pinking shears, leaving a narrow white border around the image.
Instructions from Hallmark.com

Under the Sea Birthday Party

2009-05-24T18:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a Fun Birthday Party idea from Design Dazzle:

Here's todays party:

Ocean "ONE" derland

I linked to Jennifer Gesch's blog through one of her comments posted on my blog and came across this adorable first year birthday party she created for her son. Isn't this ocean party the cutest? A whale or under-the-sea theme is perfect for a one year olds birthday party. Beach pails and shovels with goodies inside were the fun favors the kids took home. Each bucket had a tag that said, "I hope that you had a Whale of a Time!" The pod of blue whale decorations was made using Terra cotta pots, chenille sticks, wiggly eyes, foam, blue paint and a hot glue gun! Clever, clever! Here's the scoop from Jennifer:

"Each "whale cone" held Crunch 'n Munch that guests could carry around and snack on." Everyday Celebrating posted a tutorial on how to make popcorn cones.

"One of my favorite decorations from the party was the time line that I made using ribbon, scrapbook paper and glitter sea creature shapes that I found at JoAnn Fabric back in January. The time line showcases pictures from birth, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 8 months, 10 months and 1 year."

Jennifer designed the whale invitations - loving the wording of the invite.

Time capsule idea:
Jennifer asked guests to bring items to be placed in a time capsule that represent 2009 (the year of his first birthday). The time capsule will be opened on her sons 18th birthday. Love, love, love it! Thanks so much - Jennifer! Check out her blog for more ocean "ONE"derland party photos.

More under-the-sea party ideas:

Shark favors - photo from here.

Slide N'Splash Whale Pool

Shark Ring Toss

Intex Whale Ride-On

Have a pool? Or do you need a conversation piece (large whale) for your under-the-sea buffet table?

image from here.

Need a cute photo op? How about an under-the-sea submarine?

Under-the-Sea shark cupcakes - photo from here.

Under-the-Sea Cake - photo from here.

Princess Hat

2009-05-22T05:49:00.000-07:00

Since I know I will be having a princess party at some point in my life, I figured I should document this Princess hat from Skip to my Lou:

I was able to snap a shot of my daughter wearing the Birthday Crown yesterday, but she was hoping for something more girly and pink. This was all the pink felt I had and I was wishing for some hot pink tulle but she thinks her cousin will like it anyway!

I cut the shape out of a sheet of felt, making it as big as possible. Then I ironed interfacing to one side of the felt.

I embellished the outside by sewing on some felt details.

I cut 4 strips of tulle about 4 inches wide in different lengths. The longest was about 36 inches. Fold the felt right sides together and place the tulle in the middle with the end sticking out of the top. Sew as close to the edge as possible. Be careful to only catch the end of the tulle in the seam.

Sew a piece of elastic string to the inside at each side. Turn right side out and there you go!

Join Me For Some Fun!

2009-05-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Join me at the Palm Desert Craft and Crop for a weekend of fun, good food and crafting. I will actually be teaching classes on some of the fun things I have always wanted to make and finally have! It is at an amazing hotel and is sure to be lots of fun. Hurry up and sign up before it fills up! Hope to see you all there!

Oh yea...and the free give away...
I will be giving away one free class to one lucky winner. This is what you need to do:

Sign up for the Craft and Crop retreat by June 1st.
Post a comment on here about how excited you are for this event and letting me know that you have signed up.
Check back here on June 2nd to see if you have won.

See you all in Palm Desert!

Father's Day Card

2009-05-21T05:54:00.000-07:00

Once Apon a Holiday has a very cute Father's Day card idea:

My son brought this darling card home from school for Father's Day a few years ago.

You open it up and there is plenty of room to write dad a sweet note.

This card was actually really quick and simple to make. All you need is an 8 1/2" X 11" sheet of typing paper for the shirt and a scrap of paper for the tie.

Fold each side in to the middle.

Open up the page and fold in the bottom corners.

Again fold sides to the middle.

Fold bottom up (at the top of where the bottom corners were folded in). Slightly open back up the bottom fold. Fold area above the fold at an angle and push straight edge of first bottom corner folds out to form a point (it will be the shirt sleeve).

It should look like this when finished.

Turn paper over and fold down the top edge about 1/2"

Turn card back over and fold each top corner to the center.

Bring bottom of paper up to the top.

Tuck the bottom edge under the collar of the shirt and then crease the bottom.

Now for the tie. Cut a tie shape about 5 3/4" long by 3/4" wide and the top to 1" wide at the bottom.

Fold top behind at an angle about 2 " from the top.

Bring the top edge over the top and across the tie.

Now tuck the end behind the tie.

Glue the tie to the front of the card under the collar.

Decorate and you have an awesome card to let dad know how special he is!

Perpetual Birthday Calendar

2009-05-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

Very cute idea from Nanny Goat:

I gave some for Christmas gifts and they were a big hit.

I got this idea from a scrapbook store in Utah.
It's a fun way to organize your birthdays. It's a 12 month calendar and you just write the names of your fam and friends on their month/ day and fill the envelopes with cards to pull from when their special day comes.

What you will need:
*13-9x6 vertical white envelopes
*13 sheets of 12x12 scrapbook paper (its fun if you can find paper to fit the season or holiday of that month)
*ribbon to match paper
* adhesive
*Months and days printed on cardstock
*ink/ chalk for edges (optional)
*2 book rings

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Cut out your scrapbook paper 5 1/2 in. by 8 1/2 in. and a piece to cover the flap (you may want to trace the flap and make a pattern to trace for all of your pages) Ink edges if desired and add ribbon with glue dots or staples. Glue the papers to 2 envelopes so that as you turn the pages the paper and month line up with the flap opening at the top (refer to the pics).
2. Cut out Months and glue to flap. I used a pop-up glue dot on the first letter of the month to add more dimension.
3. Cut out dates, ink, add any ribbon, and glue to paper,
4. Hole punch the bottom of envelopes (you might want to finish all of the months first and put everything in place before you punch any holes, just to be sure that it flips correctly) and add book rings.