chalkboard pumpkin
October 16, 2012 § 4 Comments
I am trying out some new Halloween projects this year, and here’s one of them. Such an easy craft, I spray painted a pumpkin with chalkboard paint, embellished with black ribbon and a spooky bird, and wrote my message with a chalkboard pen. This cool countdown-to-Halloween pumpkin is going to look perfect on my front porch!
spooky signage
October 8, 2012 § 2 Comments
I don’t know how it went so fast but another year has flown by, and I’m back around to the start of my absolutely favorite time of year and crafting season. From Halloween to Christmas, I’m full of project ideas and in the perfect mood to curl up in my house cozy and crafting. This time last year my friend Stacy and I began our obsession with making banners, and we started with our awesome Trick or Treat Halloween banner. Stacy even inspired a few more of her friends to join in, and she hosted a craft night for them a couple of weeks ago. We both had fun coaching but, of course, needed our own new project to tackle.
This BOO sign idea was at our Ben Franklin Crafts store. We “Modge Podged” Halloween papers on each of three wooden plaques and stained the rims of the plaques black by sponging on stamping ink. We used more Modge Podge (I love this stuff!) to attach the die cut letters and seal the top, and then we hot-glued on some cool embellishments. Getting the plaques – strung together with ribbon – to hang straight down is a little tricky, but the finished project is the perfect size for a door. The creative wheels are spinning, and I’ve got several more fun Halloween projects in mind (not to mention a Greek Goddess and a Cindy Lou Who costume to work on for my girlies). Now I just need to carve out a bit of time from my busy life to get busy crafting, and I’ll be a happy girl!
washi tape
September 13, 2012 § 3 Comments
With my girls back in school, I’m starting to find more time for myself and am happy to be able to craft. Last week I visited one of my favorite stores, Ben Franklin Crafts, to scout out the cool new supplies that had filled the shelves over the summer. The most noticeable addition was washi tape, something that was already on my radar but that I can never have enough of. Washi tape is made of Japanese paper and is similar to masking tape, but much more beautiful. I’ve been using it for a while to embellish cards and tags and to pretty up wrapped packages. I love stacking a few tapes, like layers of a cake, to decorate a birthday card or cutting smaller pieces into little flags. Washi tape used to be hard to find but now it’s everywhere, so try some the next time you need a little crafting pick me up. These tiny tapes make a big impact.
bottled memories
July 15, 2012 § Leave a comment
On vacation, we love to pick up souvenirs – nothing fancy, just little trinkets for us and the children in our close-knit friend group. It feels good to bottle some of our fun vacation vibe and share it with those we love. And as for me, my favorite home decor is the bits of nature – shells, driftwood, etc. – I’ve gathered from our adventures. So from this, our first trip to Maui, we found cool shell necklaces for all the kiddos, and I collected sand; displayed in glass spice jars from Cost Plus World Market, these new bottled memories make me happy.
a birthday luau
June 26, 2012 § 3 Comments
This past Sunday, my sweet Sophie turned 8, and we celebrated with a birthday luau. It had been weeks in the making and, like all my girls’ birthday parties, I had so much fun putting everything together. For this party, I covered the house with pink, yellow and orange paper lanterns and flowers and crepe paper. All the little girl guests were adorable in their leis and grass skirts; they had a blast decorating their own flip-flops and learning “The Sophisticated Hula” from a hula instructor. They dined on fruit skewers and carrot stick shots (carrots cut up and served in tiny glasses with ranch dressing), individual lemonades in pink sugar-coated bottles, cupcakes and “fish food” (goldfish and swedish fish). She and her friends had so much fun, and the party continued well into the night with an official after party for family and close friends. It was an amazing day. And the best part: my sometimes shy Sophie was completely out of her shell, laughing and living it up. Seeing her like that made me so happy.
summer notebooks
June 20, 2012 § Leave a comment
Like I’m not crazy busy with a million little things already: school finally wrapping up, my Sophie’s birthday luau on Sunday, dance recitals, teachers’ gifts, etc – but for some reason, once I got this latest craft idea into my head, I couldn’t let it go. So for the last couple of nights, I’ve stayed up late putting together Summer 2012 notebooks for all the kiddos in my life. I found the blank books at Ben Franklin and “Modge Podged” on some great summer-colored papers. I used the Cubicle 12×12 Take Note paper from Studio Calico, stamped with my title, for the covers. They were so simple and, once I got going, I was able to put them together quickly assembly line-style. Now they look perfect, wrapped up in baker’s twine and ready to be given away.
I always loved blank books and journals when I was a little girl and, even today, a new notebook gets me giddy – I always keep a couple in my purse for when inspiration strikes. I am happy knowing that the little ones in our life (my girls and all their friends) will have their own special books to document this summer. Life moves fast, and I don’t want them to forget a moment.
luau invitation
June 5, 2012 § Leave a comment
I’ve been busy around here finishing up the invites for our next birthday party: a luau for Sophie’s 8th. The invitations are my favorite part of putting together a party, and this invite idea began with me trying to make mini leis using baker’s twine and some paper flowers. They were pretty, but I couldn’t quite pull the look together so I ended up stringing the flowers across the top with the twine and secured a couple more with jeweled brads at the bottom. Beautiful coordinating papers I found from the Ambrosia line by Bo Bunny tied in perfectly with the party’s Hawaiian colors.
As usual for her parties, Sophie had a definite opinion on the invitation’s design and especially the wording. After several tries, together we came up with our sweet little poem, and now she can’t stop reciting it. We are getting excited for our little sister’s big day. I’m having fun planning for the delicious food, perfect party favors and even a hula lesson. And as for the decorations, I’ve got a great idea for a new banner and a some cool arrangements with paper flowers and lanterns that I’ve seen on Pinterest – I can’t wait to see how it all comes together. The anticipation is so much fun!
welcoming summer
May 25, 2012 § 2 Comments
With the long weekend, it officially feels like summer around here. Ever since our Halloween banner project, my friend Stacy and I have been in production mode making banners for most of the holidays. And just when I was beginning to get tired of repeating the same design, my favorite craft store Ben Franklin got in fresh supplies. In addition to their other banner-making embellishments, Paper Accents is now selling extra-large chipboard pennants and, as is usually the case at my Ben Franklin, one of the employees had made a sample inspiring me to try my own. I combined some pretty blue and yellow papers and buttons from My Mind’s Eye and made flags to string across the top from my collection of Washi tape. I love the results: a cool new banner for the front door to welcome guests – and summer – to our house.
teacher gifts
May 8, 2012 § Leave a comment
It’s Teacher Appreciation Week, and we are so lucky that both our girls have wonderful teachers! I can’t believe how old the girls are getting. I remember when they were little and I had them to myself; I knew all the stories and tidbits that made up their day. Now it’s their teachers who get them all day, who witness the stories and are present for the tidbits. For all that precious time they spend with my girls and for all the important things they do for our family, I wanted to thank them.
It’s funny sometimes how an idea comes together. I have been thinking about making paper strawberries since before Easter when my friend Stephanie sent us some paper carrots she had made, filled with candy. I thought it would be so cute to package a few paper berries up with one of the stoneware farmer’s market baskets that I love at Anthropologie. Several times I tried to cut and fold paper to get a strawberry shape, but just couldn’t get it right. Then a couple of weeks later when I was in Florida, I made a trip to Violettes Scrapbook Store, a great shop I never miss when I go home for a visit. As I was checking out with some new stamps and Copics, I happened to glance down next to the register and spotted a little scrapbook paper basket filled with paper strawberries. I was a little (A LOT) excited and, with the help of the crafty lady behind the counter, made a quick job of taking one of the strawberries apart to make a template. My gift idea was realized: I made strawberries for each basket and added a little sign with wording I’d found on Pinterest. Voila, a sweet way to tell the teachers how much they are appreciated for everything they do.
little things i love 