Flower + Stripe Coasters

I had a ton of posts to share for Mother's Day but as usual...family life has caught up with me. I have so many ideas that I jot down in the notes section of my phone that never see the light of day.  But this is one that made the cut.  I wanted ideas for Mother's day that could be done last minute. And I get to combine my love of stripes and flowers. Win-win.

Decoupage and Painted Milk Bottles

Oh my sweet goodness!  Pinch me I'm dreaming because I'm beyond stoked to be a Creative Team Member with the one and only Eighteen25 Girls! Whaaaaaat?  These girls have been a blessing to me for years and a constant encouragement and source of inspiration. I shared this project a few months back but wanted to share it here as well.

The idea for these pretty bottles came from perusing Pinterest one day and seeing a picture of some pretty spray painted bottles that I am pretty sure were decoupaged with some cut out flowers.  It was one of those times where you whiz by something while scrolling Pinterest on your phone and then poof...you can't find it again. It seemed simple enough so I decided to just try it with scrapbook paper I had on hand and some old Starbucks iced cappuccino bottles that I bought just for the bottles and not the drink. :)

cupcake liner cookie pouches

Y'all. 

I have wanted to try this little idea for like a year now.  I have been obsessed with cupcake liners for like ever.  They are so pretty but when you actually bake with them, they end up washed out and faded so the presentation falls kinda flat.  I know about the ones that stay vibrant but I cant find them as easily with all the pretty designs. Soooo...I  buy them and hoard them. Then I thought... 

cupcake liners + cookies = ♥

I think it's a match made in baking heaven. 

"Shot Through The Heart" Rice Krispie Treats

As Valentine's Day approaches I have been having some fun with little craft ideas specifically centered around my kiddos.  My hubby and I definitely love the romantic thing but having little ones, we make Love Day a family affair. So these little treats are sure to delight any kid who receives them.

Build an Ice Cream Snowman From A Jar

Hey Y'all! Did you catch the first half of  mason jar crafts yesterday by some incredible bloggers? Well today we have the second half of us revealing our projects. I decided to do a fun jar for kids to make a "Build An Ice Cream Snowman Kit."  How fun is that?

Apple Pie Kit + Printable

I'm praying you are not sick of the apple pie thing.  I promise today is the last day of all things apple pie.  But this one is short, quick, and super cute.

I have a thing for putting things in a little kit.  It makes ordinary things cute.  It's true. So this super easy apple pie kit would make a great teacher or hostess gift this fall.

Tinkerbell Party Favors

How bout how I came back to blogging and then just left again?  Seriously, I have the best intentions to stay consistent but there is this thing called LIFE that keeps me adjusting my priorities and blogging always gets kicked to the curb.  I am feeling like eating, clean clothes and house, driving my kids to VBS, planning and being present in my girl's life and birthday parties (instead of blogging about them) take precedence. But it's hard to balance it all.  Can I get a witness?

But when school starts in September, I am thinking I will have more time. No, really I mean it. After meal planning, laundry, cleaning, shopping, homeschooling...I will get to it when I can. :)

So Ella's astronaut party came and went. Did I take pictures?  Not a lot unfortunately.  We had a blast though and it hurt my heart a little that my Ella turned 5. Still young but definitely not my baby anymore. Now it is two weeks later and we are planning Cati's 7th birthday with a Tinker Bell party. So I am being intentional to share as much as I can with you.

Today I just got finished with the party favors for the girls. I thought it would be cute to gift her little girlfriends with some glitter nail polish (like pixie dust!) in little burlap bags. I made them from burlap garland and I have a tutorial for that here. This time I just made the bags a bit more narrow to fit the little nail polish bottles in there.

Decorate A Cupcake Kit

It's a happy, happy day!

Today is my birthday...yay!

(I'm 37 in case you were curious)

I love birthdays.  I love parties. I love celebrating.

With that in mind,  I came up with the perfect way to celebrate someone. 

Wouldn't you love to get this little cupcake in box? I mean, how stinkin' fun would it be to find this sitting on your desk at work or if your little one opened their lunch at school and found this waiting for them? Here's how I did it...

Fathers Day Gift: Stamped Washer Keychain

Today I am going to share with you this little project that is probably a familiar one. Metal stamped washers is not new to most but it was the first time I tried it.  I needed a quick gift to get in the mail to three sets of grandpas and for my hubby.

Casually Elegant Thanksgiving Tablescape

Sooooo...anyone still with me out there?  I always feel like I come back to post with a bunch of excuses for why I am so haphazard with blogging.  All I can say is...I will blog when I can.  I love blogging and I pray I always will keep up with it.  But for now...this season of my life is calling me to focus on managing my home and being available to my girls. Blogging is no longer a full time aspiration for me but a wonderful hobby where I hope I can continue to foster old relationships and make some new ones too.

So I am thinking a nice seasonal post with some Thanksgiving inspiration (a tad last minute) was a GREAT idea. And tablescapes are my heart and why I don't do more of them on here...I just don't know.  

Probably because I have like 2 hours of optimal sunlight to do it and I am usually knee deep into something else during peak photo shoot time. Which is why I LITERALLY dragged my dining room table through two french doors to my porch to take these photos.

Pretty Packaging: Tags & Clips

My packaging loving heart has been craving to make some pretty stuff.  I was hoping to have this post ready well before Mother's Day but as good plans always go...I am posting it now.

I have been working for a few weeks on my craft studio/homeschool room.  Cleaning and organizing has helped me find supplies that were crammed in the bottom of baskets and other nooks and crannies. It made it fun to take a crafty break and make some of these.

I used unfinished wood tags and bobby pins with other little paper scraps and random craft bits to make sweet little clips and tags.

I especially love glassine and paper bags for gifts and thought these bobby pins would make such cute and different ways to wrap them. Tiny buttons, crochet flowers and a pom pom glued to the end of each painted bobby pin make easy and pretty bag clips.

A little crochet flower with some distressed and painted bobby pins make a simple bag clip.  Wrap with some fun twine and you have a simple little bag closure.

Decoupage paper to the wood tags to pretty them up and glue a clothespin to it to hold your message.  It makes them reusable and adds a unique touch to a gift.

Use washi tape to add a cute flag or attach a  note. Glue a binder clip to one and make a mini clipboard! So many ideas for simple little tags! Attach a clothespin to the back to clip to a gift or bag too!

You can make them like little dry erase boards by laminating them or covering them with packaging tape before gluing them to the wooden tag.  You could do this with regular paper but I like that the wood keeps them from getting bent and will last longer.  Write a message with a dry erase pen and you have a reusable tag to pass along!

I love playing with pretty packaging.  Enjoy the ideas and hope to see you again soon!

Blessings my sweet friends!

D.I.Y. Burlap Bags + Mason Jar Favors

Hey sweet friends!  

Ready for more tablescape fun?

Today I have a simple tutorial to make burlap bags to cover mason jars along with some wood circle tags.

I have seen photos of pretty flower arrangements wrapped in burlap and I loved the idea for little favors for my table.  But I imagined me wasting more burlap then necessary and got very sad. I remembered I still had some burlap garland lying around from another project and found it to be the perfect solution.

And it ended up being crazy easy!

Here is what you need to make these...

Burlap Garland (found in the wreath section of a craft store)

Mason jars (size optional)

Twine

Natural Wood Circle tags (Or buy those unfinished wooden tags like these)

glue gun

scissors

 

First, I laid a mason jar on the strip of burlap to size the bag.

Then I folded the burlap over until it was slightly higher then my jar and cut.

I did this for all of them at the same time and just used the first piece to measure the rest.

To make the bags, I went for my glue gun.  I actually glued both sides at the bottom first so I knew how to line up the sides. This stuff can shift on you pretty easy.

Like this.

Then I glued the rest of the way up on each side being careful that it adhered because it is so thinly woven. 

Trim the top to make it straight and cut loose fibers.

Now you have a bag!

I placed my mason jar inside all snug and cute!

Next...Wood Circle Tags.  

I made these from a branch from my yard during the fall and had a bunch left over.  I simply sawed off the circles and drilled holes in each one.  I used alphabet stamps for the names of each guest at my table.

(that's me!)

Using twine, I threaded the two ends through the backside of the tag to the front leaving a circle of twine in the back to put around my bag covered jar.

After slipping it over the top, I pulled the two pieces to tighten it and tied a bow.

You end up with really sweet and pretty favors. 

(I added tulips which are my favorite flower)

And of course, you can use the bags in other ways... 

Fill them with goodies and tie them off with ribbon, twine, a clothespin, or unique clip.  

Package a small, handmade gift. 

Make a longer bag to present a pretty bouquet of flowers. 

Wrap it around a candle or potted plant. 

Gift some organic, whole bean coffee or scented soaps.
May Day flower gifts

So many uses! 

Obviously, they are porous so use them wisely (like don't pour ground coffee in there...hahaha!) 

But I think they are so fabulously versatile.

  Pretty easy bags for a pretty presentation. 

What do you think?

Love and hugs to each and every one of you!

♥

Pretty Skewers for Yummy Treats!

Happy Good Friday my sweet friends!

This day is a precious one as I ponder what my Savior did for me on this very day.  I think of Him confronting death in the face, being rejected by His Father, and suffering tremendous pain. 

And He did it willingly.  For me.  And you. 

I am in awe of His love.

So I do wonder how many of you are actually reading blogs on this often busy weekend.  But I came up with a really cute, last minute Easter favor for the kiddos or the kid at heart.  

These DIY Wood Skewers are made simply by painting and gluing wood beads on the end.  

That's it!

 You need pastel paint (or any paint of your choice), paintbrush, glue gun, some wood beads (preferably unfinished), and some bamboo skewers. 

OK.  So don't laugh.  

I could not figure out a simple way to paint these without smudging or spinning them. So I stuck two wooden beads on either side of a Q-tip to paint them.  I pulled off some of the cotton until I knew it would fit but snugly. Then I dried them with a hair dryer.

That's right people.  We can find craft supplies in the loo.

 After the beads are dry, I put a little hot glue inside the wood bead and them pushed the blunt end of the skewer in and held it a few seconds until set.

Aren't they pretty?

Now make some Rice Krispies Treats.  

I personally could eat a whole pan with no regret.  I love them!

Now just cut out some small squares and put your sweet kebabs together!

I topped them off with a mini marshmallow, (so they would not poke an eye out or through the bags) wrapped them in cellophane, and tied them off with baker's twine.

A great treat for family,  neighbors, friends, or a homemade treat for the Easter basket. 

You could even dye the marshmallow pastel colors to make them fun and colorful. Or shape them like eggs or flowers or whatever.  I was all about easy today. :)

I hope you enjoyed this and that you enjoy the precious time of Easter.

Hugs and so much love to each of you!

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Philippians 3:10-12

A Pretty Baby Shower

Happy Sunday y'all! 

 It has been a jam packed week over here with all the baby shower planning.  But yesterday was the day and we had such a lovely time.  So I just wanted to share some of the fun things I made to put this party together. I don't have a lot of photos because playing the hostess makes it hard to pick up a camera.

My friend Laura made these amazing cupcakes...they are SO GOOD! And I love that the cupcake picks were really tall.  I like the look.  I made them from a curtain panel I thrifted and some buttons.

I know you have seen me do a paper doily garland before but maybe it is still exciting since I added buttons? Hmmm...

Yes.  Yes, I believe it is in fact thrilling to see a paper doily garland and now with added buttons.  

I made this with bakers twine and double sided tape.  So easy.  And I used what I had on hand to cut costs too.  Thrifty and thrilling.  Oh yeah.

 

This was the only decent shot (even with an arm in the pic and looking a tad overexposed) I got of the embroidery hoop art hung over the fireplace.  Thought you might want a peek. :)

This is my BFF opening my gift to her. I am smitten with this diaper/messenger bag from the etsy shop, ikabags. I love, love these bags and I am so getting one for me! Here are some of my favorites...

Stripes make me ridiculously happy.

The shop is from France so you will pay extra for shipping but the quality of these handmade bags are amazing!  I love them and wished I owned about 10 of them.

Now back to other party details...:)

I made these cards for all the guests to write a prayer, blessing, or well wishing for the baby and Kelly. They are made with scrapbook paper and embellished with bakers twine and buttons.  I had so much fun making these!

I found the frame on the side of the road ready for the trash during a little ride to look at Christmas lights back in December. Since my arm is still weak, I had my husband do the work of sanding, painting and adding the chicken wire to the frame. Then I just hung the cards with little wood clothespins.

Here are a bunch filled out.  Aren't they so pretty like this?

The favors waiting by the front door were 4 oz mason jars filled with sugar scrub.  A friend and I put these together and made two batches to fill 24 jars.  One batch (doubled the original recipe) was 5 cups of sugar, 2 cups of olive oil, and 8 tablespoons of lemon juice. I got the recipe from Stephanie Lynn over at Under the Table and Dreaming. Her original recipe makes 12 oz so we just doubled it to save time.

I would have tied them up with string and pretty labels but with around 22 women there, I was just plain done in!  And I figured the pretty tops were enough. :)

So happy I got to share this with all of you wonderful friends.  

Have a fabulous day!

P.S. Sometime today or tomorrow, check out sweet Kimberly's blog who will be doing a series on parties all week.  A great bunch of bloggers are sharing tips and tricks and I think some of my ideas will be included today.. 

Go check it out!:)