Get out your wallets! Awesome website ahead!!!

Thanks to my S-I-L Julie, I have been introduced to an awesome website that focuses on personalized gifts. Since being introduced about three months ago, I have used the site to purchase two wedding gifts, a godmother gift, a godfather gift, a First Communion gift, and this adorable Easter basket for Claire. Wook at da toot widdle name stitched onto the bunny's eaw!!!

I am so excited to have been introduced to this site, and it is certainly making my life so much easier when it comes to buying for family and friends. They also always have some sort of promotional sale going on where you can take a decent percentage off of the total, and if you participate in the MyPoints program, this site it supported by it, as well! Here are two pictures of the super cute photo album Claire got for Christmas, which, I might add, she is OBSESSED with!

Bunny Gift Bag

     I have to be honest in saying that I have NOT been in much of an Easter spirit this year, which is a shame, since its my little one's first Easter, but it just doesn't feel like Peter Cottontail is hippity hoppity on his way (or however the tune goes). This may be partially because of the fact that Easter has come so early this year, but the majority of my melancholy-ness is because it is SO FLIPPING COLD and DOESN'T FEEL A BIT LIKE SPRING!!! Yes, I know that I live in Pittsburgh, PA and that cold is to be expected, but its almost April, and I am declaring a legit breakup with Mother Stupid Nature!!!

     Aaaand, now I will carefully step down from my soapbox and get back to the point. The weather has (finally) been warming up a bit, and I am actually starting to get excited about Claire's first Easter (and not a moment too soon, since its on Sunday), so I present you with a simple, quick, and inexpensive gift bag for Easter goodies. I simply bought white gift bags (2 for $1 at my local dollar store, HOLLA! Yes, folks, I did, in fact, just say holla, and I am not ashamed!) and used white cardstock and scissors to cut out bunny ears and bunny feet and pink cardstock to cut out the insides of the ears, nose, and paws. Using double-sided tape, I stuck all of my pieces on accordingly, used a permanent marker to draw on a mouth and eyes and put my little gifts and tissue paper inside. This would also work for a classroom project, egg hunts, or gift bags for an Easter party! And speaking of gift bags, here is a sneak peak at the gift bags for the kids attending Claire's panda-themed, 1st birthday party! In case anyone is keeping track, she will not be 1 until July 1st, but I love an excuse to throw a themed party filled with craft projects, so BACK OFF!!!

HAPPY EASTER, FRIENDS!!!

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Easter Treats How To: Chocolate Chicks

My aunt just sent me the instructions for these sweet (pun very much intended) little Cadbury egg chicks, courtesy of A Mummy Too. As if Cadbury eggs weren't amazeballs enough on their own, now you can turn them into cute lil' Easter-themed creatures! PS-these could also be penguins for a penguin-themed party or classroom unit (but I'd highly recommend making them around Easter time, 'cause if you're anything like me, those Cadbury eggs will never make it to the freezer to use for a later date, nah-mean?). Thanks, Julie, for bringing this delicious idea into my life!

HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE CHICKS

INGREDIENTS

-5 Cadbury Creme Eggs

-1 pack of orange flavour chocolate buttons (from the baking aisle)

-6 squares of cooking chocolate

-2 packs of white chocolate buttons

-2 packs of milk chocolate buttons

-1 black writing icing pen

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Melt the cooking chocolate and get a clean teaspoon ready

2. Turn a clean, empty mug or bowl upside down (this bit’s important!)

3. Place two orange buttons side by side on the upturned mug/bowl

4. Using the teaspoon, put a small blob of melted chocolate behind the two buttons, where they meet

5. Stick a cream egg on top, pointy end up

6. Using the melted chocolate as glue stick on:

          -Two white chocolate buttons for the eyes

          -One orange button, cut into a triangle for the beak  
           (keep the leftover pieces)

          - Two milk chocolate buttons for the wings

          -One milk chocolate button for the tail at the back

7. Draw the pupils on with the icing pen

Allow the chicks to set and then free them from the bowl by turning it right way up again and filling with a little boiled water – carefully pull on the chick after a few seconds and it should come off whole.

Lookie What I Found!!! Panda and Penguin Beads!

While walking through my fave store (ok, so I have a lot of "fave stores," sue me!), Hobby Lobby, I found the cutest glass beads!



How flippin' cute are these penguins???





So stoked about these panda beads, too!





Since we are planning a panda-themed party for Claire's first birthday, I am particularly excited about the panda beads! Aaaand, since Pittsburgh is represented by the best hockey team on earth, I look forward to rocking out some penguins jewelry to support them in the very near future! Here are the pendants and earrings I made thusfar:





Pendants-I added noses and beads to resemble bodies to the pandas. The penguins were perfect on their own!



A panda pendant and matching earrings I intend to wear to the party

  



Taking orders, if anyone else wants!

Mustache Duct Tape Journal

Here's a very simple project that requires three materials and takes about 10 minutes to complete.

Materials:

-Scissors
-Duct Tape (any design...How awesome is this mustache one?!?!?)
-journal (could be a blank journal like the one I used or one you'd like to re-cover)

Instructions:

1. Beginning on one edge of the journal, measure duct tape at a length just longer than the journal itself. Fold the excess tape onto the inside of the journal.
2. Repeat the process until reaching the spine of the journal.
3. Cover the spine of the journal with duct tape, cutting off any excess at the edges
4. Repeat steps 1 and 2 on the opposite side of the journal

TA-DAH!!!

$4 Dollar Tree Craft-Magnetic Room Sign

As most of you know (or have read), I am OBSESSED with The Dollar Tree and using random objects I find there to create fabulous crafts! Here is a tutorial for a magentic room sign using Dollar Tree items totalling $4!! Eat your heart out, crafters on a budget!

Materials:

-Metal serving tray-$1
-magnetic letters (x2)-2 for $1 special
-fabric, pencil holder-$1
-ribbon-$1
-glue gun/sticks
-felt scraps
-scissors

Instructions:

1. Using a glue gun, glue the ends of a 5" piece of ribbon to the back of the top of a metal serving tray for hanging. Cut out and glue small, felt pieces on top of the ribbon ends.

2. Hot glue the pencil case to the bottom of the serving tray so that the zipper of the case faces the wall when hanging

3. After creating a message with magnetic letters, zip the remaining letters in the pencil case for future use!

Dry Erase Activity Placemat



Dry erase activity mat on one side



Placemat on the other



   

 With five nieces and nephews, I am well aware of how a trip to a sit-down restaurant of any sort can easily become a parent's worst nightmare if there is nothing for their child to do. Hence, this project, where I have transformed a placemat into a dry erase activity mat and board. Children can fit their favorite activity book, coloring pages, or the activity menus that some restaurants give out inside of the plastic sleeve and use dry erase markers to complete and then reuse them. And in case none of those items are available to you, it can simply be used as a dry erase doodle mat. Oh, and I didn't even mention the best part of this project...it cost me a total of $5 using products found at my local Dollar Tree!!! Love that place!



Materials:

 

-plastic folder-$1

-placemat-$1

-ribbon-$1

-children's activity book-$1

-dry erase markers-$1

-Exacto knife

-glue gun/sticks

-scissors

-1/4" elastic-2 pieces, cut into one 1-1/2" piece and one 2" piece

-paper clips

Instructions:

1. Open the plastic folder and separate the clear plastic from the folder pockets by using an Exacto knife to cut along the middle seam (Note: Don't fret if the middle seam looks a little sloppy or uneven, as you will cover it up eventually!). Discard middle pockets

2. Lay the plastic sheet on top of the placemat and cut off edges of plastic to make the same size

3. Using paper clips, align and clip the plastic sheet and placemat together.  Fold the pieces of elastic in half and paper clip one to each vertical side of the placemat between the two  layers (use picture for reference).

4. Sew layers together along the edge using a zigzag stitch

5. Using a low-temp hot glue gun, glue a piece of ribbon down the center of the plastic seam (Note: Hold the plastic layer away from the placemat so that the layers do not potentially stick together)




A sample of a completed activity

 


Use an extra napkin to easily erase your work!









Bon Appetit!



Dry erase activity mat on one side

Fabric Bow Ties

It feels as though this project was completed ages ago, as it was one of my "crafts to complete before baby" way back in June for my nephew Royce's first birthday, which just happened this past weekend (and allow me a minute to just brag that he is the sweetest, most adorable one year old EVER)! Pics from his "mustache bash" party to come! Anywho, here is the first of two projects for my sweet little nephy! Happy birthday, Roycey! We love you!!!!!

I found the BEST tutorial on creating simple, fabric bow ties.  Here are pics of some I made myself, along with the link containing the directions:

Sock monkey bow ties for my nephew and his daddy (if he can be convinced to wear one!) Stay tuned for the matching vest!

Use a clip-on earring clip to attach the bow tie to any shirt...Genius!



Another pair of fabulous bow ties



Here is the awesome link I found!

How To: Toy Car Holder and Felt Road Roll Up

Here is a project I have been wanting to do for a while! My nephew, Royce turned one in September, and, while his motor skills may not quite be prepared to play with this to its fullest extent, I think its a gift he will love, not only now, but even more so down the road. It is certainly a gift I think his parents will appreciate, as its easily transportable and can be used in lots of different environments and situations. I have seen projects similar to this, but I wanted to fashion something that could hold a few more cars than what I had seen, along with a much bigger area in which to "drive." Here is how to make your own:

Materials:

-blue felt

-yellow felt

-sewing machine

-black felt

-double-sided, fusible web (I used Steam-a-Seam Lite)

-ironing board/iron

-green felt

-white felt

-brown felt scraps

-pinking shears

-scissors

-toy cars (7-8)

-craft glue

-8" elastic

-needle

-thread

Directions:

1. Cut out a piece of 18" x 36" blue felt

2. Using black felt, cut out pieces of road to adhere to blue felt (I cut out a piece at a time and placed it on the blue felt to determine how much space I had remaining for additional pieces)

3. Trace each piece of road onto fusible web. Cut out and adhere to road pieces. Align road pieces onto blue felt according to where you would like it to be permanently located

4. Set iron to "wool" setting and follow the directions of the fusible web to adhere road pieces permanently.

5. Cut out a 3" x 18" yellow felt piece and align on the bottom of the blue felt. Pin the yellow and blue felt pieces together along the edges

6. Sew along the edges where pinned.

7. Measure and pin every 2 1/2" of yellow felt. Sew 7 vertical stitches where pinned to form car pockets.

8. Cut out small, rectangular pieces of yellow felt to form the dashes on the road. Using craft glue, adhere felt.
9. Using pinking shears and scissors, cut green and brown felt to create trees and bushes. Adhere along the road and surrounding area using craft glue
10. Cut cloud shapes out of white felt and adhere using craft glue.

11. Using pinking shears, create a sun out of yellow felt. Adhere in top corner of blue felt using craft glue.
12. Allow about an hour for pieces to dry
13. Loop a 12" piece of elastic and hand stitch both ends to the bottom of the second pocket

14. Place toy cars into pockets, leaving the middle pocket empty

15. Fold the car holder/road in half vertically and roll toward the elastic strip

16. Stretch elastic around rolled felt piece

This project shared with the following awesome blogs and websites:

Tatertots and Jello, Be Different, Act Normal, Cheerios and Lattes, i heart nap time, Flamingo Toes, Skip to My Lou, Sew Can Do