DIY Halloween Craft Idea

I'm not much of a seasonal decorator. I find that although we moved into a house, we just don't have the space {and honestly, the funds} to change up our decor based on the holiday or season... however, that doesn't mean that I don't like to spruce things up a bit if I can find easy-DIY tutorials for craft projects that are either cheap enough to toss when the season/holiday ends... or it's small enough and easy to store.

I came across these three simple BOO-tastic DIY projects via Better Homes and Gardens and thought I would share with you all, just in case your mentality is like mine when it comes to seasonal decorating.

This craft is quite easy, only needing a foam cone, black and pink {or any color of your choice} silk flowers, and a piece of cardboard for the brim.  For full instructions, head over to Better Homes and Gardens.

Another super easy DIY craft.  You'll need a couple of picture frames, black card stock, the free printables found on Better Homes and Gardens, a printer and some sharp scissors.

This one might be the easiest of the three.  Pick up some standard pillar candles and hot glue beads, pearls, rhinestones or beans into the shapes of the letters, then stack on candlesticks of varying heights. Voila - you've got yourself some BOO-rific candles!

Do you have some fun DIY fall or Halloween projects that you do each year?

DIY: Date Night Coupon Book

I'm a true believer that every relationship needs a little romance and a little spark to stay on the right path.  And if your relationship is anything like mine, that romance and spark depends on woman in the relationship {my boyfriend's not super romantic}.  With that said, I knew I had to share these adorable DIY date night printable project from BijouxBride.  These "coupons" are perfect for anyone who leads an uber busy life, or is dating/married to a person who's schedule is always crazy!




Making these little date night gifts are super easy, too - and all of the printables are made for you already {there is even a blank printable so you create your own ideas}.  Head over to BijouxBride to check out what items you need and how to make the pretty envelope and papers, along with the link for the FREE printables.


What are fun things you and your man or woman do for date night?  Are you a planner do you prefer spontaneity?

DIY: Diaper Motorcycle

Back in May I attended (and helped host) a baby shower for my boyfriends brother's girlfriend, Shawna.  The shower was on the smaller side with about 10 guests, most of which were older women {grandma's, aunts, grandma-to-be's friends... plus a few cousins who are having kids of their own. And me.}.  Because the shower was being hosted at my boyfriend's cousin's house, with most of the guests from out of town, we didn't do much decorating {gasp, I know!}.  With that in mind, I wanted to make something super cute as a centerpiece and focal point for the party - so I found some directions here for a Diaper Motorcycle.  I chose to make this as part of my gift for Shawna for two reasons - 1. The daddy-to-be is head over heels {literally} in love with BMX biking {and he's really good at it!} and 2. They were going with a monkey theme for their nursery {perfect for a BMX biker's kid, right?}.

This was actually quite easy to make... you just have to have patience!  I will give a quick overview of what I used to make my diaper bike, but please head over to the web site I used for more detailed instructions and photos.

Materials:

- 2 cloth bibs {you don't want plastic or they won't form to the wheels like a hubcap}

- 3 receiving blankets {I used 2 blankets to connect the wheels and a burp rag for
  the handle bars}

- 1 4-oz bottle

- 1 wash cloth

- 1 stuffed animal

- 1" ribbon {used to wrap wheels when complete}

- Linking rings {you can find these in the toy aisle of Target, Walmart or at Toys R Us
  I'm sure}

- Diapers {this is where it gets tricky.  The site told me to use 70, but they used size
  2 diapers.  I ended up using 36 because I was using size 1-2... it just scaled down
  the size a bit, which worked with my stuffed animal, anyway}

- Additional toys/clothes that you want to add to it {the site said to use socks as
  part of the handle bars, I actually bought some wrist rattles and used those
  instead}
- Rubber bands

I was going to bring your through step-by-step instructions, but because I don't have a visual to show you for each step, and because I think the web site does a great job detailing what to do, I suggest you take a look there. 

Have you made a diaper motorcycle before?  How about other types of diaper cakes or items as a gift or decor for a baby shower?  We would love for you to share them with us!

DIY: Pom Pom with Cupcake Liners

I love the look the pom poms on a pretty candlestick holder.  I also love a good DIY project that's not too difficult and requires only a few suppliers.  With that said, it's really no wonder why I just adored this DIY tutorial on Kara's Party Ideas for a pomander made using cupcake liners, pins, a styrofoam ball and a hot glue gun {and a pretty little candelabra if you choose to display your pom that way}!




If you're interested in this super easy and inexpensive DIY tutorial, head over to Kara's Party Ideas for the instructions!

DIY: Crafter's Lazy Susan

What do you do when you find an adorable product that you find just a bit too spendy to splurge on - well, find a way to do it yourself!  That's what The Crafters File Box decided to do when she came across a highly priced lazy susan on Pottery Barn Kids - $49 to be exact (I can't link to the photo as the original post was back from 2009 - I don't think PBK carries the item any longer).



This adorable lazy susan from The Crafters File Box cost a mere $11.50 to create, using a lazy susan from Ikea and little pails from Target's dollar section!  To see the full tutorial on making this crafter's must-have product, pop over to The Crafters File Box and check it out!

Fun and Easy DIY Project - Cupcake Flower Toppers

I love anything that is fun and easy and comes out looking fab...  Usually you can't use all of the words together - but I promise, with this project featured on the Icing Designs blog, you can!

I love the idea of using cupcake liners to create a cute little flower. Icing Designs uses these as an alternative for cupcake toppers in their post, but I think they could be used for so much more than that!  These would be perfect for little flowers at a each place setting with a cute little name card, or cute little flowers on a simple dessert table (in lieu of real flowers... or in addition to), or even for a mini garland to display around your party space (anyone else envisioning these to create a mini garland for the guest of honors chair??).  Seriously, there are so many fun little ideas for these - I think of them as mini versions of the tissue paper poms/flowers... everyone needs a little mini in their life sometimes, right??

So are you wondering how to make these little gems?  Head over to the Icing Designs blog to get the directions!

Valentine's Treats

Valentine's Day is less than a week away, so it's time to start thinking about what treats you want to make for the holiday of LOVE!  Here a few of my favorites (including the recipes) from Martha Stewart:

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Directions from Martha Stewart

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Recipe from Martha Stewart

What recipes are you favorites for Valentine's Day?  Do you have a tradition for you sweetie - perhaps it's making a home cooked meal together... or a night of drinks and desserts?  Maybe it's a fun day for you and the whole family, or you and your kids do something for you hunny... Whatever it is, we'd love to hear about it!

Christmas Idea for Family Friends

Gifts for a family can always be so tricky to buy or put together... but this idea from Disney's Family Fun web site is great - plus it's a fun activity for your whole family to make together.

Source

There are a couple of different ways you can put this Gingerbread Family kit together - a) purchase the gingerbread men from your local supermarket, or b) make the gingerbread men by scratch.

If you are interested in making your own gingerbread men, here is the recipe found on the Family Fun site:

Ingredients:
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup molasses

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, ginger and baking soda.  In a separate bowl, cream butter and brown sugar with electric mixer.  Add eggs in one at a time, then mix in molasses.  Slowly add in the dry ingredients, beating after each addition (the dough will become stiff).  Divide dough in half, shape into disks and wrap in plastic.  Chill for 1 to 2 hours until dough is firm enough to roll.

2. Heat over to 350 degrees.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece of dough to a 1/8- or 1/4-inch thickness.   Use a 5-inch gingerbread man cookie cutter to cut the dough and use a spatula to transfer the gingerbread people to an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool completely.  Repeat until remainder of dough is complete.


To assemble kit, line a plastic container with tissue paper and add 4-5 undecorated cookies.  Also include white decorators frosting, M&M minis, Cinnamon Red Hots and shoe string licorice in with the cookies.  Or add whatever ingredients you like to use when decorating your cookies!  When everything is packaged together, add a cute little tag and bow and get ready to deliver the family their gingerbread kit!

If you are looking for other quick and fun ideas for Christmas gifts to make with your kids, head over to the Disney's Family Fun site now!

Homemade Christmas Idea

Last week I was sitting at the car shop waiting for my car to get finished when I came across this super cute idea for a homemade Christmas gift.  I thought this would be a perfect gift idea for a teacher, hairstylist, grandparents, neighbor or as a hostess gift {honestly, you could give it to anyone!}.

Source

Who doesn't love hot chocolate on a cold winter's day??  Why not pair some yummy hot chocolate with these yummy chocolate dipped marshmallows??  These 'mallows are such a fun spin on the traditional dipped marshmallows you see around party land.  To make these sweet treats, simply insert a straw into a marshmallow and dip into melted chocolate.  Let the chocolate "cool" a little, then dip into red sprinkles while chocolate is still slightly soft.  Your gift recipient will love having chocolate marshmallows mixed in with their drink... and a straw to drink it with!

**Another cute idea, instead of a straw use a peppermint stick - nothing better than peppermint flavored hot chocolate!**

Source

While your marshmallows are cooling, why not make some homemade hot chocolate mix to go with your chocolate dipped marshmallows?  Better Homes and Gardens provides a great recipe to create your own hot chocolate mix.  All you have to do is package all the goodies together and your friends and family are bound to think you're the sweetest thing since, well, your sweet Christmas gift! :)

What are you favorite homemade Christmas gifts to make??

Simplest DIY Place Card {and I mean SIMPLE}

If you have a large family like I do, you know seating at the dinner table for holidays and family get-togethers can get hectic.  I found this simple, but fun place card idea on the Rachael Ray site and thought it was adorable... and cheap... and like I said already, SIMPLE!

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Seriously... easy, right?  Most guest like dinner rolls, so hey, they'll already have one in their spot - one less thing to pass around the table(s)!  Make cute little cards that match the theme of the event your hosting, and VOILA - you have your place card!  How fun would it be to create the little place cards for the kid's table!?!

Halloween Dessert Table - Thanks to Target

Are you loving the idea of dessert tables {I know am!} at you parties?  Are you perhaps a little nervous that you can't afford to dress up a table like you see on other blogs {I know I am!}?  Have you ever heard of Target? If you answered yes to any of these question then this post is just for you!

Shauna Younge, a Minnesota-local who does amazing work with creating dessert tables, designed an awesome Halloween dessert table using items that only came from Target - including the food and decor!  Her post includes way more details about how she created the desserts, as well as transforming everyday items to match the Halloween theme!

Both those lovely black cake pedestals are from Target.  The light ghosts atop the white cake are created from regular and miniature marshmallows. Cute, huh!

The 3 and 1 jars are also from Target.

The favor bags are created using two brown sandwich bags; shred one bag and place the other non-shredded bag inside and fill with goodies {easy peasy!}.  See those skull and bones - yep, those are white chocolate made in ice cube trays - brilliant!  The brain cupcakes are just normal cupcakes with butter cream frosting and a frosting tip.

It's kind of hard to see, but the dish that the chocolate bars are set on is just a butter dish painted black {those cute wrappers were also created by Shauna Younge!}!   The dish used to hold the jellybeans is a gothic goblet!

These lovely invites were designed by Bethany Hway

To read more about how Shauna designed this inexpensive, yet super cool, dessert table, head over to her blog Sweet Tooth.  While you are there, stop and swoon at her other dessert table inspiration!  If you're interested in viewing more photos, stop by the Emily Steffen's blog {she's the great photographer of all the photos shown above}.

Link Love: Envelopper Inc.

Sorry I've been MIA lately - these past few weeks have been just crazy (I know, I know, people say that all the time... but seriously, it's true!).  Is there anyone else out there that's just a little bit glad that summer is finally coming to a close and life can get back to being not so crazy? I am.  I mean, I'm not happy to see the warm weather go, but all the things that come with, I must say I'm a little happy {but just a little}.

Anyway, back to the regular scheduled post.  Today while at the library I came across the book "Stylish Weddings for Less: How to plan your dream wedding on a budget".  I must say - it's a good book to reference for any bride!  Now, let's get this straight - I am NOT married, nor am I engaged to be married {yet}.  However, with wanting to start an event's business, I'd like to include weddings in my "expertise", so I brush up on as much knowledge as possible! (PS - if there's any of you readers out there have any suggestions on books or web sites you find inspiring, I'd love to read them!  I'm a huge fan of reading!)  So while reading this book, I came across their invite section.... and I must say, I'm loving invite design right now, too, so I wanted to check out some of these letterpress artist and other invitation designers.  I came across the company Envelopper Inc.  They have some great stuff on their site for any person who is looking to design and assemble their own invites, RSVP cards, programs, favors and even printable templates - all in one place!  Below I've selected a few of my favorites, so if you have time, go check out their site!

This is one of many templates you can use, free of charge, at Envelopper Inc.

I'm loving the color scheme of this one!

Gorgeous purple floral pattern

Simplicity is always a good thing!

How adorable are these baby announcements!

I love the way this announcement is folded

The holidays are just around the corner!  Why not send these to your friends and family?

Like I mentioned before, all your paper needs under one roof, or at least at one web site. Go check out Envelopper Inc. now!

Loving this idea: Custom coloring books and crayons for the kiddos

Remember when you were a kid and the only thing you had to look forward to when going to a wedding was the cake and dancing (or was that just me?!?)?  Or how about being an adult and being at a wedding or event where all you hear is kids crying and screaming?  As a hostess for any event, if you're inviting children to attend you should always be prepared for boredom. Let's face it, most kids aren't going to enjoy sitting through a wedding ceremony... an event speech... or anything not having to do with cake or dancing - so why not try to make it more enjoyable for them?

I found the great idea of supplying custom coloring books and crayon sets in your wedding or event colors on the Stephanie J Design's blog and had to share it!  Why not try and occupy those kiddos attention with this fun activity (when I was growing up, my church provided this as an option to my parents... what a great way to keep me quiet during those sermons!)









If you are unable to create these yourself, the Stephanie J Designs team will package the 4-pack of crayons in a cellophane bag and wrap in a ribbon color of your choice.  Head over to their blog to view more details about how to order... and check out all the other fabulous ideas and inspiration they have to offer!

Bridal Shower DIY: Towel Cake

A few weeks ago I attended the bridal shower for my best friend from high school, whose wedding I'm in tomorrow, actually!  Because she had a smaller registry, I wanted to get her something different than just the ordinary toaster, blender and cookie sheets (besides, those aren't as fun to buy anyway!).  I wracked my brain for ideas (along with the internet) and came up with what I was going to do - make her a towel cake.  After figuring out the colors of her bathroom (she told me it was Pittsburgh Steelers colors - which if you aren't a fan of Football, they're black and yellow... which is one of my favorite color combos!). I set out to buy the necessary items - bath towels, hand towels, wash cloths and ribbon.  I added in some coasters with the initial of her soon-to-be last name, some linen spray in different scents and some room freshener.

Finished towel cake including accessories

Towel cakes are super easy to make!  I totally didn't think to take step-by-step pictures, so hopefully my instructions are understandable (if not, there's some videos online to check out!)

What you'll need:

- 2 bath towels

- 2 hand towels

- 2 wash cloths

- safety pins

- ribbon that coordinates with your color scheme

How to create each layer:

Largest layer: 

1. Fold each bath towel in thirds.  Then fold in half.  

2. Connect end of one towel to end of the other towel, use safety pin to keep two connected.

3. Starting at one end, carefully roll the towel as tightly as possible, making sure the top and bottom are level.

4. Now you can either: a) safety pin towel together and tie ribbon around towel roll   or   b) simply tie ribbon around towel roll sans safety pin.

Middle and top layers:

1. Fold each hand and bath towel in half.  Then fold in half again.

2. Repeat steps 2-4 above.

Once the layers are complete, accessories with any extras you'd like!

Have you ever made a towel cake?  Looking to make one?  Stop by and show it off... I'd love to see how it turned out!

Pink Ribbon Dessert Table

As some of you may know, I'm running a 5K the end of September to benefit the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (my grandmother was diagnosed in January with Multiple Myeloma).  As soon as I found out I wanted to do something to show my support - initially I wanted to put on a benefit for her, but soon realized that was something I should wait to do until she was in remission. Then I came across the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundations Race for Research and decided that was the perfect fit for the time being.

I'm happy to state that my grandmother is in partial remission and doing great!  The doctor gave her the go-ahead to spend the winter in Arizona - which is great since Arizona is so much nicer than Minnesota to live in during the chilly winter months.  With that said, I've thought about hosting a benefit, or a "YAY! You're in remission party" for her when she returns.  I'd like to a host silent auction or raffle with all proceeds going to benefit the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (Multiple Myeloma is a form of bone cancer that is treatable, but not curable.).  I'd love for this event to turn into a yearly event, gradually growing each year - Minnesota doesn't have an event like this for this type of cancer, and I think an event like that would really expose what Multiple Myeloma is to the state, and even surrounding states.

OK, so with all that said, I came across this pink ribbon dessert table on the Hostess with the Mostess blog quite a while back and thought how awesome it would be to have something like this at the potential event I want to host for Multiple Myeloma, although the color associated with that type of cancer is Maroon... but we can mix and match!



















I just love the simplicity of this table... but it looks so great.  I also love that it's all easy DIY projects to obtain this look - lots of ribbon, paper, embellishments, and easy but pretty dessert selections!  For more information on the DIY projects and to learn how this fabulous dessert table was put together, head over to the Hostess blog here.

What fun and easy DIY tips do you have for a dessert table?  Any fabulous but relatively easy recipes?  I love dessert buffets, I think they add an extra special element to every event!