Craftily Ever After

New blog I found the other day, Craftily Ever After (such a cute blog name!).  She has a ton of cute stuff posted already. 

A few of my favorite things:

Halloween printables. 

 

 

 
This gorgeous wreath.  What’s it made of you ask.  Just this old lace cardigan.  NEVER in my life would I have thought to make a wreath out of my old clothes – brilliant. 

 

 

 
And this not so Halloween, but extremely cute, chalkboard picture frame.  Refurbished from a Dollar Store frame.  Love the frame, and the flower, but also the idea of using it to mark each month of your little one’s life. 

 

 

And last but not least, an UNO Birthday Party!  Too bad my little girl is already past her first year mark, but my next child will be having an UNO Party for their first birthday. 

Fall Pillows

I am lov-ing these two pillows made by Gwenny Penny.  I think one, if not both of them will be my next sewing project.  And they are both fallish and not too Halloweeny that I could leave them out until Thanksgiving!

 Pumpkin Pillow by Gwenny Penny

 

 
Tree Pillow by Gwenny Penny

Just For Fun

Today because it’s Friday.

Because I chased after the Garbage Truck trying to explain that we’d forgotten to put out our garbage can!  We’re new at this whole living in a real house thing.

Because The Two Year-Old, oh that loveable little bug!  She’s learned to wiped her mouth on her shirt, and she’s wearing pumpkin socks and ladybug pjs. 

I thought I’d share some things that have made me chuckle today.

 

 

The Pioneer Woman is featuring funny photos over at Pioneer Woman Photography.  These were two of my favorites!  I had no idea cats could make such facial expressions. 

 

Brian Regan ALWAYS makes me laugh!

 

So true!

 

And last but not least, these aDORable candy bracelets!  I am making one for The Two Year-Old and one for me!  {Found @ Eighteen25}

Dollar Store Cupcake Stands

I originally stumbled across this idea here at According to Kelly.  I knew that I just HAD to make some to use at my daughter’s birthday party.  I LOVED them SO MUCH that I left them out for a week after the party!  I LOVED them even more because they were CHEAP and EASY.  Two things that are musts in my craft book. 

 

{Supplies}

candle stick holders
plates
spray paint
super glue

I trucked my butt to the Dollar Tree to pick up supplies.  I got four clear glass candle holders and one painted ceramic squarish candle holder.  Instead of spray painting silver trays, I got already brightly colored plastic plates (seven plates, three green, three pink, and one polka a dot pink).  I also bought the stickiest strongest glue,  Super Glue Fix-All Adhesive.  Don’t worry, just because it dollar store glue, it is totally awesome.

I then headed to Wally World and got some cheap white spray paint. 

 

{Steps}

I proceeded to go spray paint crazy (Confession:  I’ve never spray painted anything before.  And now I’m hooked).  I spray painted my candle stick holders perfectly matching white. 

Wait not so very patiently for the paint to dry . . . .

Supplies painted and ready to be assembled. 

 

Began experimenting with different stacking combinations. 

  
I liked this one with three plates and four candle stick holders (two put together on the base), but was worried about stability. 

 

I also liked this one with one plate and two candle stick holders.

 

This one provided stability and lots of room for food. 

 

The square candle holder with the polka dot plate.

 

 
Ultimately I choose to do two two-level trays using the four glass candle stick holders and one one-level tray using the pink and white plate and the squarish base. 

 

Time to glue pieces together. 

 
Glue, let dry, use heaviest objects you can find in your pantry to help dry.  Repeat if doing several levels of trays.  On the second level, I turned the candle stick holder upside-down, to provide more room for food on the green plate.  

 

 
TA DAAAAA!!!  The finished products!  I love them!  Everyone at the party wanted to know where I bought them and were shocked to find that I made them myself!!  And everything, but the spray paint (which was a buck at Wal-Mart), came from the Dollar Store!  The two taller pink/green stands were $4.00 a piece and the pink polka dot with the square base was $2.00! 

 

 

 

 

Blue Blueberry Finger Paint

Have you ever tried yogurt finger paint.  Sort of like when you use pudding, but it’s so much easier because you don’t have to make the pudding first.  We tried it today, and it was a complete success! 

 

Supplies needed:

Yogurt (I ate our last vanilla for breakfast, but blueberry worked ok since I planned on making it blue anyway)

Food coloring

Paper

 

Mix food coloring with yogurt, just a few drops will do.  Too much will dye things blue that you don’t want to permanently be blue. 

 

Use your fingers to paint away!  Makes a fun tasty treat after you’ve finished your masterpiece!

 

Original idea found here at Make and Takes. 

FREE Photo Book at Picaboo

I know that this is a little bit of late notice, but I have been busy making my own photo book! 

 

 

 

Head over to Picaboo, sign up, and receive a free book - large hard cover, 20 page, photo book, worth $30.00, all you have to pay for is the shipping. 

I am so excited to get ours!  But you have to hurry because, the free code expires today!

National Watermelon Day

We love watermelon around here.  Love it.  It is one of the things I most look forward to in the summertime. 

So in honor of National Watermelon Day I have two treats for you. 

First the funny.  Cake Wrecks is also celebrating NWD and had some pretty wreckariffic cakes (and as always funny commentary).

Second the practical.  About a month ago I learned the coolest way to cut a watermelon from a friend.  I was going to diagram it all for you but found a great video at allrecipes.com. 

So enjoy a big juicy slice today in commemoration of NWD (we did). 

Stuck In My Head

Do you ever see something and it just gets stuck in your head.  I have a few crafty/baking projects that I can’t stop thinking about.  I wish I had a reason to make them . . . The only reason I can come up with is my little one’s birthday is coming up, but I’m not sure they tie together . . .

 

Project #1

Found via Edible Crafts

Tutorial HERE over at Woman’s Day

Cutest cake I’ve ever ever seen!

I reminded me a lot of these cupcakes Bakerella did a while ago. 

 

Project #2

Again from Bakerella, what can I say the woman is a genius! 

She posted about these Cake Pops a few weeks ago and I have been obsessing over them in my mind since then. 

 

 

 

 

So what theme could I use for a two year-old girl’s birthday party in a month that would let me use these great ideas?

Follow The Prophet

I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We believe that there are living prophets on the earth today that receive revelation from God.  Every six months, in April and October, we hold a Semi-Annual General Conference . Church members can attend the conferences in person in Salt Lake City or tune in via TV, radio, or internet. 

For those of you who will be tuning in to Conference this weekend there are a ton of great ideas to get the whole family involved!  All of us are either too old or too young to use most of these, but I can’t wait til the young ‘uns get old enough so we can start some General Conference traditions. 

The Church has a ton of great activities for children of all ages. 

Including the ever classic Conference Bingo, or in this case Conference Squares. 

 

Have you ever been to Sugar Doodle.  Some times I find it a little confusing, but I found a few different cute activity books for different ages.

An apostle coloring book for younger kids.

And a great book for older kids with tons of fun activities. 

 

And last but not least, The Creative Homemaker shares her weekend plans.  Their theme is “C Stands For . . .”  She made this awesome plaque and has a tutorial so you could make one too!  It could work for all kinds of letters and pictures. 

I {Heart} Cake Wrecks

Not the “craftiest” blog around, but so hysterical!  I can’t believe the funny things they find!  What you may be asking is a Cake Wreck?  “A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places.” 

If you need a good laugh, go now, and check it out!  Here are a few of my favorites:

 

Really just makes me wonder who was these people’s teachers?