Halloween Tulle Wreath

Hello Everyone!

The holidays are everywhere!  Stores, homes, Pinterest, fellow blogger's sites!  Everywhere you turn, everywhere you look, cute holiday decorations.

Also, I keep seeing all these easy and inexpensive tutorials for creating holiday wreaths.  While surfing the Internet, I came across this quick and easy tutorial on how to create a tulle wreath and thought, mmmmmm, why not.  So here are my steps on how to create this Halloween Wreath.  If you would like to see the original tutorial on how to make the wreath, click here.


Materials Needed:
14 inch straw wreath - $2.47 at Wal-mart
8-10 yards tulle fabric, that I had in my crafting stash (or you can use the 25 yards or 100 yards tulle roll found at Hobby Lobby or at any crafting store)
3 pack Glow in the Dark Spiders - $1 at the Dollar Tree
1 spool of 9 yards wire edged Halloween ribbon - $1 at the Dollar Tree
Spool of "Jewelry" wire for tying up the spiders and the banner (hot glue works just too)
BOO Banner - $3.99 at Hobby Lobby (minus 40% with your coupon) - $2.39
Wreath Total Cost:  Cheap and Inexpensive!

I started by folding out my tulle to straighten it out.  Before actually getting started, I tested out a few pieces of different lengths of tulle around my wreath to make sure I had the correct length when it was time to tie it around my straw wreath.  I cut my tulle 15 inches for length by 4 inches for the width.  You can go shorter, longer or wider depending on the size of the wreath that you have.

I cut several (15 inch length) pieces of tulle at a time.  I then wrapped them around a piece of cardboard the size of the width of tulle (4 inches wide).  If you are using the rolls of tulle from Hobby Lobby or any crafting store, you can keep the width of the tulle the way it is and just cut out the length.  This step is a lot faster, by the way.

I then cut both sides of the tulle that was wrapped around the cardboard.

I used clothespins to hold the tulle on one side after cutting.  This step is really not needed, if you are using the rolls of tulle.

Once, I had the tulle cut out,  it was time to wrap and tie the tulle around my straw wreath.  There are many ways of tying the tulle it just depends what works for you or what is easier for you.

As you can see I did not remove the shrink wrap from the wreath.  By keeping the shrink wrap on the wreath it made it easier for me to wrap the tulle around it without it getting caught on the straw.  If your straw wreath has no shrink wrap on it, you can wrap a layer of ribbon on the wreath first, before the tulle, if need be.

The next step was to start tying the tulle around the wreath.  I am not sure what the name of this knot is but you start of by crossing the tulle as if you were tying your shoe lace.   After, the first twist, you do a second shoe lace tie and you now have a knot.

Continue in the same process until you have covered your entire wreath.  This may take a while depending on how much time you have to tie knots.  I kept all my knots going in the same direction and to one side.  Be careful to tie the knots nice and tight.  The tulle for some reason seemed to stretch a little and seemed to be loose in some areas.  It took me approximately 3 nights (I only worked on it while KayC slept).

Back View

Front View

Here is the completed wreath covered in tulle.  If you notice there are some sections of tulle that seem to stick out.  You can just take your scissors and trim them to match the rest.

I then took the wire-edged ribbon and created a bow.  I measured out about 10 inches of ribbon (with a little extra for the hanging) and began folding the ribbon on top of itself back and forth, back and forth 10 inches, until I ran out of ribbon.  I then took a piece or wire and wrapped it around the center of the folded ribbon and tightened it.  I then proceeded to open and arrange all the folds until the bow was finished.

Now came the fun part, putting everything together on the wreath.  The arrangement of the add-ons took a couple of tries until I finally got it right.  To attach the bow, I took a piece of the same black tulle and passed it through the center of the bow and knotted it exactly the same way as I did with the rest of the tulle.  To attach the spiders and the BOO Banner, I used beading "jewelry" wire and just wrapped it once around the spider and tied a know on the back.  You really can't see the wire once you hang the wreath.

Here is a picture of the finished wreath.  I removed one of the spiders and replaced it with the BOO banner.  I then took a longer piece of the black tulle and used it to make the hanging ribbon.  My wreath is now ready to go on my front door!

Post a picture of your creations, I would love to see them!  Happy crafting!

Magnetic Travel Game

Hello everyone!

While out shopping for cool Halloween/Fall bargains, I came across these cute and girly Magnetic Dress Up Dolls for just $1.  $1!  I couldn't let this bargain pass me by so I bought two sets for KayC.  I found the magnetic doll sets at Dollar General in the toy section.  The set included 19 magnetic pieces to play dress up.























When I got home I opened up the magnetic doll sets and showed them to my daughter.  She loved them!  It was so easy to change outfits on the dolls and add accessories.  When it was time to put them away, I realized where am I going to store these without losing any pieces?

While going through my craft supplies, I came across this magnetic tin box that I had bought a while back at Hobby Lobby with my 40% off coupon.  The tin box was $2.49 minus 40%, I ended up paying only $1.49!  The tin box was the perfect size to hold the magnetic doll on one side and all her accessories on the other.  Also, I thought, what a great way to store them and a great way to take the doll anywhere (car ride, grandmas house, out to eat, doctor's visit) without losing any pieces.  Yay!  A "Magnetic Travel Game" for only $2.49!  Well, actually $3.49, because I bought two sets of magnetic dolls.

Hershey's Candy Bar Wrapper

Hello Everyone!

Candy!  Who doesn't love candy?  With Halloween just around the corner, candy will be everywhere.  It is a great treat to have around the house and enjoy once in a while (or everyday, lol) and a great treat to give to friends and colleagues.

A few years ago I got interested in creating candy wrappers after I gave them out as wedding favors at our wedding.  I originally ordered them from a lady around my neighborhood.  After looking at them, I realized they were easy to create and set out on a task to make my own.  I originally created the template using PowerPoint.  It was not an easy task but I was successful in creating a template.  Over the years, I continued to search for an easier way to do this and I think I finally found it.

Adobe Fireworks CS5.  Yes, yes, I know Fireworks is not an easy program to use (nor cheap - cost wise), but after playing with it for a while I found an easy way to setup templates and add images and create a candy wrapper.

Below, I have included some of the templates that I have created.  Feel free to download and print.  Make sure that when printing you select Scale and set it to 100%.

Materials Needed:
Hershey's Candy Bar (Normal Size)
Candy Wrapper Template
Foil Paper
Glue

Putting together your Candy Bar:

Print out and cut the candy wrapper template.  Cut out a piece of aluminum foil paper big enough to wrap the entire candy (do not open the candy bar).

Fold down the edges of the candy bar, then wrap the piece of aluminum foil paper over the original candy bar wrapper (just like if you were wrapping a gift).  You may have to cut the aluminum foil paper with scissors to be the right size.  Fold the aluminum foil paper into place.  No glue or tape needed, the aluminum foil paper will stay in place.

Take the candy bar wrapper template and wrap it around the aluminum foil wrapped candy.  The candy bar wrapper template should overlap slightly at one end.

Add a thin line of glue to the overlapping side of the wrapper, making sure that you don't get any glue on the aluminum foil paper.  Apply pressure to glue the wrapper around the candy bar.  Let dry.

Front of the candy bar

Back of the candy bar

Your candy bar is ready to give away!  You can pass out the candy bars just like that or you can put them in a candy bag, basket or put it inside a nice halloween decoration (the pumpkin is a votive candle holder purchased at the craft store for $1.00).

Here are some of the templates that I have created.  Click on the link to open the window, download the file and then select print.  Make sure that when printing you Scale it to 100%.
Back to School Template 1
Back to School Template 2
Back to School Template 3
Happy Halloween Template 1
Happy Halloween Template 2
Happy Halloween Template 3

Images from:
backgrounds.picaboo.com
Free Disney Clipart
http://www.mrkolber.org

5 Petal Flower Bow

Hello everyone!

Today I am going to attempt to show you how to create a "5 Petal Flower Bow".  That is not the correct name for it I know, but I am not sure what the proper name for it is so I will just call it that.

Original Bow

We originally purchased the bow for my daughter at one of the carts at the mall (a little overpriced if you ask me) but cute anyways.  Excitedly I took it home and pulled it out of the bag to try it on my daughter and discovered that the button on the center had fallen off.  :o(  So off I go to look for my glue gun to glue the button back on, to discover that I have enough ribbon to create this bow and many more.  Mmmmm......  So here is my attempt at making the bow.  Let's get started.

Materials Needed:
1 inch ribbon cut into 5 - 3 1/2 inch pieces
1 alligator hair clip
lighter or Fray Check to seal ribbon ends
glue gun
needle
thread (color to closely match the ribbon color)
center piece (button, rhinestones, bottle cap, or any other cute item to put on the bow center once the bow is finished)

Instructions:

Collect all your materials and make sure that you have sealed all the ends of the ribbon pieces.

Take one piece of the ribbon and fold over and hold secure with your alligator clip.  It kind of looks like a backwards 7.  The fold over section is a little bit less than the half mark for each piece of ribbon.  You may have to try this several times before getting the exact mark.

After folding each piece of ribbon like the backwards 7.  Hold the ribbon in your hand at the 7 fold and remove the alligator clip.  Take the top part of the backwards 7 and fold down to make both ribbon ends meet, making sure that both ends meet exactly.  If both ends don't meet, you will have to go back and redo the backwards 7 fold until both ends of the ribbon match exactly.  This part will be the hardest part.  Once the fold over is done your ribbon will look as if you have created a small triangle tip and a little puffy.  This fold will create the tip of the petal.  It will take several attempts until you feel comfortable with the fold.

Front View

Sorry about the difference in ribbons.  My other photo did not look very good (I don't think this one does either :o) I will try to take another shot, sorry).

Back View

Take your thread and needle and double thread it, making sure you have enough thread to sew through the 5 petals and to tie a knot.  Take your first petal (piece of ribbon) and stitch along the bottom of the ribbon with your needle and thread.  Make sure that if you have a ribbon with different colors (like mine) you created all your petals in the same color direction.  I made that mistake and did not realize it until I put them together with the thread.  I had to take it apart and refold them.  Thread all 5 petals together until you have one string with all of 5 petals.

When you have stitched all 5 of the petals together, pull the thread slightly making sure the thread does not break.  The reason for the pull is to make sure that all 5 petals are close together and you have a little bit of a gather in each of the ribbon pieces.  Connect the first and the last petal and pull the thread again.  Take the needle and thread through the first petal to make sure that it will not come undone, connecting your first and last petals and forming the flower.  You have now created your 5 petal flower.

2 other flower bows I created.

You are now ready glue the alligator clip to the back of the flower and add your center piece.  Make sure that when you are gluing you alligator clip you place something between the two parts of the clip so that it does not glue it self together.  You can cover your alligator clip with ribbon if you like to give it a more finished look.  I ran out of ribbon for covering my clips, so I just glued it bare.

Here is the finished look of my 5 Petal Flower Bow.  Hope you all were successful in following the steps.

Please share pictures of your finished 5 Petal Flower Bows.

Thumb Print Characters

Hello all!

 Today I decided to work with ink stamp pads with my daughter to create some cute characters.  Of course, we played around a bit first, got all messy and then we were ready to stamp our fingerprints.

Her thumb print

My thumb print

After the thumb print was done, I added a few ink marks and voila we have a thumb print apple!  I drew a small shape that looks like a thinned out triangle for the stem and on oval shape with lines going across for the leaf.  Of course, her thumb print looked a little bit like a pear shape but we still called it an apple.  She had a lot of fun playing around with an ink pad and creating all these little dots on a page.

To make the apple

Her thumb print apple

After creating the apple we continued playing a bit and this is what we came up with, a bumble bee.

Her thumb print

To make the bee

Her thumb print bee

I thought these were really cute.  I was thinking of working on a few at a time and maybe creating a thumb print character for each letter of the alphabet, put them all together and we have a quick and easy  alphabet book!

Resources: 

Ed Emberley's Complete Funprint Drawing Book

Pins on Pinterest with lots of ideas for thumb prints:

http://www.squidoo.com/Ed-Emberley-Thumbprint-Art

http://artfulparent.typepad.com/artfulparent/2011/04/thumbprint-art-three-ways.html

Pillowcase Dress

Browsing through the Internet I came across this cute dress tutorial and thought to myself, mmmmmm I can do that.  It looked very simple and easy.  It was very simple and easy to do but, it took me some time to complete because I could only sew during my baby girl's nap time.  I followed the instructions for the "Elastic Casing" dress.  The only thing that I had some trouble with was working with the bias tape.  I could not sew a straight line for the life of me!  The dress turned out really cute but it was a bit too big for my little one.  :o(  Will have to save it for when she grows up a bit more.

Thanks LBG for the tutorial.

Link to tutorial:
Pillowcase Dress Tutorial

Pillowcase Dress

Diaper Cake

My first attempt ever at making a diaper Cake.  I was a little worried at first.  I was not sure that I would be able to complete this project, but once I got started I realized how easy this project is.  I made this cake for my little sister's baby shower.  The theme for the shower was baby animals.  The shower turned out really nice.

Resource:

Plan the Perfect Baby Shower

Items Used:

Diapers

Wrist Rattles

Set of 3 Hair Bows

Comb/Brush Set

Baby Powder - travel size

2 Baby Bottles

Bottle Brush

Set of Play Rings

Set of 2 Baby Socks

Set of 2 Pacifiers

Clear Rubber Bands

Ribbon (baby shower's theme)

2010 Baby Girl Ornament

Total Estimate for Diaper Cake: $35-$40

Pictures of finished cake

Front View

Back View