Birthday Wreaths

I love birthdays! I really, really love them. Especially, when we're celebrating my girls birthdays. I get a kick out of planning the parties and am always looking for new ways to make their birthday special. Miss Monkey is celebrating her 5th birthday this month so we've officially started our new tradition of birthday wreaths!

I always have some kind of wreath on my front doors and have been wanting something birthday related for awhile now. I'd purchased this plastic netting at a local home decor store a year or two ago and didn't have any idea what I'd use it for until I found these awesome plastic balloons at Hobby Lobby. The birthday wreath idea was born!

Aren't the balloons just neat? I love them so much I'm trying to figure out what else I can use them for!

When I was telling a good friend about my plan to make birthday wreaths, she suggested that I put the girls age on the wreath. Genius! I bought a plain number 5 at Hobby Lobby and Modge Podged scrapbook paper on it to make it pretty. I'll switch out the number accordingly as each birthday comes.

I'm going to make a smaller version of the wreath for my side door and post a tutorial soon. Hooray for birthdays!

A Birthday Present

This birthday present was inspired by a post I saw in the gallery at 2 peas. I love it, so I had to try my hand at it!

I bought the frame at the model home sale I went to a couple of weeks ago (loved it!) with the intention of using it for this project. I cut a piece of scrapbook paper to fit inside the mat. I made a heart template out of a piece of cardstock and then positioned it on the paper and traced around it with a fine point felt tip pen.

The chipboard dots and jewels are "Rock On Chip Plates" from Prima (they came from the craft store). They are self adhesive, so I just started sticking them down to fill in the heart outline. I added a couple of yellow buttons, too.

Once the heart was filled in, I stamped the name and est. date on a scrap piece of cardstock, added a bit of trim and popped it into the frame.

I'm wishing I bought enough to make one for me now!

The Rock Star Cake!

I'm big on tiered cakes. First, I like the way they look. Second, we always have a ton of people at birthday parties around here, so we need the cake! I just think that tiered cakes are more fun than a regular sheet cake.

I'd never worked with fondant before and was a little nervous about it. See, I had this vision of Taylor's cake in my head and if the fondant part didn't turn out, I'd have to go to Plan B. I didn't have a Plan B! Luckily, it was incredibly easy to work with.

I like the way fondant looks, but I'm no fan of the taste. I know there are versions out there that supposedly taste better (Satin Ice I've heard is good), but I love me some buttercream. Seriously, that's the best part of the cake! So, I frosted it with buttercream and then used the fondant for the decorations.

It was a pretty simple cake to construct - fondant balls, fondant stars on wire and fondant ribbons. The top layer was a vanilla cake with cheesecake filling; the bottom was chocolate with a chocolate mousse filling. Yummy! I've got to work on my stacking skills - you can see a that it's a tad bit lopsided. Something to work on next time. It was still a cute cake!

How to Make Tissue Paper Pom Poms

I'm always looking for inspiration for easy, cheap ways to decorate for parties (or for holidays). When I was on one of my many browsing trips at Michael's I saw this Martha Stewart Kit to make tissue paper pom poms. Cute idea, but the kit was $19.99! Say wha?! I love me some Martha, but she had to have been smoking some funny stuff when she came up with the price of that kit! So, if you love these and want to make some, save yourself the $20 smackers and read on!

What you'll need:

• a package of tissue paper
• tulle strips (pipe cleaners would work, too)
• something to hang the finished pom poms with (I used tulle, but curling ribbon or regular ribbon would work, too)
• a pair of scissors

I wanted to hang my pom poms from the chandelier above my dining room table, so I made mine half sized (I cut the sheets of tissue paper in half). If you want big, full pom poms, use the full sheet of tissue paper.

Here's what you do:

• Separate a handful of tissue paper sheets from the bunch (I used as many as 8 and as few as 5 in one pom pom. Use more if you want a dense, full pom pom, but don't go too crazy and use the full package for one!)


• Fold the tissue paper like an accordion. My folds were about 2 1/2 " wide.
  

• Keep folding in the same manner until you've folded all of the tissue paper. You should have something that looks like this:
  

• Now, you're going to take scissors and cut each edge. You can round the ends, or make it a point, whichever you prefer.
  
  
  
  
• Now, tie the folded tissue paper in the middle. You want it to be snug, but not too tight. It's harder to puff it out if it's tied really tight.
  

• Once it's tied, you're ready to poof! One piece at a time, separate the tissue paper from the bunch. You have go be gentle so it doesn't tear. Once you've got all the layers separated you'll have something that looks like this:
  

Tie a piece of ribbon or a tulle strip around the center tie and you're ready to hang them. The look so cute hanging from my chandelier that they are still there (and the party was over a week ago!). Take that, Martha! :)

Hannah Montana Rock Star Party Decorations

We've got a fairly large dining room table, which I love. But, because of it's size, the plastic tablecloths you can buy are too small for it. One isn't long enough and it isn't wide enough to hang over the sides. So, this time around I got smart and bought 3 tablecloths for the table! I folded about 1/3 of the purple tablecloths underneath (it was too long if I didn't do that) and then put one on each half of the table, with them meeting together in the middle. Since I now had an ugly seam, I placed a pink tablecloth over the seam as a table runner. Problem solved!

I love the Dollar Spot at Target! They usually have some kind of metal pails in that section in various colors and those are one of my favorite things to buy there. I've got a bunch of these pails in several different colors and they make an appearance in my holiday decor fairly often.

This time around they were for the (last minute) centerpieces. I got so tied up in the cake and favors that I forgot I needed something for the table! I pulled out my pails and covered the Styrofoam inside with crumpled up tissue paper. Then it was my trusty Cricut machine to the rescue! Using my scrapbook paper stash I cut out stars in various sizes, a couple of the number "6" and the phrase "You rock". I hot glued them onto bamboo skewers and stuck them in the pail. Next year I'm going to make myself a checklist. Nevertheless, they turned out cute for about a 20 minute project!

Hannah Montana Rock Star Party Favors

The favors for Taylor's party consisted of the body glitter and the microphones, but we needed something cute to put them in. I'd been having a hard time finding something that was cute, would go with the theme of the party and were inexpensive. When I saw these little totes, I knew they fit the bill! I got them at Michael's and they came in a bunch of different colors. The best part? They were only a dollar!

When I set up the favor table I debated on putting the other goodies in the totes, but I decided against it because I thought the kiddos would have fun picking out what color tote and body glitter they wanted. If I stuffed the totes, it would have been luck of the draw. Plus, by leaving the totes empty, they could use them to hold their pinata candy and then grab the glitter, microphones and plastic heart bracelets on the way out the door.

I LOVE creating the favors for birthday parties, can you tell? Seriously, it's my favorite part!

Rock Star Microphones!

What rock star doesn't have a microphone? Our Hannah Montana Rock Star birthday party wouldn't have been complete without sparkly microphones, so I made some for the party favors. I had backup favors for the boys because I wasn't sure 6 year old boys would like a glittery microphone, but how wrong I was! All the kiddos at the party loved them! (I've got a feeling a couple of the adults secretly wished for one, too!) They were relatively simple to make, and incredibly inexpensive. Make a bunch or a couple. Here's how you can make your own!

You'll need:

• Styrofoam eggs
• PVC pipe
• Silver paint
• Black spray paint for plastic
• White glue
• Bamboo skewers
• Steak Knife
• Disposable foam brush
• Silver glitter
• Hot Glue Gun
  

First, you want to take your steak knife and cut off the very tip of the Styrofoam eggs. Just saw through it like you would a steak until you've got one flat end. Discard the part you cut off.

Next, you'll want to cut your PVC pipe into shorter pieces. I enlisted Hubby for this task, but it's not hard. He measured and marked the PVC pipe and then cut using a small hand saw. At first we cut 12" pieces, but they seemed too long to me. 8" lengths of the PVC pipe seemed to be perfect.

Now you're ready to paint! These are the paints I used:

They came from Lowe's and were about $4 a can. I made 14 microphones and still have about half of each can left.

You'll want to spray the PVC pipes so that they are black and you can't see the black print that's on them. I did 3 coats, but I'm typically an overachiever. Two coats would have probably been plenty! Make sure you get at least one of the ends painted (the other doesn't matter since it will be inside the egg when all is said and done).

To paint the eggs, I stuck a bamboo skewer in each one and then twirled it between my fingers as I sprayed so that I could get coverage on the whole thing. Don't forget to get the bottom! I did two coats on the eggs.

Once the eggs were dry, I took them inside and used a disposable foam brush and covered them with white glue (I was pretty liberal with it). While the glue was still wet I covered it with silver glitter. Let them dry overnight. Tip: If you fill a sand pail with sand (or rice or beans) you can stick the skewers in it to hold the eggs upright while the glue dries.

When the eggs were dry and the PVC pipe was dry, I was ready to put the microphone together. In one hand hold the egg. Hold the PVC pipe in the other. Gently push and twist the PVC pipe into the flat part of the egg to make a hole the size of the PVC pipe. It isn't hard, but go slowly so that you don't damage the egg. Once you've got an indentation that is about 1 1/2-2" deep, put hot glue inside and then insert the PVC pipe.

I left mine plain, but if you wanted to you could put a Hannah Montana sticker on the handle or tie a ribbon to it.

I put all my finished microphones in a bucket on the party favor table. Cute!

There you have it - one fabulous rock star microphone . We (yes, we) have had a lot of fun with them in our house. Thank goodness there's no video evidence (yet!). Make some and you'll be a craft Rock Star!

Rock Star Body Glitter

It's no secret that girls love things that sparkle. My two girls would roll around nekkid in a pool filled with glitter if it meant that they would be sparkly! So, one of the the things that I included in the goodie bags at the Hannah Montana birthday party was body glitter.

Being the crafty soul that I am, I couldn't go out and purchase it for a party favor, I had to make it. It's surprisingly easy, so if you want to make your own, read on!

You'll need:

• very fine glitter (I purchased a multi pack for $3.99 at Michael's that had lots of colors for you indecisive types like me)
• empty bottles (I got mine at Joann's in a pack of 6 for $2.99)
• Aloe Vera Gel (mine came from Wal-Mart and was about $4)

I made about 14 or so bottles of glitter from one big bottle of aloe vera gel. That will vary depending on the size bottle you use. Each of the little packets of glitter that came in my multi pack made two bottles (I went heavy on the glitter; see above re: my girls and their love affair with glitter)

Here's what you do:

• Pour a little bit of glitter into the bottom of the empty jar.
• Put a couple of squirts of aloe vera gel into the bottle
• Repeat with glitter and aloe vera gel until you are close to the top, but the bottle isn't all the way full
• Put the cap on
• Shake well to mix (You can also use something long and skinny to stir if you'd want, but shaking mixed it really well for me)

I added labels to my bottles (I used Avery address labels for ink jet printers for my labels), but you could use stickers or rub on's, too.

Easy, isn't it? It lasts a long time when you've got it on, too. How do I know this, you ask? Yup, I slathered myself with the stuff. Somebody had to test it, right? Go forth and shimmer!

Hannah Montana Birthday Party Invitations

Taylor had two choices for her birthday party invitation this year: a concert ticket or a guitar. The concert ticket would have been easier for me to mass produce, so I wasn't surprised at all when she picked the guitar! So, I got out my craft stuff and got to work.

To make this invitation, I found a picture of a guitar I liked on the internet. I used that as a guide to free hand draw my shapes, but if that's out of your realm, print out several copies that are the right size (mine fit in a regular, legal envelope). Then, cut out one piece from each printout (like the body, the white accent piece, the neck, etc). You can then use those for your templates. I used 5 different pieces of paper for this guitar (one plain purple for the printed part, polka dot purple for the body and the top, white for the accent, tan for the neck and silver for the little squares). I cut out one piece for each guitar I needed and then used scrapbook adhesive to put everything together. The guitar strings I drew on with a felt tipped pen and a t-square.

To print on the invitations, I used the same technique I always do. I arrange the text so that I think it will fit in Word and print it out. I then hold the print out up to the light with the cut piece of invitation that I want to print on and see if it'll work. If it doesn't, I'll make adjustments and then re-print. If it works, I'll put a piece of removable adhesive on the printer paper on top of the text. Then, I put the invitation piece on the adhesive and run it through the printer as usual. There might be other ways to do this that I haven't thought of, but this way works well for me! I attached the printed part of the invitation to the embellished front of the invitation with a brad.

To glam it up a bit, I added some self-adhesive metal hearts and some rhinestones at the bottom and some purple rhinestones on the top part (where the strings would attach on a real guitar. I have no idea what that part is called!). I think they turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself, and the birthday girl LOVED them!

I'm in party planning stages since Taylor's birthday is right around the corner. Her invitations are done and in the mail. I'm currently working on party favors and decorations. That just leaves the cake. The party is soon enough that I need to start getting my game plan together. As I was searching for inspiration, I came across the cake I made for Taylor's 4th birthday.

The theme she picked for her 4th birthday was Princesses, so we had a princess cake (in Cinderella blue, no less). I was fresh out of my very first cake decorating class and decided that I'd make her cake myself. It's not too bad, considering, but I'm much better at cake decorating now. (No, really! :)

I can see the flaws in it, but then, I'm a total perfectionist. All that matters in the end, though, is that Taylor thought it was perfect!

Farm Party Invitation

For Megan's 2nd Birthday, we had a Farm Party. What's better for a farm party invitation than a barn?! On this invitation, I debated about making the barn doors open to reveal the invitation detail, but thought that would be way too much work! So, I just added a brad to the top so that the front piece would swing away, so you could see the invitation details on the back.

If you missed the cute farm cake I made for this party, you can see that post here.

We're birthday party bound again!

Taylor has a birthday coming up soon, so I'm getting ready to go into birthday mode again. Now, if I could just get her to decide what kind of party she wants, I'll be set! She's narrowed her choices down to three: Hannah Montana, High School Musical and The Wizard of Oz. I think I'll have the most fun planning the Wizard of Oz party, but I know I can come up with some good ideas for all three of them.

I've told her that she has to decide by the end of the week which one she wants so I can get the invitations going, so stay tuned for the big party reveal!

Baby Shower Invitation

When my sister was pregnant last year, I was placed in charge of invitations for the baby shower. I had just done a ton of birthday invitations for the monkey's birthday, so I wanted something that was cute, but quick and easy. These are it!

I started out with a plain cardstock (the brown) and cut it into a square shape that would fit inside my envelopes. Then, I put a patterned paper (blue stripe) in a slightly smaller square on tip. I finished with a lighter brown paper that had all of the invitation details on it.

For a little more detail, I used a pen to draw a line around the edge of each different layer and I used some brown ink on the smallest square (the one with the printing on it) to help it stand out a bit. Then, I glued a bunch of cute buttons on the bottom.

For the ribbon on the top, I used an Exacto knife to cut two small slits on the top and then pulled the ribbon through.

I really like these invitations and they could be modified for just about any event, depending on what patterned paper you use. Plus, you can't beat quick and easy for something this cute!

Cupcake Bath Bomb Tutorial

I made these yummy looking (but not yummy tasting) cupcakes for birthday party goodie bags. They were so easy and fun to make. Best of all, you should be able to find everything you need at the grocery store and at the craft store.

Here's what you need:
1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup citric acid (usually found in the bulk section of stores like Sprouts and Whole Foods)
2 1/2 tablespoons grape seed oil (I used this, but any nut oil will work)
1 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon borax (found in the laundry aisle)
1 teaspoon fragrance oil for soaps
8-10 drops of soap coloring
Witch Hazel (put in a spray bottle)
Silicone cupcake liners

Here's how you make the cupcakes:
1. In a bowl, stir together the baking soda, citric acid and cornstarch.
2. In a small bowl, combine the grape seed oil, water, soap fragrance, soap coloring and borax. Mix together well.
3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and blend together well. The mixture should feel like wet sand. If it's too dry, spray lightly with witch hazel (using too much can cause the mixture to foam, so don't apply witch hazel liberally)
4. Pack the mixture tightly into a silicone cupcake liner and place upside down on a lined cookie sheet.
5. Wait about 10 minutes and then remove the cupcake liner
6. Leave the bath bomb to dry overnight.

Frosting Instructions

3 tablespoons meringue powder (found in the baking section of craft stores)
6 tablespoons water
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon of soap fragrance oil
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon soap coloring
Sprinkles (optional)
Plastic cake decorating bag and cake decorating tip (or Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off)

Here's how to make the frosting:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the meringue powder, powdered sugar, cream of tartar, soap fragrance oil, soap coloring, and water using a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.

2. Put the mixture into the cake decorating bag (or Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off, and pipe the frosting onto the base as you would a real cupcake.

3. Add sprinkles if desired.

4. Let dry overnight, or until frosting hardens.

5. Package and enjoy!

Tips:
-go lightly with the witch hazel. Sometimes you won't need to use it at all
-to make round bath bombs, use the top recipe (don't make the frosting), and pack the mixture into round, plastic Christmas ornaments (found in craft stores)
-to make shaped bath bombs, use the top recipe (no frosting), and pack the mixture into candy or soap molds
-to give as a gift, put them into little cellophane treat bags, add a tag and tie with a ribbon
-these may look and smell yummy, but they are not edible!

To use: Toss into the tub and enjoy!