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!

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!

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.

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 Invitations

Megan just turned 3! I picked the theme this year, but I'm pretty sure this is the last time I'll get to do that. I'm sure she'll have definate opinions from here on out. So, for my final birthday theme I picked cupcakes. Why cupcakes, you ask? Honestly, I'm not really sure! They're cute and oh, so yummy, so that is reason enough, I suppose!

I'm one of "those" moms who makes pretty much everything - from invitations to decorations. Yes, I could buy them, but what's the fun in that? So, with cupcakes on my mind I headed to the scrapbook store.

I picked out brown cardstock to make the bottom of the cupcake. It's actually a pocket, that the pink part slides into. Pink cardstock makes up the cake part of the cupcake, and pink polka dot paper is the frosting.

Using plain white paper, I made my patterns - one for the cup, one for the cake, one for the frosting. Then, I traced them onto the colored papers and began cutting. This part takes quite awhile, but it's a good thing to do when you are watching TV and don't want to be interrupted (Honey - can you get that? I'm making invitations!)

Once everything is cut out, I print the party details on the body of the invitation. To do this I get the text the way I want it and in a shape that will work with the shape of my invitation. Then, I print the text on white paper. Once I've got that and I'm sure the text is what I want, then I put some re-positional adhesive on the white paper, line up the colored paper and press it down. Then, I just load the white paper (with the invitation stuck on top of it) back in my printer and print as usual. Works like a charm!

I added a pink tulle bow and some rhinestone sprinkles and the cute little cupcakes were done!

Birthday Countdown Calendar!

Megan's birthday is coming up rather quickly, so we're officially in the countdown mode now! This is a fun way for her to watch her birthday get closer! The concept is the same as my Christmas Countdown Calendar, just tailored with a birthday theme. It comes together fairly quickly - in about an hour or so.

I found this cute metal serving tray at Dollar Tree (I love that store!). Besides the tray, I used 3 sheets of matching scrapbook paper, 1 sheet of solid cardstock, chipboard scrapbook letters ("days" and "til"), Scrabble game tiles ("my") and a rhinestone word ("birthday", found in scrapbook sections of craft stores or at scrapbook stores), ribbon, magnets, Modge Podge, and various scrapbook supplies (inks, pens).

First, I cut the background paper to the size of the bottom of the tray and glued it down with Modge Podge.

Next, cut I cut the two accent papers (the pinkish color at the bottom and the "wavy" stripe) and glued them down with Modge Podge.

I used my Cricut machine to cut out little party hats and the numbers on the solid color cardstock. If you don't have a Cricut, you could simply cut out circles by hand or use pre-made tags or embellishments you can find in the scrapbook section and stickers for the numbers. You'll need numbers 1-9, 0, and an extra 1 and 2. I glued the numbers on the party hats and inked around the edges for a little extra pizazz. I cut pieces off of a roll of self-adhesive magnets and adhered them to the back of each party hat.

Now I glued down my words "days til my birthday" on top of my background paper.

Finally, I punched holes in the tray with my Crop-o-dile and tied ribbon through the holes to hang it. If you don't have a Crop-o-dile, simply hot glue the ends of the ribbon to the back.

Happy Easter!

I spent quite a bit of time cleaning this week (well overdue, I may add!) and while I was at it, I got out my Easter decorations. I've been in cupcake mode for Megan's upcoming birthday, and had made a couple of banners that say "Happy Birthday" when I decided I'd go through my paper stash and find some Easter papers for an Easter banner.

I've got a Cricut machine, so that made creating this a snap! I used it to cut out the squares with the scalloped edges (they are 5 1/2" inches). The patterned paper squares I cut out myself with a paper trimmer while the background squares were being cut on the Cricut. The patterned paper squares are 4 1/2", and I used a corner rounder on the corners. The letters are 2 1/2" and are the "Mickey Font" cartridge. I used 3-m foam tape to adhere the letters and chalked around the edges to give it some dimension.

To hang the banner, I put eyelets in the corner so the paper wouldn't tear. Then, I used a long piece of tulle to string them all together. (Look for spools of tulle at the dollar store or in the wedding sections of craft stores). Finally, I tied pieces of ribbon in between the letters for a fun touch.

To hang it on my mantle, I used 3-M command hooks (I have a love affair with these things - they are fantastic!). I love how cute and Spring-y it looks!

I'll post the "Happy Birthday" versions soon!