Tinkerbell Party Invitations

I'm back!!!  The past few months have just been a blur of school ending, work schedule changes, and vacations!  But - now I'm back with lots of crafting to do. 

For Madailein's sixth birthday, she decided to have a Tinkerbell party!  There is nothing about Disney that this kid doesn't love.  I typically do not buy the invitations that match the party decor (see last years post with the adorable home-made mermaid invitations) - so I put my creative cap on for some home-made Tink inspired invitations.  My initial idea was to draw a dandelion blowing in the wind - as a metaphor for Tinkerbell (since fairies come from dandelion fluff!).  Thankfully, a dear friend of mine who is fabulous at creating cards and invitations, gave me the best idea. 

Materials Needed:
- Glitter Card Stock - I used pink, green and lavender
- Sheets of Vellum
- Scissors
- Hole Punch
- Ribbon
- Glue Stick
- Self Adhesive Jewel Stickers
- Printer!

Step One-
I found an adorable saying for the invitations while searching the internet:

Sprinkle Some Pixie Dust and Fly Our Way

Come Celebrate Madailein's 6th Birthday!

I also downloaded a Disney inspired font onto my computer to utilize for these cards. On Microsoft Word, I pasted a sillohoute of Tinkerbell and then overlapped the wording ontop the image. 
Words of advice - it is difficult to print onto vellum!!!  I had to watch a YouTube video to figure it out.  Basically, if you tape the vellum to a sheet of computer paper, you can trick the printer into recognizing the vellum.  Be patient and print one sheet at a time. 


Step Two-
Cut the cardstock into the shape of the card (I did rectangles).
Cut the vellum into the same shape, just slightly smaller. 
Glue the vellum onto the cardstock.


Step Three -
Using the hole punch, make two holes in the top of the card.
Thread some ribbon through the holes and make a pretty bow!  Add jewel stickers for some extra sparkle!

Voila!  Super cute, home-made Tinkerbell inspired fairy invitaitons for a fraction of the cost of store-bought invitations.  I bought all the materials at JoAnn Fabrics, used coupons and the total was less than $8.00. 

Happy Crafting!

Super Cute Superman Baby Blanket

I don't know about you, but the past few weeks since Easter have just flown by!  I don't know where the time has gone; and I've gotten very little crafting done.  One thing I have been consistent with in the crafting world is baby blankets.  Many people at work are expecting little ones and I've been lucky to sell a few on my Etsy shop (yea!)

The most recent blanket I made for a co-worker is this absolutely adorable Superman blanket.  Both he and his wife are huge comic book fans, and Superman is their favorite.  I think my favorite part of this blanket is that it almost looks like a superhero cape with the red fabric and turquoise binding!  I hope their baby enjoys this blanket as much as the parent's and I do!!

I apologize for the poor picture quality.  This was the only picture of the front I took before giving it to the parent's-to-be.  Two corners have the Superman logo and the other two corners have Superman in different poses.  The red fabric is a really soft bubble chenile and the binding is a turquoise satin blanket binding.

The fabric on the back is a Superman rocket print on snuggle flannel that I found at JoAnn's.  I just love it!!

Happy Crafting!

Who is the Easter Bunny?

With tomorrow being Easter, I figured it would be a good time to repost this Easter Bunny post from 2 years ago!  Happy Easter everyone!

Just who is the Easter Bunny?

This is a question I found myself asking as my girls had their picture taken with the Easter Bunny at the mall.  Growing up Catholic, I of course know the religious meaning of the holiday - but where did the Easter Bunny originate?

Eastre was originally a Pagan festival to celebrate springtime.  Eastre was a goddess worshipped by Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol - the rabbit. In Pre-Christian lore, the hare and rabbit were among the most fertile animals and therefore became symbols of new life during the spring.

The idea of the Easter Bunny was introduced to America by German settlers in the Pennsylvania Dutch area in the 1700's.  This bunny was known as the "Oschter Haws" and was believed to lay colorful eggs.  Children would make nests for the Oschter Haws to use to hold the eggs.  In the 1800's the Germans created the first edible Easter bunnies made from sugar and pastry.  By the 19th century in America the Easter Hare became known as the Easter Bunny who brought baskets filled with eggs, chocolate, candy and other small gifts. 

Since the springtime festival coincided with the Christian belief of the resurrection of Jesus, the Easter Bunny eventually became an iconic symbol for our holiday. 

My 3 year old and I decided to make a simple bunny craft to decorate our table.  The materials we used for this fun craft were small terra cotta flowerpots, craft paint, craft glue, pom poms, foam sheets, chenille pipe cleaners, silly eyes, Easter grass and ribbon. 

We began by painting the flowerpots white for the bunnies.  While the paint was drying, I cut out ear shapes from the foam and then painted some pink in the middle ( Madailein decided her bunny would have all pink ears! )  We used the craft glue to stick the ears to the back of the flowerpots and the pom poms to form the face and tail.  Glue the silly eyes in 2 small pom poms; cut the pipe cleaners for whiskers and fill the pot with the Easter grass.  Final touch -  a ribbon around the middle and Voila!  you have a cute little Easter Bunny!

This was so simple to do with a toddler and only took us about 30 minutes from start to finish.  Madailein is so proud of her bunny since she was able to do a good portion of it by herself. 

Happy Hoppity Crafting! 

Easter Tulle Wreath

I love how the Valentine's Day tulle wreath turned out - so I decided to make an Easter version!  Who wouldn't smile at the happy colors and adorable bunny bow?!

Materials Needed:
* Styrofoam Circle Wreath
* Spool of pink tulle
* Spool of turquoise tulle
* Spool of sparkle yellow tulle
* Wired Easter ribbon
* Glitter curl picks (I found them at Pat Catan's)

I made this wreath just like the Valentine's wreath - cutting the tulle into approximately 6" lengths and knotting around the styrofoam.
Time-wise this took me around an hour; I must be getting quicker!! : D
The tulle was a little more expensive (I bought it at Hobby Lobby this time and did not have a coupon); so overall this wreath project cost me about $15.00.  Still not too bad!

Happy Crafting!

Roar! Dinosaur Baby Blanket

It seems to be baby season around here!  So many people are expecting (not me!); I had to share this beyond adorable dinosaur blanket I made.

Since I don't have boys, I think I am living vicariously through these baby boy blankets.  They are so much fun to create and are turning out great!

JoAnn Fabrics had this really cute dinosaur / godzilla snuggle flannel.  I had no idea what I was going to make with it, but knew I had to get it!  From that flannel, the Roar! Dinosaur blanket was born.  :)

The front of the blanket is a yellow ribbed knit and I embroidered friendly dinosaurs in the corners!

Now I just need to find the perfect little guy to give this to!

Happy Crafting!





Guest Post - Make Your Blog Work for You with the Right Payment Options

I am pleased to share with you my first guest post at I Heart Decorating!  This could not have come at a better time - I have a slipped disc in my back and crafting is the last thing on my mind right now!!
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Make Your Blog Work for You with the Right Payment Options

Guest post by Gretchen H

One of the biggest online phenomenons has been the blogging craze. There are people using blog websites to write memoirs, to write how-to articles, and to share creative ideas with family and friends. There are many stay-at-home moms who have found success blogging on the experiences of homemaking and parenthood, and many of them have developed products in these areas that are both fun and innovative. No matter what your blogging about, it can be a lucrative business to sell your products through your blog. The first step is to find out which payment option will be best for your site.

Remember, all payment processing services have fees, and some of the fees are monthly, annual, and with each purchase. It's important to be clear on what the fees will be with your service. One of the less expensive merchant services is one in which you do more of the processing work. A manual merchant service will require you to call in all of the credit card numbers and process them with your phone. This can save you money on monthly fees, and the savings can be in the hundreds of dollars per month.

If you don't have time for manual credit card processing, there are automatic processing services that work directly from your site. Someone can send in credit card information and the payment can be directly deposited into your bank account. Many people choose this options because it comes with less hassle. You can expect to pay more on your overall fees with this automatic service, but it will save you time. For low fees, you can look at a site like http://www.advantageprocessors.com/.

One of the easiest and most affordable payment options out there is PayPal, which makes it easy to take payments through PayPal. Many bloggers love the PayPal button on their site because it's easy to setup, and the fees are very competitive. PayPal offers fast processing, which means you will have funds from orders in your account almost immediately. This is a simple option for bloggers that don't process a lot of payments or are otherwise just getting started with their website.

When it comes down to it, the type of payment merchant you go with depends on what your blog needs and how much money you will have coming in. You will want to determine how much you can afford to spend on merchant solutions, and then analyze how much time you have to deal with processing orders. Then you can determine whether you want a manual service or one that works automatically.

www.mommybloggerdirectory.com/blog

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Happy Crafting!!

Happy Valentine's Day! Sight Word Bingo

Happy Valentine's Day!

I had the pleasure of organizing the Valentine party for my daughter's kindergarten class today!  What a joy these kids were!

During our room mom meeting in January, we came up with the idea of playing Sight Word Bingo during the party.  If you do a Google search for "Sight Word Bingo", there are tons out there to print off and use.  Could I do things that simple?  No!!  I decided to make my own bingo cards for the kids!

The kids all got some candy conversation hearts to use as the bingo card markers.  They loved that they could eat the game pieces!!

At our craft station, we decided to make some super cute Hershey Kiss mice that one of the room mom's found on Pinterest.  Really easy craft for the kiddos - 2 Hershey Kiss with a foam heart in the middle.  We also used a foam heart for the feet and I added googly eyes. 

The kids thought these were hillarious!  For some reason - mine looks more like an elephant than a mouse!

Hope your Valentine's Day was special!
Happy Crafting!