San Diego Family Hotels 
To continue with my little series on the planning of my 40th birthday party, part 2 consists of a little surprise I sent via mail to my guests. With the party being held at a B&B in Palm Springs, we had to first receive commitments from those who could come, thus requiring me to send out Evite invitatations initially. However, this is going to be a special party with special little surprises and therefore, wanted to make sure I had something to get those committed guests in the right party mood. The B&B we rented is a retro kitchy B&B called the Palm Springs Rendezvous with a cool 1950′s vibe. In that vain, I created an ‘itinerary’ for the guests and printed it out with a 50′s retro theme. I found cd’s that look like small vinyl records and my husband burned some great 50′s crooners music for everyone to listen to on the way up. I then bought some retro gum – Beechums and Clove and packaged it all in a box that I wrapped with aqua retro wrapping paper and a pretty red bow and sticker and sent it off to each guest. Here are some pictures of the final product:
![Popcorn_&_Candy_Favor_Boxes_3[1]](http://www.yourlifevents.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Popcorn__Candy_Favor_Boxes_31.jpg "Popcorn_&_Candy_Favor_Boxes_3[1]")
![Popcorn_&_Candy_Favor_Boxes_1[1]](http://www.yourlifevents.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Popcorn__Candy_Favor_Boxes_11.jpg "Popcorn_&_Candy_Favor_Boxes_1[1]")
![Popcorn_&_Candy_Favor_Boxes_4[1]](http://www.yourlifevents.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Popcorn__Candy_Favor_Boxes_41.jpg "Popcorn_&_Candy_Favor_Boxes_4[1]")
If you are having a birthday party or slumber party for a child or even having an anniversary party for an adult – why not throw a retro movie night party? These popcorn box favors will be a box office hit.
Recently I had a 60th birthday celebration with my girlfriends at the Glen Ivy Hot Springs and Spa, what a blast!
Although it wasn’t a movie night celebration per se, after our spa day, we went to a nice hotel, jumped into our p.j.’s , put on a movie and noshed on the party favors I had created. Yum-m-m, they really were a big hit!
Here are a few places on Amazon that are selling popcorn boxes: Popcorn Boxes by Century Novelty
There are many styles, so look around for just the right look for your party. I put a bag of pop corn and a bag filled with candy inside the box, surrounded by raffia. For a personal touch I made the paper flower DIY project from April, and wrote a special note for each guest tied to the yarn around the flower. Instructions for how I used the flower as a tie for the top of the bag are below. OH, and don’t forget the great DIY “Queen For The Day” chair cover. If you really want to make someone feel special…make this for the honored guest.
Here’s what you’ll need to make your boxes festive
- Raffia, colored
- Plastic party favor bags
- Yarn
- Buttons, (a loop back makes it easier for the yarn to go through)
- Flower pictures from a magazine
- Candy bars (I used retro candy bars) gum, a bag of un-poped pop corn & cookies
- Colored paper, for tags
- Colored pen
- Scissors (scrapbook scissors, optional)
- Hole punch
- Place raffia in first then the bag of pop corn, pulling the raffia up around it, it can spill out the top a bit.
- Fill the plastic bag with all your yummy goodies, leaving enough room to tie off the bag at the top.
- Cut your yarn to 12″. (See instructions for making the paper flowers.) Punch a hole in the center of the paper flower, thread the yarn into the hole, threw the button, then back threw the flower hole.
- Tie your bag closed. Punch a hole into one end of your tag, write your message or persons name on it. Thread the yarn threw the hole and tie it to the thread around the flower.
- Tip: You can also use scrapbook scissors to cut the tags out and give them a pretty edge.
By: YLE Crafty Chic, Sharon Tittle
Keeping your kids busy this summer.
As you are going through all your closets, drawers, and cupboards, don’t forget to set aside a pile of recycling for the kids. Think cardboard boxes to use for making all sorts of fun and imaginative things – box robots and creative lemonade stands, kids very own mailboxes, funny masks, decorated frames, bag hats, mobiles and wind chimes, wine cork trivets and CD case mosaics to name just a few. There are some good books that can give you and the kids ideas on what to make. Here are two that we suggest:
and Recycled Crafts Box by Laura C. Martin
Remember Fathers’ Day is right around the corner so get your kids busy making great and cherished Fathers’ Day gifts.
Host a recycle party and invite the neighborhood kids over. Have each child bring over a shoebox of recycled items. Put tables outside with the piles of recycled items down the center of the table and place glue, punches, stickers, pom poms, chenille stems, jewels and beads, yarn etc. on both ends of the table and let the kids go wild!
DIY TIP: Make invitations for your recycle party out of recycled cards or magazines. Cut up letters and pictures and make your own invite. Some stores end up with left over envelopes from their cards and just throw them away. See if they have any left overs, you can take off their hands.
For things that don’t get used and need to be recycled, here is a great list from Real Simple Magazine, the most complete list I have ever seen and one you will want to keep on hand, of tips on how to recycle or reuse anything. And it’s a good education on what happens to some of your unwanted items.
Enjoy your summer, keep the kids busy, happy and using their creative imagination. If you take pictures of your group we would love to see and post them, to see what those creative minds have come up with.
Having a tea or coffee get together with your girlfriends is so much fun and making special place mats for your party makes it even more special. These are quick and easy and not expensive to make, but will leave a great impression. Tea party favors are plenty and beau coup is one of our favorite places to get favors. And if you are having your coffee party outside near a fire pit or in the winter these Java Logs by Pine Mountain are just the thing for you! If you really want to WOW your guests take a look at Coffee Art by Angel & Andy to see if you can create a coffee masterpiece yourself.
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- Canvas or Light colored recycled place mats
- Compressed sponge
- Iron on decals
- Acrylic Paint
- Brushes
- Black permanent pen
- Scissors
HERE’S HOW TO MAKE IT
- Cut your sponge while it is still compressed, into 1″ x 1″ squares. Cut 1 for each color of square you are making.
- Place the square sponges in some water and wait until they expand. Squeeze them out.
- Iron on decals to place mat or draw your cup and flowers to top and outline with the black permanent pen.
- Paint in the decals or drawings. Write Java or Tea Time under cup with permanent black pen.
- Pounce the square sponges into the paint, tap off some of the paint and going around the bottom of the place mat, pounce each square alternating colors, next to each other with the edges touching each other. See example.
- Let dry and with your permanent black pen, draw squiggle lines on 2 sides of the squares and in between the two colored squares.
DIY TIP: Check out your local second hand shop for place mates and you can always dye them if they aren’t the color you wanted.
With this one of a kind lunch bag, your kid’s lunch bag will never get mixed up with another kid’s lunch again. However, remember to put their name in the inside flap, it could be a very sought after item! Made from Soft Fabric Paint by Tulip and 3-D Fashion Paint, this is an easy print, transfer and paint project. You can even make dinosaur cut out sandwiches with these great crust cutters from Organize. All you do is make the canvas bag, or you can buy a blank canvas lunch bag with no flap from Dharma Trading and paint the whole image on the bag. Check your local craft stores for Iron On Transfer paper, that will make it easier to transfer your pattern to the canvas.
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE THE BAG
- 1/4 yd. Canvas or canvas lunch bag
- 4″ Velcro strip
- 3-D Fashion Paint by Tulip
- Soft Fabric paint by Tulip (White, Orange, Blue, Lt. & Dk. Green, Yellow & Black or use permanent fabric pens)
- Paint brushes
- Iron On Transfer paper or Chalk, dark color like blue
- Scissors
- Tape measure
- Thread
(If using a pre-made canvas bag, start at #8 of the instructions)
HERE’S HOW TO MAKE IT
- Cut 2 squares from , 13″ x 9″
- Cut 1 strip, 5″ x 35″
- Cut 1 square, 6″ x 6″
- Fold over tops of the 2 pieces and both ends of strip, 2″, to make a finished hem.
- Sew 4″ of Velcro centered to inside tops of bag.
- Trace around shape of face onto 6″ x 6″ square. Fold over 3 edges and sew. With wrong sides together, center and sew bottom of face flap to back of 1, 13″ x 9″ square.
- Sew strip to all 3 sides of 13″ x 9″ piece of canvas, then sew other side of strip to other square piece. Turn right side out. Make sure turned under side of face is facing the correct way out, before sewing strips on.
- Print out pattern and transfer dinosaur body to front of bag and face to front of flap. If using chalk, trace over the pattern lines with a dark piece of chalk, turn over pattern and draw over the lines with a pencil that you can see through the paper, onto the canvas.
- Paint in dinosaur and background with the fabric paint or fabric markers. Let dry. Follow the colors on the picture example.
- Outline dinosaurs face and body with the 3-D paint. Let dry.
By: DIY Crafty Chic, Sharon Tittle
Entertaining…Create an environment where your guests can entertain themselves, so you can enjoy the party too!
Whether you are going away or staying close to home for Memorial Day, pulling out the good old games from yesteryear and sitting around your firepit with family and friends is always a great way to celebrate get-togethers. Here are some fun ideas, remakes of old games and fun things to do, for kids and adults alike. And if you are having a BBQ, don’t forget our fun DIY apron you can whip up in an hour or so!
In the 1300′s croquet was seen on almost every lawn that was big enough to set it up. Eddy Bauer’s croquet set at Target is reasonable enough to again have as a regular lawn game. Dominoes is another favorite and an easy game to keep the kids busy. LLBean has some great lawn darts, lawn bowling and wood dominoes , that are easy to read, including a nice wood case, that will bring back memories for sure. Here’s something my son played with for hours as a child, that may be new to you - “Bill Ding”, wood cut out clowns, stacking game. My son stacked them all different ways and counted how many he could stack each time. You’ve got to check these out. And here’s a new one with an old feel, “Camp” it’s an outdoor themed competitive learning game.
DIY TIP- If you’re playing your games outside and especially if they have small pieces, make a table ledge out of inexpensive wood molding that will frame the top of your table and keep the pieces in its place.
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Here is something fun to do around the camp fire, roast Peeps candies! And there are more than just chicks. There are trees and bunnies in all different colors. They are just a marshmallow, but this makes them much more fun to roast!
DIY TIP- To make it even more fun, whittle the ends of some tree branches to a point, stick the marshmallows on the ends, wrap them in plastic wrap, and tie a raffia bow around bottom. Place all the tree sticks in a ceramic pot filled with sand, and place moss over the sand. Now you’re all ready to hand out those tree peeps for roasting. Just make sure to gather tree sticks that aren’t poisonous – know the tree type and do your research, we don’t want your family getting sick or worse because you accidentally gathered branches from a toxic plant. Here is a link to the most common toxic and non-toxic plants. Better yet, just use large skewers meant for grilling;)
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Fun straws at Party City in old fashion bottled sodas are always a hit, get the sturdy paper ones with strips or go wild with many others like these umbrella straws.
DIY TIP – If you want to make it easy for your guests to keep track of their drinks, cut out circles (.50 size) from the paper plates you are using, write your guests name on them, place the straw on the back and put a sticker on the back across the straw and onto the paper circle, to hold your name plate in place.
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And a BBQ isn’t complete without good old fashion homemade ice cream and this is the fastest way I have seen to make it, along with lots of fun! Pick up this unique ice cream maker from LLBean.
- Add ingredients to one end, and rock salt and ice to the other, you can even add flavors
- Shake, pass or roll the ball and in 20 minutes you’ll have a pint of ice cream
DIY TIP- Since these balls need to be juggled to make the ice cream, why not make a game out of it and toss the balls around in a circle of kids. You will have ice cream in no time!
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If you are making frozen popcicles, think of using these cute “Tilt-A-Whirl baking cup” drip catchers from “Bake it Pretty”. Just make a slit in the cups and push the stick through. The liners made from high-quality Swedish greaseproof paper and keep the mess in the cup !
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Well, I hope you all enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend, no matter where or how you celebrate. (<;
By: Crafty Chic, Sharon Tittle
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How many of you have BBQ’s on Fathers Day? It seems like the all American thing to do. Well here is a way to make a gift for Dad and make a big splash at your Barbeque. ‘Daddy and Me’ matching aprons! SO simple, each one takes about an hour to make.
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- 1- 1/4 yd. BBQ Material
- 2 pkg. Wide Bias Tape, complimentary color
- 6″ Plate, for kids apron
- 8″ Dinner plate, for adult apron
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Thread, complimentary color
- Pins
- Chalk
- Iron
HERE’S HOW TO MAKE IT
- Measure, from fold, 3″ across top of material and mark with your chalk. When material is open it will measure 6″.
- Measure, from 3″ mark, 6″ down, for kids and 8″ down for adult apron, and mark with chalk.
- Place the plate up side down on the material, one edge on top mark and the other plate edge at the other marked edge. With chalk, trace around the plate for the arm cut out.
- Measure from the top down at the fold, 22″ for kids apron and 30″ for the adults. Apron should measure above the knee, adjust if necessary.
- Cut out. Save pieces from sides for pockets.
- Measure and cut 3, 6″ pieces of bias tape. 2 for top of pockets and 1 for top of apron. Fold and pin tape over raw edges of all and sew in place.
- Turn under and iron edges of pockets .
- Measure 2″ in from the side and 3″ up from the bottom on each side of body of apron and pin and sew pockets in place.
- Measure arm cut out plus an extra 1/2″ on each side and cut 2 pieces of bias tape to that size. Fold over material, pin and sew bias tape as above, folding over edges at each end.
- Fold under bottom edge twice for hem and sew.
- Measure and sew together and sew ends closed, bias tape for straps. Sew at top corners on wrong side of material and corner of arm cut outs at the sides.
- Let the cooking begin !
By: YLE Crafty Chic, Sharon Tittle
Not too long ago we featured a Queen for a Day chaircover for mothers’ day and it got me thinking…my daughter’s 40th birthday is coming up and she will be going away with her husband and close friends to celebrate. So, I wanted to make something she could take with her to let her know we are celebrating with her in spirit and to have something that would make her feel special on her big day. The chaircover was the perfect solution. I am also thinking of making a “King for the Day”, for Fathers’ Day and maybe a special one for birthdays, and of course, we can’t leave out our newly engaged couples – Queen for a Day and King for a Day chaircovers for baby showers, bridal showers and engagement parties - what a fun tradition to start. Just like everyone has their own stockings for Christmas, everyone can have their own special chaircover for their big day, whatever it is. So here is my spin on the mothers’ day chaircover we posted in May that used a pillowcase as the base for the chaircover.
“Made for a Queen (or a King)”, Celebration Chaircover
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- 1 yd. fabric* (or 1 pillow case)
- 1/2 yd. trim fabric*
- 1/2 yd. white fabric
- Thread
- Transfer crown pattern
- Jewel’s, sequins or charms
- Scissors or Rotary cutter*
- Fabric pens, permanent markers*
- Fabric glue
- Ruler
- Tape
- Iron
Chair backs are all different sizes, this cover should fit most all chairs as it is a bit longer than the average chair. If you want to make it to fit a particular chair, measure the back of the chair first and adjust the fabric length accordingly.
HERE’S HOW TO MAKE IT
- Cut 2- 20″ x 26″ pieces of fabric for body of cover. Cut 2- 3″ x 28″ & 3″ x 27″ strips of boarder fabric. Cut 2- 12″ x 1 1/2″ & 2- 13″ x 1 1/2″ & 1-3″ x 20″ strips for crown boarder. Cut 1- 10″ x 13″ of white fabric for crown transfer.
- Print out and tape down crown pattern to a table. Center 10″ x 13″ white square of fabric over pattern and tape down to hold in place while tracing crown pattern with black markers.
- Decorate crown to your liking. You can use different colored permanent markers to outline the inside lines of the crown as I did, use a stencil to trace the letters in the crown and glue on embellishments. Glue on embellishments last, so they don’t get in the way while you are sewing.
- Pin right sides together and sew the 12″ x 1 1/2″ & 13″ x 1 1/2″ trim pieces around white crown fabric.
- Iron & fold over so there is a 1/2″ boarder on both sides.
- Pin and sew crown square to 1 ply of fabric, 6″ down from the top and 3″ in from the sides.
- Pin and sew strips of boarder fabric, right sides together, to back piece of 20″ x 26″ piece of fabric. Fold up and iron bottom strip and sew. Finished boarder should be 1″ wide. Top stitch edge of boarder.
- Pin and sew the other bottom boarder strip to the remaining 20″ x 26″ piece of fabric, same way as above.
- Fold over and iron all edges of boarder fabric.
- Lay crown top fabric onto back, matching up all sides, wrong sides together. Fold over, Iron and pin boarder to front panel. Finished boarder should be 1″ wide. Top stitch boarder on all 3 sides. Finished size 21″ x 27″.
- Place a piece of card board or magazine inside and under the crown fabric square and glue on your embellishment to crown. Let dry.
*Products Used: Fiskers 45mm Rotary Cutter. Opaque Pigment Markers by Sakura. Fabric, Tidings & Tales by J. Wecker-Frisch and Adventures in Wonderland by Windham Fabrics.
By: YLE Crafty Chic, Sharon Tittle
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- 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge – Child’s Pillow Detail
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- 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge – Child’s Pillow
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- 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge – Adult’s Pillow
I finished my two pillowcases, one for an adult and one for a child, and will be dropping them off at Rosie’s Calico Cupboard next week. I had so much fun finding the fun material for the children’s pillow case and went through all the fabric I already had and found big enough pieces to make the adult pillow case. So if you are short on cash, you can still donate by just looking at what you already have and making it work. The patterns are free and downloadable online; so what better use for your left over material?
The story on how the 1 Million Pillow Case donation started is a good one. A mother was visiting her son in the hospital and noticed he was depressed and missing home, so she thought she would bring a little home to him, something special to lift his spirits. She made a pillowcase from sports material, because he loved sports. At first the nurses said she couldn’t leave it, so she went to the hospital administrator and got permission to leave it for her son. Well, it wasn’t too long before the hospital staff noticed how the boy lit up when people would ask him about his pillow and he could tell them how good he felt having it. When the nurses saw how much better the boy was doing the nurses started asking the mother if she wouldn’t mind making more for the other patients. One thing lead to another and 1 Million Pillowcases was born. Now they are made all over the country and distributed to not only hospitals but senior homes, battered women’s shelters, aids patients, foster homes and many more places where love and warmth is needed.
I am so happy to be donating my 2 pillow cases, they were so easy to make and the web site makes it simple to find a location where you can drop them off. We have two donation locations in the San Diego area. You can click here to view donation locations all over the country. Join in the fun and have a heart warming experience by helping reach the 1 Million Pillow Case goal.
We created these ‘au naturel’ escort card holders for a wedding with a very craftsman feel. We used chocolate brown and green to match the wedding colors, but you can match and personalize these to your own wedding or event.
If you are interested in purchasing these escort card holders, you can visit YourLifEvents Etsy store. We have a variety of styles and themes including vineyard, garden, fall, shabby chic, contemporary and are willing to customize the design to fit your wedding style. You can click here to go directly to item listing.
Otherwise, read on to learn how to make your own:
Items Needed:
- 2×4 pieces of wood cut to 12″ in length
- Miter Saw to cut the slots in the wood (or a friend who has one. Sometimes the guys at home depot can do this for you too…sometimes)
- Wood Stain
- Foam Brush
- Latex gloves
- Moss
- Glue Gun
- Ribbon
How To Make:
- Cut the 2×4′s to be 12 inches in length.
- Lightly sand each board. Stain each board on 3 sides, let dry. Stain final side, let dry.
- Measure slots to be 1″ apart (you should be able to fit 12 slots/cards on your board). I would stain first because you don’t want any stain dripping into the slots.
- Use the miter saw in accordance with safe practices to cut each measured slot in the wood.
- Wrap moss around edges using glue gun as you go around. Tie a ribbon around moss edge to help secure in place.
This is a quick and easy 2 hour project that the kids and parents will love. Kids will feel so inspired to wear this fun apron and parents will have an apron that will keep kids clothes clean. A win, win! No pattern needed, just measure, cut and sew. For children 2 to 6 years old. Finished size, 18″ long, 19″ wide & pockets 6″ deep.
If you just want one and don’t have the time or skills or desire to make it on your own, you can visit YourLifEvents Etsy Store and purchase one that we will make just for you.
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- 1/2 yd. fabric
- Thread
- Bias tape, if doing reversible apron
- Measuring tape
- Scissors
- Sewing machine
HERE’S WHERE TO GET GREAT MATERIAL
Joann’s Fabrics has a lot of great fabrics on line including wonderful crafts. Rosie’s Calico Cupboard is a quilt shop that has wonderful fabrics not just for quilting of all different kinds, including the vintage look. Fat Quarter Shop has Funky Monkey fabric and lots of cute kids fabric.
HERE’S HOW TO MAKE BOTH APRONS
- Using two ply fabric, measure 4″ across from folded edge and mark with chalk. Measure again from folded edge and mark at 9″ across and 9″ down. Make a line diagonally from 4″ mark to 9″ mark. Cut out.
- Mark and cut 2, 2 ply straps 2″ x 19″. Cut 1 pocket 6″ x 19″.
- Iron and sew down top edge of pocket 1/2″ If making reversible apron using bias tape, do not fold down but place fabric inside of tape and sew tape across top edge only, on both edges of tape.
- Pin pocket, wrong side to right side at bottom of apron. Pin right sides of apron bibs together. Omit this step if doing the reversible apron. Instead, pin fabric, wrong sides together, place inside of bias tape and sew all the way around. For both types of apron, measure 6″ from both raw edges of fabric and sew vertically, creating three pockets.
- Using a 1/2″ seam, sew front and back together on all sides, leaving 1″ openings at top and sides for straps. Clip corners, turn and iron. If using bias tape, sew bias tape all the way around apron on both edges of the tape.
- Fold horizontally and iron straps in half, right sides together. Sew one end and one side closed, using a 1/8″ seam. Clip corners, turn right side out and iron flat. (Do this for both types of aprons)
- Fold in top edge of apron 1/2″ and iron. Place raw edges of straps and pin in each seam at openings and top stitch 1/8″ around all sides of apron and over straps. If bias tape used, fold in raw edge of strap opening, sew closed and pin to back side of apron and sew onto seam lines.
Tips:
The more you iron the less you need to pin.
Sew edge down or sew bias tape to top of pocket, before you sew pocket to body of apron.
I just love soaking in a hot tub of bubbles with a good book , some tea and cookies! Bath Cookies that is ! Smelling so good you will want to eat them. These bath cookies from “Do it Yourself Gifts” are perfect to drop into a tub after a long day of teaching or just standing on your feet. The best part is, they are very inexpensive to make, so you can give them to more than one teacher! This recipe is for Chocolate-Almond Bath Cookies from the book “My DIY: The Stylin’ Girl’s Guide To Diy Projects–from Sassy Crafts To Thrifty Gifts
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
- 3 Cups Sea Salt
- 1 Cup Baking Soda
- 1 Cup Cornstarch
- 3 Eggs
- 6 Tablespoons Corn Oil
- 10 Drops Chocolate Essential Oil
- 10 Drops Almond Essential Oil
HERE ARE THE TOOLS YOU’LL NEED:
- Small to Medium Mixing Bowl
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Large Wooden Spoon
- Measuring Cup
- Fork or Whisk
- Baking Sheet
- Airtight Container
CLICK HERE TO GET THE INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO MAKE THEM
- HERE ARE SOME TIPS:
- No need to coat the pan–they are easily removed after baking.
- You can find a lot of great tins and jars with covers at thrift stores, garage sales or dollar stores.
- If you can, try to make your cookies about the size of a vanilla wafer cookie (they dissolve faster in the tub).
- Scented oil can be found at Michael’s or most craft stores in the soap making aisle.
- You can put hash marks across the top if you are making a peanut butter scent or use cookie cutters to make different shapes.
There are great giving back projects that are super easy and give back in a big way. “The 1 Million Pillow Case Challenge” is one of them. I am going to contribute to this cause and will share my pillow cases with you when they are completed. If you belong to a sewing group, get them involved too!
American Patchwork & Quilting is challenging you to join their efforts to Make a Pillowcase, Make a Difference. Every pillowcase can make a difference in your community. A pillowcase can provide comfort for a cancer patient, hope for a foster child, encouragement for a battered woman, or beauty for a nursing home resident. Once your pillowcases are complete and donated locally, (“Rosie’s Calico Cupboard” is one of the donation drop off sites), you log onto the American Patchwork & Quilting site to enter how many pillowcases you made. Help reach the goal of ONE MILLION Pillowcases. This site even gives you free download pillow case patterns!
If you plan on participating, we would love to hear your pillowcase plans and send in your pictures to us too!
I don’t know what it is this year, but I am so hyper-focused on garden weddings and parties. There is something so quaint and comforting about the thought of a garden wedding or party that is very appealing to me. I think also that this theme goes very well with anyone wanting to DIY the decor of their wedding or party. In that vain, I’ve found this wonderfully unique garden table numbers from Etsy designer, Hammermann
Description
I made this table 1 plant marker using an antique silver-plated tablespoon. It has a unique patina and design!
It is hammered and stamped by hand using rudimentary tools.
The spoons would give a nice touch to a vintage, eco-friendly, or garden theme wedding or bridal shower. Also, to a spring or summer party.
I welcome custom orders! Send me an email to make the table numbers for your party.
The spoon markers are also great for:
* Gift tags
* Favors
* Table numbers on weddings, tea parties, garden parties
* Cookbook marker
* Garden marker
Note: Rosemary plant used for illustration purposed only, not included on the listing.
There are so many kids toys these days that come in disposable bags when you buy them. Once opened, you’re in need of something cute (always something cute) to keep them all together. Because loose in a toy box is not neatly organized for going out, it’s just the perfect solution to keeping stuff off your living room floor. For those smaller toys like puzzle pieces, blocks, Lego’s, small stuffed animals, small zoo or farm animals, having smaller areas to keep them organized and easily accessible is crucial. When running out the door to your favorite restaurant, you will need something quick and easy to take with you that will occupy your little ones.
At the zoo this past weekend, we bought some new zoo animals and came home with yet another plastic bag that doesn’t close so it had to be put in the recycle bin and the zoo animals were just strewn about my car, my home, the stroller…you get the picuture. So grandma, being a bit of an organizer herself, got busy on her sewing machine and in an hour we had a great bag for my grandson to put his zoo animal collection in (and of course, the animal print fabric matches the toys that go in the bag).
I think I am going to make more bags and get all different fun and coordinating fabrics to make it easy for him, to know what item goes into what bag. One bag with pictures of blocks for his building blocks, his puzzles, his Lego’s, etc. Smaller bags can be made with these same instructions, just cut down the measurements, for marbles, dominoes, jacks and dice…oh, do they still have those ? I am dating myself now, but hey I am a grandma!
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- 1/2yd. Fabric
- Thread
- Tape measure
- Scissors
- Pins
- Iron
HERE’S HOW TO MAKE IT
- Cut a 14″ wide x 22″ long piece of fabric, measured from fold.
- Cut 2-3″ wide x 22″ long strips, measure from fold.
- Take 1 of the strips and cut 2, 14″ long pieces. Fold over the ends and sew down.
- Pin and sew the 14″ strips to both 14″ sides of fabric, right side to wrong side.
- Fold down top edge 1/4″ and iron. Fold over band to raw edge, iron and sew, to make casing for strap.
- Take the other strap, horizontally fold and iron, right sides together, and sew 1 end and raw edge 1/4″. Clip corner and turn right side out. *See tip below for an easy way to turn strap. Turn in and sew end closed.
- Thread strap through top casing, from one case side to the other. Use a large safety pin on one end to thread it through the casing.
- With wrong sides together, pin and sew case sides together. Make sure straps are out of casing at equal lengths on one side. Sew the seam over the looped strap side and up to the casing seam on the other side, that as the straps coming out of the casing.
- Turn right side out, iron and draw the straps to close at top.
*Tip: With a pencil that has an eraser, separate and push the eraser side into 1 ply of fabric at the closed end. Pull fabric over the pencil until you push all the fabric onto the pencil and you see the right side of the fabric pushing through. Move the eraser back and forth until the end of the material strap is all pushed out. Remove the pencil from the fabric and holding the right side of fabric that sticks out, shack strap completely out. Iron flat.
Good food, an apron and a potholder…what do they have in common ? A great party !
Yes, barbecue season is right around the corner, Mothers Day, Memorial Day, Fathers Day, Graduation… they are all coming very soon, along with warm weather and pool parties. So we are here to help you get ready!
I have been on the hunt for some “Different & Delicious” food prep alternatives, “Fun & Festive” outdoor party ideas and “Quick & Easy” projects to make your festivities a hit. Here’s what I have uncovered.
First, “Different & Delicious“. Dinner Studio is incredible an incredible dinner delivery service in San Diego and our family doesn’t know how we lived without them for so long. Delicious, personalized, home-cooked dinners, what more could one ask for? Once you sign up and start looking around on their site, it won’t be what should we order, it will be how many should we order! And they make it easy with all sorts of incentives and a start up discount. I know…give, give, give, it’s just eatable incredible !
Second, “Fun & Festive“. Keep it simple, is one of my best tips. Hang some colorful paper lanterns in your trees or umbrella and clip on some cute butterflies and dragonflies. (Check your craft store for these) Take mason ball jars, in half of them put candles inside, the other half place a bunch of colorful flowers inside. Place wood or cork rounds (from craft store) down the center of your table and place the jars on top of each one. Get big plastic or galvanized tubs (there are some great deals out there) and surround your wine, beer, soda, lemonade…drink of your choice, in festive colored ice cubes. Here’s how you do it: Place a few drops of food coloring into the water before pouring it into the ice trays and stir. Make all different colors of ice or colors that go with your party decorations. You can even get different shaped ice cube trays for more fun.
Third, “Quick & Easy“ project. An ice breaker, if I ever did see one! A festive barbecue apron and pot holder might just be the thing that tops off the night and has everyone talking and wanting to know where you got such a great apron and pot holder. When you tell them, ” I made them” their next question will be, mark my words, where did you get such different and original fabric? The fabric can take a nice apron to a Wow apron. Click on our apron and potholder DIY instructions to learn how to make them yourself. We’ve also listed a great location to find fabric for all your DIY fabric needs!
My girlfriends and I got together for a cookie party and I made them all aprons from this wonderful fabric shop. I went with a retro look and had no trouble finding what I wanted.
By: YLE Crafty Chic, Sharon Tittle
CAR ACTIVITY CARRIER
Are you finding that you need more room in your backseat for your kid’s toys? Personally, my backseat is littered with lions and tigers and bears, so this little DIY car activity carrier will be the perfect solution to my child’s ever changing toy needs while in the car. We hope you enjoy this craft and would love to see pictures of yours once you’ve completed them.
MATERIALS :
- ½ yd. Back ground material, cut 2- 16” x 24” pieces
- 1- 16” x 15” square (Choose a different colored material for each square)
- 1- 16” x 7” sq.
- 1- 8 1/2” x 7” sq.
- 2- 8” x 5” sq. (Different colors)
- 2- 18” x 2 1/2” (Same colored strips)
- 1 pkg. Rick Rack
- 2 Flower buttons
- Contrasting thread
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Pins
- Chalk
- Iron
INSTRUCTIONS :
Sew with 1/2” seams. Pocket seams 1/4”.
- Iron all fabric. Cut all pieces of material to size. (see above)
- Cut Rick Rack; 3- 7”pieces, 1- 16” piece, 2- 5” pieces, and 1- 4 1/2” piece.
- Cut 2 triangle edges off tops of 16” x 24” back ground pieces of material. 4” at base of triangle.
- Pin 3 pieces of 7” Rick Rack vertically to 16” x 7” square. Starting from center, measure and pin 3” apart. Set aside.
- Pin and sew 1- 16” piece of Rick Rack to16” x 5” square, horizontally. Pin only, 2- 5” pieces, vertically, 4” from outside edges.
- Turn under ends of 1- 4 1/2” piece of Rick Rack. Pin and sew to center, 1” down from top of 8 1/2” x 7”square.
- Fold over squares 1/4”on 3 sides and iron, leaving raw edge of square that will be pined to raw edge of back ground material. Fold and iron all sides of 8 1/2” x7” square only.
- Pin and sew, turned under 4” x 7” pocket to 6” x 8” pocket, on 3 sides, leaving top open.
- Pin all square pockets to 1 ply of the back ground material. Starting from top pocket, before folded size,16” x 5”, below that, 2 left pockets- 4” x 8” and 8” x 5”. To right, double pocket, 8 1/2” x 7”. And bottom 16” x 7” pocket.
- Pin all vertical Rick Rack now also to back ground material and sew together, to make pockets.
- Fold straps in half, right sides together and iron. Sew 2 raw edges together. Turn right side out by taking the eraser side of a pencil and placing it at the closed end, pushing it against one ply of the material, pushing material over pencil, until the inside of the material is now on the outside. Take pencil out and shake material until right sides are showing. Iron straps.
- Pin straps 3” in from raw edge of material, hanging down over pockets.
- With right sides together, pin other back ground fabric piece at edges, over pockets. Sew 3 sides leaving bottom open.
- Turn right side out, iron edges, top stitch around the 3 sides. Fold in bottom edge and sew closed. Hand sew the buttons to top pocket, where the Rick Rack crosses.
Hello spring ! Everywhere you look there are flowers sprouting up outside and in magazines. Now is the time to collect and clip all those beautiful flowers that are popping up everywhere! What better and fun way to recycle your magazines than clipping some colorful flowers to use in a project?
This project is addictive. I sat watching TV one night going through all my magazine stacks, clipping away, and then folding my small squares into paper flowers, I ended up with a pile of flowers in my lap, in all different colors!
Fun and so happy to have made use of all my magazines for a second time!
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- Magazines with flower & leaf pictures
- White or tracing, paper- 2″ x 2″ and 3″ x 3″ square
- Fruit branches
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Glue
- Optional: Green ribbon, 1/4″ x 12″ for napkin.
HERE’S WHERE TO GET IT
Flower & garden, and home magazines. Your garden, nursery or craft store that has a floral section, for branches.
HERE’S HOW TO MAKE IT
- Make square templates using the plain white or tracing paper to 2″ x 2″ and 3″ x 3″ squares. I like using the tracing paper because you can see through it when placing it over the flowers before you trace around the square.
- Go through your magazines tearing out the pages that have flowers the size of the paper squares. You will be making a front and a back, so you will need 2 pieces for each flower and leaf. They don’t need to be the same flower, just close to the same color for the bottom piece. I have even used background color from an add.
- Trace around template and cut out the flower squares. Glue a front and back together. Let dry.
- Fold the square in half, then in half again. Open the square and crease diagonally, then repeat to make another diagonal crease, in the other direction.
- Refold back into the small square and fold one more time to make a triangle. Hold onto the folded closed point of the paper, and start cutting at the bottom towards folded edge into a heart shape.
- Open paper flowers and glue the smaller flower into the larger one.
- Trace the leaves from green magazine pages using the 2″ x 2″ square template.
- Fold the square in half and then in half again. Holding the folded edge, cut out a leaf shape. Unfold and glue together. Let dry.
- Glue flowers and leaves to branches.
- Optional: Glue 1 set of flowers to ribbon, that will be long enough to wrap around your napkin. Let dry.
Tip: Making bigger and smaller square templates will give you different sizes of flowers. This looks great if you want to make a bouquet of flowers, glued onto branches and put into a vase. You can also glue the small single flowers onto the branches to mix it up.
By: YLE Crafty Chic- Sharon Tittle
Reversed/Inside Out Tulips
Yes, that’s right, an inside out tulip!
Just by taking the petals of a tulip and inverting them, you get a totally new look for a tulip bouquet. Your friends will wonder what kind of flower it is and when you tell them a tulip, they will have a hard time believing you.
Carefully take one petal at a time and gently turn it inside out, going all the way around the tulip. Mix it up, turn some of the petals and leave some as regular tulips. What a conversation starter, what a great hostess gift !
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A mommy and me, easy and fun kids’ project, that you and your kids will love making together. This “Bunny Door Greeter” is wonderful to give to a grandparent or for your own front door. It’s also a good project that kids can do in their classroom and can be done with any animal’s face with ears and whiskers. As a grandparent, I would love to hang this up on my front door, knowing my grandson had made it, just for me. (<;
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- 2 Paper plates
- 26″ x 1″ Satin ribbon-pink
- 2 Squares pink felt or 1/4 yd.
- 1 Square white felt
- 2 White pompoms
- 1 Pink pompom
- 2 White chenille stems
- 2 Movable eyes, medium or large
- Couple stalks of flowers
- Craft glue
- Piece of paper
- Stapler
- Scissors
- Ruler
HERE’S WHERE TO GET IT
First check your own house, and sewing room, you might already have what you need! But if you don’t, a craft or sewing store will be able to help you out.
HERE’S HOW TO MAKE IT
- Cut ribbon. One 20″ for the strap and the remainder will be 6″ for the bow.
- Cut chenille stems. 4, 3″ and 2, 2″. Cut the last piece in half which will be used in between the felt ear pieces.
- Cut 2 large ears 7″ and 2 small ears 5″ long. To do this, draw one large ear from a piece of paper as a template. Fold the piece of paper in half and draw the large ear on one side of the paper, cut it out and open the paper to get the full ear template. Place it on the pink felt and cut out two. Take that same paper template, fold it in half again and cut it 1/4″ smaller all the way around and open it to get the full paper template. Cut the smaller ear from the white felt.
- Glue the 2 remainder chenille stems between and in the middle of the felt ears, 1/2″ up from bottom of ear. Glue all the way around the white ear and place it on top of the pink ears, encasing the chenille stems inside. Let dry.
- Staple the two paper plates together around the edges.
- Cut a 5″ horizontal piece off the top of both paper plates. Cut to top of round edge of plate.
- Staple ears to front of paper plate at edges of opening.
- Glue the pink felt square over the front paper plate and cut away the felt at plate opening when dry.
- Staple the 20″ piece of ribbon to the back of the paper plate at edges, making a loop hanger.
- Glue the two eyes 2 1/2″ down from the top of the cut away plate, in the center.
- Glue the pink pompom, nose, under the eyes. The chenille stems, whiskers, (3 on each side, with small one in center) under nose to either side, and the white pompoms under the pink nose on top of chenille stems. Let dry.
- Tie the remainder of the ribbon into a bow and glue to bottom of plate, in center. Let dry.
Tip: You can also use cotton balls for cheeks instead of white pompoms and blanket batting for white centers of the ears. If using fresh flowers, stick them into green floral foam that has been cut to size and soaked in water for 30 minutes. Place them in a zip lock bag, zip as far as you can around the flowers before placing them in between the paper plates.
By: YLE Crafty Chic, Sharon Tittle
