Inspired by: cakes

Saturday afternoons are usually reserved for craft time! Once I put little Chase down for his nap, Alaina and I sit down and chit-chat about possible craft ideas. I held my breathe hoping that she wasn't going to say the chicken nugget matching game or another round of Pretty-Pretty Princess. (both of which I've played today.) So, I was pleasantly surprised (and a little relieved) when she mentioned wanting to make a big paper cake. Ahhh, now that I can do!




We skipped down to my craft room to pick out supplies and Alaina dug through the box of paper punches. I organize all of my paper scraps by color, so I put all of the plastic draws of paper on the floor so she could pick her own paper. It was cute to see her decide what color 'frosting' to use. This was a great kids art project and it used alot of my left-over supplies - got to love that!!

We put together a little tutorial-idea post for these paper cakes. The best part is deciding on the flavor-name combinations! The instructions are going to be super simple, they're the same directions I gave to Alaina (she's 6 years old) to help her make her own cake. I'll show you a couple of variations by just adding a few more details that will make your cake scrapbook worthy or perfect for gift-wrapping and cards!! :)

Supplies:

paper scissors
scrap paper
glue-stick or Glue Dots



Directions:

1. cut out a rectangle for the cake.



2. Cut out strips of paper for the frosting.



3. cut out a larger rectangle for the top frosting, tear gently along the bottom edge or use a pair of shaped scissors.



4. cut out one more thin strip of paper for the very top of the cake.



5. Use a glue stick, or glue dots to glue all of the layers together. Or if your sewing machine is handy you can sew all of the layers! Trim the excess paper from the edges of the cake.



6. Make a flower for the top of the cake by hand cutting a few circles (or you can use a paper punch) and layer them together using glue-dots. Leaves can be made by cutting football's, as I explained it to Alaina, from different shades of green papers.



here's our Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake



Want to see some more little cakes and cupcakes? :) We had a great time naming each cake this afternoon, Alaina has quite the imagination!! The names are written under each cake. (sorry it's a little difficult to see the names, they blended in too well!)








Once you've made a couple of cakes you'll probably wonder what to do with them! Here's a couple of ideas A and I came up with... feel free to add to my list!! This sweet cupcake was made from a coffee sleeve, fabric, a handmade felt flower and a bit of yellow lace. I decided it would be the perfect little cake gift-tag for a small gift.




To make a tiny card: cut a plain white A4 card in half and used a paper punch to scallop the bottom of the card. I added a little piece of ledger paper to the front and glued the cupcake to the card. I love-love small cards like this with just enough room to write something sweet! I used the other half of the card to turn a whole cake into a little card.



I think it would be a super cute idea to glue a magnet onto the back of some small cupcakes. Or, if you make a small fabric cupcake, sew a flat pin-back to the back of the cake and wear as a dessert pin! My favorite is a gift tag though, I think it's perfect tucked into a little girls present!!



I have a feeling Alaina and I will be making more of these cakes, they are alot of fun once you get started! I should also mention that Alaina made a strawberry chocolate cake, but when I wanted to photograph it today she informed me that it still needed some finishing touches. :) I'll add a photo of her cake tomorrow.

a gift-wrap Guest Artist

I was asked to be a guest artist this week, but as a gift-wrapping guest artist! Fun right!! I wanted to post part of my guest post on my own blog, since gift-wrapping ideas have been my most asked question lately.

Here's a few of my tips & ideas for holiday gift wrapping:

*decide on a color scheme to use for your gift-wrap

* Instead of ribbon, try using a long strand of handmade paper garland.

* Use a handmade pom-pom in place of a bow.

* Use Glue Dots Craft Dots to attach your layers together, they're small and very sticky!

* To make a quick and simple gift box, use a natural Kraft box and add a small white paper doily to the top. Next, take 3 or 4 various lengths of ribbon, lace and or trim, and layer one on top of the other. Sew down the center of the ribbons to secure. Place the ribbon bundle on top of the gift and add a plastic snowflake on top, followed by a large handmade pom-pom. Use the yarn from the pom-pom to wrap and tie all around the gift.

* Look for non-traditional items to use for gift-wrapping, like flocked wall paper, clothing pattern tissue, large hand cut butterflies, rolled silk flowers, cards of buttons and my favorite, small clothes pins!!

To see the rest of the interview and guest post, check out this blog post. I still have just a few more gifts to wrap this weekend!!

Cinnamon Ornament- tutorial

This is one of my favorite holiday crafts to do!! I remember making these in 1st grade and now I have a little 1st grader who loves to make these ornaments with me. Plus, any excuse to bake with lots of cinnamon is right up my alley!

There are so many variations of this recipe, but this one is the one that works for me. Here's my tutorial for holiday Cinnamon Ornaments:



Materials:
1/2 cup ground cinnamon
1/3 cup applesauce (I use one of the kids' containers of applesauce, it's just the right amount)
2 Tbls. white glue (I'm using Aleene's Tacky Glue)
rolling pin & cookie cutters
*things for decorating: white paint, glitter, small beads or pearls, and string to hang with



Directions:
1. Mix the cinnamon, applesauce and glue, in a bowl until it has the consistency of dough (I use my hands to really mix everything together, it's a little messy though!)

**If the dough is too wet, add a little cinnamon, if it's too dry, add a little applesauce.**

2. Roll out dough, on a covered surface, to about a 1/4 inch thick.

3. Use cookie cutters to cut out ornaments, and transfer to a foil-lined baking sheet.

4. Use a tooth pick to make a hole at the top of each ornament.

5. Bake ornaments at 170 F. for 40 mins. Remove from oven and flip ornaments over. Return to oven and bake for another 20 minutes at 170 F. Remove from oven and let cool overnight.



**Use this time to admire the wonderful cinnamon smell that has filled your home.**

6. Decorate the ornaments with paint and glitter, and use a string to hang from the tree.

Have fun with the ornaments!! and remember no eating them, only smelling is allowed! xo ~ t

Cute & Easy Fabric/Ribbon Bandaids

Kids and ouchies seem to go hand in hand... or maybe that should be 'on knee & knees'? If you have children or have a child occasionally in your care, there's a really good chance that you have a small stash of boxes, with bandaids in different sizes and colors, ready to go at a moments notice! (Just ask Alaina's teacher!!)

Since I'm almost positive that my children see bandaids as removable body-art stickers, it was quickly becoming an expensive new hobby for us. With this simple idea, there's no need to purchase those neon shades or the cartoon character bandaids anymore. Now you can make your own cute fabric bandaids with just a few materials and only 3 quick steps!

Materials:

Glue Dots - Craft
Fabric Adhesive Bandaids (I like the generic fabric bandaids)
ribbon or fabric scraps




Directions

1. Unwrap the bandaids from package and place 3 glue dots on the top of the bandaid



2. Add a small piece of fabric or ribbon on top.



3. Trim the excess fabric off from around the edges of the bandaid.

Alaina and I had alot of fun whipping up this cute little tutorial.. hope you like it!!

an Envelope Tutorial

It's dark & rainy here in the desert today, which means it's a good day to spend inside catching up on some house-work. I was taking a quick lunch break and looking through a couple of easy-peasy tutorials that I made but just hadn't posted yet. So, here is my envelope tutorial made with just 2 glue dots Glue Lines!!

With the holidays approaching, there are more reasons to give a card to your favorite teacher, a small envelope with a gift-card tucked inside to the best hair stylist, or just a quick thank you to a sweet friend. You'll be sure to find lots of reasons to pass out envelops with pretty cards this season, and what could be sweeter than handmade envelopes from vintage papers!

To make these envelopes extra simple, I've used an A4 envelope as my template. Unfold the envelope and trace onto the back of the paper you'd like to use for your envelope.



If you want to get extra fancy, cut a piece of scrapbook paper just slightly smaller than the inside of your envelope.



Use 2 Glue Dots - Glue Lines on the outer margins to secure your envelope's seams. Fold the bottom of the envelope inward, and fold the outer edges over the bottom part of the envelope.



Just add a cute handmade card and a postage stamp and you're ready to mail!



See how quick and easy that was!!

the first project

of October... actually it's from last month, but I just photographed it today! A very cute friend of mine sent me a large package of vintage handkerchief's this summer. (I'm not sure why I love something so much, that has most likely been used to wipe someone's nose.... but I do! I've been collecting them for years!!) Unfortunately, they have sat in the same place for the past few months, while I tried to think of some way to use them.



After my surgery, I really wanted to make something, but didn't have alot of energy. So, I thought maybe using one the handkerchiefs to create a messy-journal with a layered sewn cover would be something simple and yet still creative enough for me.
- and that's exactly how I made this journal!!

I started by layering different fabrics together and sewing them along the front cover. The actual cover for this book is a handkerchief folded in half. I gathered a bunch of papers, ledger, graph, atlas pages, music sheets, comic book pages, and score sheets and sewed them into place.





This whole book took me about 30 min. to put together. (and that's only because I wasn't walking around the house very fast to find all of the paper that I wanted to use.) The next time you're at a thrift or antique store, look for a pretty handkerchief to create a messy little art-journal!!

Summer Coaster project

Time for a lovely summer project!





With the arrival of June & warmer temps. it can only mean one thing.... hours spent poolside. With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to make something useful and pretty of course! I've seen lots of tile coasters, but one layer of paper could never be enough for me!! So, I've made a quick (hopefully) tutorial on making your very own set of Summer Tile Coasters.



** If you don't have access to tile stones, I've made an alternative project, at the end of the tutorial.**

Supplies

an assortment of paper scraps
1 sheet cardstock
stickers
3.5 x 3.5 stone tiles (available at home improvement stores, I'm using travertine stone tiles, there are also ceramic tiles, for about $ .16 each.)
Mod-Podge (I used a Satin finish)
paint brush
double stick tape (I used Scotch tape)
Terrifically Tacky Tape or Glue Dots Glue Lines
felt pads



Directions

1. Place tiles on cardstock, and using a pencil draw an outline of the tiles and cut just slightly inside the pencil lines.

2. Working with one square at a time, cover a cardstock square with Scotch double stick tape.

3. Time to cut paper into little pieces! I cut a bunch of small strips of paper from cardstock, vintage ledger paper and security envelopes, used punched butterflies, stickers and even some hole-reinforcement stickers. (If it can be cut into little pieces.. I'll use it!)
Arrange the paper, randomly, over the tape on your cardstock squares. Once all of the paper is in place, flip the square over and trim off the excess.




4. If you're using a sewing machine, sew all of your layers to the cardstock. If you're not using a sewing machine, just make sure all of your paper layers are tacked down with tape.




5. Cover the back of the cardstock square with Terrifackly Tacky Tape or with Glue Dots - Glue Lines. Peel off the sticky back and stick the square to the tile stone. (You can also use Mod-Podge for this step. Just paint on Mod-Podge to the back of the paper square and stick on tile stone. Wait until this layer is dry, about an hour, before going on to the next step.)



6. Time for Mod-Podge!! Grab your paint brush and paint a very thin 1st layer across the top of your paper. I let this layer dry, and then added about 3-4 more layers of Mod-Podge, letting each layer dry before moving onto the next layer. When the Mod-Podge is dry enough to touch, press and rub out any little ripples or air bubbles in the paper.



7. After the Mod-Podge has dried completely, turn the coaster over and place 4 of the sticky felt pads onto each corner. This will keep the stone tiles from scratching the surface of your table.



and viola, all finished! I made a set of 4 coasters, for my patio table. Try matching your the colors or patterns of your coasters to your outside table settings and dishes. My place settings are simple and white, so I thought a mix of light colored papers was a perfect contrast.





If you're unable to find stone tiles or you just cannot bring yourself to use Mod-Podge, like my mom for instance, here's an alternative coaster that you can make by changing just a few steps and the use of some clear contact paper!



Follow the previous directions 1-4. Cover the back of the cardstock square (just like step 5.) and instead of sticking the paper to a tile, stick the paper square to another cardstock square, of the same size. This will give your coaster a little extra weight. Next, use 2 pieces of contact paper cut into large squares. Peel the sticky side of the contact paper, and lay down on a flat surface. Carefully set the back of the paper coaster onto the sticky contact paper. Once in place, peel the sticky side off of the 2nd sheet of contact paper, and carefully lay over the top of the coaster. Gently smooth the contact out, rubbing any ripples or little air pockets from the coaster. Trim the edges around the coaster, but don't trim the contact paper all the way off. I left about an 1/8 inch of contact paper, so the contact paper seals itself, and insures that no water will find it's way in.



Have any questions or comments? Let me know and I'll answer & add them to the bottom of this post. Thanks and Happy creating!!