Patriotic Bandanna Wreath Revisited

Last year I created this wreath using red, white and blue bandannas. A couple of days ago I stumbled across another patriotic wreath here that inspired me to recreate the bandanna wreath in that style. Here's the result...

This wreath was super easy to make. I cut red and white bandannas into 3" wide strips and hot glued them onto a Styrofoam wreath. I then glued a blue bandanna onto one side of the wreath. Finally I recycled the bow from the original wreath...

Please check back for more 4th of July ideas coming soon!

Thank You to the Class of 2012!

A few months ago I opened an Etsy shop that sells handmade party decorations. Much like starting a blog, getting found on Etsy has been an incredibly steep learning curve. But I'm happy to say that a few folks have stumbled by and graciously purchased products this month largely due to one thing: Graduation 2012!

Here are a couple of products that I created for the big event - a graduation banner...

and a graduation door sign...

In celebration of reaching 16 Etsy sales and 16 Etsy admirers, I'm having a 16% Off sale! The sale starts tomorrow May 16 and runs through May 31 (which just happens to be 16 days).

To take advantage of the sale, simply enter the following coupon code during checkout: 16PERCENTOFF


Thanks!

Tulip Cake Bouquet

Every year for Mother's Day my kids want to make something homemade for their grandmas. So I typically end up hauling out all of my crafting supplies and letting them go for it. However this year I came across something at the grocery store that I thought would be a really pretty (and edible) semi-homemade gift...

it's a tulip bouquet!

The flower part of the bouquet are actually creme-filled cakes made by Little Debbie. They come in pink too.

I dyed some sweet coconut flakes green for the grass. And then I inserted a bamboo skewer into a piece of green licorice for the stem.

This was super easy to assemble. My kids can't stop asking if it's time to make their real bouquets yet . I hope I get one from them too!

DIY Graduation Favors

My youngest son will be graduating from Kindergarten in a few weeks, so I thought it would be fun to create little favors to hand out to all of the graduates. The inspiration for the favor came from this amazing craft created by Zakka Life - see it here.

I made graduation pops!

This is a super easy craft to make. First gather up some black plastic bottle tops - these are from bottles of root beer.

Then make the tassels by following these instructions.

Finally cut 2"x 2" squares and small circles out of black foam paper or cardstock. Hot glue the bottle top to the square and then hot glue the tassel onto the top of the square. Finish it off by gluing the small circle on top.

Almost too cute to eat!

DIY Easter Egg Magnets

Every year after Easter there are a billion empty plastic eggs laying around the house that my kids refuse to let me recycle. This year the crafter in me decided to put some of them to good use by making refrigerator magnets...

All you need to make these are plastic eggs, sticker letters, magnet tape and hot glue. Just put the letters on the front of the eggs and the magnet tape on the back (I also used hot glue to reinforce the magnets). That's it.

When my kids saw the eggs on the fridge they insisted on making their own - either crafting is in their blood or it's contagious!

Hope you all have a Happy Easter!!

Easter Chick Lantern

Last year you might remember me creating this Easter Bunny using a paper lantern. This year my youngest son, who has assumed the role of creative director of this blog, strongly suggested that I create an Easter Chick so that the bunny (and I quote) "would have a friend". Was there any way I could say no to that? Exactly, and here's the result...

Club Shamrock

My kids have recently become super fans of wrap sandwiches, so I thought it would be fun to make them something in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Oddly enough this also became the perfect opportunity to invest in another cookie cutter - I mean doesn't everyone need a 5" shamrock-shaped cutter?

Using a spinach and herb tortilla wrap, I simply cut out the shape and filled it up with club sandwich ingredients.

And finally I topped the sandwich off with a homemade toothpick...

Yum! I think I'm going to have to make an adult version of this that's paired with a glass of green beer!