We have now come to Part 2 of baby Addilyn's gift from Collin and I- a FLORIDA STATE tutu!! The idea came a couple of weeks ago and I immediately shared it with Ashton! I mean, how cute would it be to take pictures of the future Nole in the cutest tutu ever?! So, I got to work on it as soon as possible!
SHOPPING LIST: - whatever color tulle you want, as much as you want! (I used two colors, 1 1/2 yards each) - ribbon - scissors
Yup.. that's it!!
Alright. So below I have pictured the purchases I made. First, you need to determine the length of the tutu you want. If you want to be specific and, say, want a tutu that is exactly 5 inches in length, be sure to cut the tulle into strips about 10 1/2 inches long (you need to compensate for tying the knots). I play mine by ear and just cut strips into lengths I thought were good enough. The strips don't have to be completely straight. Once they are all tied together, no one see the imperfect cutting!
In these next steps of creating the tutu, I tried to take a picture of each individual step. I've created a slideshow below to show you step by step how to start creating your tutu. To determine the width band of a baby tutu, I measured it around my thigh. I figured that would be a good guesstimate to a baby's waist size. If you want the tutu to last them until a year old or so, make sure you make the length of the ribbon longer. Read the steps below...
Now that you have tied the tulle all around the ribbon, you are pretty much done! I made my ribbon long enough to wear there is a cute little bow on the back. I also made it slightly bigger to where, hopefully, they can use the tutu until she is about six months old. To straighten out the tulle, just lightly brush it with your fingers. If you decide the tutu is longer than you wish, just take your scissors and start giving your tutu a trim to the desired length!
Addilyn's baby gift is now complete! I had a cute brown box at home, placed the tutu on the bottom, the picture frame on top, and took a piece of kraft paper and made them a homemade card. The gift is supposed to arrive tomorrow- hope they love it!!!
I cannot begin to express how excited I am for a couple of really good friends of ours, Ashton and Matt, to have welcomed into the world the most beautiful baby girl, Addilyn Olivia! Not only do we all know that they will make amazing parents, but we also know how no other couple in this world deserves nothing less short of a gorgeous baby girl.
Welcome, Addilyn Olivia!
Collin and I wished that we could have been there when the little beauty was born, but to show our love to them from afar, I decided to make them something a little special. Plus, what better way to make use of a rainy Sunday afternoon than crafting?! So, I'm going to work backwards on this one. Here is the end product of item 1 of 2 for the gift to Addilyn (the second part of her gift is in the next post).
Sorry, I just realized how dark the photo is, but I hope that you at least get the picture ;) So, this project didn't consist of me buying much since I had most of the supplies at home. But here is a complete list of things you will need to duplicate the project:
shopping list :)
- piece of wooden board, cut in your desired shape ($3.99 at Hobby Lobby!) - burlap triangles - any type of scratch paper, preferably colorful - hot glue gun - foam adhesive circles (Hobby Lobby) - stamps of your liking - stamping ink - scissors - any other decorations you would like - a photo to display ($0.27 at Walgreens)
and now we being the project...
To begin this project, you would first want to take your board and, in your mind, determine how to you want to set everything up. Do you want the photo in the middle? Off to the side? How big will the photo be that you are putting on? Thinking of everything before hand is most important because you want to avoid coming across any unfix-able crossroads down the road! After I chose my layout design in my head, I painted the board a seafoam green- just to give it a little pop!
*** I actually messed up on my first attempt at this and grateful that I did because it made me realize the photo canvas needed color! But I am just forewarning you of this because in some pictures the board is painted and in others it is not- just be sure to paint first before adding anything. It makes everything simpler!***
Once the board was painted and dried, I started work on the name banner. As you will see below, I bought little burlap pre-cut banner pieced for Hobby Lobby. I believe I got 10 in a pack for $2.99. I took a piece of triangle banner and mounted it against a piece of card stock paper. I cut the paper to make a little border around the triangle. Secure the triangle to the card stock with hot glue gun. (Hover over the images to see the step instructions.)
Complete the above steps with how many letters you will need. You can skip this next step, but I decided to add a little 3D-dimension to the project by making the banner pop out. With the use of foam adhesive circles, you can make anything slightly come off the page. Attach one adhesive circle to the back of one mounted burlap triangle. Attach the triangle onto the canvas in the way you wish to design.
To show you what a difference these adhesives actually make, here is a before and after picture. The picture on the left is without the adhesives and the picture on the right is with the adhesives. It's not a HUGE difference, but it is A difference!
Next, I took stamp letters that I had and placed one letter on each letter to spell out "Addilyn". This is pretty self explanatory!
Okay, friends, next thing I did was add the photo of the cute little baby girl. Hindsight, I probably should have done this FIRST to make sure everything stayed center and proportionate, but I happened to luck out on it all! Skills :) Lay out the photo on the canvas where you would like, so you get an idea before stamping it on! I used multi-purpose spray adhesive, which I would highly recommend. Use either this stuff or mod podge. You want to use something that is durable and will stick, but won't put bumps on the photo. Spray the adhesive on the back of the photo and stick onto the canvas. Be careful- it's super sticky!
The next thing I did was stamp on something in the corner- "and the story begins". Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of it!
ADVICE: stamping can be very tricky. If you stamp too hard, the wording can come out looking blotchy and just a mess.. and can ruin the whole project. It's better to stamp lighter and go over the working with a fine tip marker.
Wrapping it up, I decided to do a little pearl design on the canvas to add a touch of class and charm. I took the spray adhesive (used for the photo) and sprayed a puddle amount on a scrap sheet of paper. The good thing about the adhesive is that, although it is very sticky, it doesn't dry too fast. Taking a pair of tweezers, I dipped the backside of the pearl design in the spray adhesive puddle and put just enough on the back to make it stick. Then, I just let the imagination rule!
And there you have it. Your own personalized photo canvas for yourself or for some special people in your life! Since I already had most of the supplies at home, this whole project cost me less than $5.00!!! I'm sorry, but you can't beat that!! Congrats again to our amazing friends and their newest addition to the family!!
Please check out my next posting (coming shortly) of part 2 of baby Addilyn's gift from us!! Hope y'all enjoyed :)
This post is dedicated to a special woman in my life and the one who taught me the beauty behind crafting- my mom. Any possible event or project that could be made via crafting... was crafted! While some girls who had princess-themed birthday parties sent out pre-made paper invitations (which I would have been perfectly content with), my mom wrote the invitation with Calligraphy script font, used old-time phrasing, brushed a brewed tea bag over the paper to give it that distressed look, burned the edges of the paper with a lighter, rolled it up, tied it, and delivered it like a scroll from the castle. Yes. That happened. My birthday parties (from the invitations to the cake to decorations) were always carefully planned, handmade, and unique to the theme. My slogans while running for Student Council President were well-thought and witty, along with the design of the posters. Oh, it's Spirit Week in high school and the day is "twin day?" Well, you don't dress like someone else... you become a "Twin-kie".
Caitlin && I on "Twin Day" for Spirit Week. Mandarin High School. c/o 2007 (whoop whoop!)
Ordinary and typical are far from her alley! Her creative mind, out-of-the-box thinking, and arty fartsy talents have never ceased to amaze me... even 'til this day.
{She was Pinterest before Pinterest was even invented.}
For Christmas, I received one of the cutest presents from my mom. If you don't already know, I am completely in love with burlap and lace and pearls. Well, mama bear made me the cutest little burlap wreath to hang outside Collin and I's apartment. All it took was rolls of burlap, a wreath wire, a hot glue gun, a monogrammed letter, and a cute little ornament. [creds to Hobby Lobby and Michael's]
I mean, seriously... how stinkin' cute?! I love this wreath because I can constantly change it to make it fit with whatever holiday we are in. When mom gave it to me during Christmas, you can see that she used some holliberries to give it that Christmas flair. Super cheap from Hobby Lobby. Now that Valentine's day is approaching, I went back to Hobby Lobby and found this oh-so-cute "Love" ornament stick. I just slid out the holliberries and replaced it with the "Love" stick and you have a completely new wreath (and it's totally in season!) Hmmm- what will I do for St. Patty's Day...?!
I am in that point in my life where people are having babies and/or celebrating the life of their first born. Nothing is more beautiful!
This week I was on the hunt for Collin's niece's first birthday. Thanks to Home Goods I bought this extremely cute wrapping paper by Cynthia Rowley. And the price for this super adorbs wrapping paper? $2.99! I fell in love. My second favorite store, Hobby Lobby, provided the rest of the supplies. I bought a 3D cardboard felt "E" and a package of fabric rose ribbon. Total cost = $6.00.
When you go hunting for your supply items, try to get personal items. I know Baby E is only turning one, and she probable won't think much of my wrapping, but it makes it all just too cute! Her middle name is Rose- which is why I chose the rose petal ribbon. Her birthday theme is Minnie Mouse and for some reason the pink and white polka dot paper reminded me of that cute little Disney character :)
After wrapping Baby E's gift, I centered the "E" on the gift and attached it to the gift with double-sided circle scrapbook adhesives that I already had. Hot glue or double-sided tape would do the job just as well. Just be careful if you use hot glue because you don't want it to seep through the package from the heat. I cut two rose petals off the rose ribbon and stuck those on with the adhesives, as well. Now, you have successfully transformed a plain wrapping gift into something that looks just oh-so-beautiful!
I am SO incredibly excited to share with you the Christmas tree housed in Apt. 294. [Oh, & meet Luna- Collin and I's baby girl!] This is our first time decorating a tree together and, well, this is the result! We decided to this because right now we live in an apartment and don't have much storage room. No storage room yields no collecting holiday items. Boo :( But don't you worry… once we build our dream home, we will have lots of room for fun stuff!
{Shoutout to my fiancé on the whole Santa Christmas tree idea! When I was stuck with just the lights and ribbon on the tree, he came up with a simple idea that we both love!}
Again, I am really slacking and just getting used to this whole blogging thing, and I didn't take step-by-step pictures of how we made our Christmas tree… sorry! Luckily, this was not hard to make & didn't take too many supplies, so I will give detailed steps on what to do! Enjoy and post comments below with any questions or suggestions!
Supply List: - A Christmas tree - Christmas tree stand (Walmart) - White Christmas lights- we use the netted lights… way easier to wrap around the tree and makes it look more uniform *props to my Mom on that one from back in the day!* (Walmart) - Santa hat (Walmart) - Red ribbon (Hobby Lobby) - Black felt (Michaels) - One 8'x10' sheet of gold styrofoam (Michaels) - One small bag of Poly Fil (Michaels) - A pair of men's black boots (our closet!) - hot glue gun - scissors
We're ready to set up and decorate your personal Santa Christmas tree! First, set up, water, and trim your Christmas tree (if you opted for the real thing this year!) Once you have decided where you want to put it in your apartment, house, condo- wherever your living quarters are!- it is time to decorate.
Plug your glue gun in to get it nice and warmed up. While your hot glue gun is warming up, we are going to work on the tree itself. Place the lights on your tree to your liking. You don't have to use white lights, but that's what we went with this year. Afterwards, wrap the tree with the red ribbon. The red ribbon represents Santa's famous red suit.
Next, we are going to work on Santa's belt. Take your black felt sheet and cut it to the desired thickness and length you wish. I cut the sheet long enough to where it wrapped around most of the tree, but they aren't touching in the back. Personal preference. Now, take your gold styrofoam sheet to make the belt buckle of Santa's belt. Cut a proportionate rectangle to the thickness of the belt. Hot glue this part onto the black felt belt. Wrap around the middle of the tree. Since my belt didn't meet ends, I just tucked the ends of the belt into the branches. Hold just as good!
The Poly Fil will be used as- you guessed it!- Santa's beard! Start filling the upper portion of the tree in a V-shape, as if Santa's face was at the top. Use as much filling and make it as large or small as you want. Don't forget to put Santa's hat on the tippy top of the tree! We didn't use a tree skirt this time, so we were able to place the back boots directly under the tree to give it the full effect. Turn on your lights and there you have it- your very own Santa Christmas tree!
Today was a fun day in the wedding planning process. I crafted, put together, and shipped out my "Be My Maid?" boxes {shoutout to Pinterest for the oh-so-adorable idea!}. I think that this way of asking someone to be your maid/matron of honor and bridesmaid is not only crafty, but very personal. You have the ability to design these boxes in whichever way you wish and fill them with whatever you desire. Below I will explain how I did my bridesmaids boxes and I hope that it gives you inspiration for yours!
Shopping list:
Small wooden crates with handles (Michael's)
White, coral, and peach paint (Hobby Lobby)
Mint tissue paper (Hobby Lobby)
Rolls of burlap and lace (Hobby Lobby)
Gold sunflowers, stems removed (Hobby Lobby)
Jute Twine(Hobby Lobby)
Burlap banner cut-outs (Hobby Lobby)
Beige name tags with hole punch (Hobby Lobby)
Mini wooden clothespins (Hobby Lobby)
Blush Pink and Gold tulle (Hobby Lobby)
Mint cardstock (Hobby Lobby)
Mini pearl stick-ons (Hobby Lobby)
Mason jars (collect spaghetti jars)
Mini Sutter Home's White Zinfandel wine bottles (Wal-Mart)
Gold paint marker (Wal-Mart)
Ferrero Rocher chocolates (Wal-Mart)
Paint chips of wedding color palette (Lowe's)
Try to find the colors closest to your wedding color palette.
I started buying materials and designing these boxes last week- before I even knew I was going to start this blog. Therefore, I didn't get to take pictures of each step. Sorry! But I will do the best I can in explaining everything with little to no confusion!
Before you even start designing your bridesmaids' boxes or buying materials for them, make sure you have the colors of your wedding picked out first. I also have a themed wedding- we are going for a rustic country chic look. So that really helped in making my decisions for materials.
My weddings colors are mint, blush rose, and golds with a touch of neutral tones & peach. Accents are burlap, lace, and pearls.
You can represent your wedding colors in different ways- cloth pieces, nail polishes, and so forth. I chose to do paint chips because they are just as effective in representing the colors and, even better, they're free!!! This really helped since I had to make 7 of these boxes…!
The only thing I had to do with the paint chips is layer them, as shown above, and tape the back of them to each other so they stay in place. I added a touch of jute twine, just to add some cuteness! This part is done. Easy, peasy.
Affordable trinkets that "summarize" the wedding.
Now, remember how I said that my wedding theme is on the rustic country chic side? In order to determine how I was going to put together this box, I started to think of items that i would incorporate in my reception to use for this bridesmaid box. Mason jars, burlap, lace, pearls…
I bought mini White Zinfandel bottles to represent the pinks that will be a part of the wedding. PLus, what girl doesn't like wine?! The sunflower was a nice touch since the center of it is gold and it's a good flower to represent the time of year we are getting married- the summer time! I also bought Ferrero Rocher chocolates- to represent the gold- and filled them inside the mason jar. I cut square pieces of burlap and pink tulle, laid it over the open mason jar, then recapped the jar with its original lid. Simple & cost-effective.
This part was my personal favorite!
As you can see, I made four different notes for the bridesmaids. Each had a particular set of information that is important for the bridesmaid.
Note #1:"I'm Getting' Hitched!" announces the engagement of me and my fiancé. Note #2: "Your Special Part" is personalized for each bridesmaid. I wrote about how their friendship is special to me, what it means to me to have them in my life, some favorite memories- things like that. Then I asked if they would be there for my big day. Note #3: "Your Yes to the Dress" describes the dress that they will be wearing on the big day- color, type, pricing, etc. Note #4: "Let's All Be Friends!" is a note that has a list of all the bridesmaids, their emails, and phone numbers. This will come in handy when they need to touch base with each other for planning, events, and so forth. I thought this was a great idea so they feel like they can talk to each other as easily as I can talk to each one of them.
After I personalized the notes for each of the ladies, I printed everything out and went scissor happy. Mounting on the mint paper helped incorporate that color of the wedding. For a little special touch, I added sticker pearls at the corners of each note. They are 3D pearls and stick very well- I got a pack of 100 for $2.00! To complete this, I wrapped all four notes together with a lace ribbon. Country sophistication at its finest!
It's finally time to start putting all the little pieces together into a final product! Sticking with the country theme, I was on a mission to find crates as my box. Thankfully, Michael's had the perfect size crate for my little trinkets. The crates were natural wood and, although they were pretty when I bought them, I personally decided to paint each crate one coat of white. Just for a little "color" on them. After painting each crate, I painted each mini clothespin a coral color. This turned out to really pop against the white crate. On each pre-cut burlap banner, I used the gold paint marker to write "Be my Maid?". I know it doesn't look like it in the picture, but I promise it's a really pretty gold! Once all of those individual items dried, I clipped the burlap banner and hot glued the pins onto the crate. Stuffed each crate with mint tissue paper, the candy mason jar, mini wine bottle, sunflower, paint chip colors, the notes, and voila!
You can stop here, but since I had to mail some of my bridesmaids crates, here's what I did...
So this next step is not really necessary, but it was for me since I had to mail all these crates out. The cutest way I could think of doing this was using tulle. I took half a yard of gold tulle and half a yard of pink tulle. I layered them on top of each other on the table, then placed the crate in the middle of it.
I pulled the tulle up from all sides up to the top, making sure that it was tight as possible against the crate. This will hopefully prevent things from getting out of the crate when it's in the safety of the postal service man's hands! I tied off the tulle with lace ribbon that has pearls on it. There was a little extra tulle on the top, so I just snipped the top as much as I wanted. Finally, I took a piece of twine, wrote the bridesmaid's name on a name tag, and tied it next to the lace bow.
Being creative and thinking outside the box can be a challenging task, but always turns out with beautiful results. What's even more beautiful about it is there is no right or wrong way. Every person's approach and style is different and unique, which makes it all the more fun!