Pirate Birthday Invitations

My little 4-year-old boy is obsessed with all things pirate. So when thinking about his upcoming birthday party, the theme was a no brainer.

I bought some brown kraft scrapbook paper and cut it down to the size I wanted (8.5 x 11). I made the design on my computer in InDesign and took my paper and my design to a local print shop. I was worried it wasn't going to work because the paper was so thick the printer ate one piece up! But the rest came out perfect.

I then tried to dye the paper with tea bags but I think they were too dark already, so the tea bags didn't do much. I also crumpled them up to give them an old map look. I also tried to burn the edges and I completely ruined an invitation while also almost burning my house down. If you're good with fire, go for it. If not....maybe you should avoid that. I tore the edges off the paper and rolled them to look like a pirate map.

I love how they turned out!

Mini Pallet Valentine Art

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted a project! My life seems so hectic these days! I have my two kids' birthdays coming up so I'll be posting about that soon. 

But in the meantime, Valentine's Day is coming up! I don't know about you, but I have very little Valentine decor. Here's a quick and easy project you can whip up and stick up just in time for this LOVE-ly holiday.

1. These sticks are from Michael's and I don't think they're very expensive at all. Maybe $1.50/pack? 

2. I used some wood glue to glue the sides together. I used 11 sticks but adjust to as big as you'd like.

3. I glued two sticks on the back to make it more study and to make it more like, well...a mini pallet.

4. After my mini pallet was dry, I spray painted it gray (make sure your painting area is well ventilated!)

1. I cut out a heart (just free-handed it) and then traced it onto the wood.

2. Okay, here's where I could have/should have changed it. I placed stickers on the heart so that I could paint over the stickers and then remove them and there would be a lovely "love" stenciled into the heart.

3. However, as you can see, the stickers didn't come off as prettily as I would have liked. I ended up painting over it with white but I should have just put the stickers on over the painted heart! Oh well. You can choose what you think will work for you.

And there you have it! A cute little Valentine mini pallet to put somewhere just in time for Valentine's day! 

Happy Valentine's Day!!