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!!

Portable Growth Chart

A little while ago, I was approached by a representative from Icon Wall Stickers. They wanted me to review a wall decal and I was so excited. My only problem is that I live in a rental. Which means I would have to take my pretty decal off when I leave the rental and then it would be ruined!

So I scoured the wonderful website and obviously found a million I WANTED but one that would be perfect for my portable lifestyle.

Their vinyl is just so cute and easy to use. And what I was surprised at was how reasonable the prices are! Once we're in a house for a long while, I'm going back to their website to see what I want to put on  my wall! Seriously, they have some cute vinyl for your house.

So for my Portable Growth Chart, I picked up a huge canvas from Michael's (use a coupon!) and some fun paint and painted the canvas several times.

Next I taped the vinyl to the canvas to picture how I wanted the end product to look. What was nice about the product I got from Icon Wall Stickers is that I could cut it and adjust it to how I wanted it.

Then I applied the vinyl by using a hard card (credit cards work great) to rub the vinyl on. It really couldn't be easier!

And that was it! I have an awesome growth chart for my 2 growing kiddos and I'm so excited about it. I've been wanting to do one of these for ages and now I have an awesome one thanks to Icon Wall Stickers! Seriously, go check them out!

Love it!

Halloween Neighbor Gift

Halloween time isn't really known for gift giving, but I feel like Halloween kind of kicks off the holiday season. First it's Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas... so why not celebrate the start of the holiday season than with giving a gift!

One of my favorite recipe blog is Chef in Training and she has a delicious recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies. When you layer the ingredients (well, most of them) in a jar, it looks cute and makes a fun but not too spooky neighbor gift. 

So here's what I did. It's all about the layers & packing in each layer. Packing it in ensures that all the layers will fit.

1. Start off with the flour. You'll need 2 1/4 cups, all packed in nice and tight.

2. Second layer is the brown sugar. You'll need 3/4 cup. Remember, pack it in!

3. Third layer is a couple of them together. I put the sugar (1/4 cup), then the baking soda on top of that (1 teaspoon), and a small package of Pumpkin Spice pudding on top of that. 

4. The final layer is the chocolate chips. You'll need a cup, unless you can fit more, in which case, more chocolate chips is always good!

That's all the layering you do! It's such a simple gift and it would really make your neighbor's day.

I added some tags to write the baking directions on them. You'll have to make sure to include the ingredients that aren't in the jar, like the eggs, vanilla, and butter on the tag so they know what they'll need to make the cookies. I also got some Halloween fabric to add to the top of the jar, which adds a cute Halloween-y touch.

Enjoy!

How to Cut Burlap (without making a HUGE mess)

I recently learned how to cut burlap and it kind of blew my mind. I HAD to share it, because it is just so awesome! 

I love the way burlap looks but I don't use it a whole lot. Reason? It's messy. Like, really messy. But recently I learned how to cut it and I'm a lot less scared of it! Lemme show you:

Step 1:

Simply cut a little slit into the burlap, where there is a white thread going across.

Step 2:

Grab a piece of the burlap that comes unraveled because of the slit. Just grab one little thread. 

Step 3:

Pull that thread!! Warning: It will break if you pull too hard. Pretend you're trying to make a ruffle with it. It will start bunching up but that's good!

After you have pulled that thread of burlap out completely, you'll notice you've made a little track-looking space in the burlap:

Step 4: 

Cut along that track!

And there you have it! Now, don't get me wrong, this is not an entirely mess-free project. There will always be little burlap hairs when you deal with burlap but this definitely cuts down on the mess. And something that makes it so I don't have to clean so much later is a winner to me!

Colorful Chevron Quilt

It must be baby season! This is the second chevron baby quilt I've made recently. I also have 2 sisters-in-law that are either pregnant or recently had a baby. I must not have caught baby fever. Not yet, at least ;)

With that being said, I don't think a baby can have enough blankets. They spit up ALL.THE.TIME (or was that just mine?) and you end up with a pile of dirty blankets, scrambling for another one so they can have tummy time... Anyway, the point is, one of my favorite things to make for babies is a quilt.

For this quilt, instead of piecing the quilt together like I did for THIS chevron quilt, I bought chevron fabric. I bought mine from Fabric.com, but there are lots of awesome fabric websites with chevron fabric. Then I made a back, put together the chevron fabric for the top, the batting, and the back, and quilted the zig zags. I love how it turned out! It's the quilted look without doing all the hard work! (Well, some of it, anyway.)

I added a big chunk of blue polka dot fabric to the back to add a little interest. I like it better than a big piece of the same color for the back. The binding I just bought from Joann's and it matched perfectly! Score. This quilt came together really quick, so if you need a baby gift in a hurry, I'd highly recommend buying some chevron fabric & quilting over it!

Love that quilted look!!

Introducing...CafePress!

I was recently introduced to an awesome website that does custom designs on, well, just about ANYTHING. Seriously. They have just about everything you can imagine AND you can get whatever you want written/printed on it! 

Let me just take you on a little tour of CafePress:

- Custom T-Shirts:  

They have an amazing array of t-shirt designs to choose from. But what's super awesome is that you can design your own custom T-shirt. They have options for everyone. Just choose the style and color and you can go from there.

If you're looking to customize an article of clothing other than a shirt they also have sweatshirts, tank tops, baseball jerseys, dry-fit shirts, polos, pajamas, underwear, maternity, plus-sized, workwear, and yoga pants. The options seem endless!!

-Gifts: 

Okay, so if what you're looking for is more gift-oriented than clothing-oriented, they've got you covered there, too. They have a whole section of personalizable gifts. You can shop by recipient, such as men, women, kids, pets, and teachers or you can shop by occasion, such as back to school, marathon, anniversary, birthday, or wedding. 

Here are some personalizable gifts I found on CafePress that I love!

1. Owl Glass Cutting Board

2. Pins

3. Canvas Pillows

4. Beach Totes

5. Christmas Ornaments

6. iPhone cases

Invitations: 

They also carry cards you can personalize and order for any occasion, such as baby's 1st birthday, birthdays, and Christmas.

Okay, have I at least convinced you to at least go peruse the website? I KNOW there's something there you'll want to order because every time I get on it I see something new and awesome I want!