Monster Mash Blocks–Guest Post

Today we have Mariah from Giggles Galore guest blogging and showing off her Monster Mash Blocks! Aren’t these some of the cutest darn things you have ever seen?! If I had to pick a favorite it would be … well I can’t pick! I love the Witch’s hat, Frankenstein's hair, and the Vampire’s bloody teeth. These are such affordable decorations and read on to see how to make your own.

 

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I adore Halloween, it is one of my favorite holidays!  It's just around the corner and time to start thinking about the millions of Halloween crafts I can't wait to make.  I have been busy making some pumpkins to sell (which you can see here or here) and while I was cutting 2x4's I had a brilliant idea to make some fun monsters.  I have seen a variety of ideas on the web and this is what I came up with.

Since I already had a huge stack of 2x4's already cut all I had to do was sweet talk my hubby into cutting out the extras to complete the look.

With a jigsaw we cut out Frankenstein's hair, the witches hat & nose, the collar & hair for the vampire and a coffin.

I tore strips of white fabric and added an aged look with paint for the mummy. I painted everything and attached the pieces with glue.  Done! 

Meet my four friendly ghouls ready for the MoNsTeR MaSh

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Go see some of Mariah’s other GREAT Halloween crafts such as

• Jingle Bell Spiders
• Halloween Banner
• or Ghost Candy Jars

Thanks Mariah!

Enjoy,

How to Make Affordable Custom Water Bottle Labels

With Mason’s birthday party coming up I wanted to create custom water bottle labels. I knew that having them made by somebody else was out of the budget, so I made my own. I measured the bottles and created the design I wanted in Adobe Illustrator. Then I printed it onto Avery sticker paper (8.5 x 11 shipping label paper).

Silly me! As I was telling my husband my plan to make custom water bottles I realized that once the sticker paper got wet the ink could bleed. I looked up ‘waterproof’ and ‘water resistant’ papers on the internet and they were also out of the budget at upwards of $20 for 10 sheets of paper. I searched the web and found that some people suggested using clear packaging tape.

Here is what I did - 

I took my printed water bottle label page and cut the labels out using my paper cutter. (Make sure your tape is about .5 inch taller than your labels so that the tape will overlap the top and bottom to seal the label.)

Then I removed the label from my water bottles and wrapped them in a layer of packaging tape.

After wrapping the packaging tape around the bottle, I removed the sticker backing from my labels and wrapped them around (centering it on the tape to ensure there was tape above and below the label).

Now take one more piece of packaging tape and wrap that around the bottle. Make sure that the tape is centered once again so that the two layers of tape make a barrier and enclose the label.

I’m so happy with how they turned out! It was really easy and I used materials I already had on hand!

Linking up here-

Enjoy,

Pirate Party Preparations–Part I

My youngest baby is going to be the big 2! We were going to have a farm themed party, but my husband didn’t seem too excited about it, so we agreed on a Pirate Party!

Today we started the preparations and crafting. I’ve already made some purchases and I can’t wait to share what I have so far! One month to go until party day.

My mom told me about some Pirate hats she saw in the Dollar Tree, so we headed over to see what they had. I got some GREAT deals! For $1 I was able to get a hat, hook, and eye patch!

I also found a party game, goodie bags, ‘treasure’, and pirate blowouts. For $1!!! Thanks MOM!

Today I made some trays out of Goodwill finds and bandanas from red fabric.

For the trays, I bought a few gaudy gold candlesticks and serving plates. The ones I usually pass without thinking twice. This time when I saw them – a light bulb went off! The only other supply I needed was glue – and wah-lah!

Now they are ready! I wouldn’t recommend serving food directly off of the plates though – so I am going to line mine with a piece of gold paper cut into a circle.

As for the pirate bandanas, I looked at purchasing some, but then when I priced out making my own it was going to be less than half the price! (I’m all about saving a dollar these days!)

I bought 2 yards of red fabric and cut them using my rotary cutting tool. I used my husband’s bandana to get the size right.

Then we had to try it on for size!

Stop by tomorrow – I’m going to be featuring a Pirate Party by Lizard & Ladybug!

Decoupage Letter Tutorial

I may have already said this, but it seems that everyone around me is having babies! We were the first of our friends to have kids, and now we are watching as they too start their families. For every baby shower I go too, I like to give personalized gifts.

Tomorrow I get to meet baby Raylan, and since his daddy is into the outdoors I decided to do a letter ‘R’ decoupaged in camouflage print with a wooden tree embellishment. It will be a great nursery decoration!

For this you will need:

• A wooden or chipboard letter (I got mine at Hob Lob!)
• Mod Podge
• Acrylic paint (optional)
• Paintbrush
• Pencil
• Sheet of scrapbook paper
• Embellishment (optional)
• Glue gun
• Chalk Ink

After you have gathered your supplies, paint the sides of your letter with acrylic paint. Since I was in a hurry, and didn’t mind the brown color of the letter, I didn’t paint mine. If you choose to paint the sides of your letter, wait until the paint is completely dry before proceeding to the next step. (about 10 minutes)

Turn your scrapbook paper right side down and place the letter on the paper facing right side down too.

Trace your letter with a pencil…

and then cut it out.

After you cut the letter out of the scrapbook paper, turn your wooden or chipboard letter so it is right side up. Apply a coat of mod podge on the surface.

Then line the paper up over the letter and rub it until the mod podge starts to dry and the paper adheres to the letter.

Apply another thin coat of mod podge over the paper to seal it. You may also want to apply extra around the edges if they aren’t fully adhered.

Now, take your chalk ink and dab it around the edges of the letter to create a distressed look.

For the final step, attach any embellishments. I used a hot glue gun to attach this pre-painted wooden tree.

Now my letter is perfect for any little outdoorsman’s room! I only had to buy the letter, paper, and embellishment since I had the rest of the supplies on hand. Since Hob Lob was having a sale – I got the three items for $2!

I’ll be giving this letter along with a matching diaper case I made… and some other goodies! If you want to see the tutorial on how to make a no-sew diaper case go HERE.

Now I am all ready to meet baby Raylan! I love giving gifts in bins that can be reused instead of thrown out. I fill up the bins and wrap them in about a half yard of tulle. It is way cheaper than wrapping paper and the bin is part of the gift!!!

Enjoy!

Birthday Wreath {Landee See, Landee Do}

Over at Landee See Landee Do, Landee shared an awesome birthday wreath tutorial. By incorporating all of the birthday decor in one she has come up with this wreath. Nothing says Happy Birthday like tulle, balloons, and ribbon – in one!

As I mentioned yesterday, I’m in party planning mode so I can’t wait to try my hand at one of these wreaths!

Enjoy,

Thoughtful Thursday & Wine Cork Wreath Tutorial

 

I work at a resort and one of the room service girls was nice enough to give me a whole bag of wine corks, so that I could make something with them. I came home around 9pm from work with my wine corks in the mood to create something NOW! (Low night lighting is the reason for the under exposed pictures – my apologies!)

To make the wreath you will need:

• Wine corks (I used around 100 corks)
• Hot glue gun
• Wreath form
• Ribbon

I used the glue gun to secure a layer of corks around the wreath form. I attached them going every which way.

Then I put on a few more layers.

I put a dab of hot glue on the back side of the wreath and wrapped it around.

Made a hanger out of ribbon…

and Viola!

The wreath makes a perfect kitchen decoration, party decoration, or even a great gift for your wine loving friend!

{Link-Up Time}

Since I am currently writing two blogs. This one and Poofy Boutique, I decided to do a joint link up party so you can add your links on either blog! Please join in the fun.

I’d love to see what you have been doing!

• Please link directly to the post. You can link anything you created – a craft, recipe, party, menu, etc.

• Include the button from below or a link directly back so everyone else can join the link-up too!

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