"Here Comes the Bride" — Reusable Banner

Ok, so maybe I should be packing for our trip to the mountains tomorrow, but I just have to share this one last crafty thing before I go.

One of the teachers at my kids school asked me to make a wedding banner for her just like the one Martha Stewart has on her site. Martha's banner tutorial is here. I followed the sewing directions, but I hate iron-on projects because I inevitably mess it up and have to re-do it. Besides, I wanted to make the banner reusable after the wedding, so the teacher could use it in her class room next year too.

So I ditched the iron-on portion of the tutorial and came up with my own solution. I used PhotoTex adhesive fabric instead. This is the coolest stuff! I used it to make my "Love in a Cup" coffee wraps. The cool ostrich feather trim is also removable! Here's how I made the banner.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

• Photo-Tex adhesive Ink-Jet fabric
• Cool feather trim (I used Ostrich feather trim)
• (5) Roach clips (spray painted white optional)
• Safety pins (3-4)
• your banner message (Download my alphabet template here)
• an iron and ironing board (to iron the banner material)
• scissors
• (2) pieces of 15"x26" woven fabric or linen
• straight pins
• chalk fabric pencil (I used grey so it shows up on the white material)
• 19" long wooden dowel (1/4" in diameter)
• Sewing machine and sewing supplies

HOW TO:
The reusable Letters— download and print the PDF alphabet on Photo-Tex fabric from your Ink-Jet printer and cut ou your message. Set the letters aside.
The banner— Follow the instructions here EXCEPT for the Iron-on part!
Versatile Trim— To make the banner completely versatile, I made the feather trim removable so the teacher could replace the feathers with any theme she wants down the road. I attached the feather trim to the top of the banner using (3) safety pins. Stick the pin through the back seam and into the feather trim. Then stick the pin back through the banner and secure in the back. Pull the trim tight and pin at each end and in the center. For the trim at the bottom,  I painted metal roach clips (from the jewelry making section of the craft store) white and clipped the trim to the bottom of the banner. The feathers hide the clips.
Adhering the letters— Place your message on the banner and align. To help with letter placement and spacing, I placed an 18" ruler horizontally at the base of each line, peeled of the fabric backing and aligned each letter to the top of the ruler, making sure the words were centered on the banner.

Well, we're off to the mountains tomorrow! I'll keep you posted on our adventures.


Sharing this post with bedifferentactnatural.com.

Here's a peek at my newest Birthday Design— A Cool Critter Party

One of my customers recently emailed me asking if I could design an invitation for her other son's birthday— a Critter Party. She's going to have a company come to her home with all sorts of critters that the kids can hold, touch, play with, etc. Critters like a hedgehog, a snake (Python, actually), and a tarantula (eeks!). The family also has a pet hamster named "Uno"; a pet turtle named, "Frankin"; an ant farm; a love for Ladybugs; and a butterfly garden. Whew! She said all she was finding on Etsy were Bug, Bee and Insect themes— nothing on other animals. So I took a stab at a design and here it is...

 5"x7" Cool Critter Birthday Invite

(FRONT)

 5"x7" Cool Critter Birthday Invite

(BACK)

I'll be working on the rest of the Critter Collection next week and will share the whole Kit then. Now on to my next project— a Wedding Banner. Stay tuned!

BTW, I'm sharing this post with my friends at whipperberry.com, ffingerprintsonthefridge.com and reasonstoskipthehousework.blogspot.com.

A Day at Disney World

We spent the day at Disney World today. It was Jackson's first time that he can remember. He's the perfect age now. I remember going to Disney as a kid. Everything was bigger than life, and so real to me. I think he felt the same way. We had so much fun.

After doing all we could at the Magic Kingdom, we went to Hollywood Studios to check out the Star Wars scene. At the very end of the day, I talked my family into doing the one thing I wanted to do— see the Disney Animation Show and go to the Animation Academy. It was 20 minutes of heaven for me. We learned how to draw the Toy Story Alien. As you can see, both my boys weren't very happy with their drawings— especially Jackson!

Poor little guy, I think he did a good job for his first try! He followed along every step of the Animator's directions and he didn't give up. I think it threw them off because there were no erasers on the pencils. I told Jackson to keep practicing and maybe one day HE could be an animator!

I grew up loving Disney and spent my afternoons drawing the characters. Thought I'd share some of my old Disney sketches from when I was a kid...

"Maleficant" The Villain from Sleeping Beauty

(by me, age 13)

101 Dalmatians

(by me, Age 13)

The evil Queen in Snow White

(by me, age 12)

The kids are wiped. Sounds cheesy, but it was a Magical day! 

Pixie Stixs Bow

And the answer to your question is, "yes" I sucked down all the powder in the Pixie Stixs in order to make this bow. And... "no" I did not share any Pixie Stix with my kids. I did cough a bit when one of them came in and startled me. The powder went down the wrong way, but I drank a little water and I was fine. Thanks for asking.

I made this bow to top a birthday gift for a little boy we know who LOVES candy! Any kind of candy. He loves to come over to play and look in our pantry for our sweets stash because his mommy doesn't have one. That's ok kid. I feel for ya! My mom didn't have a candy stash either. I think that's why I have one now.

So if you've got a little friend with a sweet tooth, this might be just the bow for you!

First empty your Pixie Stix (into your mouth, if you so choose).

For the Bottom Row: Take your first Pixie Stix (is it Stix or stick? I don't know.) and loop each end to meet in the middle. Secure with hot glue and repeat with five other pixie stix. Then stack the six looped pixie stix as shown and hot glue each to secure.
For the Top Row: Snip 1/4 off your pixie stix to make smaller loops and secure with hot glue. Repeat with the last three Pixie Stix. Stack the smaller loops on top of the larger set of loops and secure with hot glue.

For the Center: Use the end piece of one of the Pixie Stix from the top row and make a single loop. Secure this to the center of the bow.

Ta-dah!

I'm sharing this tasty craft with some of my blog friends at Somewhat Simple and Great Fun 4 Kids.

Maddie's Mad Science Birthday Party— Customer Feature

A EWEHOOO! CUSTOMER FEATURE— I just love hearing from my customers about their super fun birthday parties. So much creativity! Maddie, one of my Mad Science Birthday customers, recently turned six and her mom, Luci, threw her an explosive party— that didn't break the bank!

Luci ordered my one-sided Mad Science Party Invite and jazzed it up with some sparkly card stock!

Everyone loved the "Dr. Who?" Game.

Luci decked out the party table with polka dots and bright colored plasticware from the KALAS Collection at IKEA. You can get a whole set of this fun plasticware for about the same price as you'd spend on paper products. Maybe even cheaper! And it's reusable. Very green idea Luci!

Luci found this adorable Mad Science fabric at Spoonflower.com. Love what she did with the chairs!

Homemade Mad Science Cake. Yum!

These adorable Lab Coats were custom made by her friend. You can get your own at Inventive Threads.

Luci had the great idea to give each Mad Science party guest an experiment book to take home, so she asked me to design one for her. This custom printable Mad Science Experiment Book is now available at my shop!

Where to get your Mad Science Materials:

• Petri Dishes: Amazon.com
• Test Tubes: Steve Spangler Science (empty water bottles work too!)
• Colorful Safety Goggles: Amazon.com
• Mad Science Party Collection Printable Labels: My Shop
• Mad Science Party Collection Printable Experiment Book: My Shop

Click here to see the whole Mad Science Printable Collection!

Looks to me like the girls had some explosive fun!

Thanks Luci for sharing Maddie's party!

I'm linking up with these fun blogs today seven thirty three, great fun 4 kids, a creative princess, and Kate's nesting spot, 

WAY TO GO IRON MAN!

IRON MAN 70.3 FLORIDA, at Walt Disney World— Today was race day for my other half. He trained long and hard for this day and I'm so proud of him!

While you were sleeping in this morning, he was swimming, and while you were eating your Ego waffles with extra syrup (wait, that was me) he was riding 56 miles. And while you were enjoying this lovely Sunday afternoon, he was finishing up his 13 mile run. Amazing!

The little guy and I had fun tracking Daddy down during the race. In between sightings, we kept busy making signs to cheer him on.

He finished all smiles!

And we celebrated with some yummy homemade IRON MAN Cookies once we got home.

Whew, what a day! I'm beat!

Linking up today at all these fabulous blogs…Sumo's Sweet Stuff - DIY showoff - Skip to my Lou - Be Colorful 

Graduation Announcements— It's around the corner!

A few weeks ago, I took some pictures of my niece and designed this graduation announcement for her. 

 5x7 Double-sided Graduation Announcement

Jessica wanted to use the version on the left, but I thought the one on the right was better. So we played a round of Rock, Paper, Scissors to see which side we should use and she won. 

I was also asked to shoot and design a graduation announcement and Open House invitation for a friend of mine. These were her options. She chose the Vintage Honey version. Nice choice!

 Congratulations Ladies! I'm so proud of you!

Doll Tea Party Gloves in a Snip... I mean a Snap!

These little white knee sock gloves where so easy to make and they were a HUGE hit at my niece's Doll Tea Party last month! Come to think of it, they might not be a bad idea to use when I run in the winter time. I'll have to remember that when we have our next cold snap. Anyway, here's the easy how to...

Now I think I'll go take a nip... I MEAN A NAP! A NAP!!!

BTW, our attic reno is being featured today on DIY Showoff. Check it out HERE!

Scooby Dooby Doooo! - A New Invite in my shop.

Hi and happy Mother's Day all you Moms out there!

Just wanted to share my newest invite in my shop. One of my favorite cartoons growing up was Scooby Doo. My cousin, Julie's son is turning 4 in June and she asked me to design a Scooby themed invite for her. So I did... for 19 scooby snacks! Such a deal!

Click on over and check it out at my shop here.

 5x7 Invite Front

 5x7 Invite Back

Matching Address Strips

Well Gang, I guess that wraps up this mystery! Great job Scoob!

Teacher Appreciation Week— A Candle Bouquet!

 TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK is underway and one of the things our PTA has suggested is that the students bring in a flower for their teacher. So here are the flowers I made.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

1.  A Candle in a cup (My friend Carolyn got these adorable "grow" candles at Pottery Barn a while ago, but you can use any potted candle you like. )
2. A Flower and Brad (I used some from the scrapbooking section in the Craft store)
3. Wired Yarn Rope (available at Joann's Fabrics)
4. Treat Bag
5. Paper Shreds
6. Gift Tags

TO MAKE THE LEAVES— I simply wrapped the green Wired Yarn Rope around the treat bag and made two big loops for leaves then twisted the rope together in the back.
ATTACHING THE FLOWER— I placed the Brad through the Flower and poked the BRad through the top of the treat bag to attach.
THE GIFT TAG— I typed and printed a message to the teacher, cut out the words and glued them onto the tag.

Teachers, thanks for helping our kids grow!