Thank You Card 0002

I like bold and bright patterned paper.  I found several colors of gingham patterned paper and wanted to make thank you cards.  I wanted to limited the colors that were incorporated.  I like cards with bold contrasts without a lot of fuss. 

The "thank you" sentiment was hand stamped in blue ink with khaki matting underneath.  I picked a coordinating khaki button to finish off the card.  

MATERIALS:

• patterned paper
• stamp and ink 
• button 

Invitation 0004 (Child's Birthday)

I hosted a card party in December (2012) and my cousin asked if I could help her create invitations for her daughter's birthday.  I was more than happy to help.  

She was planning a jungle theme since her daughter likes, "Go Diego! Go!"  

I had some animal stamps from a zoo set.  We stamped the animals and vines.  Super easy and cute invitation.  

Valentine's Day Cards 2013

I was lagging in setting up an Etsy Shop.  I decided to make Valentine's Day cards and sell them at work to see how well my cards do.  

I did fairly well and the sales boosted my confidence to open up my Etsy Shop.  

The best selling cards had this design.  I hand stamped and hand cut all of the bunting.  I used a small hole punch to thread the string through.  

The sentiments were printed on my color laser printer using coordinating colors.  

Tutorial: Upcycled Cardboard Boxes

I found a metal wire rack a long time ago to organize the bathroom counter.  I searched far and wide for bins or baskets that fit each section perfectly.  I never found them. I finally decided to make my own.  

After I collect some cardboard boxes, I cut them open along their seams.  I measured and cut them to fit the sections of the metal rack.  

I taped of the edges with painter's tape and formed the box.  I made four of the exact same boxes. 

I covered each box with white scrap paper since the boxes had bright prints on them.  I brushed on a thick layer of my modge podge then added the paper.  Then I brushed on another layer on the white paper.  I let it dry over night.  

Most online bloggers create their modge podge solution with 50% water and 50% white liquid glue.  I bought my glue from the dollar store, so it had more water than glue to begin with.  I think that's why my boxes look warped.  I add more glue to my solution to about 65% glue to 35% water.  

I picked a light teal colored pattern paper that matched the decor in my bathroom. I covered the boxes with the improved glue solution, added the paper and then brushed on the final sealing coat of glue.  

The final outcome wasn't too bad.  The boxes fit the rack perfectly.  Once I filled the containers, the warped edges weren't as noticeable.  

 

Ribbon Wrapped Gift

I recently made some hand poured soy candles as gifts for my cousin's birthday.  During Christmas time, I made lavender scented soy candles.  I felt that I was successful, so I ordered some more soy wax flakes and essential oils.  Sorry, no pictures! It has been hectic!

For my cousin, I made soy candles with the following scents: lavender (lavender ribbon), eucalyptus + peppermint (mint ribbon), and lemon + peppermint (yellow ribbon).   I wrapped each jar inside with the ribbons.  Then I weaved the ribbon around the kraft paper for a simple, but bright contrasting effect.  

Event: Cute as a Button Baby Shower

I have been crazy busy since I threw a baby shower for my sister in law in December 2012.  I created her invitations which can be found here... Cute as a Button Invitation.  It took me forever to sit down to edit the pics, so this will be a rather large post from me.  

I teamed up with another friend to throw the shower.  I took care of the stationary, decorations, food and favors.  My friend was in charge of the games and prizes that went along with them.  My contributions seemed easy, right? Not so much.  According to my husband I, "do too much" and I'm "over the top."  He won't let me throw parties for him.  Knowing myself, I started on the decorations in September.  

Since this was baby #3, we decided to have a small, ladies only event.  We had 13 ladies at the event and it was very nice and intimate.  Intimate enough where everyone knew each other and were comfortable enough to play the game, "Porno Face or Labor Face?".  

I apologize in advance for the crappy pictures.  A lot of running around finishing up things prevented me from taking really nice photos.  I am also the level before Beginner in Photoshop.  

BANNER


Bunting is very popular and I decided to create a banner incorporating this style.  Unfortunately, my picture doesn't do this banner justice.  The font that I use was a "stitched" style that went with the button/sewing theme that says, "welcome baby."

I printed out the letters individually and used my large circle cutter to cut them out.  I used a large hand punch for the yellow buttons on the ends.  Then I used a hole punch to do the button holes.  The orange circular flowers on the ends were made of tissue.  I hole punched the corners of each flag and threaded string through to hang.  

DESSERT BAR

I made paper accordion circles and tissue flowers way in advance.  I sketched out my idea before I made them so that I could figure out the spacing.  When I first started this project, I knew I didn't want to use pink or purple and I knew that my SIL would be ok with it.  I found cute coordinating polka dot and plaid wrapping paper.  I used it in the stationary and for all of the decorations.  Saved me tons of money and trips to the store to buy paper.  I still have a little bit of each roll left! 

My sister made red velvet cupcakes and I made chocolate covered Oreos.  I bought regular, peanut butter, mint,  and chocolate Oreos.  Each one had a different top color.  I used a polka dot and stripe mold for them.  I gave up on trying to individually color in the polka dots and stripes. I just filled the mold 1/3 full with the color I wanted, placed the cookie in and put regular chocolate afterwards.  This created a two-tone effect.  

FOOD

I decided on easy appetizer type foods.  This was probably the best event I planned with accurate food proportions where I didn't have food left over.  Below are some straightforward recipes and directions.  

Brussel Sprouts and Bacon:

-Cook bacon
-Slice brussel sprouts in half
-Thinly slice onions, garlic cloves, carrots
-Blanch brussel sprouts and carrots (~ 5 mins.)
-Saute onions in olive oil
-Toss in blanched veggies (~ 3 mins.)
-Slice bacon (easiest with kitchen shears)
-Add bacon and stir (~ 2 mins.) 
-Add salt and pepper to taste
                   

Shrimp Spinach Salad:
-Devein shrimp
-Saute shrimp in olive oil and add salt and pepper
-Thinly slice fuji apples
-Layer baby spinach in bowl
-Add shrimp and apple slices
-Add feta cheese
-Drizzle balsamic vinaigrette on top of salad                    

Babies in a Blanket:
-Cut puff pastry into ~ 2" squares
-Place little wieners at a diagonal to the corners
-Fold opposite flaps over and press to seal
-Bake at 350 degrees (~15-20 mins.)

*This time I placed the little wieners in the puff pastry without cooking it first.  Technically, they're already cooked.  But I noticed that the juices from the meat deflated my puff pastry.  Next time, I'll heat up the little wieners first to get rid of the excess liquid.                      

Cucumber Sandwiches:
-Thinly slice cucumbers and mint leaves
-Mix mint leaves with cream cheese
-Mash avocados
-Cut bread with circle cookie cutter
-Spread cream cheese mixture on slice of bread
-Spread avocado on another slice of bread
-Layer cucumber slices on one slice of bread
-Top with the other slice of bread

*I was unable to find a smaller circle cookie cutter.  These were a little bit bigger than the size of my palm.  I was hoping to find biscuit cutters or something similar to make sandwiches half the size.  Next time smaller for sure!

Pepperoni Pizza:

-Floured work area, hands and rolling pin
-Roll out dough into small discs
-Spread tomato paste onto dough
-Sprinkle on dried basil
-Sprinkle on mozzarella cheese
-Add two slices of pepperoni
-Bake at 350 degrees (~10 mins.)

*To save time, I par baked the dough with the tomato paste the night before.  No, I did not make the flour from scratch.  My friends at Trader Joe's made a good batch of herbed pizza dough for me to pick up.  

BBQ Meatballs:
-Heat BBQ sauce in pot (~2 mins.)
-Add meatballs and stir (~10 mins.)

*This must have been the hardest thing to make! HA!


BABY POOL BOARD

Since we had an intimate group of ladies, we had a baby pool.  My SIL was scheduled to have another C-Section, so we were unable to guess the date of the birth.  We had guesses for weight and length.  Each guess was $2.  Person with closest overall guesses is the winner and takes the pot.  Some generous ladies decided that if they won, to give the winnings to the mommy.  

I found a huge neutral colored picture frame with its glass still intact from the local thrift store for about $10.  I removed the backing and took out the picture.  I cut a sheet of velum to fit inside the frame and put the backing on again.  

I decorated the frame with bunting that said, "baby Gonzalez." Again I used the wrapping paper to decorate!  The picture frame became a large cute and new whiteboard.  I used a dry erase marker to write the categories, "Name, Weight, and Length."  Guests entered their info at their leisure.  


FAVOR BAGS

All of the guests left with a favor bag filled with each flavor of chocolate covered Oreos.  

I had small paper bags and used a decorative edge punch for the top.  I printed out the tag with, "thank you sew much for coming" and then I used a circle punch. I used a button embossing punch to layer on top.  Finally, I used a hole punch through all of the materials and threaded string through the package.  


After working on a wedding in November 2012 and this baby shower, I vowed no more working on events until it is one for me.  That didn't last very long.  Starting to plan a baby shower for another friend coming up at the end of April.  I'm working with a friend for this event and I won't take so much on my plate.  This time around I'll ask for help! 

Wedding Card 0001

This past year was full of babies and weddings.  I enjoyed making this wedding cake card.  I bought a 12 x 12 die cut sheet to create the white layer.  I am still debating a die cutting system of my own. 

MATERIALS:

• die cut paper
• flower punch
• pearls with adhesive 

Greeting Card 0001

I decided to create some "just because" greeting cards.  One of my best friends live in another country and the other two live more than 2 hours away.  I have other friends that I often think of but also never get to really see.

I think they'd be excited to find cute cards in their mailbox instead of junk mail.  

For the "hello" tag, I used a stamp that had the phrase once.  I used the same stamp three times for the effect.  

MATERIALS:

• Flower punches
• Journal tag punch
• Stamp and ink

Invitation 0003 (Baby Shower)

My sister in law was on Baby #3.  She already has 2 boys and she lucked out having a girl for #3.  She initially didn't want a shower.  Our friends thought it would be nice to throw her a shower since she's having her first girl.  We decided on a small girls only shower.  

I knew that she wasn't crazy for pink.  Purple has been used for many of the past showers that we have been to.  I found coordinating wrapping paper with bright polka dots and plaid.  I knew I was going to make a lot of paper decorations, so I figured that the most inexpensive way to buy lots of cute paper was to buy wrapping paper.  It worked out very well!

MATERIALS:

• Wrapping paper
• Circle and button punch
• Buttons
• Corner round punch

Invitation 0002 (Wedding)

This was my very first wedding invitation that I created.  

It was a beautiful Indian and Mexican wedding.  The bride is a coworker and close friend of mine.  She chose gold and purple as her theme colors.  She requested a simple and elegant invitation.  

I printed the information on cardstock and handstamped and embossed the corner designs.

MATERIALS:

• Stamp and ink
• Rhinestones
• Corner round punch 
• Clear embossing powder
• Embossing heat gun