Daily Craft - Fun with washi tape

Not sure if you've heard of washi tape, but it seems to have exploded out of nowhere.  For a little while I've been wondering about it and when I saw some in the clearance section at Target, I had to buy it.  (Does anybody else cruise the end caps for random clearance items that you didn't know you needed, or is that just me?)

Last weekend, I had a vow renewal to attend for some good friends of ours and, in that I did forget to buy them a card at Target, I decided to play with the newly acquired washi tape and make my own.  I embellished "Congrats" using some stickers (also from Target).  The heart was made using a trick I'd spotted online - to cover a piece of paper the necessary size with the tape, then cut out the shape.  I also added some tape to the envelope to tie both pieces together.  I think it's simple, but cute!

The other card I made is for a friend's baby shower.  I used the washi tape as a background for the 3D stickers, then hand wrote the "congratulations" message.  I'll admit that hand-writing makes me nervous as, while I do have good cursive, it can be too easy to be critical of how the end result looks.  An alternative would be to print or stamp the message, but that's for next time! 

My favorite thing about washi tape has to be that it's completely re-positionable so, if you mess up, you can pull it off and start again.  There are so many cute tape designs out there and I can see how many potential uses it has.  Really, you could put this stuff on just about anything! 

Have you tried it?  I would love to know your favorite uses if you have.

Daily Baby - A shower photo book

It's only taken 10 months, but with a free photobook code from Shutterfly via BabyCenter in hand, I figured it was about time to do something with the photos from my baby shower. I haven't used Shutterfly photo books since the one I put together after Husband and I got married. They've actually changed the whole set up since then and it's very user friendly, allowing you to easily move and rotate embellishments, add text, switch backgrounds etc. While I love using the My Memories software (which is what I'm currently using to compile Owen's baby book), for the purposes of just getting it done, I went with one of the themes that Shutterfly has available. Even more nifty is that you can now embed the photo book for all to see! Pretty cool. The book itself should be here in a week or two, and I will report back on how it looks when it gets here. In the meantime, I love having this digital version to share.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Thanks again to my girls, Holly & Paige, for being such amazing hostesses, my in-laws for allowing us to invade their house, and all my friends and family in attendance. It was beautiful and I cherish the memories of the day.

Daily Dish - A little Brownie

I told you a couple of weeks ago about a baby shower I threw for my friend.  I finally got off my butt and pulled the photos off my camera, so now I can finish telling you about the favors!

The mom-to-be's last name is Brown, and she's having a girl, so the pink and brown shower "theme" was created.  I had spent several days thinking about favors, which are always a bit of a challenge as I always prefer favors to be either practical or edible.  I had an a-ha moment when I realized we'd been joking for months about how she's "baking a little Brownie", and brownies must therefore be the favors!  My original thought was to make a full batch worth of brownie mix in a mason jar, but this was turning out to be incredibly cost prohibitive on account of needing excessive amounts of cocoa powder.  That's when my friend made the genius suggestion of doing a brownie-in-a-mug.  Now, I should note that I didn't even know such a thing exists.  I'm also quite sure my waistline doesn't need to know that I can make a brownie...in a mug...in 60 seconds...in the microwave.  Too good to be true right?!  Of course, Husband and I had to taste test the recipe (several times) and it has a consistency that is more like the center of a molten chocolate lava cake, which means it's deliciously rich.  Ice cream or milk is a requirement!

I bought cute pink polka dot cone bags at Party City, brown ribbon, and plain white mugs at the dollar store, then added all the dry ingredients to the cone bags.  I think they turned out nicely!  For those of you curious about making this, here's the recipe card.  Your mouth will thank me even if your hips don't.

While we're talking dessert, you should drool over the desert bar that was on offer.  Pink lemonade cupcakes with chocolate ganache, super cute sugar cookies, and my friend Paige's infamous cake pop babies.  Cutest thing ever!

So, congrats to the mama-to-be (pictured here with Owen who is trying to eat her childhood doll).  We're thrilled for the arrival of your little Brownie!  :)

Daily Craft - Some earrings!

This weekend, I threw a baby shower for a good friend of mine who will be having a baby girl in September.  It's really had my creativity flowing but, of course, I've not been able to post anything about it previously for risk of giving anything away to those that would be in attendance!  I'm going to start with my earrings though, which were part of the prize bags for the various games.

The theme for the shower was pink and brown, on account of the mom-to-be's last name being Brown, and her having a girl.  I immediately knew that I wanted to make some pink and brown jewelry for the prizes.  I picked up some glass pearls and fished around for antiqued brass findings in my stash.  In that there would be a variety of different age groups being represented, I was hoping for something somewhat classic.  I packaged them with lotion, a compact mirror, and a magnetic notepad.  I'm hoping the winners enjoyed their haul!

My co-host found a polka dot card stock that she used for the invitations, which then became part of the theme, so I was happy to make some nifty packaging with that card stock too.  (More on the packaging to come later.)  I actually love this color combo, so thinking I'll make some more with the supplies that I have left over.  Watch out for those!

Daily Ramblings - Freshly showered!

This Saturday, I had my baby shower. It seemed like the shower was so far away, but then I realize I'm 35 weeks today and my pregnant self is rounding the last curve, heading straight toward the finish line!

My girls, Holly and Paige, had been conspiring on my shower theme for weeks.  They had my mother-in-law (who graciously allowed us to invade her house) fully entrenched in the conspiracy, so I was very much in the dark on their plans until I showed up.  They ran with the fact that I'm still a British citizen, and went full-on UK themed - union jacks, shepherd's pie, sausage rolls, royal family facemasks, the whole deal!  I was even given a rubber duck fascinator (a duckinator?) to wear - which is why you should never make frivolous comments about "you know what would be funny" to a crafty person as they will probably make it happen.

So, while Holly was busy being super crafty, Paige was a baking fiend.  Both of them have toddlers in the house, so no clue how they managed to accomplish everything they did.  My desert bar was insane, with a variety of treats that were all delicious (and some of which now reside in my freezer for emergencies during maternity leave).  In a slightly sick and twisted moment, Paige made the inside of the baby cake cops red velvet.  I've never felt so guilty to be chomping on a baby's head....not that I do that often anyway.  She also super-imposed husband's head onto the body of a baby, which was both hilarious and simultaneously creeped out all his family members.  It is still making me giggle! 

All in all, I'm such a lucky girl to have the best collection of family and friends who were there to celebrate with me.  It was fun, relaxing, and overall, I had a fantastic time.  The girls were even sneaky enough to Skype in my parents from the UK so that they could join in my special day.  This did result in spontaneous weeping on my part (that's one hell of a surprise to spring on a preggo lady) but I couldn't have asked for more.

Thanks ladies!  You are both so amazingly fabulous and talented...and quite frankly - you rock.  :)

Daily Ramblings - A new addition

I'm thrilled that we're soon to be welcoming my second nephew to the family - thanks to my sister-in-law for keeping the nephew supply coming (although she swears she's done after this!) I had the pleasure of attending her baby shower over the weekend, and it was really nice to get a weekend away and see the family members that I don't get to visit with often.

For once I remembered to charge the DSLR camera battery and take the camera with me.  (Ask me about the time when I grabbed the camera but left the battery charging at home....on second thoughts, don't ask).  Everything was beautifully decorated so I had a great time playing with my 50mm lens, and got some really cute photos to share!

 

I was happy to gift my first knit teddy bear for the baby, and the bear has since been named Ogden.  I'm so excited to have a new little one to make stuff for.  Crafty Aunt Nat - that's me!