Showing posts with label Tutorial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tutorial. Show all posts

Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans

April 29, 2012

This jelly bean journey started with a free printable that I found {HERE}.

When I actually sat down to do the work I decided that wasn't what I wanted.  I find this happens a lot in party planning.  Lucky for me I didn't start doing this the night before the party.

I decided to splurge and spend $0.99 on another super cool box in the Silhouette online store that had the same look as the actual Bertie Bott's boxes.

I sized the boxes down considerably to fit two on each 8.5 x 11 sheet of white cardstock.

I still wanted the official Bertie Bott's look so I cut the free printable so that I had just one of the sides.  I sized that to fit on the side of one of the boxes and then filled the page.

Because I have been trying to avoid using my own printer for these projects I sent these labels off to be printed at Staples.  This is where the first kink in my flawless process came in...

I went to pick up my prints Saturday afternoon {should not have waited so long} and they had no record of my order.  Well, isn't that wonderful?

I could feel my cool slowly leaving my body.  What else could go wrong?

Next stop was Dollar Tree to look for cheap jelly beans.  Nope.  No luck.  They did have itty bitty bags of Jelly Bellys, but one of them would hardly fill one box.  Great.

Made the trek a bit further down the road to Fred Meyer.  Of course a big ol' grocery store will have plenty of jelly beans.  Nope.  They only had two bags of the cheap ones and I wasn't about to spend $5 on the Jelly Bellys they had.  ARGH!

Cool gone.

Made it home with not enough jelly beans and no Bertie Bott's labels.

I was very unhappy with Staples so I definitely wasn't going back there and since the party was less than 24 hours away I didn't have time to keep running around.

I sucked it up and loaded new color ink cartridges in our own printer and printed away.  I wish I would have just done that to begin with.

Boxes assembled.

Labels printed, cut and applied.





Done. Done. Done.

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Felt Hogwarts' Ties {Tutorial}

April 11, 2012

I fell behind on the Harry Potter craftathon, but I am back on schedule; and boy, do I feel good!




The invitations are nearly finished too.  I've decided to add one more little embellishment {typical}.  Can't wait!  I really can't.

In the meantime...

{A Very Harry Tutorial}

Step 1.  Draw a tie shape in Silhouette Design Studio and cut.  I made mine about 3 inches across at it's widest point and about 9 inches long.  I'd be happy to e-mail the design to you, but it was super easy to do {I know you can do it!}.

Step 2.  Trace your stencil repeatedly on the felt of your choice {I used red, green, blue and yellow - Hogwarts' house colors} and cut {duh}.

Step 3.  Cut 1/4 - 1/2 inch strips of felt in the corresponding colors {I used gold, silver, bronze and black to keep with the Hogwarts' theme}.  I just eyeballed it when I was cutting so there are minor imperfections here and there and not all the stripes are the same width.

Step 4.  Using hot glue, attach brooch pins to the back of the tie's top {I used 1 inch pins found on Etsy HERE}.

Step 5.  Use craft glue to adhere the strips of felt to the tie at about a 45 degree angle {roughly, of course}.

Step 6.  The glue should set for 24 hours to ensure the strongest hold.  Since I didn't do this project at the last minute I was able to abide by that rule {kind of proud, not gonna lie}, but if you are short on time you will be okay.  I would let it set for at least 8 hours.

Step 7.  Beam with pride.

I've got 40 of these super cute ties burnin' a hole in my Harry Potter supply stash.

How excited am I to see the kids wearing these at Maia's 6th birthday soiree?

Very excited.  I am very excited.

I've still got a bunch of felt to use for bunting and/or table runners.  What to do... what to do?

Love them, but don't want to do the work?  These ties are now available in my Etsy shop!



Check out the rest of my Harry Potter party posts!




Linking up to these fabulous parties:
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Book Page Wreath {Pages o' Potter}

March 21, 2012


I mentioned in my Potter canvas post {HERE}, a pretty little girl I know is having a birthday soon...

I like to make a big deal out of my sweet little girls' birthdays {I think they enjoy it... but it might be mostly me.}.  I start the planning process a few months before the big event and usually need at least a month to handle all the preparations.  The parties are always themed, the invitations are always handmade and the decor is always awesome.

Maia's birthday themes {1-5}:  Butterfly, Train, Tinkerbell Carnival, Bubbles, Gardening

Ella's birthday themes {1}:  Teddy Bear Picnic

I can safely say, this party is going to be my best yet.

Earlier this month I started the snitch rolling with my girly version of Harry Potter canvas art.  This week the snitch is taking flight with my absolutely fabulous Pages O' Potter Wreath!


Isn't he a doll?





The best part about my wreath?  The little trinkets I made to embellish it!

These were so fun to make and I think will receive the most "oohs" and "aahs" for sure.

Owl:  Charm found at Michaels.

Broom:  I cut a paintbrush down slightly, sanded it, painted the handle and hairsprayed the brush portion so it was more spread out.  I hand painted "Nimbus 2000" on the end.


Wand:  I sanded and painted the tip of the paintbrush that I had cut for the broom.

Snitch:  I found a random, wooden knob in the craft closet and painted it gold.  I cut the wings out using my Silhouette.


Potion Bottles:  I bought the Tim Holtz 9 vial set at Joann's on sale.  I chose the smallest vials and filled them with water that I then tinted with food coloring {blue and red}.


Dragon:  I bought the charm at Michaels and then hand painted it.

Pegasus:  Another cute charm found at Michaels and then hand painted.

Frog:  And again, a charm I found at Michaels and then hand painted for the "chocolate" look.

Key:  An embellishment that came off of a wedding gift card I had saved.

Glasses:  I drew and cut these on my Silhouette.  I cut out scraps of book pages to fill the glasses.
Scar:  I drew and cut this out using my Silhouette.


I attached each of these sweet little things with wire, string or glue {whatever worked best for each item}.


This year's theme was a no brainer because my Maia is a Harry Potter fanatic.  My husband recently started reading the books to her and they are loving it {they are on the 3rd book now}!  She has all the movies and asks to watch them every chance she gets {there was a short period of time that she was forbidden because of some Serious Black induced fear of the dark}.  

I started gathering ideas for this b-day bash after last year's party {was that too soon?}.  I have pages of notes in my brainstorming notebook {gotta have paper and pen handy at all times!} and a Harry Potter Party Pinterest board.

Be prepared to see a whole lotta Potta over the next month.

From here until the end of April I will be sharing at least one Harry Potter inspired craft with all of you each week!  It will all come together on April 30th when I unveil Maia's Harry Potter Party Masterpiece!

I started this project after I heard about the wreath theme for March in the {new} Pinspired & Rewired Challenge put on by fellow brilliant bloggers Gingersnap Crafts, Southern Lovely, The Gunny Sack and Family Ever After.  Have you met these ladies yet?









There will no doubt be some serious competition in this series!  Hopefully my wreath can handle the pressure!

Since the challenge is based on Pinterest inspiration, I scoured Pinterest for a wreath that I could tweak to fit with a Harry Potter birthday party.

To my excitement I found this papery perfection.

{source}
You can check out this pin and my other Potter pins HERE.

The blog where this originates, D Reyne, has a tutorial, but I didn't consult her steps until long after my wreath was complete.  I simply took the inspiration and went with it!  Now that I have read through her tutorial I can see that my path was different.

Since D Reyne has a lovely tutorial I will not post my creation process step-by-step, but I will share a few tips!

My materials:

About 100 Harry Potter book pages from Order of the Phoenix {torn on the left and right side of page}
Stick wreath form from the dollar store {looks to be about 16"}
Strips of linen in a shade close to the book pages
My First Ticonderoga pencil
Embroidery floss in Hogwarts' school colors
Scotch tape
Hot glue & glue gun
Scissors

1.  Use a My First Ticonderoga pencil to roll your book page scrolls {these are designed for Pre-K & K students so they are bigger around than a standard pencil}; unless, of course, you want a tighter scroll.

2.  To keep each scroll closed use a small piece of scotch tape.

3.  Tie scrolls together in bundles of twos and threes and some singles too for a really nice variety and good depth.

4.  Wrap your wreath in a fabric that coordinates with your book pages.  I used linen.  There are bound to be a few gaps here and there where bits of wreath would show if you don't cover it.

5.  Use hot glue to attach the bundles to the wreath.  Even just tying the scrolls into bundles became tiresome and frustrating at times {my least favorite part}.  I can't imagine then also having to tie them to the wreath form.

6.  Glue the bundles to the wreath over a period of a few days.  Put some on and then turn it so you can see a different angle for the next time you add some.  I found this to make it more even and not so monotonous.



I really want to display this on some distressed shutters above the mantel, but I have yet to score any shutters {ARGH!}.  For now he stands alone, patiently waiting.




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A List for Everything and for Everything a List

February 8, 2012

I started a family command center after Christmas... now it is February and it still sitting in my kitchen partially completed.

I hate looking at incomplete projects...

This morning, as I sat watching paint dry {literally - the pantry shelves are in progress}, it dawned on me:  My time would be better spent doing something.

I could not decide on a weekly calendar format, grocery list design and daily to-do list layout.  I couldn't find any printables that matched my needs to the T so I thought maybe for the time being I would just use plain printer paper {I wanted SOMETHING done}.

I went to grab my paper cutter and saw a stack of kraft paper sheets.  A-HA!

I cut a few sheets, pulled out some white and yellow baker's twine from The Twinery, found a couple buttons and borrowed some stamps and ink from Maia's craft center.

I came up with these super simple tablets.


Simple and useful doesn't have to be plain.

These are super easy!


I cut each 8.5 x 11 sheet into 4 equal pieces.









I also designed my weekly calendar, but my wireless is on the fritz {I am borrowing a neighbors at the moment...} and our printer is, of course, wireless.

Maybe tomorrow?

Tonight I will be able to finish painting my pantry shelves and tomorrow I may attempt a trip to Ikea with my little Ella {may}.

Linking up to these fabulous parties:
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Button Magnets and Thumb Tacks {and an inside smile}

January 11, 2012

This has been a rough week for me {and when I say rough what I mean is that I have been a rolling dumpster fire - yes - that serious}.  I am physically {we started working out with a trainer and I think he is trying to kill me} and mentally {when don't children and spouses try to push every last button?} beaten down.  I have had zero patience {probably closer to a negative 5} so little things that I can normally tolerate are quite literally, intolerable.  And then, to top the week off with a big ol' cherry...

THE INTERNET STOPPED WORKING!

That right there pushed this on edge, ready to start swinging, about to start shrieking at the top of her lungs, eyes just about bulging out of her head, jaw so tense she can't smile mama... right... off... the cliff.

This is a new day.  This is a better day.  This is a day where the internet connection is at full capacity {hallelujah}.  The next 7 days are going to be better than the last because, quite frankly, they have to be or someone is going to get it.

I am - of course - already off schedule on my blogging calendar, but that is okay {Let it go Jennifer.  Let it go.}.

I am working on a magnetic spice board for my husband.  I bought the board and the tins at Ikea and gave them to my handsome for Christmas and now I am just sprucing it up a bit and labeling those suckers.  Realistically this should be posted next week.

I am also working on a family life organization board.  This will also, realistically, be posted next week.  Today I am going to share the precious little magnets and tacks I made for the family board.


We have made a habit of tossing bottle caps and wine corks into a glass vase on our windowsill.  While my intention was not to create an artistic piece, it actually does look kind of cool.  Too bad I didn't think to take a picture during the bit o' sunshine we had earlier {Again, I am letting it go}.  This is the first time I have actually used any of the bottle caps.



I thought about painting the caps first, but then I decided that (1) it looked fine without paint, and (2) I just didn't want to do the work.


The sweet smell of accomplishment. Simple. Quick. Cheap.


Love this staged picture, but wouldn't ya know I didn't take a picture of what they looked like when they were done {*cringe* letting... it... go}.  Close your eyes and imagine a little button glued to a thumb tack {I know it sounds complicated} and that is exactly what they look like.  Adorable.  I know.

So in my dreams I get the spice board finished tomorrow and the family board done Saturday.  We'll see how I sleep {so to speak}.  I will say that even posting this itty bitty accomplishment makes me feel a little smiley inside.

Phew.  

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Dreaming on a Cloud

January 5, 2012

Martin Luther King, Jr had a dream.  A dream we all know and admire.

What are we dreaming of?


Dream Clouds

I found some pre-cut, pre-painted clouds at Michael's for $0.59 a pop.  They weren't exactly what I was envisioning, but I figured they would do the trick.

After I cut out 10 clouds using my Silhouette, I realized that the wooden clouds from Michael's were definitely out.  I LOVE THIS MACHINE!

To get started, Maia and I made a list of the dreams we have for our family, our friends and the world.

Since Maia needs more practice writing than I do, I handed my Sharpies over to her and let her write the words from our list onto the clouds.


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