This One's For My Peeps!!!

Okay, I know not everybody likes Peeps.

But how can you resist when they're arranged so delightfully? 

Last year I made a Cadbury Chocolate Egg bouquet and this year I revisited the idea, but used Peep Bunnies instead. 

 I painted the terra cotta pot that I purchased from Michaels before I put the bouquet together. 

Then I put a piece of floral foam in the pot and filled it with gift basket filler. 

Then I went to work putting the peeps onto the skewers and inserting the skewers into the foam to make the bouquet. 

I just kept adding skewers with peeps on them until I felt like I had a full bouquet. 

 I think it's adorable!!! 

Hopefully, the recipients will too!

What do you think about Peeps? 

Love 'em or hate 'em? 

Can I Tell You A Secret?

I have a good friend who is really into mysteries and spy craft. He really likes things like hidden doors and secret messages, which was why when I saw this idea on Pinterest, I knew I had to make a set of these secret message glasses for my friend! 
 

Didn't they turn out awesome?!
 

I used my awesome Silhouette machine to make the stencil, flip the wording backward, and cut the stencil out of vinyl. I used the following phrases: "I spit in that", "this isn't your glass", "you have just been poisoned" and "did it taste funny?" 
 

 I applied the stencils to the bottoms of the glasses I bought, making sure you could read the sayings through the bottom of the glass. 

I taped off the edges around the stencil, just to make sure I didn't get any etching cream where I didn't want it to go. 

Then I applied the etching cream. I use Armour Etch, which you can buy at Michael's or your local craft store.

 The directions say to leave the etching cream on for 5 minutes, but I like to leave it on a little longer, usually about 20 -30 minutes. Then you just wash it off in the sink, and I have a soft sponge I use for etching projects to make sure all the cream comes off. 
 

 Once all the cream is washed off, peel off the stencil and see your pretty design. 

 I'm so excited with how these turned out, even though a few of the stencils bled in a few spots, but you can still read them so I'm calling it a success. 

What do you think?

I'm sharing this project at the following link parties: 

~ What's In The Gunny Sack @ The Gunny Sack ~ Tutorials & Tips @ Home Stories From A to Z ~  Take-A-Look Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Crafts ~ Too Cute Tuesday @ Funky Polkadot Giraffe ~ Teach Me Tuesday @ Some Day I'll Learn ~  Time To Shine @ A Diamond In The Stuff ~ Tell Me Tuesday @ Him & Her ~ Show Me Whatcha Got @ Not Just A Housewife ~ Hoo's Got Talent @ Night Owl Crafting ~ Lil Luna Linky Party @ Lil Luna ~ Your Whims Wednesday @ My Girlish Whims ~ Wow Me Wednesday @ Ginger Snap Crafts ~ Wicked Awesome Wednesday @ Handy Man, Crafty Woman ~ Show & Share @ Southern Lovely ~ Wildly Original Link Party @ I Gotta Create ~ Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Creek Cottage ~ Creative Juice Thursday @ Momnivore's Dilemma ~ Link Party @ The 36th Ave ~ BFF Open House Link Party @ The Answer Is Chocolate ~ Delicately Constructed @ Delicate Construction ~ Anything Goes Linky @ Bacon Time ~ Weekend Bloggy Reading @ Serenity Now ~ Free for All @ Young & Crafty ~  Weekend Wrap Up @ Tatertots & Jello ~ Strut Your Stuff Saturday @ Six Sisters' Stuff ~  Show & Tell Saturday @ Be Different Act Normal ~ Think Pink Sunday @ Flamingo Toes ~ Sunday Show Off Link Party @ Twigg Studios ~ Sundae Scoop Link Party @ I Heart Nap Time ~



Thank you for featuring me!!!

Oh, Baby, Baby!!!

I just had to share with everyone my latest knitting project! 

 

My cousin, Janice, is having twins! My Mom always knits baby blankets as a shower gift, and I offered to knit one blanket while she knits the other. So Mom knit a matching blanket, but in pink. (Sorry, I don't have a picture for both.) 

I also made a cute card to go with our blankets. 

I saw a cute baby card on Pinterest that used tiny clothespins for the letters and used that as my inspiration for this card. I cut out the letters using my Silhouette machine and used an edge punch on the patterned paper. 

Do you give handmade gifts for baby showers? 

What's your favorite thing to make for babies? 

 

Belated Birthday In A Box

This post is about two weeks late... but better late then never! 

*Note: I'm not the worst Aunt in the world, the kiddos did get their present on their actual birthday, I just didn't get around to posting this until now.

For my twin nieces' 11th birthday, I decided to give them a birthday in a box. I found the idea on Pinterest (of course) earlier this year, and knew they would get a kick out of it.  

What might you ask is a birthday in a box? 

Basically it's a large box filled with balloons that have candy, money and/or other small treats inside each balloon. The birthday girl (or boy) has to pop all the balloons to get all the goodies inside. 

Supplies: 
balloons
balloon pump
goodies
money
candy
anything small that will fit
confetti (optional)

I put the goodies, candy and money into the balloons before I filled them up. I thought about putting confetti or glitter inside also, but decided that I didn't want my sister to kill me, so I opted not to. 

Once I had all the goodies in the balloons I blew them up using a pump, then tied them off and put them in the box. 

Once I had the box filled up, I wrapped each one up and was done. 

I wasn't sure what my nieces were going to think about my gift. I was either going to be the meanest Aunt in the world or the coolest. 

Apparently, I'm the coolest Aunt!

It was really fun to see their faces when I brought in these two big boxes for them, and it was even more fun to watch them pop all the balloons to see what was inside. 

This is definitely an idea I'm going to have to use again! 

What creative ideas do you use/have you used for a birthday gift?

Manly Gift For A Manly Man

Crafting for guys is hard! 

I usually do okay. My brothers have received things in the past from me like etched drinking glasses, redneck wine glasses, alcohol bottle lamps and other guy type crafts. 

Awhile back I found this idea on Pinterest and thought it would be PERFECT for my brother Jonathan, whose birthday is today! 

A Man Bouquet!!!

The Pinterest idea had cigars also, but since my brother doesn't smoke, I opted to use only alcohol for this project. So off to the liquor store I went to gather my supplies...

I used little bottles of alcohol, thin dowels, foam, a mason jar (or you could use a cup or pail), and a hot glue gun and hot glue sticks.

 I started off by using hot glue to glue the dowels to the little alcohol bottles. I made sure to use LOTS of glue because I wanted the dowels to stick really well.

 While the glue was drying, I got my jar ready. You really could use any kind of container. I thought I had a glass mug, but it turns out I didn't, so I reused one of the mason jars left over from my wedding as a container for the bouquet. I stuffed floral foam into the jar, then a filler to cover up the foam around it. 

Once I had my jar prepped and the glue was dry on my alcohol sticks, it was time to arrange the bouquet. I did cut down a few of the dowels that went in the front but that was so the lengths could be different. Just be careful while poking the dowels in if they don't already have a pre-sharpened end, because if you press too hard they could break.

 You really can arrange it any way you choose! Once you've gotten all your dowels poked in then you're done.

This really is such a neat guy gift. It would be perfect for a 21st birthday! The best part is that it can be customized for whatever kind of alcohol the recipient prefers. 

What kind of guy gifts do you give? 




I'm sharing this project at the following link parties: 

~ Take-A-Look Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Crafts ~ Tutorials & Tips Link Party @ Home Stories From A to Z ~ Man Up Link Up @ So I Married A Craft Blogger ~ Show Me What Ya Got @ Not Just A Housewife ~ Lil Luna Link Party @ Lil Luna ~ Wow Me Wednesday @ Ginger Snap Crafts ~ Your Whims Wednesday @ My Girlish Whims ~ Show & Share @ Southern Lovely ~ Wildly Original Link Party @ I Gotta Create! ~ Creative Juice Thursday @ Momnivore's Dilemma ~ Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Creek Cottage ~ BFF Open House Link Party @ The Answer Is Chocolate ~ Anything Goes Link Party @ Bacon Time ~ Delicately Constructed @ Delicate Construction ~ Weekend Bloggy Reading @ Serenity Now ~

Happy Birthday...And Many S'More!!!

I know many crafters that have a hard time coming up with crafty gifts for guys. That being said, I'm always on the look out for great ideas for crafty gifts for guys. Quite often, the best gifts I've found are simply treats. 

For my friend Ray's birthday, I found this rather genius gift idea.

I took all the ingredients for s'mores...

and repackaged them into clear treat bags and tied them off with some manly twine (because ribbon is too girly). 

 
And made a tag that says "Happy Birthday & many smore!!!" using my stamps. 

Now, I've seen this idea done a few different ways. I've seen the ingredients put into a mason jar as a gift but I'm hoarding my mason jars for my wedding next month, so that option was out. I've seen it put into a little basket, but I didn't have a little basket so that option was out. I'd also seen it put into a cardboard carrying container, but I didn't have that option either. 

So what did I have?

A brown paper gift bag. 

(Please tell me I'm not the only one that buys these in bulk.) 

 But anyone that has a few stamps and an ink pad knows that you can dress up these bags quickly and easily. 

Not too bad!

All that was left as to fill my bag with the s'more goodies and add my little gift tag with some more manly twine. 

Now all I have to do is deliver it to the birthday boy!

I'm sure he's going to love it.