Baby Washcloth Bouquets

In my world, social convention dictates that you must gift something thoughtful (it can be small!) when something new or exciting happens in a family member or close friend's life. In this case, my boyfriends cousins had just had new baby girls (yes - 2 different cousins had baby girls within 12 hours of each other!). I wanted to give something thoughtful and creative, so, as usual I trolled pinterest for an idea. I watched a youtube video outlining how to make a baby washcloth bouquet, and then I decided to give it a go. 

Items used: 1 piece of 12x12 scrapbook paper in whatever color/theme you think appropriate, rubber bands, double sided tape, baby washcloths and a little bit of tissue paper in whatever color you decide. 

I purchased three 6 packs of baby girl themed wash clothes at Target.

The video mentioned the importance of getting washcloths with a quilted edge, but I figured out a way around that. Before rolling the wash cloth into a "rose" I folded the edge of the washcloth to give it a quilted edge look. I chose to fold the edge with the tag on it so I could hide it. 

After rolling the washcloth, I folded up the bottom (about an inch and a half) and put a rubber band around it. I did this with all 18 wash clothes before moving on to creating the "bouquet".

To make the bouquet, you take a 12x12 piece of scrapbook paper and fold it diagonally. You have to play with it to get the size and shape you want. Try to get as much of a funnel shape as possible. I used scotch double stick tape to keep the bouquet closed. Once the bouquet is taped and complete, I pushed down on it to flatten it a little bit. This allows for the bouquet to look a little more open and lets you see the "roses" better once they are put in. 

I took a little bit of pink tissue paper and stuffed it in the bouquet before adding the "roses".

Next I just started adding the washcloths. You have to play around with them to get them to fit. Getting the last one in is sometimes challenging, especially because the bottoms are thicker than the tops. I would recommend starting with the ones in the back since those should be the tallest. I also made sure to spread out the different patterns/colors of the washcloths as evenly as possible.

As mentioned previously, there were 2 babies, so I made 2 bouquets. Here is the second one. 

Here is an example of a bouquet I made for a colleague who was having a boy. I added a ribbon on this one. The ribbon does not stay in place on it's own given the conical shape of the bouquet, so in about 3-4 spots around the bouquet I put a drop of hot glue to keep it in place. 

Happy baby gifting!

Etched Pyrex

Keeping with the wedding gift theme, this post is all about how to etch a glass 9x12 Pyrex casserole dish. 

What I used: a 9x12 glass pyrex casserole dish, clear contact paper, Armour-Etch cream, an Xacto knife, a foam paint brush, a print out of the words you are trying to etch, and some newspaper to lay down underneath you. 

Unfortunately I don't have more step by step pictures, but I will do my best to explain.

After laying down newspapers under me, I set the pyrex upside down. The etching is done on the bottom of the pyrex, not on the inside. I printed out the last name "McAdam" in the largest size font that would fit on a 8.5x11" sheet of paper. I cut a box around the last name and figured out where on the pyrex would be the best place to etch. I didn't choose the middle since Pyrex put their name smack dab in the middle of the dish. Then, I took the clear contact paper and used it to secure the name cut out to the pyrex. Make sure there are no air bubbles when you stick the contact paper to the pyrex, it could mess with the shape of the letters.

Next comes the hardest part. Take an Xacto knife and cut out each of the letters. You have the paper cut out as the stencil, but the important part is to cut through the contact paper, since this will be what controls where the etching cream goes, and therefore where the etch appears. I think the cut out part took about 30-45 minutes. Make sure you take your time and try to make the cuts as smooth as possible. Once you've cut out a letter, peel away the contact paper so that the glass is exposed just around the cut out of the letter. Letters with middle areas, such as the A and the d in this case, are much more difficult. Be careful to keep the center triangle or circle (A and d, respectively) in tact so the letter turns out.

After you've outlined and peeled off all of the letter cut outs, it's time to etch! Take your spong brush and the etching cream and start dabbing it over the cut out letters. Make sure you cover all the letter areas evenly so that the etch turns out uniform. Also, be very careful not to get the etching cream on your hands! If you are worried, wear some gloves. Although I can't speak from experience, it is said that the etching cream is very acidic and can burn your skin. You've been warned!

I left the etching cream on for about 20 minutes before I washed it off under hot water. When I first started washing the cream off it didn't look like anything had happened! The etch was very subtle at first, but once you peel off the rest of the contact paper and see the free standing etch, it looks amazing!

This was my first try so there were some small noticeable errors I made in some of the letter cut outs, but as you can see, it isn't noticeable when you look at the dish from a foot or so away. Don't be too hard on yourself, and have fun with it!

Happy Etching!

Captain & Coke

This craft was inspired by a need for a male's 40th birthday party gift. The birthday boy is a huge fan of captain and coke, but you could really use any sort of alcohol (that comes in mini bottles). I am not sure if coke makes any other types of pop in the retro packaging, though. 

Here are the items I used: 6 mini bottles of Captain (they are very cheap at super Walmart! I think <$2/mini bottle), a basket bag from the dollar store, a 6 pack of coca cola in the reto packaging with glass bottles, some ribbon, and an embellishment for the top of the basket bag.

I used red and white striped ribbon to tie each captain bottle to the coca cola bottles. There is a lip just under the bottle cap of the mini captain bottle that made it easy to secure the ribbon. For this part, it might be helpful to recruit someone else to help you tie the bottle tight enough to stay on!

Finished product!

All that was left to do was to put the gift in the basket bag and tie on an embellishment! You'll notice I used a different bow than the one in my original "things I used" photo. I thought the red looked better than the blue/white one I originally intended on using. 

Creative birthday gifts like these are perfect for friend's parties. They add a little personal touch, but are still fairly inexpensive! I've found that people are mostly impressed with the effort I put into gift giving. You'd be amazed at the level of appreciation you get for just taking 15 minutes or so to throw something like this together!

Happy Birthday-crafting!

Bushel & a Peck

Although this isn't my craft, I just had to share it because I am so obsessed. I got this as a Christmas gift (I practically begged for it!). Since this is a craft blog I am going to shamelessly promote the etsy shop that this was purchased from. The product is high quality and absolutely beautiful. 

Also, if you were wondering - the quote is from a song from Guys & Dolls. 

Happy Esty Shopping!

Baby Shower Crafts

Okay, so I can't take credit for this one at all. This was my cousin's idea. She found the idea for an alphabet wall in the nursery on pinterest, and thought it would be fun if at her baby shower, all of the attendees painted/decorated a letter of the alphabet to put up in the nursery. Super cute idea, right!? Anyways, even though I didn't do any of the planning/supply purchasing for the project, I wanted to share since it's such a fun idea!

My cousin and aunt bought a variety of all the letters needed to complete the alphabet. In order to make the alphabet wall look unique, they didn't just buy all of the letters in the same font/style/material. Some of the letters were made of particle board and were relatively flat, while others were made of cardboard and were quite three dimensional. Take a peek in the photos below. 

Some of the items my cousin and aunt purchased to help decorate the letters were: modge podge, stickers that matched the theme/colors of the nursery, paint, paint brushes, buttons, other larger embellishments (flowers, etc.), and scrapbook paper. 

Here are some of the letters drying after guests at the shower painted them. You can see the A covered in hot glued buttons, the I painted on the sides and then modge podged with scrapbook paper to add a pattern. The R and the G were carefully painted with designs, while the V and the U have a few stickers stuck on them. Some turned out much cuter than others...obviously ;)

This is the letter I painted. I used the pink paint that you can see in the photo. Once that dried, I painted it with a clear glitter paint. Finally, I added a flower embellishment and a few pearl stickers to the ends. Elegant and simple!

Happy Baby Shower crafting!

Bridal Shower Cake

More "wedding season" appropriate crafts: a bridal shower cake!

Essentially, this is the bridal shower version of a diaper cake. If you have to give a gift, why not make it fun?!

For this bridal shower cake, I picked all items on the bride's registry at Bed Bath & Beyond. Here are the items I used: Oxo rotating utensil holder, 9.5" Pyrex pie dish, Bamboo utensil set, Calphalon dish cloth (wasabi), 2 Calphalon plaid kitchen towels (wasabi), purple silk ribbon, and a 4x4 box from the dollar tree.

The box from the dollar store was a blue gift box that came with a sparkly covered top. I had it in my gift wrapping box and it was the perfect size to hold the utensil holder at the second tier. You could use a lot of different things to do this - a cylindrical piece of foam, a few toilet paper rolls rubber banded together - be creative!

To build this, I took the dollar tree 4x4 box and turned it upside down on the middle of the pie dish. I then began wrapping the kitchen towels around the box to hide it. I took all the tags off - I felt confident doing this since the items were on her registry. I really only did it so that the end result looked cleaner, you can choose to leave them on. I wrapped 2 kitchen towels around the first tier and secured them with the purple ribbon you can see in the photo. Then, i stacked the utensil holder on top of the upside down dollar tree box and  filled it with the bamboo utensils. I folded the dish towel like a fan, and propped it up behind the utensils. 

The final thing I did was use a basket bag to wrap this up and keep everything held together. I recommend the one from the dollar tree - it works just fine and it's only a dollar!

I think I spent $40 on this gift overall (with the utilization of some bed bath and beyond coupons) and I think the presentation really classes up the gift. It also made it easier to buy a random selection of some of the lesser priced items on their registry and still be able to pull it all together nicely. 

Happy Bridal Shower-ing!

Wedding Invitation in an Ornament

Wedding season is upon us! I always feel like giving cash is so impersonal. I know that more often than not, that is exactly what the couple wants/needs, but I can't help but want to give a little something else! My cousin received a Christmas ornament with her baby shower invitation in it, and I thought it was a super cute keepsake. So, I thought, why not do this for a wedding invitation! Not only did the ornament turn out really great, but it was super cheap, too!

What I used: a plain glass ornament, scissors, my cutter glide tool, the wedding invitation, and a pencil.

I found this 4 pack of ornaments at Hobby Lobby for $6.99. Plus, I used this 40% off coupon!

The ornaments are about 3 inches in diameter.

Are you ready for the hard part? The first step is to cut about a centimeter in width piece of the invitation and roll it around a pencil. I tried to cut each line of text as 1 strip. This way, you can shake the ornament around and find different lines like names, time, place, etc. 

Once you roll the strip of paper around a pen or pencil, you can fit it through the opening at the top of the ornament (you have to pull the top off first, obviously)

I will note that since many invitations are printed white paper on top of cardstock, you may have to gently pull the printed paper apart from the cardstock. It's kinda hard to see in this picture since the cardstock was silver and the printed paper was white, I did cut strips of the cardstock to put in the ornament, too. This adds some color and variety to the ornament. I also tried to cut slightly different widths of paper to allow for some variety.

And there you have it! A finished product. You can even see the line that shows the brides name and the time of the wedding in this picture! 

Happy Wedding Season!