Father's Day Love

My friend Michelle took a tip from Martha and put together a shadowbox for her fiancee's first Father's Day. I was so happy to help out and share some bits and pieces from my stash. We used fancy papers for the background, foam core to make the pics stick out, pins, and a glue stick and double sided tape to make the magic happen. Michelle included the teeny hat Ms. Bryn came home from the hospital in and the only pacifier she would accept for the first few months of her life. I thought this was such a sweet idea and would make a great gift for any special holiday.
Happy Dad's Day!

Mod Podging

 Boring. Ugly.

Adorable! Useful!

I geeked myself out this weekend with an unattractive tea tin, some pretty paper and a jar of Mod Podge. My first attempt at the crafter's delight. Must say it was fun, easy, and led my eyes to dart wildly around my apartment looking for more to podge. Find more than you'll ever really need to know about Mod Podging here.

Cattail Magic & Potato Ships

In honor of National Craft Month, please enjoy these handy videos by Amy Sedaris, demonstrating some of the projects from her book, Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People. Get inspired.

Click here for more of Amy's crafty videos.

Cute Cute Cute

Love this DIY bridesmaid card! 

Looks a liiiiiitle time consuming...but for 6 maids I guess it wouldn't be too terrible.

Found on Once Wed

A Hundred Thousand Welcomes

A few ideas to add a touch o' green to your day..........

...Fudgey Chocolate Brownies by Martha
...Printable cupcake toppers from TomKat
...Free vintage Irish clipart
...Shamrock boutonnieres by Martha
...Guinness cupcakes with Bailey's Irish cream frosting, Dulcedo
...read some ideas for a St. Patrick's Day Soiree
...and maybe send one of these to your most (or least) Irish of pals

A Lucky Lapel

Staying on the touch 'o class route for St. Patrick's Day, try your hand at a shamrock badge. 

From  Design*Sponge. Just a wee bit too cute not to share.

SS Tip #42 - Fab File

Another repurposing story, another unsightly office necessity saved.

Found via Flourish from Design*Sponge.

SS Tip #41 - Bar on Wheels: A Repurposing Story

“The idea posed itself so clearly in my head I couldn’t not make it.”
  -Dane Holweger

Eureka. Seeing beyond ordinary use at its finest. Story and instructions at ReadyMade.

SS Tip # 39 - Washcloth Lollipops

I'm gathering ideas for the big baby shower next weekend. I love the concept of disguising gifts but would like to see a little something different than your average diaper cake. How about washcloth lollipops?

From oh my! handmade goodness

SS Tip #38 - Flag Down Your Guests

Love this table number idea.
From a very pretty wedding on Lovelorn Unicorn found via you are my fave.

What!!!?

[my reaction to these]:

                                

Last year's Valentines from 24-7-365

and this year's from Design Mom.

Probably the cutest Valentines I've ever seen. And so easy!

I can't get enough of the Valentine's goodness floating around out there. And there's plenty of it.

Oh Baby!

These are the baby shower invites I made for my mommy-to-be friend, Nicki. I started off the project with some mini bunting flags - an idea I got from How About Orange. But, Jackie, a co-hostess of the shower couldn't get her mind off mini umbrellas and so we searched for how to make it work. Luckily Martha was right on top of that and has a mini umbrella punch at Michael's. I mean really, why wouldn't she. We did a sage background and brown envelopes because we don't yet know what this little baby will be and they're they colors of Nicki's nursery.

Mo at Just Say Maux gave me a good idea to use white pen to address the brown envelopes and it was perfect. We also did the whole instead of a card, bring a book for baby. Such a cute idea!

Read  more about how Jackie and I put them together...

Valentine's Day Series #3 - Craft Attack

You've got plenty of time left to drag out the scissors and glue, maybe even the sewing box. How about a homemade Valentine for the lucky ones on your list?

Felt hearts made by me and Brennan. The big idea was to make tons of different sized hearts and put together necklaces. We learned that a) given our sewing skills this would have taken a week and b) one big heart was just as good as a bunch of little ones.

What you'll need and what to do: Go here! I got the idea from The Purl Bee's Valetine pins. They're so cute and just a smidge better quality than ours.

More ideas to be inspired by:

1. Cupcake liner award ribbon, Bake it Pretty featured in Parents mag

2. Matchbox Valentines, Inchmark

3. Cupcake toppers, Craftzine

4. Melted crayon valentine, The Long Thread (I might just have to try these)

5. Kiss flip book, Color Me Katie (this is sooooo cute and way easier than I thought it would be)

6. Printable brownie bags, Twig and Thistle (Go here for a million more printables thanks to Paper Crave)

7. Felt treat bags, Simply Feather

8. Crochet fortune cookies, Alicia Kachmar (Not fair since I'm incapable of making these)

9. You Rock baggies, The Crafts Department, Martha

Valentine's Decor Amor at Fuel

Tonight was the event at Fuel in Wilmette! I was so excited to finally visit and also meet Meghan. I couldn't even believe it when I saw the ideas from this post come to life. Meghan did such an awesome job my jaw literally dropped when I walked in! Everything she put together looked so cute and fit the space so well. I'll stop talking so you can see for yourself:

                                   

                        

                        

                         

The letters really stood out on the white shelves under the chalkboard menus and the apothecary jars were just perfect. Each table had its own vase of pinwheels and a bowl of conversation hearts.  She even made the wreath---can you stand it!? I really need a camera because these phone pics really don't do it justice. I'm so glad I got to help find some ideas for this event. Meghan, it was so nice meeting you and I loved everything you made!

SS Tip #29 - Pitch a Circus Tent

When I was little I had this:

It was a My Little Pony bed tent and it was AMAZING. I even decorated it with Christmas lights on the inside (fire hazard? maybe). Can you picture the magic? I miss it. I might even still have it in the garage.

Now, I wish I had this:

From Country Living. Go here to make your own magic.

How To : Put a Pipe Cleaner on It

Babysitting weekend = bring the craft bag. Perfect opportunity to try my hand at these. Luckily, Brennan, my 11 year old/super cute/crafty redheaded cousin, was all over it. She wasted no time figuring these out and by the end was even giving me tips. I tell ya.

Read more for instructions (with pictures!)....

SS Tip #26 - When In Doubt, Create a Monogram

I almost, almost forgot about this. Before the Valentine's Series (yes, a whole series dedicated to sweets, treats and decorations) begins, let's talk about this:

The story: Our girlfriends have a tradition of throwing the newest bride-to-be an engagement brunch - nothing fancy and usually at a restaurant. My main squeeze, Therese, is marrying Matt in June and her brunch was at Pappadeux in Arlington Heights (because they have a monster buffet - key). Since we didn't have our own room, I wanted to do a little something for the table to make it special for Therese and our friends.

For the bride: I created the monogram, printed them out on cardstock and cut the tags down with a 1.75 inch circle punch...then went berzerk with ribbon. Filled up the vase ($4.99 at Michael's) with the bride's fave (yellow tulips) and some white roses and dropped it at her place.

       

Bad pictures, but all the ladies had little bud vases at their seats with the same monogram tag tied around the neck with some grosgrain ribbon. The vases (which were actually little corked bottles) were about .99 each from Michael's.

These turned out super cute and the flowers were pretty inexpensive (4 flowers in a bunch, 3 bunches for $12 at the Jewel). Everyone got to take home their own flower and vase, making it a great favor for the occasion.

Think: Any wedding related event!

SS Tip #24 - Put a Pipe Cleaner On It

Just got one of my 500 daily emails from Martha. They recently celebrated 15 years of Martha Stewart Weddings with a great big party and one of the coolest things about the event (I think) was The Pipe Cleaner Lady. There was (obviously) a crafts station set up and she was on hand to help guests make their own pipe cleaner rings.

How cute are these! Martha has some instructions on how to make your own - they are definitely not as cute, but I think you could play around with it to your liking. Such a good craft idea for a birthday (or bachelorette!) party.

A Snow Day Project

Maybe tomorrow I will whip up something like this....

Designed by Jessica Jones of How About Orange, found via Living Creatively

A fridge frame! It looks fairly simple. Directions found here. All you need (more or less) is some currogated cardboard (and who doesn't have that lying around?), felt, patterned fabric, some magnets and a hot glue gun. Hm. I can practically see all of those things from where I'm sitting. I'm imagining all shapes and sizes....this could be fun!

Psssst - Have you signed up for the TSS Giveaway?!

SS Tip #15 - Not Your Average Bunting Flags

Can you imagine how outrageous this would be for a bachelorette party? Or surprise party? What about a a little kiddie's birthday party and each flag is a different school picture?! Oh the possibilities. An anniversary party with pictures of the couple over the years?

Bunting flags made with pictures on regular copy paper or cardstock. Hole punched and strung with riboon. Another great idea from Papier Valise.