Custom Candle

Remember my Father's Day idea with the frame?

Well, here's my super easy MOTHERS day idea!! 

The best part is it looks way impressive!

Materials needed: 

Tissue paper

Wax paper

Printer

Blow dryer 

Candle

So, here's what you do; find a super cute picture and carefully print it out on tissue paper. I tape my tissue paper to regular printing paper to keep it from crinkling. Then cut it out and, with the picture facing out, wrap it around the candle using wax paper. Then blow dry the picture so the wax from the wax paper melts on top of the picture and connects to the candle wax. (I wear an oven mitt while I blow dry so I don't melt my fingers too ;) ) Then, carefully peal the wax paper away and ta-da! Super cute, super quick Mother's Day present! Enjoy! 

Oh, I have yet to burn a candle I've done this to, so I don't know what would happen. 

Cost: I only had to pay for the candle. I think it was $3.50

Time: about 15 minutes. Easy Peasy!  

Father's Day Gift Idea

This is a really simple gift idea, but really sweet too! 

Materials:

printer

picture frame

light ink (you want to be able to still see the print behind it)

Just find some cute fonts, print out the cute saying "my fingers may be small, but I've got GRANDPA wrapped around them" Of course you could do "DADDY" or "UNCLE" or "AUNTIE" or "CRAZY UNCLE JOE" whatever you want in replace of the "GRANDPA"  Then wrangle your baby/toddler and smear some ink all over their hands, print it over the saying, and RUN TO THE BATHROOM BEFORE YOUR ENTIRE HOUSE GETS INKED! (you moms know what I'm talking about) 

But seriously, that's about it! I did a very small frame so her hand barely fit, but you could do any size you want! add another handprint or two... have fun with it! You could add some fake leaves to the outside too, or buttons, or bolts... really make it your own! 

Cost: price of frame! I got mine at the thrift store for $1 

Time: 10 minutes plus drying time (you don't want to put it in the frame till the ink is dry or else it will smudge all over the glass) 

Wrap it up Nice!

So,  don't know about you, but I LOVE presents. Getting them, giving them, opening them! I also LOVE pretty, done-up-more-than-necessary things! the more decor and detail, the more I love it! So when Pinterest started showing me all those adorable gift wrapping ideas, I decided I needed to join the club! Here are a few of my creations: 

This one was for my friend's Bachelorette party, so I made a corset box. It was a little trickier threading the ribbon through than I anticipated, but I think it turn out awesome! 

Then, of course there is my Fairy Godmother kit wrapping. I tried to theme this all around what I think a fairy would use. As you can see, there's a golden doily wrapped in rafia, tissue paper roses glittery leaves, flower adorned boxes... I really had fun with this one! 

And one I didn't show in my Fairy Godmother Kit:

How cute is this?! It was a Christmas themed box. So I just cut some pieces off of a brown paper bag, taped them on with wasi tape, and stamped a cute butterfly! The top is from a candle that has long run out! How fun, right?!

This next one is a wedding gift. There's a dollar store close to my house that has champagne glasses. SO FUN! so I tend to go spend ALL my money there. If you see a gift basket, it's probably a dollar store deal. (it really has the greatest stuff!) Anyway, since dollar store treats aren't especially fancy, I splurged and got some Martinelli's and Lindor chocolates too! Then I added the burlap, lace, and ribbons to the bucket. I think it turned out SO PERFECT! 

This next one is a birthday gift to my mom. I had a necklace hiding in the candy. This one was a quick one too, but I like how it turned out. I spray painted the jar silver (you guys, I LOVE spray paint!) Then I just dove into my cave of craft supplies and surfaced with what you see! Again, I think it turned out quite presentable, don't you? 

final touch, a swatch of fabric with the lid. 

Remember what I said about gift baskets? Yep! Dollar store! All except the Martinelli's. This was a real grab-n-go gift, so this is the only picture I managed to get. It has matching oven mits, hand towels, bowl, and green rubber spatula, tongs, and spoon! (and the champagne glasses too, of course!) Fun, huh?! It's seriously the greatest dollar store I have yet to find!

And lastly, for the chocolate lover! I have chocolate covered cherries in tulle with a crocheted flower (yes, I crocheted it myself!)  tying it together, tied into a ribbon with a Hershey's bar! Classic! 

So there you have it! Another brilliant way to let the creativity out! 

Just as a word of relief:  This isn't for everyone. I have heard a lot of complains about how Pinterest and sites like it are making holidays and parties and food impossible and ruining self esteem. This is something that makes me happy, which is why I do it. I don't want anyone to see this and feel they need to do the same to be a good person or to keep up. Do what you love! If you just enjoy looking at the cute stuff, but have no desire to make it yourself, GREAT! But if you do happen to be similar to myself, I hope I can inspire you and regardless of how you are, I hope you share your talents with the world!  

Fairy Godmother Kit

So, in my family, I have an aunt who was always pretty special in my life. Unfortunately, she lives across the entire country. So, when my li'l girl was born, I wanted to make her a part of my children's lives somehow. This is what I came up with:

Winner, right?! And the first thing I did once I came up with the idea was search the Internet for "fairy godmother kits" guess what it came up with... NOTHING! I know! I was shocked too!! You mean the artsy people who have made Pinterest what it is HAVEN'T come up with this yet?! I am very disappointed, artsy people. VERY disappointed. 

BUT that did mean I got to invent it all by myself. Which was fun! I wish I would have taken a year to put this together because I have found SO much stuff since that would have been PERFECT!! But that's okay! There are definitely more packages in the future. 

Anyway, I was super lame and didn't take pictures of most of the stuff :( so you just get these couple pictures. But you do get to see my super cute wrapping! And really, isn't that just so cute? I will tell you what I pit in the kit, so you can make your own! I didn't make most of these, because of the sheer amount I wanted to send, and I was trying to get it done ASAP, but I have seen lots of DIY for just about all of it. 

Kit includes: 

1: wings, crown, and wand- OF COURSE! What's a fairy without these? You can see the wand in this picture. It's the purple butterfly in the bottom left corner. Cute, right?! 

2: Fairy Party and Planning Book: "for when you are just too tired to think" ha! it was a very cute book filled with recipes, party ideas, decorations, etc. 

3: Cozy Comforts: have you seen those home-made heating pads? They are filled with corn or rice or beans or something, and you just heat them up in the microwave and put them on your shoulders? Yeah, it's one of those! Because being a Fairy Godmother is probably tough! 

4: Angel Pin: just a little broach to remind her she's my daughter's guardian angel!

5: Soaps: So I have a friend who makes her own soaps (they are AMAZING! I don't use any other kind of soap!) and when I told her about this, she found me some champagne scented soap with glitter on top (PERFECT! am I right?!), a cinnamon one with an actual cinnamon stick sticking out of it, and a pine scented one (fairies are all woodsy and stuff, right? Actually this one was my favorite and I'm DYING to buy another one for her for my own use!) They were such a perfect touch to the whole package! 

6: A Token of Love: this was just a little metal heart, but it was so cute and cheap I figured what the heck! 

7: Frame (with 3 pictures): I didn't think she had any pictures of my darling girl, so I found a cheap wooden frame, stained it all dark and pretty, and added spiraling rhinestones around for a fancy border! 

8: Bonus: Just a bit of fairy dust: My friend also had mini jars  (like the size of my thumb) with glitter and super tiny shells inside! It was SO CUTE! and she was so nice to let me have one!! 

How cool and creative is this?!?!?!

So there you have it! FIRST EVER Fairly Godmother kit! 

I hope I see more on Pinterest in the future! ;) 

Cost: You guys, I don't even know! Definitely at LEAST $50. But you could cut that down MAJORLY by making your own stuff!

Time: it took me two months to wrangle stuff together, wrap, and mail. 

Birthday Liter

So, as many of you out there probably can relate, I have become a lover of Pinterest. So, when my brother's birthday rolled around in October (I know, so long ago!) I perused my boards and found this nifty idea. 

So, what you do is you get a two (or in this case three) liter bottle of soda (preferably one you enjoy) and empty the contents. Of course if you have a bottle just laying around, that's probably best. Anyway, once emptied, you clean the bottle out so it's not sticky, an cut a hole in the side where the name of the soda is. I recall this being tricky. I believe I had to stab it with a knife, then try and wiggle my scissors into it to cut it open, so be careful when you attempt this. I made three cuts so it could open like a lid and proceeded to fill it. My brother is a sugar-holic, so I just filled it with lots of candy from the dollar store. Depending on your recipient though, you could fill it with yo-yo's, bouncy balls, small dolls, coins, dollar bills, chap stick, make-up, cards... anything you think they would like that will fit. Next, you tape up the hole, cover the side with cute paper, and add a label if you would like. I just turned the wrapping paper around and used the white side. Also, I would suggest writing on it before you tape it to the bottle-much easier that way. Then I got some fun matching ribbons and tied them on top and added a bow and voila! A cute birthday present that everyone can love!

Time: An hour or so
Cost: I spent about $10 but it could easily cost more or less depending on what you fill it with.