Tiffany's with a Twist

My beloved daughter turns sixteen this week.  If you have a little one under the age of five and someone says to treasure this time while your little one is throwing a tantrum....heed those words.  Time does fly by...really fast.  It really seems like just yesterday I was droppping her off at kindergarten.  I can still see her dragging this HUGE backpack on her back.  She would have to lean forward and gain momentum to make it from the car door to the front door of the school.  I tried buying her a new smaller one but she wouldn't have it.  She refused to give up her big girl backpack for a baby one. Now we are counting down the days until she takes her first real step to independence by taking her driving test.  Once she passes it,  I will no longer have the privilege of taking her to school and watching her walk through those school doors.  Yup, times are a changing.

And with change comes....Tiffany's.  My daughter is a complicated child.  She loves waterpolo because she loves the ability to kick and pull on all the other girls but she takes hours to do her hair and make up and has yet to reach 5 feet in height.  She wears sweats and t-shirts to school but loves a great pair of stilettos on the weekend. (I don't think they are technically stilettos but they are really high.)  She is so loud and has a laugh that can be heard from miles away...she stands out in her all boy engineering classes.  The teacher teased her the first few weeks of class by stating she must of transposed some numbers when signing up for her sophomore classes because she is not the engineering type...that was until she maintained a 97 or higher average in the class.  YOU GO GIRL!

So it was only appropriate to make her an invitation for her birthday party that was as paradoxical as she is.  So I made her invitations Tiffany themed but with a twist.

Aren't they hilarious?  When we came up with this idea, I couldn't wait to do them.  They are very similar to the ones I made for my friend's wedding.  You can see those here. Now I know quite a few mother's that will be appalled by the wording on this invitation but you have to know my daughter and our close relationship.  She makes great grades, volunteers during the summer in the summer swim league.  She is a dedicated athlete and has a big heart and wise advice for troubled teens. She shares their stories with me and the advice she gave or asks me for advice for them.  When she is confused about a relationship with a boy or girl, she asks for help and looks for biblical truth to back up her final decision...she is a good kid...with a weird sense of humor...so these invitations speak volumes about her.

So we took a road trip to the Highlands area and went to The Paper Source for our supplies.  Now if you don't have one near you, you can buy their items online. Thank goodness I took the 45 minute trip to the store because while there I found this unbelievable gift wrap to use for the liner.

I fell in LOVE with this paper.  The picture above is a link to where you can purchase it.  Let me just say, that I have not been asked to endorse this product...I just love it soo much that I have to share.  The picture at the website does NOT do it justice, so I thought I would take a picture of it for you.  No flash was used to take this picture.  What you see is the light reflecting off the glitter from the small lamp that I have.

I think it goes well with the Tiffany theme.  Liners dress up the envelope and this liner is like jewelry for the envelope.  I wanted the recipient's of the invitation to experience the thrill of a Tiffany's box.  Picture it.  They open the Tiffany blue envelope and are greeted with the brilliance of a gem as light reflects off the thousand pieces of glitter. Then they are introduced to more brillance with the crystals I hotfixed to the front of the invitation.  And of course, no Tiffany box would be complete without white ribbon.  What do you think?

Recipe:

-5x7 cardstock in Pool from The Paper Source

-8.5 x 11 Text Paper in Pool

-8.5 x 11 Savoy Cotton Paper from The Paper Source

-Glitter gift wrap

-White ribbon from Wal-mart

-Hotfix rhinestones from Imaginisce and/or Jolee's 

Thanks for stopping by!

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Spa Sock Cupcakes

If you were ever on the fence about getting an electronic die cut machine...JUMP!  Back in 2007 I made the jump and I haven't looked back.

I used it this past weekend to make these cute cupcake wrappers for spa socks.  Years ago I was a Mary Kay consultant and they taught us....women like eye candy and presentation is everything.  I saw these cute sock cupcakes years ago somewhere online and have made them ever since.  When Provo Craft came out with the cupcake wrapper, I couldn't run fast enough to get one.  It has wrappers for all occasions and even cupcake toppers.

I decided to use some tulle flowers that I bought on etsy as toppers. Here is a green hint;  when you need some white cardstock, you can always use the back side of the onesided paper.  I always seem to have extra sheets left over from those paper packs at Joann's.  If it is a pattern that I don't particularly like, I just flip it over and use the white backing.  That is what I used for the base of the cupcake wrappers.

Recipe;

spa socks from Michaels

tulle flowers from etsy

clear gift bags from Michaels

brown twine

small office rubber bands

curling ribbon

color cardstock

back of pattern paper 

Thanks for stopping by!

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Go Go Gadgets Top Five

 I am obsessed with all things techy.  I love reading articles about the tech world.  Given $200 and an hour to spend it and I will go online and probably buy me an accessory for my Ipad or Iphone.  Techy gadgets are one size fits all.  I don't have to try on anything.  So I thought today would be a great day to share some of my finds for my gadgets.  Are you ready?  Here we goooooo!

1)  Zaggfolio  

It is a portable keyboard and cover in one.  It turns your Ipad into a notebook and it does it with little bulk.  When your Ipad is inside the case, you can use your screen in landscape. However, if you remove your ipad from the case you can still use it in portrait by simply using the groove in the keyboard to hold up IPad.  The keyboard offers several function keys, including Mac's cmd button.  It has quick keys for your photos, volume, copy and paste.  The keys are spaced well so using the keyboard feels natural.  I type at the same speed as I do on my PC with a full keyboard.  When you are done, just fold and go.  Because I am still only a girl that loves gadgets....one of my favorite features is the abitlity to customize the look of your Zaaggfolio.  The keyboard comes in all white, all black and silver with black keys.  The cover comes in several colors and materials.  I have the orange one.  Maybe one day I will get the pink one or plum one to match my purses.  It makes blogging from my IPad very easy.

2)  Blog Docs- Google Docs is an app that you can find at the app store.  It is an app that allows you to blog and upload your entries to Blogger and Wordpress (among others).  What makes it special is that you can insert pictures from your IPad into your entry.  You can create hyperlinks and use HTML.  It has a built in web browser that allows you to create hyperlinks, insert pictures straight from the internet and partial web page capture (take a snap shot of a web page with a touch of a button).  You can draw on pages, draw over pictures that you insert and create a hyperlink on your image.  For example, you can draw your signature and create a hyperlink for it.  You can write emails and create signatures. You can insert videos from youtube into your articles.  It is the only way I blog.  I can blog anywhere and I do.  I think it is on sale right now at the app store.

3) Movie Mount

The Movie Mount is a case that allows you to mount your IPad to a tripod, allowing you to make videos with your IPad2.  Now I know what your are thinking, "The IPad 2 doesn't have a decent camera."  Hear me out on this one.  If you plan to make a blockbuster movie, you are right.  It is crappy for that.  But if you want to make youtube videos, such as this one that I made...Stand up Paper Doll.  I recorded, edited, uploaded to Youtube and blogged this video...all from my Ipad2.  I didn't have my Movie Mount yet so I rigged my IPad to the tripod and it dropped 4 times while filming....I don't recommend rigging your IPad. It has two shotguns for microphone and lighting.  You can also attach lenses to it and slide them back and forth over the camera on the fly.  I have a macro, wide angle lens and telephoto lens.  I can't wait to use them but since they are a Mother's Day gift from my family, I have to wait until Sunday.  They also have a free app that allows you to lock focus point, white balance and exposure.  You can set a timer and monitor audio recording level.  

4)  Frametastic app from the app store.  If you are a scrapbooker, you will love this app.  It allows your to combine several pictures into one.  So for all those Project Lifers, this one is for you. If you have weeks that have too many pictures so you need two pictures to fit on one 4 X 6 slot or you have two vertical pictures that need to go in a horizontal slot ....yup you guessed it.  It can do that.   I took these two lovely pictures of my precious granddaughter and her parents and combined them.

The ratio is 3:2 so I can print them at 4X6 and don't' have to worry about any weird cropping from the service that I use to print my pictures.  This is just one of many frames.  My only drawback is they don't have a 7:5 ration for a 5X7 picture. I think it was 99 cents.  I know, I know it is not free but just imagine how much money you will save when you can print 1 4X6 instead of two wallet size.  It is definitely worth it.

5)  Walgreens app from the app store is a must have if you use Walgreens to print your photos.  I simply upload my pictures from my IPad to Walgreens and pick them up....nuff said.

I hope you found some of these items interesting. I use them on a daily basis.  Thanks for stopping by!

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Another Pinteresting Idea

Have I mentioned I am addicted to Pinterest?  Well I am.  My original perception about my Pinteresting was that I actually use or make the items that I pin.  But I just realized that I have 748 pins and I have used maybe 20 of the ideas. (sigh)

But today I am going to show you one item I did make.  I spent months planning, replanning, designing my scraproom I have a whole board on Pinterest just for my scraproom.  And after months of planning it is still not completely done but I love it.  I love being in there. I just open the door and I go "AHHHHHH! " and I feel refreshed and enernergized.  Who knew color had THAT much affect on you.  Ok, I have side tracked...where was I?  

Oh yes...my project.  I saw this lamp or something on pinterest

and I knew I wanted it or a version of it. It was inexpensive and cute!  I had a cheap lamp I bought from Walmart.

See it?  So sad.  (Sorry for the bad picture but I forgot to take a picuture of it before I started to convert it, so I had to find a picture with it in the picture.)  Well I bought some coffee filters and got out my hot glue gun and I got to work.

I folded each coffee filter in half and then in half again and then in half again until I had this triangle, folded down the top two inches and placed a generous amount of hot glue to the filter.

I started at the top and started to place the coffee filters next to eachother.  I don't know if you can tell but I staggered each row so that I did not create perfect columns going down or perfect rows going across.  

BE CAREFUL!  The glue is really hot so I used a ruler to press down each filter. (this is actually the bottom of the lamp.  Once I was done, I just trimmed the bottom points of the filters on the last rows so that they didn't hang below the fluff.

When you are done, you have a cute lamp!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Table Tutu Times Two

When my friend's mother contacting me about the princess themed baby shower, she sent over a few pictures from pinterest.
 source

Before this picture, I had never seen a table tutu and I was in awe.  I was in love and I couldn't wait to research and figure out how to make this.  I had made tutus in the past for my daughter for homecoming and for me and my 3 day Susan G. Komen walk.  But I have never attempted one on this scale and I have to admit...I was scared.  I had promised my friend's mother that I could do this and I didn't know if I could.  So I searched the internet to for more pictures and made note of what I liked and what I didn't like about other tutus.

Things that caught my eye:

1) multiple shades seem to add depth

2) more than one layer or slip knots placed tightly on ribbon seem to give more volume

3) tulle cascading to the ground

Knowing these things made it a bit easier for me.  I knew I would need more than one color of tulle. I actually used three.  I used taffy pink, pink and cream with glitter.  I interchanged the pink and taffy pink but I only used about 10 strands of the cream and they were evenly spread out along the tutu.  They just added a little sparkle.

I knew I needed to cut the strands of tulle twice the length of the height and then add about 6-8 inches so that it could billow on the floor.  Because I didn't know the shape, height or size of the table, I used my round dining room table that seats 8 as my model.  I figured my worse case scenario would be that it was too big...and that is better than too small.

This task was not for the faint at heart.  It took many many yards of fabric and many many hours. But I loved every minute of it. Each strand was 3 yards long and 6 inches wide.  I used 30 strands per foot of table....you do the math and figure out how much tulle I used.  I don't even want to know.  I just know I kept going back to Hobby Lobby and buying more and more tulle...by the basket full.  Thank goodness it was on sale for 1/2 off.  Now you don't need that many yard but I wanted to make sure it was really full and that I had enough strands that if the table was longer than my table at home, that I could spread out the knots and still have a full tutu.  You see, I didn't cut the length of the ribbon that was the base of the tutu.  One end was still on the spool and ready to be covered with tulle, if need be.  Thankfully I didn't have to do that.

 

Was it over the top? you betcha!  But isn't that what you think of when you think of a princess or royalty....something excessive?  I think I hit the mark on that one.  When people came in the door, they were in awe of the tutu and that is the response I was looking for.  The room was big and I wanted to make sure that the decor did not get lost in the room but became the focal point.  But once the party was over, I didn't want the tutu just end up in the trash.  So we decided to go green with our pink tutu.

We made a side table for the baby's room. Now I have never made a table so this was a first for me. I thought back to all those HGTV design shows and how simple they made it look.  So I tried their methods. I knew the first thing I had to do was determine how much of the original tutu I would need to wrap around the table.  I used black office clips to clip the tut to the table.  One end already had enought ribbon to use as a tie. I just had to make sure that I left enough ribbon on the other end to make the other side of the tie.  This meant sacrificing some of the tulle on the tutu since it woul have to be removed to make the ribbon accessible. (sorry no picture)

Next I wrapped the top of the table in a satin material and I used a rubber band to hold it in the middle while I stapled around the sides. I have no idea why I was so afraid to do my first staple but I held my breath and yelled, "YOLO!" as the first staple pierced through the material and into the table.  Once we stapled around the table, I then found the three screw holes for the legs and cut a slit in the material for them.  (sorry no picture of that)

Then I started to staple the skirt to the table from underneath.  I did a staple about every 3 to 4 inches until I had made it around the table.  After I finished stapling, I attached the three legs, turned the table over and tied a bow at the back of the table.

Now do you see why I said some tulle had to be sacrificed?  I had to be able to use the ribbon to tie the bow so I had to pull off some of the tulle that was tied around the ribbon.  

As you can see, it really needed a hair cut so I went to trimming.  Again, I wanted that full excessive look so I took off alot but not too much.  ....I gave it a trim.

Now with the table done, we had one more project...the tutu for the announcements.  Once again, I was left with a delimma of size.  You see, the baby is still in mommy's tummy so I couldn't use her as a model.  So we grabbed the next best thing....a teddy bear.

Isn't it adorable?  I used the same principles I used on the table.  Measure, sacrifice tulle, trim and tie a bow.  I have a feeling it may need some tweaking but the basic tutu is done for the princess.  My friend was worred about it not being full but I assured her that the shorter it gets, the more it will stick out.  And then I crossed my fingers and hoped that is what happened.  and yes it is.  

Here it is on it's own.

And here is all the tulle that was sacrificed after being made into a small side table and baby tutu:

Thank you tulle for being a part of baby shower for our princess and letting us use a part of you for her table and her tutu.  You will be remembered.

Thanks for stopping by.

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