Dog gone Good Weekend

that's because we spent it with Jackson.  Yea, his "mom" and "dad" aka Jenaye and Justin went to the cabin with us too!  The weather was fabulous and the company just as enjoyable! 

Done prepping and kitting for my Do Me A Favor workshop and now it's on to finishing up the album that I am teaching later this summer in Vegas. 

Here's one of the four favors we will be making in class on Tuesday.  It's a mini white lunch sack created with an adorable printed paper from My Minds Eye and coordinating Bazzill cardstock.  A washi tape clothes pin helps keep the treat bag closed.

 

This sweet little high back box is constructed from Bazzill Kraft cardstock.  It's embellished with the sweetest paper line from Echo Park.  It'd certainly make some stinkin cute little favors for a baby shower. The scalloped bottom adds to the cute factor of this party favor.

There's still some seats left, so if you are a local paper crafter or party favor maker, sign up on line at http://shop.scrapbooks-etc.com/collections/classes and get 10% off this workshop.  I promise you'll have some fun, laugh a bit and leave with 4 little favors complete with candy ready for gifting.  While the workshop is scheduled for 2 hours, you will be done in less time and be able to look around and shop for the newest papercrafting supplies before heading back home. 

Don't try this at home

Have you ever seen an idea in a magazine or on Pinterest that you want to replicate, only to give it a whirl and have it flop?  Well, that's what happened to me when I tried to suspend little plastic babies in frozen ginger ale.  You can bet I won't be trying that again any time soon!  YES they floated to the top, despite my double freezing method. 

Thank goodness the success of the baby shower didn't depend on these!  :/

On a more fulfilling note, my Do Me A Favor Workshop is less than 2 weeks away, and I actually am happy with all four of the class projects! 

This sweet little treat cup is painted a melon color, filled with candy and adorned with layers of ribbon and cardstock tags.  How cute would these be for a bridal or wedding shower favor?  They'd also make great place setting cards for guests.

This treat holder has a secret pouch inside, perfect for holding a mini chocolate stash!  It's created from Bazzill cardstock and printed paper from Kaiser.  A few punched shapes, a rhinestone and white ribbon embellish the front of this favor. 

The next workshop is August 6th from 6-8:00 PM at ETC in Mesa.  Hope to see you locals there!  :)

Showered With Love

Shari and Erik received so many nice gifts from family and friends at Kinsley's baby shower yesterday.

 There was plenty of food for everyone to enjoy including cupcakes, egg rolls, bacon wrapped smokies, ham stacks, salsa, guacamole, feta cheese dip, veggies, pickle roll ups, spinach dip

 and this adorable little fruit basket that was made by sweet Aunt Danielle! 

She also made the yummy sherbet punch.

Two small round tables had simple centerpieces like this one. 

There were a few games, including this one where we got to guess Shari's belly size.  This must have been a great strategy, because Tanner was actually one of the closest!

 Shari looked super cute and still has some energy, even in this Arizona heat.  It was neat that she invited her brother, as the only male guest.  :)  He and his sweet girlfriend, Jovanna, were lots of help! 

One of the cutest handmade gifts Shari got was this tag blankie made from adorable ribbon, lace and chevron minky.  I bought it from the cute and talented Angie Dunn. 

My sweet mama helped with this shower so much.  From setting up, cleaning up, decorating, cooking, making favors and invitations to supplying serving dishes.  Couldn't have done it without her!  All-in-all, it was a great day and Shari couldn't have been happier. 

Only one day to go

...until the weekend!  And boy am I ever ready. Here's the project sitting on my kitchen table at the moment.  I got the inspiration from the cone vases at anthropologie.  Next, I need to add the white polkadots and stain some wood pieces to create the background to hang the cones on. 

I won't be able to finish them until after the baby shower is over on Saturday.

I did fnish up the cupcake picks.

Gather:
wooden cupcake picks
lace
ribbon
solid baker's twine
seam binding
pearl strand/trim
cardstock tag
heart punched cardstock shape
rhinestone
adhesive

Go:
Tie seam binding around the top portion of the pick. 

Layer the remaining lace, trim and bead pieces (starting with the widest one at the bottom of the stack) and knot the seam binding. 

Trim all the tails to desired length.Punch hole through tag and secure to pick, just above ribbon bundle, using solid color baker's twine.  

Adhere two hearts, one on the front and one on the back (lined up back to back).  This helps finish the backside of the cupcake pick, plus it makes the heart punched shape sturdier.

Assembly style...once again the way to go!

Honestly, you can whip up a few dozen of these little gems in no time.  And they can be switched up for ANY special occasion! 

                                          {all supplies used are available for purchase at ETC}

Cute little white cabinet

and it's perfect for displaying my party favors and supplies!  :) 

Out thrifting today and I found this little gem.  When I saw it I just knew it would be so cute on a food table at a party, shower or reception AND that it would double as a display piece for my little party favors and party favor supplies down at ETC.  I made a few samples to display using the ever-so-cute new baby line from Echo Park along with a simple pennant banner to hang from the railing.  I removed the drawers and added some more supplies before dropping it off at ETC tonite. 

I also found these sweet stamps when I was out and about today.

The stamp on the left was made at Strauch's Stationary when they were in downtown Mesa.  I found them at an Estate Sale and HAD to take them home with me! 

I finished up the adorning the straws for the baby shower that is coming up on the 20th. 

I decided not to add little paper pennants as I originally planned.  Instead, I decided to add a little piece of white lace to keep them simple and dainty.  No glue, no fuss, and super fast!  I am going to display them in this glass vase tied with the wide pink lace. 

                                                         {all supplies purchased at ETC}
GATHER:lace, ribbon or trim
paper straws

START: Fold lace in half, place straw on top, pull tails through the loop, pull gently to tighten.

I guess I better start thinking about the food I am going to take to the baby shower, in addition to the pickle roll ups.  I know those don't sound good, but they are scrumptious!  Whole dill pickles rolled in a slice of ham that's smothered with cream cheese, and then cut into bite sized pieces.  I think the salt in the ham, the tartness of the pickles and the creaminess of the cream cheese make a great combination.  It's always a potluck favorite!  :)



                                            

First week of July

is almost gone.  Hard to believe, huh?

If you are wondering if I was able to get treats made for the peeps at work, I did!  Well, guess that isn't much of a challenge when you choose something quick and easy.  I filled little cello bags with red twizzler bites and tied them shut with Maya Road's silver and white twine cording.  I added a cute little tag that I had designed for one of my Do Me A Favor classes recently.

I love making little treats for the people I work with.  They always seem to enjoy them no matter how simple the treats are!  I was considering little sixlets, but with temperatures well over 100 degrees, I opted for something else.

I am still working on the baby shower, that is quickly approaching.  Here's the little favors I decided on.

 I am so in love with this precious new baby line from Echo Park!  The favors are made to coordinate with the invitations.

Here's the pieces needed to make these little favors:

* white mini lunch sacks - cut sack 4" from the bottom and put aside, we'll be using the top piece
* printed paper 3" x 4" for front
* printed paper 3" x 4" for bottom - scored at 1" along the 3" side
* printed paper 1.5" x 3" - scored at 1.5" along the 3" side
* white Bazzill cardstock 1" x 4"; 2" x 4"; and 1.5" x 3" - scored at 1.5" along 3" side
* Bazzill cardstock punched into a heart shape
* solid color Baker's Twine

If you are a VPI {Very Particular Person} aka perfectionist, punch a heart, fold it in half and punch a hole through both layers, open it up, lay it on top of another heart punch and use as a pattern to punch the holes in your hearts.  Kori and Cindy, I added this step for you girls!  :)

Adhere white cardstock to backside of matching pieces of scored printed paper (1.5" x 3" and 3" x 4". matching up sections to the score lines.   If you have 2 sided printed paper that both sides coordinate well, you can skip this step all together.  However, the extra backing helps make your favor more durable.

Place adhesive on the white 1" section of the 1" x 4" and adhere it to the bottom front section of the bag top.

Add adhesive to the white 3" section and adhere it to the bottom back section.

Adhering the larger section to the back makes the treat sack sturdier.

On the front side of sack, center (from the top and bottom) and adhere the 3" x 4" piece of unscored printed paper into place. 

Place adhesive on the back side of the 1.5" x 3" tab and adhere it to the top back section of the bag.

Adhere heart with the 2 hole punches to the front of the tab.  Use a japanese screw punch to transfer the holes to all layers of the bag and tab.

Add a flat-ish treat and then tie closed with twine and tie into big loopy bow.  If you  want to add a tag, glue it just under the bottom right side of the tab.  This way when the recipient opens the favor, there aren't any lose pieces.  Several of you know that is a pet peeve of mine!  Guess that makes me a VPI too!  :)

Quick and easy {if done assembly line style} which is the ONLY way to create more than one!  I have all the pieces cut and am headed over to my mom's tomorrow to enlist her help in making 24 more of these!

Bonus - you now have bottoms of bags to make more little favors with.  Save them and next week I will share a few ideas with you on how to decorate them. 

                                             {All supplies purchased at ETC in Mesa, AZ} 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

I