Mini Texture Ball

Back during my first year of design school, I created a lot of projects that had to do with the basic elements of design, like color, line, shape, and texture.

One of my favorite projects, was creating the "texture ball." Where we basically took various items and formed/attached them around the perimeter of foam balls to create a design piece with a significant amount of "visual texture."

A few of us design graduates/bloggers recently decided to re-create this project, and of course I was super excited about the challenge! (only this time around we had a $5 budget for materials :)

My original ball was something crazy and probably wouldn't have withstood the test of time (in the hands of a toddler I think it may have lasted about 10 seconds before being destroyed!) So this time around, I decided to create something that still had a lot of visual interest but was completely "kid proof."

Here's what I can up with this time around...

The design I chose was very simple, and wallet friendly. I was pleasantly surprised with how they turned out!

Since these little guys were so easy to make, I decided to put together about 8 of them. This way I could use them as decoration in my very sad and empty apothecary jars!

Click below to get my tutorial for these mini texture balls...

And...

Be sure to check out some of the other designs made by a few of my very creative friends!

1 - Numbered Street Designs 2- Design by Caley  3 - Home Vestures  4 - Sarah Dawn Designs

Circus Cake Tutorial

I finally managed to get a tutorial put together for the Circus Cake I made for my son's 2nd Birthday party!

As far as specialty cakes go, I would rate this in the "beginner" category...so don't be afraid :)

Click below to view the tutorial and details!

A Simple Circus Birthday

As promised, here are the more detailed photos of my son's 2nd birthday last week!

I tried to keep things fairly simple by using basic streamers and balloons for decoration. I also minimized the "treat table" to just cake, popcorn, and soda. I realize I could have done much more...but he is only 2 and I wanted to spend the majority of the day with him, instead of preparing party extras. (I'll save the more extravagant stuff for when he's older :) 

I baked and decorated the cake the night before (something I would highly suggest doing for any party) while my husband hung most of the streamers. I'ts been a little while since I've stayed up late working on projects, and I must say it was a little more challenging then usual...being 7 months pregnant and all! 

It was fairly difficult decision to make, but I'm glad I went with a colorful "Circus Party" theme!

Don't worry, tutorials for the streamer loop, circus tent cake, and carmel puff-corn are on there way, so stay tuned! 

A Valentine's Day at Home

Last year, my husband and I decided to celebrate Valentines Day at home!

We don't have many favorite restaurants in town, and our baby boy went to bed around 7:00pm. So, instead of paying for a babysitter and going out to a somewhat decent/overcrowded restaurant, I put together a homemade Valentines dinner and dessert.

Here are some highlights of the evening. Feel free to use any ideas for your own at home celebrations...

1 & 2 - Free Valentine's printable's courtesy of Martha Stewart.
Find the wine label HERE and the "Be Mine" spin wheel HERE

3 - For the rest of the table decor, I gathered up all of the fun/cheesy Valentines decorations I already owned. One of the apothecary jars is filled with paper hearts and pink streamers, the other is filled with carmel Hershey's Kisses!

1 - I made one of our favorite desserts...a white cake with strawberry and cream cheese topping. To make the dessert a little more special and festive, I made mini heart shaped cakes and layered the toppings in between (recipe to come next week!)

2 - I also made THIS delicious soup with homemade bread on the side (one of our all-time favorite meals).

To keep things on the inexpensive side, my husband and I gave each other a budget of $20 for gifts...it was a little challenging but here are some of the gift ideas we came up with...

1. Mini photo book of our favorite family photos. I purchased the book at Target, for around $4, then I cut and sewed on my own felt heart embellishment when I got home.

2. Potted flowers instead of a bouquet of roses, I believe these are Azalea's. They are much less expensive, just as pretty, and will last much longer!

3. Thrifted/vintage frame with personalized pictures. Find my tutorial on how to personalize it HERE.

4. Mini loaf of homemade banana bread with a love note attached...I gave this to my husband in the morning so he could have something special to start his day!

Vertical Heart Garland

I don't have much in my collection when it comes to Valentines decor, but last year I was able to put together this fun heart garland. It was very inexpensive and took hardly any time at all to make!

Here are the basic steps for making this Heart Garland...

Materials: "Valentine-ish" paper, thick yarn or twine, and scissors.

Instructions: Cut hearts into various sizes. Make 2 small slits in the center of each heart. Run a long strand of yarn through the slits of each heart (each of my stands has about 10 hearts). Hang in desired location!

*The thickness and roughness of twine, plus the small slit size, makes the hearts stay in place without glue or tape :)

The Bean Bucket

A couple of weeks ago I posted THIS simple idea to help keep your toddler(s) entertained. 

Today, I would like to share another great idea that I actually just recently put together for my (almost) 2 year old...

I made him a Bean Bucket and he has been loving it! Not only is a great way to keep him out of trouble, its an awesome sensory learning activity...which is important for brain development. 

Here are the materials you will need for the bucket (luckily you probably already have most of them laying around your house!)

1. Beans

2. Measuring Cups

3. Clear plastic bottles

4. Various sized spoons or shovels

5. Muffin tin (my little one LOVES filling up the tin cups and then dumping them back out)

6. A large plastic bin, the shallow ones are much easier to reach into. 

* Water and sand toys would be a great addition, I just couldn't find any in the middle of December!

I have been meaning to make something like this for a while now, but I was a little hesitant thinking about beans being scattered all over the ground. My little guy has been doing pretty good with it...I just set it up in the kitchen (while I'm doing dishes or cooking), that way when he starts getting tired of it, and throwing beans, I am right there to put the lid on before he gets out of control :)  

A BIG Thanks to Anna who blogs over at Have A Cute Day, for helping me with the idea! 

4 Creative Ways to Gift Wrap Using a Ball of Yarn

The other day, I was asked to come up with a creative an inexpensive way to gift wrap over 100 books. I went home, found some old butcher paper and a ball of yarn, (leftover from the Christmas stocking I made) and started brainstorming different ideas.

Here are a few more details...

#1 "The Bow" - I made a bow using the same method you would use to make a yarn pom-pom, only I didn't cut the ends. I added the square "Merry Christmas" tag to the bottom (I thought it looked like a mini present :) but It's cute with or without the tag. 

#2 "Basket Weave" - I wrapped the yarn around the present 5 times horizontally and tied off the ends. Then, using a new string, I worked vertically and weaved the yarn over and under the horizontal strands 4 times.

#3 "Cats Cradle" remember back in the day when string tricks were cool? Well this is just a simple cats cradle made from one large piece of yarn...if you need a refresher, try THIS tutorial. 

#4 "Pom Pom" - I'm sure you've all seen this trick,  but go HERE if you need a good pom-pom tutorial.

DIY Tuesday: When in doubt, paint it gold

If you are looking for a seriously easy Christmas craft, you've found it!

I bought a box of plain wood nutcracker's 50% off ($3.50 for a pack of 6) at Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago and thought they would be a great addition to my Christmas decor collection (which is actually rather small at the moment).

I wasn't sure exactly what to do with them, but I knew I wanted to take the easy route and paint them all in one color (plus I thought it would give them more of a modern look). At the last minuet, I decided to go with my gut feeling and paint them gold,

I think it was the perfect choice...

I plan to add some small hooks to the top so I can use them for tree ornaments. But for now, I like how they look all lined up on my living room bookshelf.

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Click below to get my seriously simple tutorial!

DIY Tuesday: Easy Handmade Stocking

Handmade Christmas stockings are a tradition in my family. My Grandma made needlepoint stockings for all 20 of her grandchildren and even though we all fight about who's is best, we each cherish and love them (even the ones that look like 70's shag rugs :)

Last year, I was determined to make my little guy a needlepoint stocking for his own. I went online, ordered the perfect pattern, and started working on it a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. I worked on it almost every evening after putting my baby to bed.

Apparently, I either chose the most difficult pattern known to man kind or I'm just really bad at needlepoint because weeks went by and this was all I had completed...

I hate to be a quitter, but I had to come to terms with the fact that the stocking would never be finished in time for Christmas. I decided it would be ok if I finished it the following year but the other day I pulled it out of the closet and realized that it was even less complete then what I had remembered.

I still really wanted to do a handmade Christmas stocking for my little one so I started looking for alternative ideas online that would still look great but were less work (much less work).

I really loved the knitted stocking look (but after a failed knitting attempt a couple of years ago I decided that would also be too difficult for me). Then I found a tutorial on YouTube that shows you how to make a stocking using a simple round knitting loom (the same kind my 8 year old cousin knows how to use:)

I chose a few rustic looking yarn colors and got to work! It only took me about 4 or 5 hours to finish it and I love how it turned out (ok, I admit it looks a little homely and there are a few holes in the heel, but it just adds more character to it right?)

Click below to get more instructions...

DIY Tuesday: Felt Ornament

A couple of years ago I did what I thought was smart and shopped the Target 75% off sale for all new Christmas ornaments. I LOVED the theme and color combination that I had chosen (sort of a eclectic/modern take on the traditional Christmas color scheme).

To my utter dismay, my husband hated strongly disliked practically all of the ornaments I had chosen, especially the color scheme. I was heart broken at the time but being the good husband that he is, he allowed me to do whatever I wanted to our tree last year. Surprisingly, I discovered that he was right and I started missing the more traditional decor that I had grown up with.

So now it's back to square one. I am starting to gather more ideas and inspiration for the perfect Christmas tree decor. I have decided to stick with the traditional Christmas color scheme, but thought it would be fun to add a few more modern yet rustic elements.

Which is where I got the idea for this DIY felt ornament...which has sort of a modern/organic feel. I really like how they turned out and I'm excited to finally get to hang them in a couple of weeks!

Click below to learn how to make some of your own!

DIY Tuesday: Holiday Gold Stars

I knew I was starting to feel like my old self again a couple of weeks ago when I got the itch to start some new projects! I actually got a little over ambitious and started 3 new holiday DIY projects this weekend (my husband was at an all day training on Saturday so I needed a good way to spend my free time :)

I actually made these lovely little gold stars to use as table decorations at my church's Christmas social this week. Oh and yes, I realize it's a little early for a Christmas social...but it's more of a Christmas preparation thing. We are going to be discussing different ways to make the holidays less stressful as well as ways to help remember Christ during Christmas.

I love how simple these stars were to make, and they can be used in so many different ways...
-Christmas tree ornaments
-Could be placed randomly on bookshelves
-You could hang a grouping of them with clear string over a table top for a fancy holiday dinner
-Make a bunch of tiny ones and fill glass candy/apothecary jars with them
...and I'm sure you could think of many more uses!

Click below to get the tutorial and look forward to more Holiday DIY projects posted every Tuesday right here!