Large Coffee Filter Number

With my daughter's first birthday party looming (t-minus 4 days!), I have gone into total party crafting mode. It's been insane around here!

Last night, I decided to attempt making a large coffee filter number like the one I saw on Lowe's Creative Ideas. As always, though...I am awful at following directions.

So, here's my version of the coffee filter number:
(sorry in advance for the awful picture coloring. It was like 9 pm, and pictures just weren't working out so hot.)

1. Free hand your number using a Sharpie (or a dry erase marker, if you can never find anything you need at your house) onto a piece of cardboard.
2. Start cutting that bad boy out. I found that some parts were easier to cut out with scissors, while others were easier to cut out using an exacto knife.

3. After your number is all cut out, gather your glue gun and a bunch of coffee filters.
4. Taking two coffee filters at a time (no more than two, or it'll be all gross and stiff), crumple them into a fluffy shape like the one above.

4. (but a different 4 than the one above, I just can't count, alright?) Start gluing those filters on.
5. Keep gluing.
6. ...And gluing.

At this point, you should be finished. But of course, I ran out of coffee filters. LUCKILY, I have lots and lots of craft fails that used coffee filters, so I was able to take some off of there to finish the project. PHEW!!

Of course, I couldn't just leave it white (the party is colorful, after all)...So, I took some watercolors and painted the edges of the filters to add a little pop.

And that's it. All done!

(again, sorry for the bad pictures!)

Throw a Bow on it

Every once in a while, I have the urge to buy something-- Even though I don't need it right that second.
I figure that I could use it someday, so I buy it anyway.

It's a flaw of mine that happens all too often.
Most of the time, the crap I buy just sits in the garage waiting for their "someday"...But not today!
Nope. Today, I actually used something I bought for someday. I couldn't be more proud of myself!

Now--Brace yourself, because I am about to talk the Etsy shop In The Clear up once again.
I've already confessed my love for them--But, today it increased ten fold. Seriously.

I purchased these plain ol' icecream cups from them in hope that I would spruce them up for the party. The original plan was to wrap them in scrapbook paper and decorate them that way. But, when it came down to it, I could not get the paper to stick for the life of me!

Then, I remembered this awesome Chevron Twill Herringbone Ribbon Variety set that I bought for someday. And it hit me! Wrap it around the plain cups and throw a little bow on it.
So, that's what I did.

Are they not so adorable?
I think they will definitely add a nice little touch to my baby's first birthday party...Don't you?

Here's a quick little instruction image so you can spruce up your own party cups!

1.wrap your twill ribbon around your cup, hot gluing every once in a while (it doesn't have to go totally around, if the bow will cover it) 2. Cut two strips for the bow. One about two 1/2 inches long, and one about one inch long. 3. Put a dab of hot glue on one end of the longer piece. 4. Wrap it around into a circle (put the other end on the glued end) 5. Press down in the middle and add a glue dot to the top. 6. Take your smaller piece and glue one end on. Wrap that piece around the front and back, and glue it into place. 7. Here's your finished bow! 8. Now put a dab of glue on your cup at the seam of your twill ribbon and 9. Glue on the bow! taaada.

Easy, right?!

P.S. I feel like I should mention that In The Clear didn't pay me to write any of these posts. I am really just IN LOVE with their shop. Really--I spent about $80 my first order, and I will probably make another order here shortly. They have so many great party and craft supplies!

Washi Tape Spoons

Hi you guys.

Three posts in one week? I'm on fiyah.

Anyway, I have been trying to come up with a fun detail to add to those plain wooden spoons floating around Pinterest, and today, during naptime, it finally hit me! Cover 'em in washi tape.

(washi tape makes every thing better, am I right?)

Thankfully, I had just stocked up on party supplies from In the Clear's amazing amazing amazing (amazing!!!!!!exclaimationpoint!) shop.

Basically, all you do is grab some washi tape, some wooden party spoons, and some scissors. Then, just start at the bottom of the spoon and go upward and over to the back. After that, just trim those bad boys up and you are done!

I could kiss them I love 'em so much.

Cutting Edge Stencils--Review and Giveaway!

--GIVEAWAY CLOSED!--
Congratulations, Casey! You should have an email from me in your inbox!

I gave you a little sneak peak of my brand new wall earlier. Remember?

I have been trying to decide how to decorate my house ever since we moved in three years ago. We have hardly any decor, and definitely definitely no style whatsoever. Our house was just plain ol' boring, and we were ready to spice some things up around here!

Luckily, I was able to talk Cutting Edge Stencils into allowing me to review one.
Best. Thing. Ever.

It was super easy to use and I loved how easily it lined up with itself. It made stenciling not so tedious and, dare I say, fun!?

One of my favorite things about Cutting Edge Stencils is that I was able to make a wall in my home look like a million bucks without even paying that much. I was able to do it all myself, which means, basically, now I have bragging rights. If someone comes into my home and says "Whoa, I like your wall!" I officially have bragging rights! All I have to say is "Thanks! I painted it myself..I mean, with the help of Cutting Edge Stencils" *cue gasps and me feeling like I'm cooler than I really am*

I also love that Cutting Edge Stencils has how to videos...Because, although the stencils are really easy to use, sometimes I found myself second guessing myself. And plus, it was fun watching other people stencil. Hey! It's the little things, right?

Anyway, lucky you because Cutting Edge Stencils has offered to give one of you (U.S. residents only, sorry!) your very own stencil valued up to $50.00. I'm telling you, you are going to want to enter this fab giveaway!

(try to ignore my empty bookshelf. It's a work in progress, okay?)

To enter:
Mandatory:
Tell me which stencil you like best by going to their site.

Extra Entries:
-Like them on Facebook
-Follow them on Pinterest
-Follow them on Twitter

Please leave a comment for every entry.

Giveaway will end on Wednesday, May 15 at 9 am.

Thanks for reading!


(Though I was given a stencil to review, all opinions in this post are my own)

Ice Cream Cone Pinata

My daughter is turning one at the end of the month...I could cry just thinking about it!
But, instead--I craft.

I'm planning on throwing her a pretty big birthday shebang. Mostly for selfish reasons (I love party planning!)...But, also because I'm excited to get some cute pictures of my girl.

Here's one of the pictures I was throwing around for her invites.

Is she not so incredibly amazing? Really, she was so worth the pain of trying to conceive for so long.

Annnyway.
All of that to say, I have been crafting again! And, it feels wonderful!
Here's the first thing I've made for her party so far...An icecream cone pinata.

I originally got the idea from here, and was totally just going to copy the entire thing, but I didn't have unbleached coffee filters. So, I kind of just had to make up how to make the cone.

I also made up the top part, because I couldn't make my ruffles as pretty as hers. Such is life, right?

Ohh well.

To make the cone, I decided to use brown paper bags. I was going to try and ruffle it, but it was too hard (hah)...So, instead I made fringe layers. I kind of love how it turned out.

To cut the fringe, I started with a paper bag. Then, I cut off the ends.

After that, I just made a snip down the middle so that the bag would lie flat. Then, I cut it into four different sections.

Ugh, then the tedious part. Cutting the fringe.

Thankfully, I recruited my husband to cut most of it. So, all I really had to do was glue. And glue. Andddd glue.

A few things I changed from the original:
-Of course, the decorations.

-I used wood glue instead of regular white glue (mainly because I didn't have white glue)... It made my pinata really strong, and I am kind of considering it a tender mercy.

-I didn't wait the allotted 12 hours for it all to try. In fact, I was so impatient that I even took a blow dryer to it. The important thing is that it's dry, right?

-I used hot glue to adhere the fringe and ruffles.

Have a great Monday! Thanks for reading.

P.S.! Isn't that wall I used to "model" the pinata fab? Stay tuned for a giveaway (to help you make your own) sometime this week!

Campus Book Renter

I know a lot of you readers are college aged--Or, know someone in college. So...I thought I'd share a really awesome site with you guys today!

Campus Book Rental.

If you are anything like me (when I was in college), buying your books makes you want to cry.
Handing over hundreds of dollars on just a few books is heartbreaking, to say the least. Can I get an "amen"!?

With Campus Book Rental, you can rent your textbooks for a fraction of the price, and then just send them right on back at the end of the semester. You can even high light in the book. So really, it's no different than buying a book. Well, I mean...except for the fact that you'll save 40-90% off of book store prices.

Some other perks include:
-Free shipping both ways
-Flexible renting periods
-And! Maybe the best part? They donate to Operation Smile with each textbook rented.

Could it get any better?
I don't think so!

Here are a few examples.
See this Educational Psychology book? It's originally $140.20 to buy in the book store. But to rent? It's only $33.86 for an entire semester. Whoa.

Or look at this College Algebra Book. It's $150.67 in bookstores and on Campus Book Renter it's only $17.86 the entire semester.

Really, does this not make you excited? Seeing these prices almost makes me want to go back to school. Almost.

Here's a video about how it works.


Amazing, right?

Thanks for reading!

___
This post was sponsored by Campus Book Rental, however, all opinions are mine.

Free Handed Freezer Paper Stenciling

The other day, I saw this post from Disney at Ruffles and Stuff. She admitted to just trying out freezer paper stenciling, and gushed about how simple it was.
So, I decided to give it a go.

You know me, though. I hate playing by the rules. So, instead I just freehanded a design with my scissors and ironed on all the little pieces one by one.



I was amazed at how easy it was, and how fun it is to customize things!



And look, baby girl even loves it! Can't beat that, right?


(ignore my sloppy stair right there! We're in the process of fixing stuff up around here)

Thanks for reading!