A 1st Birthday Celebration-in Pink and Green

Again, it's been a while since I have posted anything.  All good intentions, but really difficult on time these days.  That said, I wanted to include a post about a 1st Birthday I was involved with as far as some decorations.  I will explain tutorials, but wanted to show the pics first.  I'm so proud of how things turned out and the mother really 'did it up right' for her little girls' 1st Birthday!  So cute in the bright pink and green (which happens to be one of my favorite color combos!)
Here we go:
I had found some bright green cups at Target and put Chex mix in them and formed a '1' on the food table. 

 I did the same w/ the little girls first initial, 'C'...



 Next is my favorite part!  I saw the idea on Pinterest and thought, how hard could they be?!  So, I found the supplies at thrift stores months in advance but you can find all the same supplies at the Dollar Store. Please note---I did NOT make the cupcakes..I couldn't bake my way out of a highway robbery!

I also made these candy jars from simple house hold items.  Again, I'm sure you've seen alot of these type images floating around Pinterest.  They were very easy to make and made a simple statement, I thought.  I will be making these again, in different colors for different occasions.  Love how they turned out. 

Now, for the easy tutorials....
For the 'cake stands', I just found trays in the sizes the mother wanted to use-larger ones for the bottom and smaller ones for the top.  I found mind at thrift stores for .25 each, but you can find the same (and brand new-which means minimal cleaning required before painting) at the Dollar Store for, yes, $1--still affordable!  The 'stands' are simply candle sticks.  The pink 'stand' happened to be made out of wood, and the green 'stand' was one of the brass ones you see everywhere....
I simply spray painted each piece in the colors that the mother was using and let her decided how she wanted them matched up.  In this case, mis-matched-which I love and prefer!  After I sprayed them and let them dry really well, I just clued the pieces together with E6000 and let sit overnight.  They held up really well and I can reuse them over and over...

For the candy jars much of the same was done.  I just saved spaghetti and pickle jars and washed and cleaned them well.  Again, I found candle sticks at thrift stores and spray painted them in the coordinating colors and clued them together with my E6000.  For an added touch, I painted the jar lids also.  I got cute little spoons and scoops for the candy (which was also in coordinating colors--nice touch I thought).
** For a side note on cluing the jars to the bases.  I had a little trouble with one of the jars that wasn't as flat on the bottom.  I was trying to attach it to the candle stick that didn't have alot of 'surface' at the top to clue it to.  Being short notice (like, the night before the party!), I just broke off a piece of wood (a paint stir stick) about the size I needed, and clued it to the top of the candle stick, then clued the jar to that.  Worked fine, but in the future I will be looking for a flatter bottom on jars. 

So, there you have it...a simple and very affordable way to have a special birthday or any occasion.  In fact, I plan to reuse the 'cake' stands in an upcoming Retirement function I am hosting.  I'll just repaint the whole thing in a color that I will use (to be determined, but stay tuned... :) )

Thanks for stopping in..I hope to be posting more ideas and projects soon...especially now that 'Spray Painting' Season is here! 

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DIY Tshirt scarf

This is a tutorial for a DIY Tshirt scarf.

First, find an old Tshirt either of yours or your significant other.  In my opinion, the larger the better as it will make a longer scarf and you will be able to tie it easily around your neck (if you choose).  I apologize for the picture here, but this Tshirt is actually a black Tshirt that I stole from hubby's closet.  Shhhh...nobody tell him ok?  Ok, good. 

I forgot to take a picture of the next stop, but take an ordinary paper plate (you can use anything circular, but I liked the size of a paper plate), place it face down on the shirt, and trace circles all over the Tshirt until you run out of material.  Mine made about 8 and the Tshirt was an XL.  Oh-and this works best if the shirt does not have seams down the side(s) as you will get more circles from the shirt.

The next two steps may take a while until you get a rythm down, but bare with me....

Cut all the circles out and then start cutting each circle into a spiral.  As you can see below, I cut strips about 1/2 wide (maybe 3/4 inch).  I hope that last part makes sense since I didn't get to video the process. 

After all the sprial strips are cut, lay two peices end to end and use fabric glue to secure the two peices together.  Let dry.  Again, forgot to take a picture of the next step, but I just got a small strip from the same shirt and tied it around the middle section, knoting it to secure.  This will make one long scarf. 

Here is a (horrible) self portrait of the scarf.  I love this scarf and get compliments on it all the time!  I even made my daughter a white one from a childs' size large Tshirt. 

**And because I became so addicted to these Tshirt scarves, I went to my local thrift store and found several different colors and sizes and the best part is they were all $1 each! 

Thanks for stopping in!

Homemade lotion

Homemade lotion and one of the best I've tried!

Here is what you need:
16 oz. baby lotion (I used the Lavender scent)
8 oz. Vitamin E cream
8 oz. Vaseline
Mixer
Misc. containers to store in, or to give as gifts in

Mix all 'ingredients' until smooth.

It should look like icing after you beat it.

Here is right before I put it into containers.  I put my lotion into a zipper bag, cut the corner (very small) and squeezed the lotion into my containers.  I had some small ones, and a few larger (recycled-yeah!) ones--all were given as gifts.  

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and will give this a try yourselves.  It's wonderful lotion and I can't live without it, especially in the Winter months!

Thanks,

Reid