Pinkie's Picks - January 28, 2011

I was planning on sharing my birthday banner tutorial with you today but someone forgot to upload the pictures. And by "someone" I do mean me.  Sorry.  So to tide you over until I get that masterpiece completed here are some of my favorite internet finds of late.

Please don't forget to enter our TinyPrints.com $50 gift certificate giveaway here.

Now let's get to pickin'.

This has got to be a top crafting pick of all time.  This glue gun is probably one of the greatest inventions in the world.  First, it's cordless.  Second, it has a LED light on the end so you can see where exactly that glue is gonna go.  And third, it's pink.  What more could you want?  A box of chocolates to go with it.  I understand.

These valentine pooches by Bluebird Papercrafts are just the cutest! 

This caramel apple cider for the crockpot found at A Year of Slow Cooking sounds very nice on these cold, cold January evenings.

These Super Bowl Party dips from Food Your Way are getting us ready for the Big Game.

Obligatory cupcake reference of the day:  Cupcake Pincushion from Kitty Stamp.

Bean would love for her Daddy to make her one of these Little Helper Towers from Ana-White.  A girl can dream, can't she?

I wished Hubz would make me Bean a dollhouse like this one found at Kristen Duke's site.

If you haven't already had enough of the snow and ice this year, you can make your own snowflakes using this tutorial from All Things Heart and Home.

I'm trying to introduce more salads at home now.  Hubz really has gained the weight.  Yep, it's just Hubz.  The rest of us are just fine.   Poor Hubz.  He's a fatty and he's the only one.  I repeat - he's the only one.  So this Avocado Taco Salad from Living Locurto might help Hubz and only Hubz out. 

Balloon Wreath

For Bean's birthday party I also made a balloon wreath. I found this idea on a few other blogs like this one at Meet the Newcombs and this one at How Does She?

I fell in love with these wreaths and knew I wanted to try my hand at them for Bean's party. The problem? I didn't read the instructions on how to actually make them. I just looked at the pretty pictures. Um hum.

The Meet the Newcombs wreath is made with a wreath form and rubber bands. The How Does She? one also uses a wreath form and greening pins.

Mine does not. Mine consists of balloons and a clothes hanger untwisted and shaped into a circle. I simply tied the balloons onto the hanger and fluffed up the balloons the best I could. After finishing my wreath I wondered why it didn't look quite as full as these other two.

That's when I got the brilliant idea to go back and actually read the directions in the tutorials.

At midnight. The night before the party.

Yep.

So I went with what I had made. I think it's cute. It's a little ragtag and not as full as the others but it's cute. I was going to make a bow for it but didn't have any ribbon that matched or that wasn't too big. And at midnight-thirty, I really didn't care any more. So I hung Minnie Mouse from the center and that was that.

Please excuse the camera phone pictures.

 I hung the wreath on the door to welcome the party guests and believe it or not...life went on even though it wasn't perfect! That's a lesson I need to remember.

TinyPrints.com review and giveaway!

 Part of the party planning process that I think is so much fun is deciding on an invitation. In the past, I've always had a hard time deciding if I should make my own or order them. Recently, I was contacted by TinyPrints.com to do a review of their announcements and invitations.  Go to my brand new review blog to read more.

Wordless Wednesday - Dress Up

Cupcake Stand

I wanted to show you all how easy it was to make this cupcake stand for Bean's party. I started out with these three plates I found at T.J. Maxx. The biggest plate cost $3.99 and the other two cost $2.99 each.

Then I found these two candle holders at Michael's for $5.99 each.  This was a bit more than I wanted to pay but I just couldn't find anything any less that would work at T.J. Maxx.

I already had this Loctite 5 minute epoxy left over from my recipe holders I made for Christmas.

I removed the bottom felt covering and cardboard insert from the candle holders because Hubz told me I would get a better seal from the epoxy without that stuff.

Then I just lined up the candle holders to the center of the bottom plate and glued it together.  I attached the top round plate to the center plate and let all of that seal and dry for a few minutes. 

Then I just glued the top portion to the bottom and let that dry.  There you have it.  Very simple.  Like I said yesterday, the hardest part was deciding on the plates to use.

The total cost for this project was $21.95.  You can do this for a lot less using old plates you already have or you can find less expensive ones at a consignment shop or Goodwill.  With our ice storm, I didn't have the time to browse these shops like I usually do and I was going for a certain "girlie" look, so I spent a little more than I wanted.  And you probably have a pair of old candle holders sitting around you can use for the supports, too.  I want to make some more of these stands with some mismatched plates I have stored our attic.  I think using the mismatched plates will give it a whimsical look.  But the whole putting together of the project took less than 10 minutes and then you just have to let the epoxy dry. Give it a try! 

Linking up to these link parties:

Minnie Mouse party!

This weekend we had Bean's Minnie Mouse party for her third birthday. I think everyone had a great time. I know Bean did. Thank you to each and every one of you that came and shared the day with us. It means so much to see everyone there to celebrate this sweet little girl.

We ordered food from Bean's favorite restaurant, "Chick-a-lay".  We had a pink and white polka dotted mini cake for the birthday girl and pink and white cupcakes for her guests.  These were made by Publix.  When someone asked me if I made the cupcakes, my dear, sweet, wonderful mother-in-law, Giggles, snorted and started laughing.  Thanks, Giggles.

Bean got tons of presents.  She can now dress up and put on all the makeup she wants.  When she opened the present I picked out for her, a cupcake shape sorting game, she ever so un-politely announced "I didn't want dat."  Thanks, Bean.

Then the kids got to play with a bean bag toss game, and they also played Pin the Bow on Minnie.  I was going to make a Pin the Bow on Minnie game but then realized I had already bought one at Party City.  Now I have to find something else to make with all that felt.  Thanks, my old memory.

The kids also got to do a craft of their own.  The girls made ladybug clips and the boys made bookmarks.  Note to self - when you decide to do a craft activity like this, bring more than one bottle of glue because kids are not patient and do not know how to wait and don't realize they are dealing with an old chick with no memory.  I seriously thought about turning tail and running out the back door during that activity.  Just remember to have more glue on hand if you want to stay sane.  It was scary. 

I made a cake/cupcake stand for the party to hold the mini cake and cupcakes. I will post details on how I made all of these decorations this week.  This cake stand was very easy to make.  The hardest part was finding the plates. It takes me forever sometimes to make a decision. This is a picture of the cake stand after letting Bean blow out the candles and we passed out the majority of the cupcakes. I have no idea why I spaced out on taking pictures before all of that but I did. I'm getting old, I guess.

It was really pretty before the cake plundering began.

I used my new Silhouette machine and made this banner.  This was my first real project using the Silhouette and it too was so easy to do.  I am very happy with the way it turned out.

 

I also made a balloon wreath but I also forgot to take pictures of  it.  I will take a picture and share it in the "how to" posts this week.  

I think Minnie Mouse would have been proud of this party.  I know Bean loved it and she was so happy and excited all day.  She's already started to plan next year's party though.  She asked me yesterday "Mommy, next time it's my birthday, can we hab a Olibia (Olivia) cake?"  

I'm too tired to think about next year's party.  

Happy Birthday Bean. 

Birthday prep going on.

I wanted to share some pictures of the things I am trying to make and finish for Bean's party this weekend but the pictures aren't uploading. So I'll just have to bore you with words.

I have made a cupcake stand for the mini cake and cupcakes. Bean is getting her own little cake that will have some candles on for her to blow out. At work, we used to do birthday cakes for everyone and one of my bosses used to complain about people blowing out candles all over a cake and then the rest of us eating the cake. I never thought about all of that germ transference before but now it really grosses me out. I want some cake. I don't want germs. Yes, she is my kid but I have been to other parties and the kids always seem to want to touch the cake and huddle over it like it's the last meal they will ever have. Ugh, it all creeps me out.

But that project is finished. I am also working on a banner. I had it finished and ready to attach to the ribbon but Hubz made some jerky comment about the letters looking bad so I want to change them. I got some glitter paper but it's really thick and my machine won't cut through it. So now I have to either get some chipboard letters or find some more glitter paper. Leave it to a man to mess things up.

I have made a wreath for the door but it still needs a bow. I also want to make some big bows to put up on the mailbox so everyone in the world will know we are having a party. Problem is...I don't know how to make those big bows. I have been watching a bunch of YouTube videos on how to make them and it looks easy enough but I don't have any wire to hold it all together.

So, if I can get all of that finished by party time, I will be amazed. Probably really very tired but still amazed. I will definitely share the pictures as soon as I can get them uploaded.