March Giving Thanks, Week 2

March 8:
     I am so thankful for the amazingly nice day out and the wonderful day at the zoo that we had. It was busy, but so worth it (as we have passes), and Brian had such a blast!

Climbing on the fake crocodile.

March 9:
     Thankful for a lazy Sunday with the kids, and just relaxing and getting the simple things done (like laundry, dishes, and vacuuming).

March 10:
     They are always there for you when you feel low, and when you just need someone to talk to or lean on. Those people are family members, and today I am greatly thankful for them all! It's not easy being a mom, and its not easy living away from family; however, when I need them, they are there for me no matter what.

March 11:
     Starbucks, its a horrible addiction of mine. Ask anyone who knows me, I drink it more then I probably should. However, I am a mom, I need caffeine, so I am thankful for those wonderful perfect invented drive-thru starbucks! Thank you for saving me from my extremely sad and tired self! Now, maybe I can get another tutorial done!

March 12:
     Being a stay at home mom, its hard to find any time alone. I often pee with the door open, or enjoy the company of one or both of my kids. I rarely shower alone, or have a free moment anytime during the day. So, today I am so thankful for that 20-25 minute shower I just enjoyed, ALONE, with the door closed, and no monitor in sight. Feels GREAT!

March 13:
     Today I am thankful to the wonderful mother with her adorable little daughter, at Target, who let my older son talk and high five her daughter. I really appreciate letting our kids make connections and know that not everyone is a bad person! Thank you for stopping and letting my mommy brain have some adult conversation as well. I can not tell you how nice it was. My son was so excited the rest of the day.

March 14:
     Dessert! Yes please. After I made dinner, and we all had some; a trip to a local dessert store, and it was a lot of fun! I am thankful for these moments, my oldest picking out a cookie, and enjoying it; having family time, and laughing (with a little crying). It was wonderful, and I couldn't ask for a better end to the week!

Give Thanks,
Sarah

Storybook Table Decoration

I searched for tons of great ideas for a long skinny buffet table decorations. I wanted something long that could sit behind the food at the party, but still scream Classic Storybook Themed Baby Shower. I eventually came up with the idea of color printing a few book covers, cutting them out, and placing them on some scrapbooking paper. Bind them together and place it on the table. Little did I know this project would be a little harder then just copy, cut, glue, and bind! Don't worry though, I have a tutorial with photos, so you can follow along and make your very own! You could use this design for any party. Use photos, and place them on both sides for a center piece on a table. Or use animals, characters, or designs that are part of your party and place this decoration on a counter, party table, food table, dessert table, or even a presents table! This decoration can be made and used for almost any event!

What you will need for this project:

Take a few books that you want to use, color copy the fronts, and shrink them (or enlarge them) to the size you desire. Cut them out.

Next grab a few scrapbook paper that you like, or will match you theme or colors. I chose a few boy themed light colored scrapbook paper. I them cut them to a desired size. Which I think was something like 8 x 10 inches.

I then laid the pages out and placed the book covers on each page. I did this and changed them up and moved them around, etc. Once I decided on what I liked, I then took a photo to remember.

I then measured about a half inch on all sides, to get the book in just the right spot/center. You would have to do some measuring with your book covers and scrapbooking pages to figure out where your center is. I used a PENCIL and put a mark where I measured each corner to be. Thats a helpful guide for the next step.

I then used Tacky Glue (which you can get at any craft store), and place a drop of glue in each corner and center of the book covers and glued them in to place. Use your pencil mark guides to help you place the cover back into the correct spot.

Once all your covers are glued down and dry, you will now need a needle (large enough to place Embroidery Floss through), a safety pin, Embroidery Floss in your desired color, a pencil, and ruler.

Start by measuring out a pattern of how you want or where you want your floss to go. I wanted mine to look like Xs so I made sure I worked in groups of 4. I then placed pencil marks, using my ruler, about a half inch from the edge of the paper, and a half inch from the dot before.

Notice the small pencil dots, those are my thread holes.

I then knot one end of my floss, thread it through the needle, and push through from the back of on page at the bottom, and move upward. Skipping one hole on each side.

I then continue back down, making all the Xs as I work. I then go back and pull all the loose floss and make the Xs tight.

I then pull the floss through the last hole, and knot it onto the first floss hole I went through, as you can see below. I knotted it 3 times.

Your back should now look all pretty.

The front should look something like this, or maybe you added an extra 2 holes... which I didn't have room for.

Now move on to the next pages. I linked the two left pages together, then the two right and then placed them together with the center, that way I wasn't working with 3 or 4 pages all at once.

I made it easier on myself, and I created a template to help guide me in placing the holes in the exact same place every time.

I line up my guide with the two pages, and then push my pencil through the holes to leave a small pencil mark on the scrapbook paper.

I then push my safety pin through the holes, from front to back, this will keep the paper from ripping, or pushing upward and leaving white around the hole.

Using your floss, I would cut about 10-12 inches of thread for each.

Start from the back, pushing up through the bottom to the front. Don't forget to knot the end of your floss.

Move to the hole directly next to it, and push down to the back.

Move diagonally and push your floss up through the next hole on the right.

Jump over and up one hole or at a diagonal.  Push your floss through to the back.

Again, go diagonally to the next hole, or over and up one.

Continue this pattern up and back down.

Start pulling the thread tight.

Until you have this:

Finish it up with your knots.

Now carefully fold the pages so they don't stick out.

Then stand it up and check out your amazing work!

Use it at the party for a table decoration or anywhere else!

Get To Work,
Sarah

Diaper Wreath

This another post from my sisters baby shower. If you recall the theme was Classic Storybook Baby Shower.

I saw a few ideas of Diaper Wreaths all over pinterest. However, some were so large that they were just ridiculous, and others were so plain and boring. I wanted something that welcomed guests to the party with a little baby inspired welcome. I didn't want it to be too much, or too heavy either; as I was going to hang mine on the front door. I eventually came up with this wreath:

At one point in time the blue bow at the top center was straight, oh well.

 To start out I made a circle about 12 inches wide. I then made another circle about 10 inches wide inside the 12 inch one, on cardboard. I then cut out around the 12 inch circle, and cut inside the 10 inch circle. The results are a cardboard wreath. You can purchase expensive ones, but this was way cheaper, and I had the cardboard on hand.

Now grab a few diapers. I had left over diapers from my son who recently grew out of size 3. I liked the colored prints on the size 3 diapers, plus they are larger then the newborn diapers, and cover more of the wreath. (Which is the look I was going for. I also used the leftover size 3 diapers in the diaper cake.) If you have a mommy-to-be who is going with cloth, another option is to use burp cloths, which I have a tutorial over HERE that you can check out and make! The Honest Company makes super cute designed diapers that would work great for any themed party!

I then opened the diaper, and placed the center of the diaper around the cardboard wreath cut out.

I had blue embroidery floss on hand (but you can purchase it at a local craft store for near to nothing), and I cut off about a 6-8 inch piece.

I then flattened the diaper, wrapped the blue floss around from the back to the front, double knotted it, and added a bow. You really don't need to, I just had extra floss. (I ended up turning the bow around to the back because I hated how it looked.)

I then added another diaper to the right of the first diaper, overlapping slightly to cover the cardboard, and flattened it.

I then again tied it to the cardboard wreath, using the blue dental floss, and finished it off with a bow.

I then added the last diaper and made sure all gaps or any cardboard was covered and filled in.

Add a long 10-12 inch piece of floss, wrapping around the cardboard wreath, to create a piece of floss to hang the wreath from. You can do this with pretty ribbon as well.

You now should have something like this:

I took a few extra minutes, and grabbed some scrapbook paper, stickers, and some pretty blue ribbon. I then traced out a banner onto the scrap book paper, and carefully cut it out. Finished off the details on the front with a very fine point sharpie. I added some cute baby shower 3-D like stickers, and a small blue ribbon bow on the top. I also turned all the blue floss bows to the back, as I ended up not liking them in the end.

The end result was exactly what I was expecting. Simple, elegant, and sticking to the storybook theme with Sesame Street! The wreath holders can be purchased at a craft store, or even at a hardware store. They usually are at an all time low, in price, right after the holidays. I always suggest grabbing a few different colors (or styles) to have on hand for all year round!

Now Bedazzle Your Door With a Cute Wreath,
Sarah