DIY: Sugar skull candy bowl

Yep, it's that time of year again!

I had so much fun making my Halloween apothecary last year that I've decided to get creative again this year.

Halloween is one of my favorite time of year to do crafts and decorate. There's just so much creative freedom. You can get as wild as you want and no one will blink twice.

I actually started this project last year but never got around to finishing it. You know how it goes right? You start a million projects on an inspiration wave, then you loose it and half of those projects get forgotten in a distant corner of the house for a few months...and sometimes more.

Does anyone else do that?

I've also been known to go into a craft store for a very specific thing and come back out 3 hours later with half the store in my bags. Oh, did I mention my very awesome and patient husband was waiting in the car the whole time?

Yea, he doesn't come anymore. 

Back to my project. So I saw this skull at the dollar store and I immediately thought it would be fun to turn it into a sugar skull to decorate my living room.

When I shared my idea with my husband, he mentioned it would be cool if it was a candy bowl. I swear, he's totally a creative inside. So off he went to drill. Awesome right?

So anyway, this super skull is chilling on my table right now, but I took out all of the candy because otherwise, my toddlers will at them all in a single sitting.

Have you created anything for Halloween? Are you making your own costume? What will you dress up as?

My boys and husband have asked to be the 3 musketeers so that's what my next project is going to be. If you're looking for me in the next 2 weeks, I'll either be raiding the dollar store or at my sewing machine.

See you all next week! :)

Materials

Plastic skull
Acrylic paints
Paint brush
Palette
Artificial flowers
Glue gun
Candy (!!)

Steps

1. Paint the entire skull white. I used spray paint but you can just as easily use a paint brush and acrylics. 
2. Cut a hole at the top to insert your candy. I asked my husband to do it with his hand drill, it took him about 2 minutes. 
3. Paint the eye sockets, nose hole and teeth outline in black. You can use any color you want at this point, have fun and be creative! 
4. Decorate with pretty patterns around the eyes, the forehead and chin. You can embellish with faux jewels or even glitter! 
5. Cut some artificial flowers and hot glue them around the head to form a flower crown. I glued them around the hole. 
6. Fill with candy and enjoy!

DIY: How to make faux starfish

Hi guys!

As some of you may know, last year at around this time, I gave birth to a second beautiful baby boy. It's been a true blessing to be surrounded by so much pure joy and love. Alas my return to work was inevitable, and so a new life has begun.

Other than my return to full time employment, a lot has happened since I last posted. We planted our garden and worked on our yard a lot. We visited the zoo and spent some quality alone time together as a family. I also had to slowly integrate my 1yo to daycare (my heart just shattered right there), we took turns being sick (ugh!) and dealt with loss. It's just been a rough few months and we're not out of the woods yet.

On a happier note, both of my boys celebrated their birthday this month, so I spent a lot of time in decor & food projects. As I'm sure a lot of you can relate, not all of my projects worked out quite as planned.

First, there was the beach look-alike cake I tried to make. I made a white cake and crumbled it so it would look like sand. I put the pieces in a cake mold to cover half the space, then I added a cookie sheet to put blue jello on the other side (you know... water). The cake ended up super dense because I pressed it too much, and the jello ended up soaking the edges of the cake. Anyway, it was a complete failure, but we ate it anyway!

Then there was the fire mantle which I thought would look awesome painted gold. It does not. I mean, it doesn't look bad, per se, but it sure as hell don't look like I thought it would. It just looks too gold. You know? Anyway, it's going to stay like that for a while because with my full time job, amongst everything else, I just don't have time for the details.

I also made a kind of starfish/flower birthday crown for my baby. It looks OK, but it's not fabulous. To be honest, I probably tried to be too fancy with my ideas. Sometimes simple is best.

I made a ton of other things with random materials and props, like fabric, cardboard, flowers, paint, shells, faux starfish, glitter, glue... and I will be sharing those which I had time to photograph.

For the projects that didn't plan out, I'll be posting some of them anyway since they technically still are good ideas. I might give them an update in the future, see if I can make it work better. Who knows, it might inspire someone!

Without further ado, here is how I made faux starfish with polymer clay for my littlest's beach themed party.

Materials

Polymer clay (I used Sculpey, but I prefer Fimo)
Acrylic paint

Tools

Exacto knife
Toothpicks
Cookie sheet
Paint brush
Paint palette

Steps

1. Warm up you clay by working it with your hands.
2. Make a ball then flatten it.
3. With an exacto, make 5 triangle incisions & remove the extra clay.
4. Round off the edges with your warm hands.
5. Using a toothpick poke little holes over the surface of your faux starfish.
6. If you plan on hanging them, push a hold through one of the arms. (Optional)
7. Bake according to the manufacturer's instructions.
8. Paint as you see fit; I mixed white and orange together to make my starfish a pale orange-y color.



There you have it! Beautiful starfish using clay.

I used these in a number of projects so stay tuned, in coming posts, I'll be showing you a few things you can make with your beautiful faux starfish!

DIY: Clay animal head succulent planter

Ok guys. I'm so proud of myself right now it's actually kind of sad. How adorable is this animal head succulent planter I made?

DIY - Make this adorable clay animal planter for your mini succulents. Click to tweet.

Quite some time ago, I saw this super cute felt planter on Etsy and I really wanted to try making one with polymer clay. Last weekend, I finally found a plant, or succulent I should say, that resembles hair and I just knew I wanted to give the clay pot a shot.

So last night, I took out my polymer clay (which has been sitting around waiting to be used for much too long...) and made this super adorable bear head planter.

Have you ever tried making your own planter?

I also have some good news... I made my first Etsy shop sale this week! Yay! I'm so happy right now. I'm in the process of making more prints, some more elaborate than others so keep your eyes open and keep checking back. I'm really excited about this new development and it makes me want to branch out even more... so many possibilities!

MATERIALS

Polymer clay (I used Sculpey original)
A little spoon (to scoop out excess clay)
Bake & bond (clay glue)
Acrylic paint
Gloss glaze

STEPS

1. Warm up your clay by working it with your hands.
2. Make a large ball; slightly bigger than the pot you want to put in it.
3. Using a small spoon, lightly scoop out the excess clay from the top. I tried pressing and sculpting a hole into the ball but it got all squished and weirdly shaped. I strongly suggest scooping. Yes, it takes a bit longer, but the results are much nicer.
4. Roll a small ball of clay, flatten it and cut it in half. These pieces will be the ears of the bear.
5. Apply a bit of glue to the edge, place in on the vase and lightly scrape it in place.
6. Bake according to instructions.
7. Paint, seal with glaze and add your plant. Voila! c:

How to do hand lettering, the easy way

Hand lettering is a beautiful art and a refreshing way to express yourself. Tweet this.

I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with hand lettering lately. I've seen so many gorgeous prints on Etsy, Pinterest and Instagram that it inspired me to try. I've always loved calligraphy, but I never thought of turning it into art until recently.

Just to give you an idea of how different hand lettering can be from one person to another, here are a few examples I found on the Creative Market (Heart & Soul, Rushistly,  Wonder, Snowberry,  Hello Sunshine).

I posted a picture on Instagram a few days ago and my friend Heather from The Arbitrary Fox asked me how I made it so I thought it would be fun to make a little video of my process.

TOOLS:
Pencil
Eraser
Paper
Liner
Felt



One of the things I love the most about hand lettering is that you can do it anywhere. All you need is a piece of paper and a pencil. Of course, you can use any tool you like; watercolors, felts, markers, crayons... anything goes to make pretty hand lettering art. For the basic instructions to my basic hand lettering technique have a look at my video. I hope you like it!



I really enjoy making videos but man do they take a long time! And why do they always turn out yellow-ish when I've got 3 studio lights pointing at me and the walls are white? Anyone have tips for filming quality videos?



Have you ever tried hand lettering before? Do you like it? What is your hand lettering style? Do you like box letters? Cursive? Let me know by commenting bellow or send me a picture of your project! I'd love to see it. :D

Last minute Christmas party favors

A week or so ago I hosted a family Christmas gathering. Something small, just to see everyone before the holiday madness. I wanted to send everyone home with a little gift but I thought about it too late and had to come up with something last minute.

I found these super cute advent calendar mini bags at IKEA and ended up using them as party favor bags.

I wrapped up some of my gingerbread cookies and added one in each bag.

Then I filled some mini plastic bags with a single portion of my homemade hot chocolate mix (I'll be sharing the recipe soon so make sure to check back later!), labeled them with pretty handwritten tags and added those too.

I also added a few mini chocolates and a little candy cane. Nothing fancy, but I totally enjoyed the homemade touch.

What kind of little trinkets would you like to receive in party favors?

Make your own cookie gift wrap using wax paper

It just isn't Christmas without yummy gingerbread cookies.

I had so much fun coming up with my own gingerbread cookie recipe that I made a few extra batches to give away as party favors for Christmas. I didn't want to put naked cookies in bags because that's just boring. Any chance I have to get creative, I accept the challenge!

I didn't have any fancy bags or boxes so I came up with something super cute using wax paper, markers and ribbon.

MATERIALS:
Wax paper
Permanent markers
Scissors
Baker's twine



1. Cut the wax paper into squares.
2. Draw a simple pattern (or whatever your heart desires) on the wax paper using permanent markers.
3. Flip the decorated paper upside down and place your cookie upside down onto it.
4. Fold the paper to wrap the cookie.
5. Add a pretty string or ribbon.



There you have it! Such a quick and simple way to dress homemade cookies for a cute gift. You could use this for colleagues, friends or even your neighbors. Hope you enjoy wrapping up your home baked goods! :D

Do you have any fun way to wrap up single cookies?

Halloween apothecary

I am so unbelievably psyched right now (and a little ahead, but I just couldn't wait!). I've been thinking about this project for EVER and it's finally done. Isn't it just cool? Magic potions guys. MAGIC! Anyone want to fly? Fall in love? Well...you're in for a treat because today, it's all possible! Just don't drink the poison ok?

I've been collecting all sorts of different glass bottles. Ketchup bottles, essence bottles, oil dispensers, maple syrup jars, soya sauce bottles, fizzy water bottles... even alcohol bottles (that others give me because I don't drink).

With a sprinkle of Fairy Dust and a Unicorn's Tear, let me present to you my new favorite Halloween decoration, the Apothecary, magical potions included! Right now I'm using it as a table center but come Halloween, this baby's going to be next to my big cauldron full of candy.

I love Halloween. It's the only time of the year where you can get crazy creative and have no one judge you. Always wanted to be a princess? No problem. Prefer being a naughty nurse. You got it. Secretly think you're a spy? Live it out! Personally, I'd love to dress up Steampunk with a big pouffy dress.

What's your favorite Halloween costume?



MATERIALS:
Glass bottles
Water
Food dye
Glitter
Beads
...and anything else you'd like to put in your bottles




TOOLS:
Paper
Tags
Baker's twine
Scissors
Pen
Tape



1. The first thing you want to do is fill your bottles and jars. I filled mine with beads, dried flowers, glitter and of course, colored water. I left some empty as well, just for decor.



2. Next you want to identify your bottles. You wouldn't want to confuse the Poison with the Love Potion! I used tags for some, and for others I used props.



For the poison I added a skull on top of the jar. I got a whole bunch at the dollar store for a buck.



I added a simple tag with pretty lettering for the fairy dust. Glitter!! Don't you just love glitter?



And for the the flying potion I added some wings!



So there you have it. A super cute and fun Apothecary! This Halloween DIY is super easy so even kids could jump in and decorate a few bottles. You could use a few plastic ones if you're concerned they might break them. You could even paint them. Be creative! :)



What kind of decor will you be making this Halloween?

DIY: Wire birthday crown

This tutorial is a bit overdue since it's the crown I made for my son's second birthday; which was over a month ago... but so much has happened since then that I'm sure you'll forgive me.

Like any mother out there my goal is to do everything I possibly can for my children; this of course includes birthdays. I'm not one for huge parties but I do love to decorate and plan celebrations. I don't usually do anything fancy, but I do tend to get creative, so I decided to start documenting some of these projects hoping to inspire others to use every excuse possible to have some fun with colors and textures!

Have you ever made a birthday crown? What kind of materials did you use?

On my son's first birthday I used felt to make his crown. It was really pretty but didn't hold too well. This time I decided to try something a little sturdier. I had wire lying around which I was planning to use to make a wire wrapped stone pendant (still haven't gotten around to it, ah!), so I decided to use some and try and make a wire crown.

This project was inspired by the wire art of Five From The Ground.

MATERIALS:
Wire
Round pliers
Cutters
Glue gun


1. Measure the head circumference of the person who will be wearing the crown and cut a piece of wire that's a bit longer. Form a circle as shown in the picture below then wrap the ends with the round pliers to attach it.


2. Cut 9 small strands of wire (approximately 3 inches long); you can cut more if you want more points to your crown. Bend them into triangles using your round pliers. Bend both ends of each triangle to attach to the crown.


3. Secure the wire triangles onto the circle you created earlier by pressing on the curled ends then further secure using glue.


Place on the head of the king or queen. :)

This is by far the favorite crown I've made so far. It's totally cute and my son loved it. It did look a bit uncomfortable since the building medium is hard, but this can easily be fixed by using a softer (thinner) wire. Enjoy!

DIY: Circular cupcake toppers

These are the cupcake toppers I made for my son's first birthday last year. I was looking for something easy to start with in terms of cake decorations. I didn't have any special cutters or punches so I decided to go with circles. Anyone can find a circular shape in their home to use as a tracing model right? I actually used a couple of shooter glasses (gasp! - I have no idea where they came from, seriously).

Even though my little munchkin didn't end up eating any of the cake I made (good thing too because he ended up being allergic to eggs... !), I originally thought cupcakes would be a better option for a baby because they can destroy their portion (yep, that's pretty much what babies do to cakes) without touching everyone else's (an option I will choose again this year - egg free of course).

MATERIALS:
2-3 pieces of 12x12 card-stock (of different style/color)
Toothpicks


TOOLS:
Scissors
Modpodge & Paint brush (glue works too)
Pencil & Eraser
Marker
Models (I used two shot glasses)


1. Trace your models on the cardboard using the pencil. I did 3 different sizes each on a different color of card-stock to add depth.
2. Cut all the circles. Yes, it would be much faster if you had punches, but I didn't, so it took me longer but was cheaper! :P


3. Assemble all the circles as shown below. Write the desired text on the inner circle (in my case I wrote 1 for my son's first birthday) and glue to a toothpick.


4. Rinse and repeat.


...and here's the assembled product! Totally cute right? Took forever but I had so much fun! Plus it gave my husband and I a chance to talk without being distracted by our computers and phones. Lol. Life before technology!

DIY: Easter bunny hard boiled eggs

I have always wondered why people empty the eggs before coloring them. They are so much more fragile and harder to work with. Is it because they last longer? I personally like to hard boil the eggs first, that way, they are easier to work with.

MATERIALS:
Hard boiled eggs
Colored felt
Scrap cardboard
1 cup Water
1 tablespoon Vinegar
20 drops food Coloring


TOOLS:
Glue
Scissors
Spoon


1. Mix the water, vinegar & food coloring. Dye the eggs.


I broke the pink one. It made me sad.

2. While the egg is drying on the spoon, cut the felt into shapes (ears, eyes, nose).


I didn't need the scrap cardboard (kleenex box) because my felt was strong on it's own. Otherwise you can use it as back support for the ears.

3. Glue the felt parts on the eggs. Serve with breakfast, eat & enjoy!


I served them with bacon, toast, tomatoes and coconut fried potatoes. Use your imagination!

I've been pretty busy lately. I kind of over booked myself on activities with my son. I gave birth to him 3 weeks after we moved into our first house. I felt a bit lonely and secluded, so I scheduled a whole bunch of activities for us. We had swimming classes, mommy craft classes, baby musical activities, stroller workouts & lots of mommy/baby dates... it was fun while it lasted, but before I go back to work in 2 months, I want to spend as much quality time with my son as I can. alone. Just him, and me. It's hard to believe he's almost 1 already. I'm going to miss him being a little mister.