DIY printable fun

I've slowly been putting the baby's space together, thanks to bed rest in the middle of December and then her making her big debut an entire month and a half early in January I was not ready with all my crafty goodness. I still have a million ideas and they keep changing, but one thing that has stayed pretty much the same is the idea of incorporating birds. A while back my Mom and I hand made little birds with the idea of hanging them as a mobile but, well, that's changed. I've got another idea in mind for them and am hoping to get it finished really soon. The husband has been on paternity leave for the last few weeks taking off 2 days a week to hang out and be a dad but it still hasn't given me enough time in a day to do everything I want. Its funny, just this morning he mentioned that he had read something stating that new Mom's on average have an extra 8 hours of work a day and boy does that sound right. Between feedings, snuggles, diaper changes, baths and ridiculous amounts of baby laundry there just isn't enough time in a day!
But back to the decor, like I said, I've had birds in mind and a while back I came across these fun and free downloadable feathers from Little honey pie that would be a fun little accent somewhere in Chickie's space. The colors are pretty much spot on as to what I have going already so that is always a plus! Be sure to check out the post for the printable and get your paper crafting on!

found on little honey pie

Everything is funner when its tiny

What a genius idea. If you are like me and like to save up fun papers for a rainy day your collection is getting mighty large and after coming across this tutorial from Ruth Bleakley for Poppytalk I now know exactly what I will be doing the next time I am feeling crafty. These teeny tiny envelopes are perfect for little message making, business cards or even as party favor thank you; and the best part is you can completely customize them to your favorite size and shape. Head on over to Poppytalk for the full tutorial, I bookmarked this one for sure.

image via poppytalk, tutorial via ruth bleakley

Personal pinatas

I've been working on a little something special for an almost 10 year old and I must say, I was surprised at how well it came out. I've never attempted a small pinata before so making 2 that looked like numbers was a bit intimidating but turned out to be really simple. Its the perfect personal pinata for tabletop smashing. Take a peek below to see how I constructed the numbers.

Since I wanted it to be slightly sturdy but easily breakable, I used 2 pieces of 12x12 cardstock for the number templates. Cut two of each design for front and back. 

I had just gone to Costco a few days before I started and had an empty rice milk box hanging around so I got to cutting for my sides...its always best to reuse items whenever possible. To assemble, I cut the cardboard to size for all the edges and used washi tape to hold everything while I pieced it together. Be sure to leave an opening to fill the pinata.

Once everything was in place, I used strips of duct tape to give it a little sturdiness but left one or two spots that can easily be ripped open...nothing worse then a package of goodies you can't get into.

Once you have the shapes ready to go, fill with all kinds of tiny bits of fun and tape it up.

For the fringe I actually painted white streamers {again, use what you got!} this teal color, the birthday girls fav, and cut into strips. Once you have tons of strips, cut out all the fringe.

Apply the paper to the cardboard with a little tape and you have yourself a handmade pinata made with love. Happy crafting. 

images by our designed life

Combining grads and kids

I don't know about you, but this week has gone by at lightning speed.  Seems I am barely staying afloat on everything that needs to get done, but one item I can cross off my list of to do's is all the crafting I had been doing for my younger cousins.  Yesterday was a super big day, one of my cousins graduated high school in Sacramento, and it was also her younger sister's 9th birthday.  Do you know how hard it is to come up with decor to fit both needs!?  After a week of debating whether or not to have fun decor, I was given two days (2!) to create everything.  And living in a new city with no paper or craft store easily accessible, it was tricky!  Not to mention my printer wanted to call it quits on me... turns out ink is a hard thing to come by in my area.

I ended up doing a variety of paper crafts for both girls, of course I tried to personalized them a little.  For the graduate, I made up a paper favor cone in her school colors, while for the younger option, I used a variety of balloons in a more matured color palette... she's no kid anymore!

I tried to incorporate each girls favorite treats into the mix, small pastel colored marshmallows look awesome in tiny bags with personalized wrappers.  And who doesn't love a little chocolate and peanut butter with a little balloon wrapping?  

This is the only shot I got of the table, unfortunately it didn't come out so great, but you get the idea!  I had also incorporated wrapped juice boxes for both girls, as well as small party boxes (see a similar tutorial here) that held the graduates favorite candy.  All in all, fun was had and I got tons of complements on the crafts.  And if you are wondering about that cake, the girls wanted to share one cake, so they had it made with two different sides, one for the grad and one for the birthday girl.

photos by monica for our designed life