Friday, August 26, 2011

DIY Closet Dividers - Personalized Baby Shower Gift

Look what I made!!

The second I received an invite to a friend's daughter's baby shower I knew I wanted to create something personal. When my own little one was born, I was so grateful for the baby clothes, blankets, and all the necessities a newborn baby calls for but the gifts that meant the most were the personalized ones. They're the ones sitting on her shelf or on the wall and not packed away for the next lucky recipient.

I found out from her mom that she's really excited about putting together her little guy's room and oh how I remember those days where I would just go sit in there and adjust this little burp cloth just so to make everything p-e-r-f-e-c-t. Of course, then she came home and reality set in, lol... rookie mistake!

Anyhow her guy is getting a jungle theme Lambs & Ivy- Cocoa room. A really fun idea hit me... Closet Dividers. If I know my girlfriend (the baby's grandma) this kid is going to have clothes! They'll need some way to keep them organized. The dividers go between hangers to tell you what sizes you have. I can't tell you how many times I found an outfit in Miss Monkey's closet that still had tags but she had outgrown because I forgot it was there. It's a shame to waste a cute outfit!

I've always wanted to try cutting chip board with the Cricut. I did a little research and realized cereal boxes work really well. So, using Sure Cuts A Lot's basic shapes I created a rounded rectangle 3.5" x 9.125" with a 2.75" circle and a slit to fit over the bar. The cereal box was easy to cut (just did a double cut- blade at 6 and max pressure/speed). Then cut a cute green plaid paper using layout. I didn't want to leave the back unfinished so I found a cute animal pattern in the same stack.

I used a thin layer of Modge Podge to adhere the paper on one side to the cereal box and let it dry, then I did the other side. (don't forget to flip your template if you plan to cut paper to fit the back side). I found stacking heavy books on top helped to keep them from curling/warping as they dried.

Paper Used: Animal Crackers Stack  by DCWV, and random scraps for the animals.
Cricut Cartridge: Create a Critter
Font for numbers: Palatino
Animal sizes
Lion- 2.25"
Monkey- 2.75"
Giraffe- 4"
Zebra- 2.5"
Elephant- 2"
Small grass- 1.25"
Large grass- 1.5"

I got to use my new Sizzix Texture Boutique to add a little embossing to the lion's mane. I just received the Create a Critter cartridge in the mail (Yay Sarah! She's the actual owner of the Cricut that I use so now "we" own this super cute cartridge) and couldn't wait to start cutting. I've only really used SCAL2 so I was a little afraid to figure out the cartridge buttons and sizes but using a piece of white card stock was super helpful to figure out my cuts before using the more expensive card stock.

I did make one extra (a total of 6) but didn't label it or add an animal yet.. what do you think 18 months and an alligator? Leave me a comment if you have a cute idea.

I hope they love the special gift I made for her little guy! The shower isn't until September so now I can relax a little and get back to my daughter's birthday party plans.









Thursday, August 25, 2011

Paper Compulsions: Butterfly award

Jani from Paper Compulsions gave me a butterfly award! My very first blogger award, wow! Thanks for making my day Jani!

Check out her blog below

Paper Compulsions: Butterfly award: Yippee! My new blog friend, Eva from Eva's Scraps N'Cards , gave me an award. I came across her blog a couple of weeks ago and absolutely...

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Lawson Family Farewell Party

This is one party that makes me sad to talk about... a dear friend and her family moved to Kansas and wanted to get together with friends at a local park to say goodbye. They're very excited to start their new life and wanted to convey to their friends their newfound love for Kansas. She asked me to help with some ideas and here's what we came up with!

A WELCOME SIGN
This sign was created to show the love they have for their new home. Look closely and you'll see the Map in the Kansas shape is actually from their new town! (details my friends... of course nobody else noticed, but I did!)

























PHOTO PROPS
Kids young and old love these photo props. They're a great way to break the ice at a party where not all your guests know each other. Ideas: cutouts of glasses, mustaches, a dry erase board/chalkboard to write a message in the photo or an empty photo frame. Backdrops are always fun to create a classic photo booth but not necessary... especially at the park!
















Here they are in action!















A WAY TO SHARE YOUR NEW ADDRESS
I created three different postcards with the family's new address so friends can send them updates on their summer and keep in contact. What a great addition to a memory book and hopefully she has some mail waiting to greet them at their new place.

















CUPCAKE DECORATING
A fun activity for the kids while everyone else is having heartfelt talks :)














A WISH JAR
Not just for weddings. A great way for friends to make sure their well wishes are felt well after the party.















GOODBYE BANNER
Something the hostess created, turned out super cute!












Just received word today that the family made it safely to their new town in Kansas. I know they already have a huge network of friends to get them settled and I'm really excited to hear how things are going. Best of luck guys! Southern CA already misses you terribly!