Meet Golda

So, I've been doing little things for myself this week leading up to my 30th birthday & yesterday it was my creation of Golda.

All you need to create a Golda of your very own is a can of gold spray paint, a $1 store pink yard flamingo, & dead grass to spray paint on.

And voila, meet Golda (after the once Prime Minister of Isreal, Golda Meir)

If it were possible for a yard flamingo to be classy Golda would be it.

HOW TO: Easy Flower Crowns & Easy Customizable Fans

It's so easy you brilliant people don't need a tutorial but someone asked me how I did the crowns & fans for our Summer Solstice Celebration. Plus, I want to show, like many things on my blog, how you can make fancy "seeming" recipes/DIY activities/ crafts that aren't fancy at all. 'Cause that's the way I roll.

FLOWER CROWNS:

I bought flower wire from the craft section at Jo-Anns. I kinda wish it was thicker & if you have the option of thicker wire (but still super bendy) do it. I got all the flowers at our local Dollar Tree (because the same flowers are like $6 a pop at Jo-Anns). And hot glue (my best-crafting-friend).

I took the wire, measured it around my head, twisted it & then twisted a second time all the way around to give it some thickness (again, it was REALLY thin wire- so easy to work with but thin).

Then I took apart the flowers & leaves from the stems. You could easily make a crown with just flowers & no leaves but I loved the way it looked with flowers & leaves (and much more summery).

Then just kind of glob the glue on there and stick in on (I started in the center & worked my way around each side). It's gonna look like a hot mess when you start but once it's all on there I promise it looks great.

Put on the glue & held it for a second, blowing on it. Then I set it down to dry (on a cardboard box in case it sticks) & then added the flowers along the edges.

I went for a more random sort of look but it could be great with one kind of flower, super symmetrical, & I even made a cute all leaf one fore Rob. I also made one on a headband for Syd which was cute but sits up higher on your head- more a Frida Kahol look.

Wear it proudly & feel super pretty (or handsome as the case may be).

FANS:

I have a collection of paint stirring sticksfrom various home projects & they were perfect for the handles of the fans. I bought a mini can of gold spray paint & painted them (it took less than a minute & it drys SO fast).

Since we were doing an evening party I opted for a "summer night sky map" & then prettied it up (in "Paint" mind you, no fancy "Photoshop" here) with gray & yellow.

Then I found a quote (Thank you, Pinterest) about stars on the other side. It turns out this quote isn't from Galileo but rather from this lovely poem "The Old Astronomer" by Sarah Williams.

I printed them off on heavy paper & hot glued them to the stick and then hot glued them closed. Then I just rounded off the corners.

Ta-da! They could be customized for any kind of party- for a wedding with ceremony info on it, for an auction (as the paddles), with your babies face on it for a b-day party. The ideas are endless & I will SO be using this idea again.

Email or leave a comment if you have any questions!

P. S. After I painted the sticks I walked all around the house trying to find stuff to paint. I ended up with just a couple mason jars (which I am SO in love with). But watch out or everything in your house may end up spray painted gold.

HOW TO: Birth Annoucements

1. When making a small amount of invites I love the extra touch of lined the envelopes:

2. I'm sure you guys already know, & are much more talented at Picassa, but for those that want a little basic info here's how to did the lined & tilted lettering on the pictures. Sorry it's totally messy looking (I printed them at CostCo):

3. Write a family letter.

4. I wish I had instructions on how to do this but Scott is my Photoshop Wizard. Maybe I'll have him do a "guest post" one of these days on some basics of editing in Photoshop. But let's just look at the magic of taking two pics & making them one. (the only way we can get a good family picture these days):

5. I love, love, love the new trend of Washi Tape (or paper tape). Here's the one I got. A couple of my other favorites: here, here, & here.

And TA-DA! Birth announcements complete! Hope this helps you get your own creative juices going! Any questions?

Lincoln Birth Annoucements

Behold, Lincoln's birth announcements (also sort of a Christmas card too).

Finally done.
After, you know, almost 3 months.

But don't look too close- I put his wrong weight.
I'm seriously brain dead these days.
You'll get yours soon-ish.
I hope.

P.S. Here is the "how-to post" about the process of making them. A friend of mine was wondering how you could make picture invites like this without using Photoshop so I hope this helps!

Kiddos Valentines

1) Syd's Valentines: She's ga-ga for friendship bracelets so we made each kid in her class a custom one. She (and they) loved them! She helped with a couple, but I finished them off on my own during good ol' "Downton Abbey".

2) Rob's Valentines: Rob picked out toy cars for everyone in his class & he was impossible to get a good picture of in his "racer" hat, but he did have a blast helping with them & passing them out.

Christmas Hair

Syd has has yet another "Spirit Week" this week (here's the result of her last Spirit Week & the last hair day). This time it's "Christmas Spirit Week".

Yesterday was "Christmas Hat or Hair Day". Here's the result:

Star Hair. Pretty cool, right? I kind of wish I had a Christmas party I had to go to so I could do this with my own hair. I still might, just 'cause.

I used the extra gold paper from these shower invites & hot glued them to bobby pins. Then used the gold spray I had leftover from this Halloween costume & some Martha Stewart glitter I had on hand.

And today here's Syds "Dress as a Christmas Character Day" (we don't have a Christmas costume so we improvised):

Half Birthday Treats!

Rob celebrated his 1/2 birthday in Preschool today. I'm glad that they do that because my June birthday never got celebrated in school, so I'm happy he gets a chance to get a "woot, woot!" too.

So, for the treat he brought in for his friends I let him pick out some little toys & treats from our party store. He ended up with kind of a random collection of goodies but the whole thing screams Rob.

Then I took some pictures of him (as shy as he is, he's a photogenic little guy) & added tags to the top of the baggies.

He gave them to all his little friends in a fit of joy so I feel like I can call that good!

P.S. I am a big fan of using pictures on cards, treats, etc. Here are a couple others I've made: 30th birthday book, homemade Valentines, customized underwear, panty party giveaways, Superhero party invites, & Superhero party cutouts.