Teabag party favors

It's been a long time hasn't it?? I am sorry for the lack of posts. I have been making and crafting things all this time but have failed to document it.

My latest project was a collaboration with Pauline Bakes. She was making tea bag cookies for a tea party bridal shower and wanted a cute way to package it. I have seen some great ideas on pinterest that packaged the cookies in the shape of a tea bag but wasn't quite what I had wanted. So, I set about to make my own template and created my own little favor packaging for this tea party theme bridal shower.

Here is a step by step tutorial!

The supplies! A scoring board is very useful for creating precise lines for folding. It allows for a clean straight line making your final product look much cleaner. 

1) Cut a pattern paper of your choice in the size of 4" by 8.5"

2) Score along the dashed lines at the size indicated

3) Cut as indicated by the white lines on the picture. The angle of the top of the tea bag is your choice. I chose to angle it by 0.5" from the end.

4) This is what your template should look like before you start putting it together.

5) Overlap the sides and glue. It should stand on its own like this

6) Using the small hole puncher, punch a hole on top of the teabag and thread your twine through. (Before tying off the string, put your cookie or treat of choice at this time before closing it off) 

7) On a small square piece of paper, stamp any cute image. I chose this little tea cup to stamp.

8) Tie to the twine to finish your teabag look.

Choose any fun pattern paper to match the theme or color of the party. You can add it to a tea cup as a party favor gift for a touch of fun!

DIY birthday party for H + Crafty song!

Our recent 25th birthday celebration was chock full of DIYs and crafty skills maximized to good use. With the help of my chef sister G and my baking friend Pauline Bakes combined with the rose making skills of my friend P & H, we ended up with a birthday we'd remember for years to come!

The crepe paper rose tutorials we've been seeing online gave me a great idea for a party decoration. Rather than gluing them onto paper lanterns and using them as lighting!

Here is the finished glued product. My dog Olive is in the shot because she thinks this is one giant ball for her to play with. I had to hang it off the window to get it out of her way.

These are the lanterns in effect! I made them in white, dark pink and white pink. Tip: Crepe paper was cheapest from Walmart at $1.25 for 160 feet for crepe paper.  The white lanterns look like roasted marshmallows yummy :)

One thing I definitely wanted to have was a dessert bar and with the amazing help of PaulineBakes, I was able to have a variety of delicious goodiness!!

The center two cake stands are a DIY project made from two candle stick holders and plates that were thrifted. The candlesticks are also thrifted as well. The bouquet of flowers are just IKEA vases for $2.00 with black satin ribbon tied on with an arrangement of flowers from ACMoore that were on sale for 40% off!

Chocolate covered pretzel sticks in assorted pink and white sprinkles to match our party theme of black white and pink!

Mini carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Moist and delicious!

The pom poms on the side are from Martha Stewart tutorial. Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of time to give it the round poufy effect but still came out looking like giant peonies so it added a great effect.

This is the dessert bar before it was attacked!

Chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting and an Eiffel Tower chocolate mold :)

French macarons with nutella filling!

And a birthday party isn't complete without a cake! Carrot cake :)

This is a close up of the centerpieces. I used foam from walmart to help get the flowers in place.

Damask paper napkins from party city added a nice touch and tied it into the theme.

Tip: IKEA has great resources for plates/dishes. I was able to buy a set of 2 dishes and a bowl for $2 per person. Greatest deal I've found. The water goblets are from Walmart and cost $5 for 4 cups for $1.25 a person!

G's stuffed flank steak stuffed with spinach, feta cheese and assorted veggies.

Sorry about the half eaten food. In our excitement, I forgot to take the pictures pre eating! String bean salad. G's specialty! so yummmms.

So this is our party! In the following days, I will post up the cake stand tutorial as well as how we went about making the paper lanterns covered in crepe paper roses. 

Crepe Paper Roses

I was browsing some DIY and stumbled upon these. Gorgeous! and so easy/cheap to make. So with the help of some of my slaves... erm I mean friends ^____^ I attempted these little beauties for a bday celebration. So this will be a sneak preview of an upcoming project!

Disclaimer: the smell of glue gun will give you a headache... ugh

DIY glitter your flats!

I stumbled across We Are Not Martha's DIY glitter flats a while back. Seeing how simple and easy the instructions made it seem, I was possessed with idea of glittering all of my shoes. But, I restrained myself and settled on revamping my oh so old but very comfortable flats. Any cheapie flats from target/walmart/payless may serve as a suitable alternative for this.

You may follow the steps from We Are Not Martha but here are my step processes to glitterifying your own shoes :D

1. Martha Stewart Antique Silver Glitter 2. Mod Podge Gloss Glue 3. Folk Art Clear Glaze 4. Sponge Brush (Not pictured: beige grosgrain ribbon, glue gun

Supplies:

Glitter
Mod Podge Gloss Glue (They have one made for fabric, which I think may help in terms of flexibility)
Clear Glaze Spray
Sponge Brush
Ribbon
Glue Gun

Mix the Mod Podge glue and glitter into a plastic cup or bucket. This is an old McDonalds happy meal bucket. All the blogs/tutorial states that the consistency should be runny. I might have made it a little bit chunkier than that .. woops

Use the foam brush to apply the glitter/glue mix. Don't worry about how messy it looks. The mod podge dries clear. 

You may need to put up to 3 to 4 coats in order to achieve the glitter consistency of the flats. Allow half an hour or more to dry in between coats. Not waiting enough will cause cracking. (Please disregard the worn out sole. These shoes are 4 years old from clearance when Jasmine Sola went out of business.) 

Spray the clear glaze as directed. Please do this OUTDOORS or in a well ventilated area. Doing this at 2 am in my room gave me a major headache. The clear glaze sets the glitters and reduces the likelihood of the glitter falling all over the place. But even without it, mod podge acts as a sealant and the glitter stays put!

For the finishing touch, use the glue gun to apply a ribbon bow for the finishing touch, and voila! An old pair of ratty flats destined for the trash has now become my fanciest shoe. 

Upon closer inspection, the glitter is not as flat and smooth as I would have liked on the flats. The well worn creases from years of abuse on the flats caused some problems with cracking. The consistency of the glitter/glue I believe caused problems with cracking too. But the imperfections are near invisible when seen from an eye level to ground view so I shall consider this a success!

I can't wait to attempt some glitter shoes, very much like the Miu Miu ones!