BOY Baby Shower Goodies and Ideas

I always make a diaper cake when I host a baby shower.  Always.  It's easy to make, looks super cute, and is fun!  However, my friend that I recently threw a shower for had already been given a diaper cake! 

What was I going to do??!!

Search all over blogland for amazing ideas!  

I came up with three ideas.


Salt Water Taffy Kabobs 

• Using bamboo skewers (100 count for about $1.50) slide taffy on, alternating colors
• Poke into floral foam
• Spray paint an old oatmeal box, stick in the floral foam and kabobs, and make it look pretty!

Inspiration for Kabobs can be found here at Heartland Paper Co.


Mini Pails Party Favors

I found these pails at Target for .$50 each.  ADORABLE!

Tie some tulle around the pail, stick in some treats 
(I did rice krispie treats; so easy)

Easy, CUTE party favors!!

 

Customized water bottle labels. 

I didn't really find a tutorial for this, so here's the run down.

• Use my template below, or design your own label (I fit 5 to a sheet). 
• Print them, and cut them out
• Use contact paper to make them "laminated" (so the ink doesn't run when the bottle gets wet)
• Wrap them around the bottle, and tape the ends together. 

Here's what my labels looked like (to give you an idea of how you could personalize it)

I have provided a blank template (that you can download and edit) for you to use! How nice am I??   :)

 Blank Labels    

Linking up at
Making the World Cuter
and


http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/ 


Talented Tuesday

New Sponsors!

I'm so excited to announce THREE new sponsors here on A Little of This, A Little of That!

The Vintage Pearl

 HouseHoldWords and Dischangers.com

They all have amazing products, and ALL THREE will be doing a GIVEAWAY in the near future.  Stay tuned peeps!  The lucky winner could be you!

The Vintage Pearl has truly beautiful jewelry.  Who doesn't love something personalized? This jewelry is 100% customizable, and they ship internationally.  Look here when you need a truly unique and beautiful gift.

 

HouseHoldWords is a great shop that specializes in vinyl products. She has some unique, and different designs you might not have seen in other shops.  Any of her products can be customized to the size and color you need! Again, who doesn't love vinyl?!

DiscHangers.com is the easy way to hang your favorite stoneware or plates.The Disc Plate Hanger sticks to the back of the plate, holds it flat and secure against the wall and cannot be seen.

These hangers are CHEAP peeps, and will work way better than the stuff you see in stores! 

Look for GIVEAWAYS galore in the near future!

Goodwill Transformation: Kitchen Canisters

Oh how I love thrifting.  I found some nifty canisters on my recent trip. $3 for both.  Nice, right?

They had a cute shape, but uggggly color!

I gave it a quick coat of primer. 

(by the way, my spray paint gun is my new BEST friend!!)

I decided I liked the white, so I gave it a few good coats of white spray paint.

Added a vinyl # 1 and 2

(using my handy cricut machine!)

Hot glued on a little twine.....

Voila, new canisters that are cuuuute!

Linking up at Poppies at Play
and Fingerprints on the Fridge 
and the Shabby Nest 
and Tidy Mom 
and Funky Junk Interiors 
and DIY Showoff 

and


 


and
Sumo's Sweet Stuff

and Talented Tuesday 

Creating a Photo Wall

I have a frame obsession.  Anyone who reads my blog knows this!

One of my favorite things to do is create photo walls.  It is an easy and inexpensive way to cover lots of wall space!

Mix and Match your frames for a less "matchy matchy" look. 

I loooove this swirly one.

The chunky edge on this frame is nice.

I have plenty of plain, thin frames to balance out my "fancy" ones!

I love black & white photos, and sepia too.  They have a really classic look.

Before hanging up your frames, lay them out on the floor and play with the arrangement.  Draw yourself a picture of what frame goes where to help you remember what order you want them in.

I created this photo wall going down our hall to cover the colossal amount of wall space we have!

All these frames are the exact same.  I wanted the focus to be on the pictures.

I love standing in our hall and seeing all our fun times!

 

A level and tape measure are you friends when hanging up a lot of frames!  It's worth it to take the time to measure and level the frames.  You will save yourself some frustration (experience speaking!)

I'm linking up at Room to Inspire and Someday Crafts

and the DIY Showoff

Fabric Flower Hair Clips

I am excited to be featuring a tutorial today!
I stumbled across Cindy's blog Sew Blessed, and found this GREAT tutorial!
It is easy, and quick. My kind of project! You don't really have to know how to sew to do this!

When I e-mailed Cindy to ask about featuring her, she said:
"I would be thrilled if you featured my tutorial on your blog as long as you give me proper credit. I have been amazed, since I created that tutorial, with all the people that have copied it, taken credit for it, etc."

REMINDER to all my readers: Please always give credit for ideas and projects you do! It's ok to admit that you aren't a creative genius, and that you get your ideas from others! I always try and link to other blogs that I have the gotten inspiration or ideas from. Do the same!

These hair clips are addictive! I have made a TON. I put on this movie and went to work making flower clips! (oh how I looooove twilight.....)



A few notes about how I created my flower clips:

• I hot glued alligator clips to the back of my flowers. They are $2.99 for 15 at Hobby Lobby.

• I hot glued fabric covered buttons (found at Joann's or Hobby Lobby) in the center of most of my clips.
• I also used large gemstones for the centers of some clips.

Now, here is Cindy's tutorial:

Cut five (5) squares of fabric approximately 2 3/4" x 2 3/4".




Thread a needle with a long piece of thread and knot both ends together.

Start with one square of fabric.





Fold one corner over to meet the opposite corner....making a triangle.

Take your threaded needle and start in the bottom corner.



Work a large running stitch from that bottom corner up to the next corner, turning the corner and working towards the other corner.

The long edge with the fold will be the only edge not stitched. Another way to look at it is that the raw edges will all be stitched together with the running stitch. If you lay it flat...it should look like the above photo. DO NOT Cut the thread. Instead, gather the fabric down closer to the knot by holding the fabric in one hand and the thread with needle in the other. Gently slide the fabric down towards the knot....you have now made one petal. Four more to go!!

Take your next square and fold it the same way and work a running stitch around both edges.

Gently slide the fabric towards the first petal. Now you have two petals.

Take your third square of fabric, fold it and work a running stitch. Three petals made so far!

Take your fourth square, fold it and work the running stitch. I am sure you are getting the hang of this now. And it's becoming fun. This is where the addictive part comes in. Now as you see the flower forming before your eyes...your mind starts working overtime thinking of all the places you could put one of these sweet flowers. But we're not quite done yet....keep up the momentum!

However, you could stop with four petals. It would be a sweet flower. But I generally prefer five petals.

Take your fifth and final square, fold it and work a running stitch.

Take a minute and gaze at this sweet bloom you just made!!!! Then turn it over and take a few tiny stitches to attach the last petal to the first petal near the center area. Tie and knot the thread.

Turn the flower back over and decide what you want to put in the center. This can be fun because different centers can make the flower look completely different.

For this one I put a mother of pearl button in the center. It has a shank on it so I used the same thread (still attached to the flower....I did not cut it) and sewed the button on.

This green little flower also has a mother of pearl button in it.

I made this flower to go with Elisabeth's smocked sundress that I made her a few weeks back. I put a covered button in the center.

But before I put the button in I attached a covered rubber band to the shank and then threaded it through the center of the fabric flower.

Instant pony tail holder!!!! And the centers can be interchangeable with different covered buttons. I'd love to see what you all come up with as far as these flowers go. The options are really endless.

HAPPY HAIR CLIP MAKING!

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY that ends Monday, April 19th.