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Showing posts with label Little Deer Baby Shower. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Little Deer Baby Shower. Show all posts

Thursday, October 4, 2012

CRAFT: DIY Arrow Bouquet


This sweet little display was the center piece of the food table at Flynn's Little Deer sprinkle last weekend.  I love it so much that it has found a new home on my vanity in my bedroom.  Here's a ridiculously easy tutorial so you can have an arrow bouquet of your own!

Supplies:
2 colors of feathers, 4-5 of each color for each arrow
12" dowel rods
Embroidery floss
A wood arrow shape (can be found in the wood section of any craft store)
Glue Gun
Paint & Paint Brush
Glue feathers around top of dowel rod. 
Glue second color of feathers about 1/4" lower on the dowel rod than the first color to give it some depth.
To secure the embroidery floss, don't bother tying it, just dab some glue and let the floss dry in it.  Once dried, hold the loose end of the floss and spin the dowel in your hand until you're satisfied with the amount you have wrapped.  To fasten the end, dab some more glue and pull the floss through it and let it dry.  Trim the floss.
Lastly, paint your arrow head. I opted for metallic hues.  And you're done!


You can get even more creative with this and paint designs on your rods with bright colors.  I kept mine neutral, though, because I want to be able to use them for lots of different things. This project is so easy, inexpensive and really catches people's attention!






Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!
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Wednesday, October 3, 2012

PARTY: Little Deer Baby Shower (Printables + FREE Cupcake Toppers)

I made all of the printables for the "Welcome Little Deer" baby shower (click HERE to see the full party.) Making printables for parties can be pretty time consuming, but the workload is significantly lessened if you have the right tools.

I used Photoshop and my Silhouette Cameo craft cutter a TON for this party. I really don't know what I'd do without either. I'm completely self-taught when it comes to design, and really it's been the result of a lot of trial and error and reading other peoples' blogs. Pugly Pixel is an amazing resource for great Photoshop tutorials and tips in case you're wanting to learn more about using Photoshop. Katrina is a Photoshop genius, and she's very clear in her tutorials. Definitely check her out! If you want to go the easier route, PicMonkey is also a great free online program for photo editing that you could easily use for designing as well.

When it came to cutting everything out, my Silhouette Cameo was a life saver. I couldn't imagine cutting out 60 sandwich flags, 2 dozen cupcake toppers and wrappers, and 20 treat toppers by hand. My Cameo did it all in seconds! The Silhouette online store is also a great resource for images that can give your final product professional-looking results if you don't know how or don't want to make your own.

Now, onto the good stuff!


For the invite, I kept to a simple layout and chose a deer silhouette using free clipart on Microsoft Word. This is the front and back of the invite, but I removed the personal information because, while we love you all, we're not ready for total strangers to show up at Shannon's house uninvited lol.


Printables were essential in styling the food. First, I made cupcake toppers using Photoshop. They were simply hot glued to toothpicks and inserted into the cupcakes. They really add to the overall look and theme, don't you think? I made ones that say "welcome little deer" and ones with just the deer head.

And luckily for all you wonderful people, we're offering the cupcake toppers as a free download! Just click HERE, and you'll be taken to the page to download the free toppers. Print on card stock for the best outcome.

The cupcake wrappers were also made using Photoshop, and the scallop wrapper design was downloaded from the Silhouette online store (Can you tell I'm obsessed with my Cameo?) I love how the wrappers turned out, I'll definitely be using the design for future parties!


I also cut out little flags for the sandwiches, wraps, and gobs. These were crazy easy. It was just a matter of making a little flag design in Silhouette Studio and cutting out a bunch of them and gluing them to toothpicks. 


Finally, the last printables I made, and my very favorite might I add, were the treat toppers for the buckeyes that we gave away to guests. I designed the labels to be just long enough to fit plastic sandwich or snack baggies. I printed them out, folded them, and then stapled the tags to the plastic baggies. Easy, but with a really cute effect.

Note: I got the digital chevron paper that I used for all the printables on Design House Digital which, in case you've never been to the website, is a great resource for downloadable digital papers and other designs for digital scrapbooking! The chevron digital paper is by Celeste Knight, and she offers it in several different colors for free. Design House Digital also offers several other free downloadable papers, so they're definitely a site to bookmark.

Hope you all enjoyed everything!





Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!
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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

CRAFT: DIY Fold Dyed Garland


I hoard paper bags.  Seriously.  There are so many possibilities for paper bags that the thought of throwing one away sends me into a panic.  The only problem is that I've never actually done anything with the hoard of paper bags that I've hoarded... until last week!  I used this Sprinkle as the perfect opportunity to use some of these paper bags... I'm sure you could probably figure out how to make this just by looking at the photos, but I'm going to break it down anyway.

You will need:
Paper bags
A compass or a glass/bowl to trace
RIT Fabric Dye
A glass or bowl for the dye
An absorbent, but leak proof surface for drying.
Jute rope
Glue stick
1 - Make a circle.. trace a glass or a bowl, whatever size you want or use a compass.
2 - Fold your circle in half.  (Try different folds to get different effects with the dye)
3 - Dip in your fabric dye solution.  (Mix this according to the level of saturation you desire)
4 - Unfold, let dry.
5 - Once dry, apply glue stick to one half of inside of circle
6 - Fold circle over rope and press together until you are sure the glue has bonded
7 - Admire your lovely half circle
8 - Repeat about 40 times for one eye-catching strand of garland.


The result you get is a completely unique party decoration.  It's easy, cheap and looks awesome!  We love cheap things that look awesome!  Can you imagine how great these would look with glitter on them??  I think I might have to make more...

Just in case you missed the post yesterday about the Sprinkle we through, you can check it out here::  Welcome Little Deer Baby Sprinkle







Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!
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Monday, October 1, 2012

PARTY: Little Deer Baby Shower

This past weekend, Shannon, my mother-in-law and I threw our sister-in-law, Lindi a baby sprinkle. Wondering what a "sprinkle" is? It's basically a smaller version of a baby shower (hence the name "sprinkle") for the second-born child, with the purpose of making sure the mother-to-be has all the essentials she may not have gotten when she had the first baby.

When I lived in Tennessee, my friends threw me a sprinkle for my son which I LOVED because, having had a little girl the first time around, I had no boy things - and my husband absolutely refused to let me bathe our son with princess wash cloths and the like. While my sprinkle was an intimate get together, Lindi's sprinkle turned more into a full blown baby shower (although Shannon and my MIL claim this party was small. I'm learning when they do parties, they DO parties.) It was a ton of fun to plan and put on, and little Flynn was showered with lots of love and gifts for his arrival in a few weeks.


The "Little Deer" theme was a perfect theme for baby Flynn. We kept to a blue, turquoise, and wood grain palette and integrated little hints of nature throughout the tablescape. It was a great way to have a masculine party for a little boy that wasn't your typical baby theme.


Shannon made the awesome arrows that served as the centerpiece (if there's enough interest, she may put together a tutorial :) She also made a banner out of leather with Flynn's name on it that can be hung in the baby's room as a decoration.


Another integral part of the decorations were the dyed scallop garlands Shannon made. She strung them in the dining room above the table and above the gift table. They turned out awesome! And of course a tutorial will be coming for those too :)

Now, let's get to the really good stuff: the FOOD!

Guests could choose from turkey and avocado wraps or mini caprese sandwiches made with fresh buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes and basil. We topped them with cute little chevron flags on toothpicks to tie in the theme. Mini chalkboards were perfect for labeling all the yummy food (and perfect to use for future parties.)


Shannon made her famous white bean salad... 


...and spinach dip with fresh bread. There were plenty of other finger foods as well, including veggies and dip, apples and caramel sauce, and fried macaroni and cheese from Trader Joes (SO yummy!)

But the best part is always dessert, am I right?


There were cupcakes with two different kinds of frosting, butter cream and Nutella (thanks Pinterest!) and let me tell you, the Nutella frosting was ah-mazing. We were licking the beaters afterward. I could eat bowls of the stuff. I made the little cupcake toppers with deer on some and "welcome little deer" on the rest (I'll be sharing these later this week - are you sensing a theme?)


In addition to the cupcakes, there were also gobs (not homemade but equally amazing).


The drink station included punch, lemonade, water, and mimosas, which all the ladies (minus the pregnant one of course) just loved.


The favor/gift table had to be one of my favorite areas. The deer pelt on the table actually came from my husband's grandfather who shot it a long time ago and had it tanned. It was a great way to incorporate something special into the decor. We also had more of the paper bag garland and tags made from the cupcake toppers.



And then there are the cute party favors! Shannon had a friend make buckeyes (get it?) and we put 4 in a bag for each guest with little toppers that say "thank you, deer." I made pretty much all the printables with Photoshop and my Silhouette Cameo, love that thing.

The mama was happily showered with lots of great gifts for little Flynn, including a handmade receiving blanket that I made from soft flannel. I used my Cameo to cut out Flynn's name and then stitched it to the blanket. It was harder than it sounds! Next time I'll make sure to steer clear of cursive fonts ha!


Big sister had a lot of fun at the shower too, she especially enjoyed the cupcakes.



We can't wait to meet you, little Flynn!







Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!
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