Can of Dates

My most recent craft is something that we decided to do for wedding presents for our friends.  This past weekend, Dakota (my husband) & I had to attend two weddings, separately.  I was a bridesmaid in my friends wedding, which started at 5:00 pm and Dakota was a groomsman in our other friends wedding, which started at 3:00 pm.

We were very upset that we couldn't attend both TOGETHER, but enjoyed being a part of the marriage of our friends anyway.

I am the type of person that I DO NOT like to give gifts that just anybody could go to the store and buy.  I like for our gifts to be unique (YOU-nique!) and special.  I also want people to know that we spent time and effort to come up with and create the gifts that we give.

So, for these weddings we gave each couple a Can of Dates.

These Can of Dates were filled with goodies such as, a 50-piece puzzle, candles, extra-small lantern, blank cards, journal, Old Maid Game cards, popcorn, bubbles, 2 bars of soap, peanuts, a roll of pennies, a $10 gift card to Buffalo Wild Wings, & 37 simple, easy date ideas.

Some of the date ideas were:

"Hope your marriage soars!  Here's some wings to help you out!" ($10 BWW gift card)

"Have a soap carving contest." (2 bars of soap)

"Wishing Well Date-Go to a fountain and make wishes together." (roll of pennies)

"Living Room Camp-Out" (lantern)

I printed the date ideas on colored paper and stuffed everything neatly into this cool, plastic paint can I got from a craft store.  It cost us about $30 for each Can of Dates gift.  We were very excited to present these gifts to our friends!

This Can of Dates is also a great idea for anniversaries, newly engaged couples, or couples with a baby on the way.  You could include a coupon for a Free evening of babysitting!

Framed Faces

One of my latest projects was something that I did when I was in First Grade.  I remember my teacher had all of the children in her class sit in a chair next to the wall, one by one, with an overhead projector light pointing at our heads.  She would then let another student trace our shadow on the wall which created a silhouette.  I thought it was SO awesome!

So I decided that Dakota & I should try it as adults.  At this point, I must give my First Grade teacher some praise.  I have no idea how she got young children to sit still long enough to trace their figures.  Dakota & I are grown adults and we had such a hard time sitting still.  It seemed as if every time one of us would start to draw the other, someone would laugh causing us to start all over because the person modeling moved.

About a half hour later ( & lots of laughs), we finally finished tracing each other's shadows.  I cut out the figures and traced them to make duplicates.  We made two different setups, the one pictured above where our silhouettes are layered on top of each other with a bright green background (the accent color in our bedroom is bright green) and the one pictured below with our individual silhouettes side by side.

We purchased all three of these frames at a yard sale for between $0.10 and $0.25.  However, they need to be painted.  We had a lot of fun doing this craft and it was great that we could spend time together making something that we will have hanging in our bedroom for a long time.

It would be interesting to do this again in several decades (when we are old) and see the differences!

Diaper Cakes & Babies

This was one of my favorite projects, probably because it involves two of my favorite things (crafts & babies).  I made this diaper cake & diaper baby for my aunt's baby shower and everyone loved it.  I really enjoyed shopping for all of the little "extras" and putting it all together.

This diaper cake is gender neutral due to the fact that my aunt & uncle chose not to find out the sex of their baby (it was a BOY, June 27, 2011).  Diaper cakes can be made as simple or as complex as you choose.  Simple cakes include diapers with ribbon and maybe one or two decorations.

Diaper cakes range anywhere from $15 to $120 just depending on the complexity and "extras" you choose.  This cake cost approximately $60 because we included so many "extras."  This diaper cake includes approximately 80 newborn diapers, baby spoons, pacifier, burp clothes, newborn caps, bib, rattle (the giraffe in the top middle), teething ring, fingernail clippers, medicine bottle, nose/ear sucker, and bottle cleaner (in the center of the cake, you can't see it).

While I was researching how to make diaper cakes, I came upon instructions on how to make a diaper baby.  I had heard of a diaper cake before, but I had never heard of a diaper baby.  Needless to say, I was interested.  So when I bought supplies for my diaper cake, I made sure to get enough diapers to have extra to make this diaper baby.

This diaper baby cost approximately $20.  It includes about 45 newborn diapers, newborn cap, pacifier, bib, mittens, and socks.  Again, I went with a gender neutral theme with the diaper baby as well.

All together these gifts include about 125 newborn diapers, which I know really came in handy (even though my aunt didn't want to tear the gifts apart).  I really enjoyed making these two items!  I can't wait to make others!

Terrific Tutus

So, previously I posted about spending an afternoon at a craft store to purchase all the supplies for the ideas I had stirring in my nogin.  Well, I finally had the time to make my first tutu (and some other items to be posted at a later time).

I am proud to introduce my terrific tutus.

It only took me about an hour to make one of these.  I put it together while sitting on the couch, watching a show.  I really enjoyed it and it was quite simple.  This tutu is a size 3T.  I couldn't find any volunteers to measure the waist so I found a pair of shorts I had in my house for our nephew (who is size 3T) and measured the waist of the shorts.

I have already sold my first tutu and I am in the process of making a second one to sell to the same buyer.  I now have a tutu size chart so there is no need to measure your little girl's waist.  I can simply make the tutu from the size of clothes that she wears.

 These can be made in many different colors, custom to your order.  The one pictured is light pink and light purple.  Order tutus could be one color to many colors, just depending on the customer's preferences.

If you know a perfect little princess who is in need of a TERRIFIC TUTU, let me know and she will have her tutu within a week!

Perfect gift for a little girl or a baby (could be used as a prop for photos).