Halloween R.I.P Cupcakes- Cute and Yummy!

Still as cute and yummy as last year when I made them! I just thought I would do a few throw back posts from last year at Halloween  time, just in case you didn't get a chance to see them. Looking back on it now, maybe you could add a little bit of orange sprinkles or crumble some chocolate cake on top to make it look like turned earth. Here is my post from last year:
How cute are these to satisfy your Halloween craving?

While I was waiting in a doctor's office (something I do a lot since I have four kids) I saw this cute little recipe for a chocolate cake with "RIP" Headstones made out of cookies. I loved the idea and wanted to make it, but I thought cupcakes would be easier. No cutting and serving and plates and forks to worry about that way:)

So I guess I cheated a little bit because I didn't make the cake or frosting from scratch, but I did add an extra egg and a teaspoon and a half of vanilla to a white cake mix. And besides, My friend who is an expert at making cupcakes and frosting from scratch says she likes store bought chocolate frosting better than homemade anyway:)

So you will need:

Cake mix- whatever flavor is your favorite Prepare as directed adding extra egg and teaspoon and a half vanilla extract

Cup cake liners

2 cans Chocolate frosting

Milano Cookies from Pepperage Farm (Vanilla wafers would also work)

Basically you make your cupcakes according to the directions on the box. Let cool completely (put in freezer for a half hour if needed)

Fill a zip lock bag with chocolate frosting and cut a very tiny slit in one corner to pipe "RIP" onto cookie.

Frost cup cakes, cut a slit in the top of the cup cake with a knife for the cookie to be inserted into the cupcakes.

note: if you use a chocolate cake recipe you can crumble a little of the cake in front of the headstone to look like freshly turned dirt. I didn't do this because I used a vanilla cake.

So Yummy and so fun!

Happy Crafting!
XOXO, 
 Amy

Marshmallow Chocolate Chip Cresent Rolls: 3 Ingredient to A Quick Treat!

 This is so yummy and easy to make and if you have it ready and waiting for your kids after school, they just might tell you all about their day!
Simply buy a can a crescent rolls, fill with marshmallows and chocolate chips, roll them up (seal them good!) and cook them according to directions! I also sprinkled them with powdered sugar!!

I found this recipe on Pinterest via http://www.northerncottage.net/.
See my board: Cookies and Other Yummy Things, here.
Enjoy!
XOXO,
 Amy

Wedding Decor: Vitorian Burlap And Lace Theme: Simple DIY Details Revealed

(All the links Lead to Tutorials)

The gentle stroll down the aisle, the heart felt smiles and tears of joy; there is just something about a wedding. I think it is the promise of  love and the hope for a happy future. The promise to have each others back through thick and thin. We were lucky enough to add a new woman to our family last weekend! 

 Isn't She lovely?!

 My husband has NINE brothers and (yep, ten boys) and this wedding happened to be for brother number nine. I got a call two days before the wedding from my mother-in-law. It was a plea for help. She and My sister-in-law were in need of some desperate decorating help. The wedding theme was somewhat vintage with a heavy emphasis on lace and burlap decor. They had been lucky enough to borrow most of the decorations and needed some help setting the stage for romance.

Look at this cake: beautiful right? I didn't make it, but I did make that lovely lace and burlap banner behind it (with the help of a great friend! Since I only had two days to pull all of the decor together, I called my friend Ashely- who is eternally creative- and explained to her all the things I needed to have done! My oh. my can that girl work miracles!)

 The wedding was at a house near by at the home of another SIL (remember I have nine BIL'S). Her house is huge, but relatively empty as they haven't lived there long. We moved my entryway mirror on over to their house and set it up behind the cake table . . . see my beautiful fabric banner?? (see tutorial) It was the perfect touch.

 I had nothing to do with this candy favor table but I still thought it was adorable!

 Cute little cookie tray . . .

The wedding colors were red, black and white ( well she said the color was burgandy, but all the decore she chose was red, so I am saying it was red::)

Cafe Rio Catered . . . Yum!

We used my kids dresser for the sign in table . . . I spray painted an old dressed mirror to sit on top of the dresser

Lots of pictures were used as decor . . .

I made two wreaths and chalkboard welcome sign (see tutorial here) to garnish the entry. See Wreath tutorials here:

Wreath One: See Wreath tutorials here:

Wreath 2: See Wreath tutorials here:

Close up of Wreath 2:

Dresser and Mirror for guest book . . .(see tutorial) for spray painted mirror

Burlap and lace banner, monogrammed pillow (see tutorial), spray painted bird cage . . .

These pictures really don't do it all justice. It was dark and my camera can't really handle poor lighting, but you can get a little idea of what it look like and trust me when I say it was so beautiful!

Happy Crafting,
XOXO,
 Amy

Monogram a Pillow- Great Wedding Gift! (Also, Spray Paint a Bird Cage and Use a Dresser As A Sign in Table)

Lets get to it!
Giving a personalized gift is a wonderful thing to do! It is even better when it can double as decor!
To create the monogrammed pillows, I went to Walmart of all places. I bought the pillow (time was so short there was no way I was going to be able to make one! Plus this pillow fit their colors exactly- so it all worked out!) This pillow is from Walmart's Better Home and Garden Line. In the craft section their are tons of iron on decals. I chose the decals with the most bling. Took the pillow home and mostly followed the application instructions. I couldn't flip the fabric inside out so I laid a dish towel on the decals instead. It really turned out so cute and It is so fun to give a personalized gift.
For Fabric Banner tutorial, click here.

I am sure you have seen lots of tutorial on how to spry paint furniture . . . what is one more?! This is an old mirror that sat atop a dresser in my guest house. I used Krylon brand paint and primer in a satin white finish. It took 4 coats.I covered the mirror with lots of old homework papers. Let all coats fully dry in between.

Some of the grain showed through, which I like, and I sanded down some of the edges to reveal more. I finished with a protective glossy coat of clear spray paint.

This picture really does it no justice. It was way cute.

Since it was a Victorian themed wedding, I thought a bird cage would be a nice touch. I spray painted this little lady white with the same stuff I used on mirror. It took like three coats. Let fully dry in between.

We used these item to decorate a small corner of the great room. It looked wonderful!  Find Banner tutorial here:

Happy Crafting!
XOXO,
 Amy

Lace and Burlap Decorative Banner: Wedding Decor

This banner was really so easy!
I don't know if you heard the story, but I was asked to come up with some wedding decor for my SIL two days before the wedding. Not much time right. The good news in all this was almost all of the decor was borrowed from a girl who had just had a wedding with a simliar theme. It is always a good idea to save money. We went to work using the material we borrowed and turning it onto something all our own. I think what made this banner work so well was the contrast of textures.
 (Thanks to my friend Ashley for helping me with this!!)

 This is what I used:
Lace with lots of sparkles on it from Joann's
Muslin (two different types)
burlap
twine
satin fabric in beige
A crystal Christmas tree garland

 This is how you do it!!
First of all most of the fabric was already pre-cut because it had been used as chair ties for the previous wedding. We only had to cut the satin and one other type of muslin. We did this simply by making a small cut in the fabric and then ripping it the rest of the way. Each type of fabric varied in width.

We tied a length of twine to two chairs in our desired length and began to loosely tie the fabric to the twine in a desirable pattern. When we were done with the fabric we were able to detach the Christmas tree garland by the rings it used to connect each crystal together. We layered it between the fabric. I'd say it was about 18-24 inches long.

It was simple and just the right touch!

 Happy Crafting!
XOXO,
 Amy

DIY: Turn An Old Cupboard Door Into A Chalkboard!

This was way fun! A friend of mine gave me a bunch of old cabinet doors when she moved. She had planned to do something fun with them but never got around to it! But I did! I turned it into a chalkboard and used it at a wedding reception to welcome guests as they arrived.

The cabinet door was brown. I used Krylon brand spray paint and primer in one in satin finish. It took 3-4 coats. I sanded the edges when it was dry. I taped of the middle part of the cupboard with painters tape and painted with chalkboard paint that I had previously picked up at Robert's Craft. It took 4 coats. I let it cure for 24 hours. Dusted with a light coat of chalk and then was ready to use it!

Find Wreath tutorial here:

 Happy Crafting!
XOXO,
 Amy

Burlap and Lace: DIY Wedding Wreaths

Here is a simple tutorial for this wedding wreath. Now keep in mind that a lot of the decor for this wedding (basically all the fabric and anything shiny) was borrowed and had to be returned so we had to be creative in how we used the supplies.

(P.S. This is part of a series and if you didn't read the intro let me just say, that I was asked to make the decor for my SIL's wedding with only two days notice. So if it looks a little thrown together, it is because it really was last minute!)

I used (numbered according to chart below)
1. lace with sparkles from Joanne's (I used a whole yard because I couldn't cut the lace. but you would not need that much. 1/2 would be fine)
 2.  length of small pears from Robert's scrapbook section 
3. Burlap
4. Dark Beige colored tulle
5. Faux crystal brooch borrowed from friend
6. Rolled satin  flower hair clip with small pearls glued in center (there is also anothe singed edge flower above this one)
7. Black satin singed edge hair clip with a decorative brad in the middle
8. Faux crystal Christmas tree ornament (borrowed from friend)
9. Black scrapbook stickers from Roberts
10. LOTS of straight pins!!!!
11. Hot glue gun
12. Foam Tubing from the plumbing section of Ace Hardware or Home Depot- Super Cheap!! Mine was $1.50 at Ace.
13. Wide tape

 So I started with the foam tubing. It needed to be a circle obviously:) I have done this a few time and I have used all different kinds of tape, packaging tape, masking tape, duck tape, etc. They all see to work fine.

 Now this wreath actually went really fast for me because I had everything pre-made (because I sell flower hair clips) and luckily I had a few that matched the wedding colors. If you have to make your own flowers, this process will take a little bit longer.

After I had the foam tube taped together I basically wrapped the fabric around pinning it in place along the way. The fabric was folded in half several times with the sparkles on the front.

EDIT: Over time I have noticed that my foam tube lost shape, so I added a hanger inside the tube that I had twisted into circle form.

After the lace was on, I clipped on threes flowers hair clips and then pinned them into place to secure the. I pinned the crystal brooch into place and added the crystal Christmas tree ornament. I think I ended up securing it by attaching it to the flower hair clip. I bunched two different scraps of tulle together and pinned them into place.

For the burlap "I do" banner:
I drew triangles on a piece of paper cut them out and then used them as a template. I cut the triangles out of the burlap, hot glued the scrapbook letters to it (for extra staying power) and then hot glued the burlap triangles to the length of pearls.  I hot glued the ends of the pearls to straight pins and then pinned them into the back of the wreath where no one could see them.

Everything was removable.
Now, if you have to make flowers to add to your wreath, here are some tutorials: rolled flowers and singed flowers. (for the rolled flowers, I like using ribbon when you don't want the frayed edges look.)

Now . . . Onto Wreath Number 2!

 Mostly everything was the same, just using different materials. I used muslin to wrap around the foam tube and pinned it into place. I hot glued the burlap triangles onto twine instead of pearls. The flower in the center is clipped on to the burlap triangle by the brad that decorated the center of the flower. The lace bow, is bunched together because I couldn't cut it. I clipped a flower hair clip to the center of the bow. It is hung on the chalkboard sign with a loosely woven type of burlap.

These were so easy to make and because everything was removable, you could make a new wreath for every season and eliminate the need to store a million wreaths! Find chalkboard tutorial here.

 

 I hope you make wonderful things!

Happy Crafting!
XOXO,
 Amy

Printing Pictures on Fabric: From Failure to Success

 There are so many tutorials for printing on fabric. I have wanted to try it for so long and I figured my Grandma's 80TH birthday celebration was as good a time as any to try it out. I wanted to get her something meaningful and I figured pictures of her wedding day turned into a pillow might just be the right place to start.

 I have to tell you I tried this so many times before I got it to work. I mostly used the tutorial from here. But after putting fabric and wax paper through my printer 5 or 6 times and continually failing I decided I needed a new plan. After all Einstein's  definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Time I listened. So, this is my journey from failure to success.

First off, you need,  high quality cotton, ink jet printer 9mine is an hp deskjet D2445- nothing special), a picture from your computer and matches/candle

Matches and a candle? Weird right ? This is why:

I cut out my piece of fabric and tried to get rid of any frayed ends, but as the fabric went through the computer ironed on to a piece of wax paper, the ends would still fray and the wax paper ended up separating from the fabric. I was determined to make this work however so I decided to try something drastic.

I lit a candle and carefully singed all the edges of my piece of fabric. this effectively kept all the edges from fraying and allowed the fabric to go through my computer without the wax paper and without any further problems. I was so excited! After i had the image printed on fabric, I ironed it, picture side down to heat set it a little. I don't how good that will work, but that is what I did.

This is my piece of fabric with the burnt edges and a picture of my grandparents wedding day successfully printed. In my photoshop elements program I added the lettering on the pillow.

I think this one below is what it looked like before I burned the edges.

This was their honeymoon car.

I then cut out another piece of fabric for the back of the pillow with this pint:

Pinned it together with the backs of the fabric turned out, sewed it leaving a little hole for stuffing batting in. Turned it right side out, stuffed it and hand stitched the rest of it closed.

It turned out like this:

It is a bit faded, but it was the look I was going for. I wanted a vintage feel. For the car pillow, I wish I would have put the lettering above the car instead of below so it would show up better, but hey, live and learn, right?

Right before my Grandma got married, she had a doctor's appointment to get medication for strep throat and my Grandpa had a college final. Not the typical way you would think tho spend the morning of your wedding. They met up to walk to the wedding together and they had to cross a busy street. My Grandpa yelled, C'mon Joan!" and he darted out into traffic to cross. My Grandma remained in the side walk with her feet firmly planted, not about to run into on-coming traffic. My Grandpa was sure this was a sign that meant she wouldn't follow where he lead. But she made it abundantly clear that she would follow him anywhere, except into on-coming traffic. The result of their happy marriage was, six daughters, 21 grandchildren and 30 great grandchildren and counting.

I hope that this works for you! It really is a fun gift to give.

Happy Crafting!

XOXO,

 Amy