Category Archives: Decor

DIY Cactus Letters

26th July 2017

I couldn’t think of what to do for an inexpensive but creative centerpiece for my sister-in-laws Fiesta Baby Shower.  I remembered seeing these big letters at Hobby Lobby and it hit me: cactus letters!  Admittedly, cacti are getting overdone and letters are way overdone but, every now and then, I like a few trends too much not to use them because they are just too cute for their own good.

It’s simple to do these and really cheap!  Take any letter, or shape for that matter, from the paper craft section of the store.  I’m not sure what you call this material…it’s like a thin cardboard.  Help me out, people?

Directions

Paint your shape with any craft paint, cut toothpicks in half with scissors, add a dab of hot glue and place each toothpick half pointy side up in each glue dot and get er’ done!  I used this craft paint here if you want to do it just like mine.

Lastly, attach any fake desert looking flower to the top of your piece like a good old real-deal cactus.  It’s that simple! You’ll notice I pointed the “cactus needles”  in sightly different directions for a real-life look.  It looks weird for them all to be stuck straight up and down.

You can do whole words, colored toothpicks, different colored letters, ANYTHING!  If you have a cactus themed room in your child’s room, you better do this right away!  I know I made this but….I think it’s adorable all while being on trend and not too cute-sy.  What do you think?

Pin, share and enjoy and make sure to follow me on Pinterest and  Facebook!

Awesome DIY Party Garlands

21st April 2016

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Sticker Garland on Baker’s Twine

How easy and how cute!!!

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Oker

 

Mini Fruit Balloon Garland

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Oh Happy Day

 

Folded Cupcake Liner Garland

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Handmade Charlotte

 

Party Hat Garland

The House That Lars Built has an awesomely cute party hat garland tutorial!  You could make this one yourself following their post or even use pre-made party hats to save yourself some crafting!  So cute and great for a billion themes!

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The House That Lars Built

 

Pool Noodle Popsicle Garland

If this isn’t cute enough for you to choke, then you will never need the Heimlich!  Follow the easy tutorial on the source link below the pic from Oh Happy Day!

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Oh Happy Day

 

Tissue Paper Fringe Garland

Easy, cute and CHEAP!

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Babble

 

Cupcake Liner Garland

Just needle, thread and string together some cute and colorful liners.  Don’t want to make your own?  You can buy one from Ella Jane Crafts on Etsy!

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Ella Jane Crafts

 

Balloon Garland

This might be the easiest and cheapest of all!  Blow up balloons (no helium cost, yay!), use a needle and thread to pull a string through the balloon tip you blow into and hang!

 

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Young House Love

 

 

Elephant Toothpaste: How to Achieve My Volcano Gender Reveal Effect

1st March 2016

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*Affiliate links appear in this post.

Baking soda and vinegar volcanoes never get as crazy, big and fluffy as I would like and I needed a big effect for my party of 35 to see my gender reveal “lava” color.

I decided to go with elephant toothpaste and here is how you do it:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of 40 Volume hydrogen peroxide (This can be found at beauty supply stores.  You can not use any old hydrogen peroxide for this.  This is a 6% solution and for $3.50, I got enough to do this experiment a good 4 to 5 times.)

1 Tablespoon blue Dawn liquid dish soap

1 packet of active dry yeast

3 Tablespoons warm water

Food coloring of your choice (10 to 20 drops depending on how bold you want the color)

Casserole dish or tray with a high lip to catch the flowing action!

Directions:

Mix hydrogen peroxide and Dawn soap together in a water bottle/vase/ etc.

Put mixture on to the casserole dish or lipped tray you want to catch the goods.

In a separate bowl, mix 3 tablespoons of warm water with one packet active dry yeast until it is mostly dissolved.

Using a funnel or measuring cup, pour yeast mixture into the peroxide mixture and immediately see a result!

It is so fun, warm and fluffy and perfectly say to touch and play with!  It’s mainly just oxygen and something else but I can’t remember.  What am I, Bill Nye The Science Guy?

Do it for fun, a science lesson or for a reveal like mine!  The kids go crazy for this stuff and it was just what my party needed!

*Color much more vivid in real life!

How to make these volcanoes:

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What you will need:

Acrylic craft paint in the color of your choice for the volcano

Paper trees in various sizes (When I say paper, they are more like chipboard and in the crafting and chipboard section of Hobby Lobby.  Also, sold at Christmas for Christmas crafts.)

A cheap plastic baby bottle

Hot glue gun

Serrated Knife

Tissue paper in orange and yellow, cut into flame shapes and stuffed into the opening while the reveal awaits!

Directions:

Paint volcanoes in the color of your choice, adding a question mark for the reveal cone.

Cut off the top of your “tree” about 3 inches from the top with a serrated knife.

Take your baby bottle and wedge it firmly through the bottom of the cone, up to the opening you cut.  If it does not get close to being flush with your opening, cut the cone off a little more.

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Once wedged, take your hot glue gun and fill in the rim of the bottle generously to the inside of the volcano to give it extra security.

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Follow directions above and lava away!