messyart

a good good friday and an Easter DIY

family time at the beach....

This is a little Easter DIY project i did, tute poted over on the RubyJu blog.

 Now were off to dye some eggs :) Happy good Friday to you !

Last minute Birthday invites

So the kids birthday parties are in 4 and 6 days respectively, and i still hadn't made the invites. The kids woke up this morning with complaints of "Muuuuuuum!  Haven't you made our INVITES yet?! MUUUUUUUM....you SAID you would make them by now! What are you doing? Why aren't they done!" Well lets see, between planning 5 birthdays in 2 weeks and an upcoming 60th and 70th and Easter lunch at my house, and running around with an IMPOSSIBLE toddler, soccer, dance, homework, dinners, lunches, grocery shopping, paying bills, fixing wardrobes that keep falling apart, breaking up constant squabbles between 4 kids and constantly picking up after EVERYBODY (because , as it seems, no one remembers how to put away shoes, clothes, their dishes after dinner, their toys or homework or anything, really)....hmmmm, nothing really kids. I've just been a bit lazy, sorry.

But really, their complaints are a bit justified, i should have made them by now. I know this. It's 6am when these complaints are being wailed at me and i realise i need to send them to school with invites. Today. In 2 hours. What to do, what to do?

First , grab a pen and the kids coloured markers.....and draw. Nothing fancy, but still has to be cute.

Now this next idea i know i've used before, and only recently at that, but who says i can't use a good idea twice. Especially when it's to different recipients?!

 Entoni's invites were a littler easier again. My friend Bec had given me this cute little notebook which i carry around with me. It's got really cute pages in it. I just tore my favourite page out and wrote the invites on that. Then i scanned it into the computer and printed in out onto heavier weight paper and then cut them out. I used more pages from the book to decorate the envelopes and Viola!

INVITATIONS ARE DONE!

And we were only 5 minutes late for school ;P

(remember, i was doing this while i was feeding/changing/dressing/entertaining a busy toddler and getting 3 kids ready for school)

 

busy busy busy

This weeks been extra busy with lots of cleaning, projcts and assignments. And the next few weeks are only going to get busier with the Mr.'s bday, the twins bday and my mums bday plus 2 more birthdays as weel ALL being celebrated in the next 2 weeks. I am throwing 4 parties in those 2 weeks, one not at home, thankfully.

Whew! I am exhausted just saying it!

Bring on the Easter holidays ....i say. Although, i'm not sure that things will be much quieter then either ;)

Heres a cute little pom pom bunting i found at Cotton On Kids which i plan to use for Tatianas Party.

And here's a cute little tutorial i did for RubyJu, if your feeling the need to be creative but need an idea! It's kinda Easter inspired, (butterflies always make me think of Easter, not sure why).

I dont really decorate my house much for easter, but i thought this year i might try and just change things up a bit. Do you decorate for Easter? If so, i'd love to know how!

So even though it's been busy, i still dont feel as if i'm getting much done. My littelest man made sure i got NOTHING done today. Punishment for putting child-locks on all his fave tupperware drawers, i think! He can no longer do this....

 So instead we took photos of ourselves playing. He really loved that!

 

(photos taken using the IncrediBooth app)

DIY valentines bunting and some sweet ideas

Today was crazy busy getting ready for a little Vday party we were holding for the kids. They loved it! Will post more on that tomorrow.  I did manage to sneak it some cuddle time with my VERY NEEDY very cute little man...

Heres one of the things i made for our little party. It's heart bunting...yes i'm sure you've seen it before, it's definitley not an original idea. I, however, dont know how to use a sewing machine, so my buntings hand-sewn (which sounds hard, but is really really easy! Promise!)

Heres what you need:

some twine

pretty paperbook pages...anything you can cut a heart out of :)

needle with a hole large enough to fit twine in

scissors 

step 1: cut your hearts out of the papers. You can use a template if you want, but i just wimged it with mine. Adds more character if they're not all the same. I think anyways ;)

Cut out as many as you need. I did  7 strings with 6-7 hearts on each. I did alot because we used it as a photo backdrop.

Step 2: Cut your twine to the desired lenghth. Thread it through the needle but don't double it. Tie a knot at the bottom so your bottom heart doesn't fall off.

Step 3: Thread your twine through the centre of your hearts. I put a hole at the bottom point and the top point. You can use a peice of foam (sit it under the hearts) to poke the holes a little more easily.

Thread as many hearts as you want onto each piece of twine. When your done, just hang them! I was originally going to hang mine from a piece of driftwood that i'd painted white. 

Also, for more Valentines ideas, check out my posts here and here.

 

happy thoughts {mini album}

It's be a VERY RAINY last few days....so much so that the kids have been home early from school everyday this week due to flooding. Perfect weather for crafting i say!

This was a class i taught years ago, called " Make it Yourself". I called it that because in this class we made everything ourselves, embellishments, pockets, tags, patterned paper, labels... Needless to say it was a long class, but one of my favourites to teach. I haven't scrapbooked in years. Life just got busy, priorities changed and for a long time there i was a single mum with 3 kids and no free time. I still have pizza boxes FULL of layouts ( i never did get around to bying albums). Occasionally i think i would like to create something, but my stuff is all still in boxes and i never remember to print photos anymore. But i have been pulling out some layouts from the past that make me smile. I might start posting some of them for old times sake. Just be kind, and remember that most of the layouts are OLD, at least 4 or 5 years old. And i haven't kept up with the scrapbooking world in YEARS! I'd have no idea what 'in' and whats not today :)

I posted a pic of this album and a couple of you said you would love the class notes. I thought i still had them, but i can't find them! However, i thought i could just post pics of the album instead. And if you do make an album inspired by this one, don't forget to share your pics, would love to see it!

Happy Crafting :)

DIY party favour idea: personalised mugs

Recently i helped my step mother plan a 40th birthday lunch for one of her good friends. It was simply done, as it was held in there tiny beachside apartment. With the ocean as their background, we went with auqua, white and silver as our colours. We had a small dessert table with lots of home baked sweetness on it (sadly i dont have a picture :( ) Robyn made some really good food for lunch (she is an EXCELLENT cook), and we decorated above the table with loads of pom poms in the afore-mentioned colours. She wanted some party favours, and we tossed up a few ideas, such as monogramed napkins. However things didnt go as planned and the day before the party we were left with nothing. So a quick stop to my local cheap shop and the florist and we came up with these.... 

They were quite simple to make really. I just got some ceramic paint, a fine paint brush, and white ceramic mugs. For the bouquets you'll need florist foam, lots of pretty flowers, and good gardening hand shears.

Following the instructions on the box of ceramic paint (every product works differently, so read the instructions carefully!) i hand painted on each invitee's initials. You only get one go, so take your time!

Then i let them dry. Once dry the were baked in an oven for 35 minutes. Once they were completely baked and cooled, i added florist foam and water to the bottom of each mug. Dont put in too much water, you want your guests to be able to take them home without spillage! Then add your flowers and your done :)

This would work really well with tea cups or plain white vases would look cute too!

And it's a gift they can use again and again. I had actually written up some cute little tags with care instructions, but didn't have time to tie them on! It was a surprise party, so we were under the pump, and i wanted to be out before the birthday girl arrived. Hopefully you'll be more organised!

ps. If you actually make any, please share your results! Just post a link to yours in my comments, as i'd love to see other peoples takes on this :)

DIY inspirational bunting

Because everyone needs a little inspiration in there lives, no?

I found this cute box of inspirational sayings and drawings the other day, but wasn't sure what i was going to do with them.They come with a little wooden stand, but i knew that if i displayed them that way, most likley my little terror of a toddler would just grab them and use them as inspirational floor confetti. When put that way, it doesn't actually sound that bad tho....until i have to pick it all up. Along with his lunch. And the rocks he brought in from outside. And the laundry that was all folded a minute ago. And the tupperware he managed to remove from ALL my kitchen cupboards in the time it took me to pee.

Anywho...

Tati's wall above her bed has been annoying me, because i just couldn't figure out what to put there. Until this morning when i came up with this super quick and super easy diy project. Really, it could be done with any kind of cute little cards, even playing cards, or ABC cards. Or you could just use some scraps of pretty paper....whatever.

So heres my super eady diy inspiational bunting.

All you need is cards/paper/something cute to hang. Twine. Cute tape (i used silver washi tape).

• Place you cards upside down in a line with the same amount of space in between each.

• PLace the twine across the back of each card.

• Adhere the cards to the twine with some cute tape. The tape will show on the right side, so take into consideration how much you are folding over.

• Fold over your tape. Do this with every card until your bunting is complete. Hang with more decorative tape....and Viola! Cute inspirational bunting! 

Would possibly make a sweet little Xmas gift for someone.

ps. I had the fan on, which is why the right side of my bunting is hanging funny. It kept blowing up, and it was just too hot to not have it on. Not even for a second.

Happy Monday :)

 

Friday...

So we've started celebrating Fathers Day already! Today we had a special lunch for both mine and Bec's man. One of the Mr.'s fave meals is french toast with bacon, bananas and maple syrup. Bec cooked up a delicious batch of french toast using this recipe here. Bec and i made some cute little decorations for the table and food, which you can see here, and the kids wrote some sweet little love notes for the dads, which we placed in decorated envelopes and placed on thier plates.

(The only pics i took were took hurridly with my iPhone, so plaese excuse the blurriness of them all)

TJ loved the carrot cake, not so much a fan of the french toast.

After lunch we walked down to the beach and the kids all had a super quick go on the Mr.'s board before deciding it was too cold. Mostly they just ran around playing in the sand while relaxed and watched them play. We stayed till evening before walking home to sip on hot chocolates and coffee. It was such a lovely relaxing (well most of it anyway ;) day spent with good good friends. Just the way i like my days :)

If you check out the RubyJu blog you'll see Bec's pics from the day. Just for fun, i thought i'd make a couple of quick tutes for last minute fathers day decoration ideas. 

Fathers Day Gift Bag

(aka. super quick last minute wrapping idea! ;)

What you need:

some different patterned papers

a paper lunch bag

scissors

thin doule-sided sticky tape

pen and paper to write on

a cd, dvd, or sandwhich... even a tie would work ;)

1. Cut some patterened paper into little rounded flag shapes.

2. Place them into 3 rows in the order you want them , and then turn them all over so the back side is facing you.

3 and 4. Place thin double-sided sticky tape across the top of each row (on the side facing you, which should be the back side)

5. Cut out a decorative space to write your Fathers Day message.

6. Start aticking your strips to the bag, beginning with the bottem row and layering to the top to create some decorative fringing. Then add your message.

Viola! You have a cute little gift bag (or sandwhich bag)

Fathers Day Bunting

or for any day really!

What you need:

coloured and patterned paper

scissors

thin double-sided sticky tape

twine

two skewers

a cake to decorate!

(ps. these pics were taken at night with poor light, so again, please excuse the not-so-great pics :)

1.  Cut out some more rounded flags (like a rectangle with one end rounded)

2. Place them in the order you want them to hang

3. Flip them over and add double sided tape to the top of each one

4. Peel off the tape and start attaching the twine

5. Roll the tops of the paper flag over the twine

6. Flip it over and make any adjustments

7. Tie either ends of the twine to a skewer

8. Pop into your cake to decorate!

Moustache Cup tute

Better late than never, right?

Its been a busy week round here with 3 sick kids, and one sick mumma (me), but i've finally got a chance to visit my sadly negglected blog now that everyones sleeping in bed :)

So without further adue....heres the Moustache Cup Tute. It's an easy one folk, great for the kids for Fathers Day mabey? 

What you need:

pencil or pen

scissors

glue

paper cups

black or brown coloured cardstock

srcap paper (old bill, and envelope...anything will do!)

1. Fold your scrap paper

2. Draw half a moustache

3. Draw a few different style moustaches, if u wish

4. Cut out your moustaches , open up and make any alterations you need to it

5. Fold your coloured cardstock and cut out moustaches using the white one as a template

7. Unfold your moustache and drop a dot of glue in the middle

8. Glue your moustache to your cup and let dry before using

Viola! You are done :)

Simple, right? Now just do it 50 more times! Haha...only kidding. Unless your crazy like me and actually do make ones for every guest at your party (and then some)

;)

Happy Monday!

 

Little box of crafty love

Little Miss Molly (the Mr.'s neice) turned 9 this year. She's really into making things, and mentioned to me she wanted to learn to sew. So for her Birthday this year, i bought her a book for children on making crafty things, and made his a little box of goodies to go with it.

I filled the box with some felt. some pretty fabric, ribbons, thread in different colours, a little jar of buttons and embriodery threads. Then i made a little place for her to store her sewing needles and pins on the top of the box.

 It was easy enough to do. I cut out a heart in red felt and glued it to the box. Then i cut out a smaller heart in pink felt, and making sure i ONLY placed glue on the edge of the pink heart, i glued it to the red heart. It would have been much better to sew the pink heart onto the red heart, and then glue it to the lid, but as always, i left it till the last minute and needed to make it quickly. I stuck some pretty pins in and viola!

Since i mostly raided my stash of things to ill the box with, really, my only cost was the book that went with it, and the box itself.

I might have to use this idea again over Christmas i think, I have a few little girls i know of that would love this! Which makes me think....OMG, is it that time already??? Time to start thinking of Xmas gifts already? Really , it's only 17 or so weeks away. Now thats scary!