Sponge bombs

  Sponge Bombs

Water balloons are fun… BUT the prep (super sore fingers from tying) and

clean up (finding all the tiny rubber pieces) is not as much fun as the few

minutes of joy when throwing them. So, sponge bombs are an awesome

alternative! There is still prep involved, but only the first time.  Then you just use them over and over with EASY clean up!

What you need:

• Scissors
• String (I used a string from Joann Fabrics that is thicker than embroidery floss but thinner than twine.)
• Sponges (I bought the ones sold in packs of 4)
•  How many do you need?? 2 sponges make 1 bomb
• Bucket for storage 

Let’s get started:

**Some “steps” are not needed, but I added them in so Madelyn could be

part of the process.

1. Open all the sponge wrappers and put into a container… or pile. 

2. **Have a toddler hand you the sponges. Cut the sponges into thirds. 

(I just eyeballed it) 

Madelyn was a great helper! The pic is blurry because she is moving so fast to help, ha!

3. **Sort the sponges.  This is great practice for tots.  I also wanted color

variety in the sponges, but if you don’t care then feel free to skip!

There were WAY more green sponges in our haul, so I used at least 2 in each bomb.

4. Line up 6 pieces; 3 stacked on top of three.  Have the string underneath.

I didn’t like how the embroidery floss (brown) pulled, so I bought other string (cream)

5. Pull as tight as you can.  Having a long tail and just cutting it off later was

helpful for me.  At first I felt like I was wasting string, but it didn’t add up to much in the long run.  I liked the other string better because in this step I felt I had a better grip and could pull it tighter.  I did 3 knots to secure it. 

 

6. Ta Da!  You’ve got your first sponge bomb! Now repeat until you’re out of sponges!

 

Ugly "Happy Holla Days" Sweater

My high school has Ugly Sweater day the day before break each year.  The past 2 years I would take a sweater for my mom's closet and she would be offended.  I found my idea on Pinterest and knew it would be my new Ugly Sweater!

Here is my final product!

Here is my Pinspiration:

What you need:

• blank ugly sweater (Mine is from Target)
• thrift shops, clearance at any clothing store
• felt (JoAnns)
• I used a green that has glitter on it
• chain (JoAnns)
• The original used pipe cleaners which would be cute.  They even have shiny pipe cleaners
• I used chain that is used to make necklaces
• hot glue gun
• scissors
• template with your font choice for "Happy Holla Dayz"
• needle and thread to sew on the chain
• card board fir inside the sweater so that the hot glue does not stick to the back of the sweater
• small bowl of ice water (just in case you burn your fingers on hot glue... like I did)

What you do:

1. Pick your font and trace onto the felt.  I traced my letters on backwards so that the ink would be in the back and I would not have to cut perfectly 
2. Plug in hot glue gun
3. Cut out the letters
4. Place sweater (with cardboard inside) on table next to hot glue gun
5. Also place your bowl of ice water on the table!
6. Lay letters out on the sweater
7. Start gluing letters onto sweater
8. Stitch the chains at the seam on the shoulders of the sweater
9. ALL DONE!

Wedding Streamers

Our venue did not allow sparklers or throwing rice, so lovely Pintrest and Meggan Brownrigg, gave me the idea of STREAMERS!!

My mom and I went to Michaels craft store during one of their sales on ribbon.  We found many different ribbons in the purple and orange (my favorite color is purple, Andy's is orange) color theme.

materials:

• various ribbons, we used varying lengths too
• dowels, ours were one foot long.   
• We bought them long and my dad cut them down
• Then we sanded the ends so that they weren't sharp
• yard stick
• scissors
• hot glue gun
• twine, for the bells
• small bells, when you ties them onto the twine keep the bell close to the stick so that it rings better

Ribbons:

• "Happily Ever After" ~ on all streamers
• Purple with white darting ~ on all streamers
• Sheer Orange ~ on some
• Purple with white design ~ on some
• White with purple design ~ on some

Final Product

How to do it:

1. Get your friends and family together to start cutting ribbon
2. You also need to start stringing the bells on the twine with a large needle 
• once all the bells are on then you can start cutting the twine with one bell per piece
• knot each bell so that they don't slide off
3. Using the hot glue gun glue the bell and twine to the top of the stick
• while the glue is still wet knot on the dowel over the twine
4. To secure the ribbons we added one last bit of glue
5. Ta-Da!

Cocktail Hour Games

Andy and I LOVE playing games.  We wanted to have games for people to playing during the cocktail hour.  One game that we had out on the lower patio was 2 games of corn hole, compliments of my dad!  One of the sets is Lauren's and she did all the hard work of painting it... I will try to add pics later.

This booklet was found online:

cover

first inside page

inside

back pages

back cover

We used purple and white twine to tie them together (the wedding color was purple).
These booklets were laid out with a tray of crayons for guests to use.

Cathy's Touch!

Wedding's are expensive, that's not new news!  We did A LOT of DIY for my wedding.  My mom is an incredible painter, and tried a new medium working with water color in addition to her normal acrylic.  All of the invitations, ceremony booklet, and menu cards turned out PERFECT!

Accommodations card

Reply card

Invitation card

Bachelorette Party invite

Bridal Shower invite

I will add later the ceremony booklet and menu card :)

Thanks Mama!

Wedding Flip Flops

Ladies... we all know that the cute shoes we wear for pictures and the beginning of the party are not staying on our feet for the entire night!  Our feet will love us for sliding into flip flops :)

Old Navy has cheap flip flops and once you dress them up they are not boring anymore!  However, feel free to use any brand you want.  At this point in the wedding planning process and all the checks, credit card transactions, etc. I was all about $2.50 sandals!

What you need:

• flip flops
• ribbon 
• ~ I used a satin that is the color of my wedding.  Purple!! Although some of the pics it looks blue
• I used about 1.5 yards for each flip flop; almost a full 3 yards total
• silk flowers
• hot glue gun
• scissors

Now What???

The Process:

1. Cut off the silk flowers.  I used 5 per flip flop.  Mine are sort of small.  The Pinterest I stole this from used larger flowers which was also really cute.  The store I went to had a limited purple selection.

2.  Take your first flip flop and get ready to start hot gluing the ribbon

dab a small amount of hot glue to get the ribbon secured.  You will go back over it to cover up the slightly frayed edge.

Start wrapping the ribbon...

After a few wraps I dabbed some hot glue to secure it.  Probably about  every 1/2 or 3/4 of an inch I would add some hot glue.  Or if I came to a point where the ribbon wasn't laying the way I wanted it to.

3.  Now you're ready to start adding flowers...

I put some hot glue on the tip of the stem and slid that under the ribbon

You can't see it, but I added another dab of hot glue at the top of the stem and then wrapped the ribbon around one more time before moving it about the flower

I added another dab of hot glue here and placed the next stem into the glue and wrapped the ribbon around once

Keep doing this until to get to the point of the flip flop :)

4.  Now the hard part is done!  Just keep wrapping down the other side until you get to the bottom.

Don't forget to add hot glue every 3/4 of an inch to secure the ribbon

Ta Da!  You're all done!  You're $2.50 flip flops look like... well not quite a Million Bucks, but close! ;)

My feet have marks from me sitting on the couch with my feetsies under me.  You may have noticed that purple is definitely my favorite color... it's on my finger and toe nails :)

Happy Crafting!

Sharpie Mugs

So, I am going to start with saying I have not yet washed the mugs in the dishwasher... because I am nervous! :)  I want my friends to see them before I find out if the Sharpie really does stay on.  I will comment soon to let you know the results on if they really are dishwasher safe!

What you need:
Sharpies ~ More fun if you have multiple colors
Oven ~ Preheat to 350*
Mugs~ If using color Sharpies you probably want white, but if just using black then any color
       Also, the mugs need to be able to go in the oven, most porcelain is safe... or so it said on Pinterest.
       I got my mugs for $3.50 at Walmart.  I went to the $1 Store, but they were all flawed mugs.  Walmart had some cheaper ones, but I liked this one better.

What do you do:

1. Preheat oven = 350*
2. Wash the mugs before getting crafty
3. Decorate your mug(s)
4. Stick them in the oven for 30 minutes, I did about 40 to be safe ;)
5. Let them cool completely before washing or using
6. Enjoy giving as a gift or keeping for yourself!

Andy bought me this AWESOME pack of Sharpies a while back!

Some of the pink flower faded... not sure why

another angle... Not showing the names yet, although she probably knows who she is ;)

Left a signature.  This also shows the mug is dishwasher safe and oven safe.