diy Archives - Page 2 of 4 - 2 Cats and Chloe

Baby Shower Gift: Pinned It, Did It!

I am slightly embarrassed it has taken me THIS LONG to post this post. (However - none of you virtual friends actually know how long ago I did this project in real life so I should pretty much stop talking now, right?)

Anyhooooo - I was sooo excited to finally use something that I pinned! (For those of you who have not jumped on the Pinterest Bandwagon yet - let me explain: It is this site, where you can find magnificent, creative, funny, terrific ideas that others have put on the internet. And you can pin said ideas on your virtual bulletin boards for safe keepings. All caught up now Mother? Good.)

Months ago I found this when looking for baby shower gifts on Pinterest:

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So really, how cute is that? I guess I would call it a lollipop arrangement. It has towels and cloths and some essentials all wrapped up in it. When I saw it I knew I needed to make this for my friend Katie’s baby shower!

The Craft Patch made it so easy with her step by step directions, all I really had to do was put it together in pink! Since her directions were so simple and well explained, there is no point in me retyping them here. So get your booties over there to see the original!

Still wanna see my photo montage of the project though?

Good. Because here we go!

Some of the supplies! Ready to roll up the hooded towel from Target! I also used wash clothes and burp rags.

This really was simple. Just a lot of rolling one way, then the other!

To stabilize the “lollipops” I used green floral foam from Michaels.

I decided that putting it in a plastic bag was smart. It kept the green foaminess under control. That stuff can get unruly sometimes.

Like she said in the original directions - tape the dowel rod into the plastic bag. I had bought clear, plastic, gift basket wrapping paper, but luckily I had these small gift bags left over from something. The gift basket plastic just wouldn’t work for me. The bag was perfect for taping it in!

In addition to towels, like I said, I had bought some small wash clothes, not sure what I was going to do with them or how big the actual lollipops would be. These seemed too small to make into lollipops so I decided I’d make them look like little candies to sit in the bottom of the arrangement! (This is considered my little add-on to The Craft Patch’s original!)

Roll them up and pin them like she described for the larger lollipops. Then stick them in the clear bags and tie each side.

Cute and simple right?

Are you ready for the finished product?!? Can I get a drumroll please?! Because let’s be real - I was absolutely thrilled at how cute this turned out! I ran into my roommates room to show it off every 3 minutes!

The pink and beige box was only a couple dollars (Target Clearance! Woot!) and I put a soft (again, clearance) blanket around the base of the pops! What do you think!?

And the momma-to-be’s reaction? Pretty sure she loved it! Along with all the other ladies at the shower!

So when is the next baby shower you have to attend? Why not be awesome like me and the brilliant lady over at The Craft Patch and show up with a gift even Martha Stewart would oooh and ahhh over?

PS. Again - this was not my original idea. I found it on Pinterest. The original source, in case you missed all the links I left throughout the post, was The Craft Patch.

Five Friday Thoughts & Valentine Decor!

by Susan

Some Friday morning thoughts for you before I grace you with my (as promised) Valentine Mantel “Presents!”

1. I am drinking decaf coffee, trying really hard to pretend it is a cup of Bourbon Street Vanilla Rooibos Tea. Coffee without flavored creamer is tough for me.

2. Speaking of tea… I am excited to find out who will win this at noon today!

3. I am horrified by the Josh Powell Story on the news. (putting the word “horrified” in the largest possible font doesn’t even begin to tell you how awful that story is.) Many prayers for the family and friends affected by this monster. What a tragedy.

4. The doctor says my body is alright. I am beginning to think my illness is related to stress and anxiety. 🙁

5. Tomorrow I am going to Richmond to see Christen and cook food all day long for the soon to be brand new mommy, Katie!! 🙂

Now - on to the last of my tiny valen-tiny decorations!

Letters were on sale a Michaels…

And so was scrap booking paper!

Thank you Modge Podge! 🙂

I change this glass candle holder out seasonally. It went from this…

… to this! (Candy hearts from the Dollar Store! Cute and Cheap! Score!)

I have seen Valentine Printables floating all over Pinterest, but I decided to make and frame my own! Want to print it for your house? Shoot me an email and I will send it to you! 2castandchloe@gmail.com

The finished lovy dovy mantel!

What do you have planned for Valentine’s Day? Or are you letting your significant other do the planning? Are you celebrating it this weekend or on Tuesday, or maybe next weekend like Mike and I? I still have a bit more crafting before I can give him his present so I am happy that I have an extra week! 🙂

xoxoxo.

Sparkly Wreath - the replacement.

by Susan

Last year you saw the awesome purple and gold wreath I made for Christmas to replace one that was several years old. Some how… and I am not sure how… that awesome wreath has gone missing this year. I have looked just about everywhere for it, in my house AND my parent’s house. It’s gone!

Which only means one thing… Time to make a new one!

This year I decided not to make another purple and gold replacement, just incase the old, missing one shows back up. I went to Garden Ridge once with Michael in hopes of gathering some sort of inspiration. I collected a handful of ornaments and ended up putting them back because I just wasn’t getting the right vibe. I went back with my mom, and put more of a thinking cap on. I pondered colors schemes, or themes, or just things that I liked - when it hit me, I LOVE things that sparkle! (But seriously, what girl doesn’t?!) I decided to go all out with this wreath and use only ornaments and decorations that had glitter and sparkles on them!

Here’s the photo montage courtesy of my iphone:

The plain wreath with decorations everywhere on the table.

The first thing you have to do is decide ornament placement.

I hot glue the ornaments on the wreath before adding the ribbons.

Wrap some hot pink ribbon around the glittery, sparkly wreath and you are in business!! I also added some jingle bells that I got 70% off at Michaels with some gold yarn-like material.

A couple close up shots for you - who ever said green, red and gold were the only Christmas colors?!

The finished product! What do you think? It has been raining all day today, so I am hoping it still sparkles tomorrow!

Merry Sparkly Christmas! 🙂

Christmas Tags for Christmas Bags! (or Boxes!!)

by Susan

As you learned last week I am in the process of teaching myself some sweet photoshop skills. As I was walking through Target yesterday I decided that to SAVE money I could make my own gift labels this year with my newly acquired photoshop skillz! After playing around a bit, here are a few I came up with:

After some playing and designing on the computer I printed them out on card stock so that they were thicker and a bit more durable. I figure I can either tap them onto the gifts or I can punch a whole and tie a ribbon to them! Cute right? Cute AND free!

For my first batch I decided ribbons were necessary! The other day I went to Michaels Craft Store and stocked up on holiday crafty fun-ness! Somewhere in my bag of $75 worth of a purchase were two spools of glittery ribbon. I decided these were perfect for my gift tags!

Personally - I think they are spectacular! Not only am I already covered in holiday glitter but I have gift tags that are totally ME to put on the gifts for my friends and family! I really do love them. If I have a chance I am going to design another similar set just to have a bit more of a variety. And thennnnn… it’s time to get wrapping!! 🙂

They are free to you too if you want them too! Leave me a comment with your info and I will email a pdf of these to you! (Then, I just ask you share this blog with your friends & followers! I kinda want to set a goal to get a few more followers before the end of the year… you can help me! If you like what you see, click on that box over there to become a follower and pass my link on!)

Happy wrapping!!

Keep Calm… Thanksgiving

by Susan

When I was growing up we would go back and forth between my dad’s family and my mom’s family every few years to celebrate Thanksgiving. It didn’t matter what side of the family we were with, we always had well over ten people at the dinner table.

Then I went to college and I decided to take advantage of the quick holiday and head to Europe, where they do not celebrate pilgrams and they do not eat turkey on this very special day.

For the past few years though, my family has been gathering around a smaller table, with just the five of us. (My sister, mom, dad, me and grandmother). In the beginning it was weird. After slaving for hours the handful of us just sat there in silence (because we had already discussed the 10 topics that were on our minds) and ate our meal.

About two years ago my sister and I decided that our small family Thanksgiving needed some traditions. I guess you can call things “tradition” when it happens more than once, right? Well, for at least the past two years in a row Leslie & I have had a mini photo shoot before we can eat pie and we’ve played family beer pong. (Little did we know my folks would school us in Thanksgiving drinking games…)

Three photos from 2009’s Turkey Day:

As I was looking through past photos I realized that apparently it is also a tradition for me to help mash potatoes too! Two years in a row! Here’s a few photo’s from Thanksgiving 2010:

This year we have a ton of family coming into town from Maryland. So I am guessing the family beer pong is OUT… but what is IN will be actually passing food around the table, working hard to prepare for a large group, decorating, catching up, and probably a bit of stress.

My poor mother has been on ‘vacation’ for the past three days and really has not stopped working for more than twenty minutes. Some vacation, right?! So I decided it would be very appropriate to put my new photoshop skills to work and make a “Keep Calm” sign to put in the kitchen on Thursday! I have seen several versions of these floating around the blogosphere so by no means am I taking credit for this idea… I just photoshopped one of my own. 🙂

What do you think? It only took me a couple of quick clicks and a minute of printing! I went to the dollar store today and bought a cheap 8×10 frame. I think it’s kinda perfect! I love the turkey and I especially love the glass of wine sitting with him! The retro cam photo above makes it look a bit red, but it is actually brown with tan writing.

Want a copy to print for your own kitchen tomorrow as a reminder to “Keep Calm and Gobble On?” You don’t even have to put it in a frame, just stick it on the fridge! Leave a comment below and I will email it to you! (I just ask you share this with your friends & followers!)

Gobble Gobble!