Bug Themed Day!

My friend came over a few weeks ago (May 30, 2014) so the kids could have a playdate, and she brought over a few things for the kids to have fun. Everything was bug themed. It was all super cute and the kids loved it.

Butterfly Bagel Pizza

Ladybug Bagel Pizza

Butterfly snacks and ants on a log

HK's egg carton flower

HK's egg carton dragonfly

LC's egg carton dragonfly

LC's egg carton flower

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DIY Bird Feeders

A couple of weeks ago, I was trying to figure out what to do with all the empty toilet paper rolls I had on hand. I always keep them for crafting purposes, but I was starting to run out of creativity on what to create next. Here's what I came up with. Bird Feeders!! Simple Simple. Here is what you  need:

Empty toilet paper roll

Peanut butter

Small spatula

Bird Seeds

Spread peanut butter with small spatula onto toilet paper roll

Dont forget to taste the peanut butter

Pour seeds into a plate

Roll the peanut butter covered toilet paper roll in the seed until covered

Put rolls onto a branch and Voila, instant bird feeder

Still waiting to see the birds eating from our creations. Then again, the weather has been so strange this year. The birds probably decided to stay down south. Smart Birds!!

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Paper Plate Fun with my Nephew!

Yesterday was Easter Monday and the daycares were closed. My niece and nephew spent at my mom's house since she doesn't work on Mondays and my brother needed a babysitter. At around 10:00am I got a phone call from my nephew asking me to come over and spend the day with them. (Oh and my hubby was off too btw). So I accepted my nephew's invitation and spent the day at my parent's house.

I recently learned that my nephew who is turning 4 this week, loves crafting. I obviously love it too. I decided that it would be a great day to craft together. Before going to my mom's, we swung by the dollar store and I bought some crafty things. We spent the morning making things out of paper plates! I cant take credit for this idea as I got it off this amazing Blog I follow called Meet the Dubiens. They made the chickadee masks. After the masks we made some monsters, which was my idea! Everything came out super cute and we had fun making these little creations! Here's how they turned out!

My nephew's chickadee mask!



My chickadee mask (glued the handle on a little crooked...)



My nephew's monster (with muscles!!!!)

My monster (who kinda looks like Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc.)

Happy crafting everyone!


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Business State of Mind

I've been trying for years to start up my own business. Well at least talking about it. I've been wanting my jewelry to take off but it really hasnt and I have nobody to blame but myself. My networking is a little on the weak side. I need to get out there and really advertise. I've been wanting to create a website to display my jewelry, not just a blog. I have no idea how to creat websites to be honest. I mentioned it on facebook and one of my friends refered me to a site where she created her website for free. I joined and it was super easy. Very basic to work with, but professional results...and all for Free!! Yay! Thanks Jess! The site is almost done now. Just a few tweeks here and there and it should be good to go. The shopping cart is linked to paypal and everything. Finally, a website!

In a couple of weeks I'll be attending a Cancer charity event. I volunteered to donate a few of my jewelry pieces for a raffle. I'll attach a business card (if even I could decide on a design so I could actually get them printed). Hopefully this will bring some business in. Who knows. Here's my new website for those who are interested. Remember, it's not 100% done. http://www.delicatedesigns.ca/ , or check out my jewelry blog (which honestly is pretty boring (lol) http://www.delicatedesigns-nina.blogspot.com/ .

My mom and I have also been talking about expanding my jewelry business to bridal accessories. I know you might be thinking...expanding? It's hardly a business to start out with. Well all I have to say about that is....*stick tongue out*. My mom used to work at a wedding store for many years. She also used to make wedding cushions and garter belts for the store. They were always a hit. So we may be getting into that as well. I dont know how we are going to get ourselves out there...but this is all a work in progress. We'll see.

I've also been playing with another business idea. Again it will be something crafty. I'm not going to reveal what it is just yet. Call me supersticious, but I dont want to jinx it. The best part of this brilliant idea that I had (so I think it's brilliant), is that I may have somewhere to sell. One of my good friends started a business that sells one mommy or baby product at week at a good deal. The website is http://www.sweetbabydealz.com/ . Check it out and sign up! It has really cute and affordable things. The best part is, they strive for locally made, or eco friendly products. Awesome. Anyways! All this to say, I asked my friend if she would be interested in selling (insert secret item here), and she said she would love to. The only thing is, to sell on her website, I would need to get the product tested for saftey. Seeing as these are baby products. So, soon, after creating enough of the product, I will be sending them to the CSA (Canadian Safety Associations) for certification. If it gets approval, then I'm good to go (and very excited). So thats been whats up lately. Creating my jewelry site, crafting these secret products and of course, all this during Baby's nap time! *out of breathe*. So hopefully this all works out.

I've been dying to start something on my own. I know it's a lot of work, but I'm sure it's so satisfying. Kinda like babies! Heheh lots of work but really worth it! If this fails, I'm sure i'll try something else. So, fingers crossed! News to come!

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Glam Skull Centerpiece Tutorial

Here's what you'll need for this project:
Skull
Silver dish (mine was a plastic one from the dollar store)
Clear Glue
Paint Brush
Silver Paint
A small dish
Silver Glitter (mine was more or a dark grey)
Silver candelabra
Glue gun
Black tinsel garland (Or a black feather boa...couldn't find one for cheap)

First, paint the skull silver. Let dry. Then paint the skull with the clear glue and pour the glitter all over, covering the surface completely. Let dry (preferably overnight).

Heat up your glue gun. Glue the silver plate to the candelabra.

Glue the glittered skull in the center of the silver plate. Then glue the black tinsel garland around the skull (the garland may be too long, just trim off what you don't need). You can embellish with silver spiders if you like.

 

Sorry for the crappy picture, my camera sucks!


And there you have it. A very glittery, very glamorous centerpiece for your table of goodies this Halloween!
Hope you try making these easy DIY projects. I encourage you to embellish and add your own signature look. Enjoy!

Ni-xox

Easy Elegant Halloween Candle Holder Tutorial

I've really been into DIY lately. Unfortunately, with a baby, it's not always easy to make time. What I've learned is to DIY slowly. Don't expect to sit there for hours and craft or bake. Little bits at a time and you can achieve a lot more and make it look great. Here is one of my latest DIY that I created for the Halloween party we're throwing this weekend. Enjoy!



This is what you'll need for this project. (Oh and thin and wide black ribbon which I forgot to add to this pic)

First, heat up your glue gun. Measure a piece of your web ribbon so that it fits around your vase and overlaps a very little bit. Run a bead of hot glue down one half of the vase and stick your web ribbon around the vase.

Do the same with the top half of you vase. If the ribbon 's width isn't exactly half the length of the vase or is longer, don't worry. The ribbon can overlap or be short a little bit as we will hide the seam later. My ribbon happened to be exactly the size of the vase by coincidence. If I would have tried to make it that way, it would have never worked. You know how it is!

Here's where the hiding the seam comes in. Take a length of wide black ribbon that fits round the vase. On the seam side of the vase (I mean the seam going up and down), run a small bead of hot glue and glue your black ribbon around the vase to hide the gap or overlap between the web ribbon.

Then glue a piece of silver ribbon over the wide black ribbon for embellishment. Don't forget to always put the glue on the seam side of the vase so that all the glue lines are on the same side.
After gluing the silver ribbon, glue a thin black ribbon on top and bottom of the vase to finish the edges. Again, always gluing on the seam side of the vase. All your glue should be lined up in the back so that you can turn the vase around and hide all your glue lines. (I know I keep repeating myself, but it'll end up a nicer end product)

And voila!! Just add a small candle in the vase and you have yourself a beautiful addition to your Halloween decorations. Stay tuned for my Glittered skull centerpiece tutorial.

Ni-xox-