Everyone has a story to tell, here's mine sprinkled with some creative projects along the way.
Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back again.



Monday, August 16, 2010

Crafty Day

I designated last Thursday to be the day that I would immerse myself in some crafting. You know that I never let a day pass without playing with paper but it's been a while since I've touched my glue gun and so I thought Thursday would be the best day to make something other than papercrafts.
Actually, I was a bit pushed into crafting because I had a few gifts to give. I love the art of gift giving and more importantly making homemade gifts. I feel like it is more valuable than a pricey gift because somebody took the time out of their lives (most of them busy lives at that) to get their hands busy and think about you in the process.
Maybe some would disagree with me on this but I don't care. I know some (like my husband) would say it's not practical to give them something that they can't use or eat. But I say to that, even if you are buying gifts, you can still give it that homemade touch with your wrapping and here's some examples of that....

Baby diaper cake

I haven't done this in years. It's super easy but it does take about an hour of your time to put this together, not to mention the shopping. I've been busy with retail work that I haven't had the chance to put one of these together until now. I'm giving this to a friend who's having a baby shower this week. This is both cute and a practical gift because we all know that a mom can never have enough diapers.


diaper cakes are not new in the crafty world, but with my versions, I make them pretty. You've probably seen them stuffed with other baby needs like onesises, bibs and such but with my versions, I add artificial flowers. I feel like, this gift is as much for the mommy to be and the baby so I add the floral accents to make it pleasing for the mommy too.


Artificial flowers are the cheapest way to make grand accents. Get them in bunches and pluck them out then hot glue them onto some cute ribbon.


Another shower I have to attend to this week is a bridal shower for Mitch's niece. I made a towel cake for her.


this is another practical meets artsy gift. We all know that towels are an essential gift for a new couple and I made it pretty by adding, again, more artificial flowers.


I love the silk ribbon, it adds that touch of elegance. When I made this towel cake I didn't know our niece's color scheme but I decided since it's a summer wedding that green with yellow flowers will look good together.


in this one I even added some artificial leaves. It was the perfect touch for this "looks good to be a real" cake.


and then for our wedding gift, I got something from her registry. Here's a great example of getting something you know is fool proof (because it's from their registry) but adding your own touches to it. I grabbed one more artificial rose from the same bunch I used in the towel cake and just hot glued that to the top of the gift.

On Saturday I made some handmade cards to go with this gifts. You know I need to add some papers to any gifts, it's just natural to me. *wink*

and then because I was feeling crafty after a couple of hours of making the cakes, I made some bows/hair clips for Maddie.

These are a combination of supplies on hand, left over flowers and ribbons from the previous projects. Gotta love scraps!


If you know me, I don't do things tooo fancy. It's just not my style, so with these bows, I went as far as layering two bows together with a button or brad in the middle and called it a day.


and here's Ms. Maddie with one of her new bows.


she's definitely rocking the rosette style.

Thanks for looking.

Till next time,
Grace

2 comments:

Lori said...

Grace, you are so crafty. I love the personal touches you made to the gifts. Love the towel and diaper cakes. Such a great idea. Love, Lori T.

Allison said...

Love the cakes and the bows are great. If I ever have a girl I'm so hoping that you make me some of your bows. They're just my style! Not too big and not too fancy!!! :) We'll miss you around here but they'll love you in Colorado!! And hey, you did say that you have an extra room for visitors right?! :) Maybe one day we'll actually go on vacation!!!