Balloon Wreath

If you like party blogs even half as much as I do you've seen the balloon wreath.  Here's the thing, I hadn't bothered to read an actual tutorial on how to make it until after I bought the stuff I thought I needed to make it and was half way through the project.  Apparently I'm some sort of strange crafting outsider because I just assumed it was made a completely different way than I later found out everyone is making it.  So, if you want to be weird like me, you can make it my way with a wire wreath form & a few bags of balloons:

Yeah, so that's it... just tie the balloons onto the wreath form... the end.  The only interesting things worth even mentioning are that I followed the same pattern (red, yellow, blue, repeat) and I skipped one of the wire rows that was close to the others... which I decided on just because the wreath was full enough without it and it was getting hard to tie the balloons on when they were too close to the other knots.

Oh and of course I should mention the adorable custom birthday hat cutie in the center... my Little Liv!  I'll turn your birthday girl or boy into a party decoration too, check out the listing in my shop here.

Simple Celebration - for under $100!

I love planning elaborate celebrations centered around unique themes and pouring over every tiny detail.  But for Liv's 2nd birthday I decided to go a different direction and see what I could pull off with relatively minimal planning, keeping it simple, and under $100.  Yep, that's right... I did it all for just $94.66 to be exact!

I started with a primary color pallet and committed to traditional birthday party fair like balloons, curling ribbon, party hats, bunting, and crepe paper streamers. 

I designed the party invitation to be post card size, so I saved on postage, envelopes, and printing.

Guests were greeted at the front door with a balloon wreath and the birthday cutie's face.  I thought this iteration of the custom cupcake picks I sell in my shop was so fun, I'm selling it in my Etsy shop now!

The highlight of the party was the ice cream sandwich bar! I set the stage with precisely hung crepe paper streamers on the wall and front of the table. Eight boxes of ice cream sandwiches I got on BOGO at my Publix were more than enough to make the two layer "cake" I stacked on the cake stand I made myself (have you ever purchased a birthday cake to feed 20+ for $19.56?!).  A DIY "2" cake topper finished it off perfectly! 

Also on the table were four plates of toppings to roll the ice cream sandwiches in.  We had mini M&Ms, mini chocolate chips, multicolor sprinkles, and coconut flakes. 

Last but not least, were the milk shots rimmed with chocolate syrup and multicolor nonpareills.  All the details and "how to" for the backdrop, cake stand, and cake topper coming soon!

Party hats are an easy project to make that really personalize the party.  I made these from scrapbook paper, rick rack, and crepe paper pom-poms.  The birthday girl got a special glittery 2 on hers of course!  I also decorated a little stool for the birthday girl to sit on to open presents.

Even though this party was a really traditional birthday theme, I always like to incorporate little touches that make the party unique to the guest of honor, this Birthday Girl photo stand showcasing pictures throughout the year did just that.

So there you have it... a simple celebration that was creative, fun, and didn't break the bank!

Your Way Wednesday

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.
Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.
Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.
Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends
Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

Now I want to see your way!

Only two rules for you:

• Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
• Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

<br /> <center><a href="http://ellebellecreative.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Link up you latest project every Wednesday on the Elle Belle Creative Your Way Wednesday link party!" src="http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l639/ebcreative/finalYWWbutton.jpg" /></a></center>

Gardening Apron Tutorial

I made tons... ok not tons, just 15... of these gardening aprons for the party guests at Elle's U-Pick party.  They were a hit with the kiddos and they looked so stinkin' cute wearing them as they wandered around the u-pick farm.  I made a tutorial for you to make some for a little gardener you know.

Start with two rectangles of fabric: the background fabric should be cut to 12"x8" and the main/pocket fabric piece should be 12"x11"

Press the pocket fabric in half long ways, wrong sides together and pin on top of the background fabric, lining up three raw edges.

Fold the apron in half and round the bottom corners (I used a cup as a guide)

Sew two rows from the top edge of the pocket to the raw edge to create three pockets.

Cut a piece of binding 28" long.

Sew the binding around the apron, encasing three sidges of the apron, not including the top raw edge of the background fabric.

Cut a piece of binding 50" long.

Center the binding on the apron, and pin, encasing the top raw edge of the background fabric.

Sew the binding to itself and then to the top of the apron then to itself again to make the ties for the apron and finish the top of it. 

Knot the end of each tie.

I attached little name tags to the aprons with mini clothes pins and hung them on clothes lines strung across one end of the tent at the party. The kids loved finding their apron hanging up for them!

 

My New Google and QRCode MiniCards!

So excited about the Moo mini cards I designed for myself! The front of the card has the Google search bar with my business name.  If you look for me using Google, the search results are the links to all my sites... love that someone could find them all without me having to list each one on the card!

and on the other side, my QR code and email address:

So I'm sure you've seen QR codes all over the place, but just in case you've managed to escape the smart phone addiction and are wondering what the heck they are, I thought I'd share.  Just download a QRcode reader app to your smart phone or iPad, I use the At&t Code Scanner.

When you see a QRcode... you guessed it... scan it!  It will take you to a web page. 

Easy & fun... right?!

Your Way Wednesday

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.
Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.
Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.
Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends
Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

Now I want to see your way!

Only two rules for you:

• Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
• Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

<br /> <center><a href="http://ellebellecreative.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Link up you latest project every Wednesday on the Elle Belle Creative Your Way Wednesday link party!" src="http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l639/ebcreative/finalYWWbutton.jpg" /></a></center>

Ridiculously BIG but totally do-able goals!

In my life outside of Elle Belle Creative, I'm a Business Analyst.  I'm going through a really huge transition there and Analyst Stacey needed to define her career goals so that she could put things in perspective and stay focused on what's really important to her, and Creative Stacey wanted it to be pretty so she would actually enjoy looking at it occasionally.  So here you have it, a smash up of Analyst Stacey & Creative Stacey:

This picture is just to show you how you could do it... with the printable in an 8x10 picture frame and writing your goals in with a Crayola window marker or dry erase marker.  If I were going to post my goals like this on the regular, I would've picked a frame that looked better with the printable (an ornate bright pink frame would be perfect!). But, since Analyst Stacey's goals aren't nearly as fun or concise as these, I just went with goals typed in, and printed off (in color at least!) tucked into the corner of our bedroom mirror approach.

Are you focusing on your goals?  I made this printable for you, if you need a little nudge.  Download your copy here.

U-Pick Outfits and Your Way Wednesday

I had lots of fun with the outfits we wore for Elle's U-Pick party! 

My Doug wore (and got lots of compliments on) an "eat your broccoli" organic cotton T-shirt made by the Lady in Blue Shop.  For the rest of us, I couldn't resist the adorable Michael Miller fabric, gnoming around and picked up a yard from Pinked Fabrics on Etsy.  I made Liv's reversible kimono dress using a pattern I bought from Mani-Mina.  It was a fun project, the dress is so flexible, easy to wear, and able to be customized.  I'll definitely make more!

Elle wore a gardening apron just like the ones I made for all the kiddos (tutorial on that to come!) over a jean skirt, and I embellished a tank top to match.  I would give you a tutorial for the tank except that I totally just wung... or winged... or however you say I have no idea how I made it, it just kinda came together, but not as perfectly as I would've liked and I really dislike not having a method to my sewing madness... so there will be no tutorial... k?

I've been looking for an excuse to make myself the Deep Pockets apron from the A is for Apron book, and this was it!  I also wore a gnome scrabble tile necklace Pendentlicious made.  Gnomes up the cute factor by at least 50% on any project!

Can you believe I got all of that done with just a yard of adorable fabric?!

Time for Your Way Wednesday

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!


Only two rules for you:

• Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
• Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

<br /> <center><a href="http://ellebellecreative.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Link up you latest project every Wednesday on the Elle Belle Creative Your Way Wednesday link party!" src="http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l639/ebcreative/finalYWWbutton.jpg" /></a></center>

 

The Pinterest Bandwagon

I interrupt the regularly scheduled U-Pick party posts to bring you this post in which I tell you I am so on the Pinterest bandwagon!  If you're not familiar, just Google it and read all the buzz.  You can follow me if you like, and see what things are peaking my interest these days... also get a glimpse of the inspiration for the party concepts I'm contemplating (lucky you, I usually keep those to myself until after the party!). 



Next up, details about the outfits we wore for the U-Pick party!

Vintage Label Can Centerpieces

 

Thanks so much for all the positive feedback on the U-Pick party.  It's always so fun when other people appreciate your vision and are inspired by it!  Speaking of... this isn't the reason for this post, but a good time to mention that Baby Lifestyles contacted me to tell me that one of their readers was inspired by the One Year Old in a Flash party I planned for my Liv last year.  Check out Jess' take on it on the Baby Lifestyles blog here.  If you've done any of the projects I've posted on my blog, I would LOVE to hear from you!

 

Now back to my regularly scheduled post, the first of many about some the details of the U-Pick party.  Today I have a free printable for you and an easy project that makes for really sweet centerpieces, cans with vintage labels.

 

I took some pictures of vintage can labels, resized them to fit standard cans of tomato soup (print some for yourself here), used the soup, cleaned the cans, and glued the labels on with hot glue.  I was originally planning on filling them with baby's breath, but one afternoon as we were walking around the U-Pick farm I noticed a tree on the neighbors property with Queen Anne's Lace growing on it, so we picked some the morning of the party and waa laa a really inexpensive, pretty, and easy to make centerpiece!