Baby Bird Wreath

Sorry, I know we are late in posting the Baby Bird Shower photos but Laurens photography show was flooded (not joking). Everything is great but it is taking her some time to get me all the great photos. In the mean time, I thought I would share a quick little wreath project that I put together for the shower. We ended up not using it, but I plan on keeping it for next spring.

I used a vine wreath that I had laying around and some of the extra hand sewn birds from the shower. With some of the scraps of material, I decided to make a pennant banner. I cut out a triangle out of card stock and cut 9 pieces ( using three different patterns). I then used some left over ribbon that worked with the color scheme, making sure that I left about 3 inches longer on each side than the width of the wreath.

Marking the width of the wreath on the back side on the ribbon, I began to hot glue the triangles in place (alternating patterns). After that I cut a smaller piece of ribbon (the width of the wreath) to hot glue onto the back of the triangles to give the pennant banner some body so it would lay flat.

I then took some left over moss and glued it to the bottom of the wreath. The eggs are from Easter decor ( The Dollar Store), I choose the green ones to go with the ribbon. I then glued two of the hand sewn birds on the wreath as well.

I am sorry that I did not take photos as I went with this one, it was really done at the last moment.

Stephanie

Baby Bird Diaper Cake

Some of our great friends are expecting their first baby in September and they asked me and Lauren to help out with the baby shower.....of course! We LOVE planning and crafting, this is right up our ally. So because the parents-to-be have decided not to find out the sex, they went with the neutral theme of birds for the nursery. Birds are so in right now it was super easy to find things for the shower!

I decided that I would make a small diaper cake for the cake table at the shower. Our friends are taking on the hard task of using cloth diapers ( more power to you!) so this craft was easier than I thought it would be. I started out by shopping around for the topper of the cake. I have seen so many cakes (and received some myself) and I didn't want it to be to crowded with gifts, just simple.

I found this small musical bird at Joann's for around 5 bucks. I also found swatches of this branch fabric at Joann's for around a buck a piece. The diapers are a size 2 (husband bought a brand I really didn't care for, so I used them for this project). And I cut a circle out of a cardboard box.

(Sorry, this is a horrible photo.) Because I knew she was not going to be re-using the diapers, I used hot glue. I rolled all the diapers up, starting from the opening of the diaper so that the ends were smooth.

After rolling about a million diapers ( just kidding, it was more like 30), I started gluing them into circles. The larger circle was around 12, the smaller one around 7.

I then glued the smaller circle on top of the larger one. Then glued the entire thing to the cardboard circle.

I cut the fabric into strips that would fit the height of the diapers. Now, I have no skills in sewing, I do not own a sewing machine. I hot glued one side ( length wise) down to have a smooth seem. I then glued the fabric to the diaper ring.

Note: My fabric was not long enough to go around the larger of the circles so I had to use two pieces. One over lapped the other to give it a smooth look.

I then took crinkled paper strips ( you can find these at any store now for presents or gift baskets). I glued the paper around the bottom to cover the cardboard circle and around the other layers.

I bought this small bird house garden stake at Target back during Easter and it was a perfect fit for this. I stuck it through both layers and it also doubled as a bit of support for the cake too. I didn't glue down the bird (I want her to use it!), instead I used some double sided tape to hold it in place.

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Stephanie

Baby Shower- Hand sewn birds

The baby shower that we have been planning for months is finally here! And because we wanted to keep much of the decor a surprise, we have had to wait on posting the many projects and photos we have done. Here is the tutorial for the hand sewn birds that we used with the chocolate lollipops and on our bird house center pieces.

Lauren found this great bird house fabric at Joann's and we ran with it. The shower was unisex so we went with greens, blues, browns and yellows. I was at Joann's picking up some last minute items and they were having their fourth of July sale. They have pre-packaged quilt sets (pre-cut squares of fabric) in corresponding fabrics.....and low and behold they had our fabric as one of them! It was a sign. I had to buy it.

I thought about hand sewing bird for a while but couldn't find a template that I liked, so I just winged it and cut one out myself. I went with a more modern shape to match the invitations that our friend choose. The items needed were simple:

Squares or any amount of fabric
Quilting thread (its heavier than regular thread)
Cotton balls for stuffing
A template of the bird
Scissors

I traced the bird on the fabric. Make sure that you flip the bird over to trace the other side of the bird so you have two sides with the print on it.

Cut both out.

I just used a simple stitch to sew the bird together. I made sure to start at the middle, that way I could stuff the bird. Make sure that the cotton is pushed into the beak and the tail. Each bird took about 2-3 cotton balls. Then sew up the remaining amount of the bird.

Some of the birds I added a lollipop stick to hold them up. I added a dab of fabric glue to the end of the stick before I added it into the bird and sewd the opening closed.

I took the bottom of a flower pot and hot glued some foam to the bottom. Covering with moss to make it look more like a nest.

The remaining bids were glued to our bird house center pieces.

Photos of the center pieces soon!

Stephanie

Baby Shower- Wishing Tree

Let the crafting begin! One of the many crafts that we did for our friends "Bird" baby shower was a Wishing Tree. I have seen these all over the Internet and she mentioned that she would like one, so I thought 'How hard could it be....". I have known about the shower for months and have been preparing for it by stashing away items that I found on sale, seasonal finds and such. I cut branches off our trees (before they bloomed) because they were perfect for this tree. (I even used the branches for my Spring tree http://creativemammas.blogspot.com/2011/03/rainy-day-crafts.html- Pictured here)



I repeat....the branches where perfect for this craft but it wasn't meant to be. We left for a camping trip to Idaho and my loving in-laws threw them away. (They were trying to help us pack and thought they were just trash) I nearly cried! But the project had to get finished so I had to adapt and overcome.

I started with the base. I found these buckets at Target during spring for a buck! Love these finds. I wanted to make them look a little more special so I thought that wrapping them in Juke would be a nice change. (Going for that shabby chique look).

I used the same technique that I used in our Ballard Knock Offs posting http://creativemammas.blogspot.com/2011/03/ballard-knock-offs.html

Spreading glue around the bucket and tightly wrapping the juke around. Make sure you have enough juke to wrap the bucket in one piece.

After the glue was dried and I had found more branches (took me awhile), we were ready to start putting this Wishing tree together. I bought some floral foam from the dollar store and shaved the sides for it to fit into the bucket.

As for the branches I had to go the Micheals and pick up what I could. They had many choices but some were just not a good deal and they looked cheap. I settled on a bunch of actual branches and some imitation ones to mix in.

I cut many of them down to a manageable size for the bucket and them glued moss around them to hide the floral foam. (Sorry for the mess in the photo....my dinning room table has become craft central for this shower!)

As for the birds, I used the same bird template I made for the "Hand Sewn Birds" and cut out birds from scrapbook pages. I then used twine to make the loop to hang the birds from the tree.

The tree was a huge hit at the Shower! We used this instead of a guest book and it was great to have people add little comments and wishes to the mommy-to-be.

Stephanie 

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Peach Upside Down Cake

I don't know about you, but I hate cooking the same things over and over again! I am constantly looking for new recipes or new twists on an old one. I was looking through my cookbooks (I have way to many) and found a simple cake recipe that I thought I would try. The cook book is called "Best Recipes from the backs of boxes, bottles, cans and jars". It is filled with all kinds of recipes that are from manufactures of products we use all the time in the kitchen (Knorrs, Betty Crocker, ect.).

I found this Peach Upside Down cake from the Parkay Margarine company and decided to give it a shot, it was not half bad. I choose it because you could use fresh or canned peaches....I had canned on hand.

3 tbs melted butter (or margarine)
1/3 cup softened butter (or margarine)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh peach slices ( or a 16 oz can peaches, drained)
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk

Pour melted butter into a 8 or 9 inch pie pan. * The recipe does not call for spraying the pan with non-stick but I would recommend it. Some of my peaches stuck a bit.

Sprinkle the brown sugar over the melted butter.

Arrange the sliced peaches in a pattern in the pan.

Cream the softened butter and sugar together.

Blend in the egg and vanilla.

Mix in all the remaining dry ingredients while adding a little bit of the milk in at a time.

Pour the batter carefully over the peaches. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. After taking it out, immediately invert onto a serving dish.

Stephanie

Train Birthday Cake

My oldest, Owen just turned 3 on the 16th of July.  He told me he wanted a train cake and of course I was going to give him one somehow!  I went to google of course and found this easy idea for a train cake from Betty Crocker, http://www.bettycrocker.com/videos/videolibrary/birthday-cakes/how-to-make-a-train-cake.  It's so simple.  You bake two cakes in loaf pans.  Do a little trimming and decorations with candy and you have yourself a train cake. 

My favorite box cake brand is Pillsbury.  I found them on sale at Walmart for 98 cents each and bought 3 cans of icing for $1.23 each.  Next I went to the Dollar Tree and bought six packages of candy for $1 each.  I also bought a cardboard cake holder in a 4 pack from Walmart.  When I bake a box cake I always substitute the water for either milk or juice.  It makes the cake taste fresher and homemade.  I baked one chocolate cake and one vanilla in loaf pans.  Then I followed the directions on the Betty Crocker website.
This is my version of their train cake.  Owen just adored it and is still talking about his train cake four days later! 

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Gone but not forgotten

WOW! It has been some time since our last posting but for good reasons. Me and my husband bought our first home. We have been super busy moving in and setting up shop, so needless to say that I have not had time to craft (I have nearly had time to cook).

Also, Lauren has just opened up her own photography studio!!! I can't tell you how proud I am of my best friend. She is an amazing person and I know this is her true calling. Check out here photo blog at http://www.laurenrowephotography.com/