DIY: 2 Monster Fur Crafts

Earlier this year I saw the most adorable gift bags at Target. (See photo below.) They are American Greetings products & I absolutely died when I saw them. MUST HAVE. But I wasn't willing to spend the $10-$14 that they cost. EEK. So I decided to make my own. For about 2 DOLLARS.

Not only is this a super fun bag for packaging a gift, but it also makes a unique Halloween bag for holding all that candy as you go Trick-or-Treating!

SUPPLIES:

•faux fur

•gift bag (Doesn't everyone have piles of used gift bags stored in plastic tubs under their bed too?)

•felt (I only used black. But add whatever details/colors you want.)

•spray glue

•hot glue gun

•scissors

•ruler

•marker

•googly eyes (These are 1.5", but I even saw 6" googly eyes!!)

I had all the supplies on hand--except the faux fur & the GIANT googly eyes. I was disappointed to not have a great colorful selection of fur at my local fabric shops. Such a crafty bummer. But it still looks cute all the same. (TIP: Be sure to use coupons when buying fabric! Check online, too. I was able to save 50%!) 

 After measuring your gift bag & marking the measurements on the backside of the fur, it's time to cut. Cut a tiny bit extra on both edges. One tip I learned from the lady at the fabric store: use a vacuum to clean up the loose fur. Otherwise, you'll have a major fuzzy mess. Just vacuum all the cut edges of fabric.

Take your fabric piece outside, along with your spray glue. I love this stuff. Works amazingly. My bag was about 9" tall. A medium-ish size. This step would be helpful with an assistant. After you spray the backside of the fabric with the glue, you'll want to CAREFULLY lay the bag on top of  fur, lining the bottom of the bag with one edge of the fabric & CAREFULLY wrap the piece around the bag. It was an awkward process doing it on my own. 

You'll have some excess on the top of your bag, but that's ok. Wrap it over the top edge of the bag.

Before gluing on the eyes with the hot glue gun, I cut out a black felt circle a little bit larger than the googly eyes. I didn't want to glue it down to a flat area of fur, so I roughed it up a bit with my fingers & nestled the circle into the fur. Glue the googly eyes on top of the felt circle. Add other felt details, if desired: teeth, moustache, eyebrows, etc. 

And that's it!

Here's another quick craft using monster fur, & almost the exact same supplies. 

Simply substitute the gift bag with empty cans!

These would be great as party favors, filled with candy & prizes. My daughter even swiped one & is using it as a desk accessory to hold pens & pencils. 

The steps are the same as the monster bag craft: 

Measure can. 

Cut fabric. 

Spray glue fabric. 

Wrap fabric around can. 

Remember to add a bit to your measurement so you can overlap the excess around the rim of the can.

Your blank furry can canvas is ready for monster details!

 

♥

Pazely's 11th Birthday

Twenty kids recently joined us for a party by the river. Miss Pazely turned eleven years old. It was a simple affair, nothing fancy, but lots of fun! 

The invitations were simply a boxed set of blank cards. The colors seemed bright & summery & perfect. We printed all the party info on the inside of the cards from our computer.

The decor consisted of a few bunches of balloons & brightly colored, disposable plastic tablecloths. I picked up several beach pails + shovels + sand toys at the dollar store, too, & scattered those around. The kids used those later in the party to play at the river.

Drink & food = a giant jug of ice water + fruit kabobs. (I love fruit kabobs. And all the kids did, too!)

We played a few wet games as the party began. The Sponge Relay, Water Balloon Toss, Water Balloon Fight, & The Frozen T-Shirt Game.

The dessert was absolutely easy to make & it satisfied the birthday girl's peanut-butter-lovin' heart.

Find the recipe for Peanut Butter Lasagna HERE.
The kids LOVED the dessert. One girl even offered to lick the pan. But, um, I thought that sounded gross. I didn't want little girl stranger saliva on my baking dish. So I politely declined her suggestion.

Most of the party was spent letting the kids play at the river, splashing, squealing & having a super time in the sunshine. It was a great day & I loved watching my sweet birthday girl have a splendid day!

Party favors, as you may know, are my most favorite thing. Usually I purchase oodles of prizes & stuff them into festive party-themed pouches for everyone. But this time 'round I found these inexpensive beach balls for each party guest to take home.
Boom. Done.

My girls' birthdays the past couple years have been much different than they used to be. I felt slightly disappointed that I wasn't able to pull off all the cute details & give immense attention to every one of those details this year. A skinny wallet + a busy schedule + this mama inflicted with bronchitis didn't really equal the party of dreams, but we pulled it off anyway.
At the end of the day I heard the birthday girl proclaim, "Mom, this was the BEST PARTY EVER!"
Even though she says that EVERY year, it was still a relief to hear her say it.
I'm just glad she felt the love.
♥

Get Air: Zoey's 11th Birthday

  Here it is! Another photo packed birthday post!
And I love these posts because it thrills me to no end to share how everything came together: from the inspiration to the how-to's, all with links & resources in case you're inspired as well.

I'm finding as my girls get older, the parties are changing. Less "at home" parties. Which, at first, I had a hard time with. That is, until 2 years ago for Pazely's Pool Party. Easiest. Celebration. Ever.

I love planning every stressful detail of their parties. But I have loosened up a bit, not having to have so much control over every aspect. And Zoey's recent 11th birthday party was no exception.

Zoey decided she wanted to have her party at Get Air Trampoline Park. Our family had never been there before, but we heard how much fun it was. A huge building full of trampolines. Trampoline basketball. Trampoline dodgeball. Jump on trampolines into a giant pit of foam. Hundreds of feet of trampoline runway to hop & flip & bounce on. So much fun!

 I decided to come up with a complementary theme to carry out through the invitations, decor, & favors. Zoey liked the thought of airplanes & clouds.

I immediately went to work on the invitations. I designed the little paper airplane in "Inkscape", a free illustrator program. (Yes, slight inspiration from my paper airplane tattoos.) The postcard-style notecards + envelopes are from Target. Love, love, love the quality!

Pinterest provided the inspiration for me to make these lovely 3-D clouds. The link sends you to the HGTV blog. Follow the video for complete instructions on making a small cloud mobile. I ended up sketching out my own clouds. I wanted them a bit bigger than the printout from HGTV, so I made one cloud fit on an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of white cardstock. After assembling, I tested them out in my house. They were just perfect! (After the party, I hung the clouds in Zoey's room. They are so sweet! They spin ever-so-gently.)

Here are the clouds hanging in the entrance of the party room we rented at the birthday site.

The trampoline park provided the tablecloths, paper plates & napkins. And I was good with that. From there, I just slapped some paper cloud cutouts on the wall & several folded paper airplanes.

I have NEVER been good at making paper airplanes. Until now. I am awesome now. After testing out several folds, my favorite airplane ended up being THIS flyer, from the blog Doodlecraft. I scattered these paper airplanes on the party tables & even made little wire stands that each held a paper airplane like a piece of art.

For the party favors, I kept things simple. Giant cloud cookies wrapped in a cellophane bag, tied off with a handmade keychain & embellished with a paper airplane-shaped shrinky dink.

Little Miss Tia helped to frost all those scrummy yummy puffy treats. The sugar cookie recipe is the same I use for Christmas cookies every year. It is a long standing family recipe & it is super delicious!

 

I had the hardest time finding a cloud-shaped cookie cutter. Online ordering wasn't an option due to my *cough* last minute *cough* planning. But I did find a bone shaped cookie cutter, & simply bent it into a cloud shape. Is that the most odd thing, or what? I think they look like clouds, but one little girl at the party, who was holding a cookie in her hand, asked, "What is this supposed to be?" I said, "It's a sugar cookie! I made them!" And she said, "No. Like, WHAT is it supposed to be?" And then I realized she didn't "get" that it was a cloud. Oh well. I tried. 

My sweet mother helped me to put together the keychains. They are adorbs, don't you think?! I purchased the keychain part at Michael's. After searching the web & finding only shops in China with the option to buy the charms in bulk, I almost gave up. (China?! I need them NOW!) And then I found Etsy shop Beads to Beauty, based out of New Mexico. The lovely shop owner, Heather, scooted my order off immediately & saved the day!

The shrinky dink embellishment on the bag was a last minute thought. The favors just needed "something else". If I would've had more time I would have attached magnets to the back of the shrinky dinks. But I didn't have time. Or magnets. So I used super sticky glue dots & stuck 'em to the bag as is. I literally made the shrinky dinks just an hour or two before the party started. I apparently love it when the sweat starts forming on my upper lip.

Zoey picked the flavor of cupcake: cookie dough. This was a first for me. THIS is the recipe I followed. It was a bit of work, but SO worth it. These are my most favorite cupcakes I've ever made. I am rather impressed with their deliciousness. I seriously cannot shut up about these cupcakes. I made a little change in the filling: The recipe calls for eggs & baking soda. I omitted both.

And here are those paper airplanes again. I folded 2 1/2 dozen of these in miniature, then hot glued them to a toothpick, to use as cupcake picks. I do admit the frosting technique I used looks like that tiny fake poo you can buy in novelty shops. I need to work on that. 

After all the kids jumped for 90 minutes, it was time to head back to the party room for sugar & prezzies. Talk about a sweaty mess of little humans. One of the BEST parts of the party was that I didn't have to clean up! Woot! Woot! See, this "party outside of home" thing has some major benefits. 

Here I am, delivering goodness & happiness & yummy treats to all the little people.

Sometime soon I'm grabbing some gal pals & we're gonna venture onto the trampolines by ourselves while the kidlets are all in school. It's great exercise! 

Happy birthday to my big girl!

I did hear the customary "This was the best party EVER, mom!", so I know it was a success.

♥

Zoey is 10. Sorta.

Piggy-backing the last post about my visiting parents & grandmother, I wanted to share a little surprise we gave Zoey on Monday. Her birthday is on September 14th. And her biggest wish was to be able to celebrate while her Mimi, Papa & GG were here. Unfortunately, my visiting family would be leaving before Zoey's birthday. So we surprised her with an early birthday party!

We had so much fun birthday shopping for Zoey. We bought everything green: balloons, streamers, plates, tablecloth, etc. My mom & I made quick little cupcake picks to decorate the birthday desserts. We even had little party favors for Pazely.

Sunday night, while Zoey was sleeping upstairs, the Mr., my mom, dad & 90-year old grandmother blew up balloons. We hung all the decorations & finished wrapping prezzies. 

Zoey woke up Monday morning & came down the stairs with the most darling & surprised face. She was so excited & ran to hug us all.

After presents there was a big breakfast & then a trip to North Platte River where we played & swam & relaxed for the afternoon. For supper we grilled burgers & had a regular ole BBQ. 

I tried to fill the day with Zoey's favorites: 

•the color green

•lemonade

•salt & vinegar potato chips

•cupcakes that weren't chocolate (I made THESE cupcakes with THIS frosting)

It was a small family affair. Spontaneous & easy peasy to put together.

Her 10th birthday, 11 days early. And with her family. She was a happy girl indeed.

♥

Zoey's Denver Birthday Trip

We took a mini trip over the weekend to Denver. To celebrate Zoey's birthday. No birthday "party" this year. We decided to create some family memories instead. And it was a great trip! Went by too quick of course. But we got to experience someplace we've never been. And here are my favorites from the weekend...

Happy Birthday Balloons

Mr. WhiMSy love asked the hotel staff to purchase balloons for us & have them waiting in the room when we returned from a day of exploring. They delivered, & it really made Zoey feel so special! Thanks to the peeps at the Fairfield Inn By Marriott Denver Cherry Creek. Zoey even got a bag of m&m's when we first got there. And later the next day the girls were both gifted sodas & popcorn for our movie night!

American Girl Store

Ah-Mazing. Really!! The staff was sooooo friendly & sweet & they knew everything there is to know about those dolls. We went shopping in the early afternoon & it was so funny to watch my girls. I think they were overwhelmed & didn't realize it. They spun this way & that, looking at everything & bouncing around & pulling my arm in every direction to follow them &

"See this!" & "Do you see that, mom?!" They had been saving their money for months to make purchases & wanted to choose JUST the right thing. Daddy (overwhelmed in his own way) & I treated the girls to ear piercing & hair-do's for their dolls. Later in the evening we returned to the store for some free crafty fun. The girls got to make little Hawaiin lei's in celebration of Kanani, one of the newest dolls. It was so fun! I could really do a whole post on the American Girl store. Seriously. And the best part of our American Girl store visit? Zoey declared it "the best day of her life".

The White Chocolate Grill
This restaurant is right next door to the American Girl store in the Park Meadows Mall. They are "American Girl" doll friendly, which meant that they had seats for the dolls to sit in AND the girls got a free dessert for dining with their dolls. So, instead of a table for 4, we got a booth for 6. haha!
The food was DELICOUS! The chicken plate from the children's menu was my favorite. (I tasted everyone's food.) My side of honey roasted carrots was DIVINE! I must try to make some.

Crepes 'n Crepes
One afternoon we walked up & down 16th Street in downtown Denver. There are free shuttle bus thingies that go up & down 16th Street, stopping at almost every block. We spotted "crepes" & immediately headed in that direction. The hubby & I have an affection for crepes. On our honeymoon in San Franciso, we got some crepes at a little crepe stand & they were amazing. One of my favorite memories for sure. Anyway, we sat inside this little French cafe & watched crepes being made right in front of us. The water was served in tall bottles---so cute! Zoey & I shared a strawberry, banana, & nutella crepe, drizzled with chocolate sauce & dusted with powdered sugar. Pazely had a chocolate crepe & dad had some crazy crepe with all kinds of stuff shoved inside. It was really yummy stop for sure.

Keys to the City
Along 16th Street (& maybe other parts of the city??) there were brightly painted pianos scattered about. The sign on the side of the piano read "We invite you to play this piano at your liesure. No cost. Anyone can do it. Anytime." Sadly, the girls & I didn't get to play. We were busy walking along 16th Street, visiting this shop & that place, etc. And then, when we decided it was time to tickle the ivories, it started raining & the pianos were being covered with protective tarps. Sadness.

Free Bus Ride
The girls begged & begged & begged to ride the bus. It goes up & down 16th Street. I personally like walking so I can see things & take photos! But, we accomodated their repetetive request. And they had a blast. After each stop, which happened quite often, they would change seating or standing positions. I even had a drunk guy sit next to me, asking me to rate the severity of his black eye. Good times.

Soundwalk
A friend of mine told me I had to be sure & visit the "talking sidewalk". It's on Curtis Street, between 15th & 16th Streets in front of the Federal Reserve Bank Branch. Sounds come up from the grates in the sidewalk. Waterfalls, cows mooing, pigs squealing, old wonky cars chug-chug-chugging along....It was really cool!

California Pizza Kitchen
This restaurant was a favorite of the Mr. & mine when we lived in Arizona. We got to share it with the girls on this trip to Denver. For lunch & dinner. haha! We started out with 2 appetizers. The first was the chips & guacamole. The guac was so chunky & yummy, filled with large bits of avocado & corn. The second app was the Korean BBQ Steak Tacos. I think? They were spicy little delicoius soft tacos. One of my favorite meals at CPK is the BBQ Chicken Pizza. But my other favorite is the Pear & Gorgonzola Pizza: Bosc pears, Gorgonzola, Fontina, Mozzarella, caramelized onions and hazelnuts. Topped with field greens tossed in Gorgonzola ranch. My mouth is now watering...

Red Box
I know this sounds silly. But we recently discovered how much money we can save if we rent movies through redbox rather than purchasing the EXPENSIVE movies on the TV at the hotel. We simply hook up one of the girls' portable DVD players to the hotel TV & we're good to go. Movie-watching is one of our favorite late-night things to do, after we've been out adventuring all day! And, there's no redbox near our house, so it was a treat for us!

The Lego Store
We walked inside the Park Meadows Mall & found a Lego Store. The Lego wall along the back of the store just LOOKS so cool. It's a decorate fixture & a useful storage space for Legos---all in one. For 15 bucks, you can fill a bucket with all sorts of shapes & sizes & colors of Legos. There's also a station where you can build your own Lego person with all different choices of hair, heads, arms, accessories, legs, bodies, etc. And then along both sides of the store are displays of Lego scenes hidden behind porthole-like cases. I loved the flies attacking the cake & the giant sandaled feet.

The Tattered Cover Bookstore
The same friend that recommended the Soundwalk, also recommended we stop for a visit at this book store. I am so glad we did. What an amazing place. The Tattered Cover began in 1971 & has grown from a 950 sq. ft space to 3 expansive locations in the greater Denver metro area. It's one of the largest independent bookstores in the United States. The girls LOVED looking around & finding secret little places to read in. The place is HUGE! The store has layers upon layers of books & cozy seating areas & beautiful old chairs & couches & chaises to lounge on. It's an amazing building & we spent a lot of time there. The children's area was one of my favorites. I browsed the kid's books while the Mr. sat upstairs, scanning the sports biographies. The upstairs does feel a bit like a library though. I felt I had to "hush" the girls several times so as not to bother the quiet readers in their silent nooks & peaceful crannies.

Walking in the Rain
As we ended our day of exploring one afternoon, walking along the streets, trying to remember WHICH parking lot we left the old trusty van in, we got wet & rained on. And it was fun!

Ah, yes. Our "create some fabulous memories" tank is now full.

For the time being...

Click HERE to view all the pics from our trip.

♥