Mid Summer Happenings

I can’t believe I’m saying this but we’re all packed to leave on another vacation. To say that we’ve been blessed with an abundance of family time and adventure this summer is a total understatement. We’re excited. Beach here we come!

Before we get on the road I wanted to share a few random tid bits with you that have been floating around the internet and instagram land.

First (and probably most exciting) is my very first piece of writing for WhatToExpect.com!  When I was approached to write for them, I blindly and excitedly said yes- not realizing how much harder it would be to write for a deadline than to write (blog) for myself. I’m happy though- writing about creativity came pretty naturally for me 😉 You can find my article, and the following cute but slightly hilarious picture of my family by clicking this link:

10 Important Ways I Cultivate Creativity In My Girls.

Lilly was not feeling family photo day…ha.

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Next up, this darling cake for a little one’s 4th birthday:

Want to know my secret for make those adorable fondant figurines?  And for making figurines in general that don’t weigh a hundred pounds or sag or droop or fall apart?

RICE CRISPY TREATS AND TOOTHPICKS

I sculpt the whole figurine out of rice crispy treats then cover it in a very thing layer of fondant.  The larger pieces, all sculpted and covered in the same way (heads, wings, extremities) are then attached using water and toothpicks.  Poor little dinos were melting terribly in this Pittsburgh heat and humidity BUT they made it to the party perfectly so I’m happy.

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Then there was this super cute candy-themed business card design I used to spruce up my info for a bloggers conference (more on that another time).  I used my custom stamp to create a “sugared” (i.e. sand) logo on the front of the velum envelopes.  Baker’s twine attached the envelope to the rock candy and the envelope was filled with candy dots! Way more fun that handing someone a piece of cardstock.

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And finally, these cute shorts I made for (and with) my sister-in-law, Haley.

We upcycled a pair of old shorts by decking out the pockets.  Every row is a different strand of trim (purchased at our local craft store). Glitter sequins, lace, rosettes, rick rack, rhinestones, webbing etc. etc.  We only needed about an 8” strip of each type of trim so the whole project only cost about $10 give or take (plus the cost of glue- we used permanent, all purpose clear glue).

They dried beautifully and look great!  She wore them to a country concert and everyone loved them.

Here are some pics of the other shorts we made:

 

 We used tape and FABRIC friendly spray paint for these DIY America shorts.  I’m not gonna lie- these were tricky.  The fabric spray paint doesn’t work very well and the painters tape does NOT keep the paint from seeping onto the marked off areas of jean material that we didn’t want to be red. If we did them again we might use a stiff brush and real fabric paint instead of the more liquid fabric spray stuff.

Haley had the brilliant idea of using a SHEET of duct tape and a big star craft punch (both found at our Joann Fabrics) to make those perfect stars. So easy! You could use star stickers too but we couldn’t find any that were exactly the look we wanted. They were either too small or had weird rounded edges…

But I think they ended up looking really cute too- perfect for the 4th of July.

And last but not least, we added a strip of lace to the inside of a pair of shorts that were a little bit too short.  I think this looks so cute- and is so cheap and easy!  Just turn the shorts inside out, apply a line of glue and add the strip of lace. Nothing more to it than that!

-J