glasses

I saw this cool project for etching the bottom of a pint glass.  I thought this would be a perfect gift for my sister-in-law's boyfriend.  I used clear contact paper with my Silhouette (this machine makes so many things so much easier!), etching cream I got from Hobby Lobby forever ago, and a set of 4 small tumblers (the bases were bigger than regular pint glasses) that I got from Target.

 

as happy as I was at how well the first one came out, I thought I'd make each glass different.

I googled warnings and came across some to use,

and Matt helped out with this one - of course ;)  we're fans of The IT Crowd so I couldn't turn down one involving Rohypnol!  gotta love Moss :)

this one is probably my favorite.  it's a bit of a departure from the original idea, but still fits with the recipient's humor.

these worked up quickly and were surprisingly easy to do.  I've etched glass before and for some reason it was a big headache, but this project went very smoothly and I am excited to give them away :)

fall decorating

 

for most of this year I haven't felt much like doing anything around the house, so I wasn't interested in any sort of decorating until Leo's birthday.  now that that's over I'm excited about Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations :)

I loved the wreath Recaptured Charm did and tried to make one like it for myself.  it didn't come out how I thought it would, but it's still okay... as long as I don't look at hers for too long and see how much better the original inspiration is! ;)

I got my coffee filters from the Dollar Tree and they were white, but I was going to spray paint the wreath dark brown anyway so it didn't matter... or so I thought!  I think next time I'd dye them before I start so I don't have to worry about the white peeking through.

I found my ribbon, butterflies, berries and spriggy stuff from the Dollar Tree, too, and pine cones and feathers at Michael's.

I made a little table from two flower pots and a plate to fill up the corner of my porch by the door. I spray painted the pots with the leftovers from the wreath and bolted them together, then set a green Dollar Tree plate on top.  I'm gonna keep an eye out for good deals on more interesting looking pots from now on.  maybe make a bird bath or use them as plant stands.  for now I like it as my faux pumpkin holder, which I got at Michael's - 60% off :)  they're staying whole this year, but maybe next fall I'll do a flower arrangement in the bigger one.

lastly, I used shelf paper and cut out "Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart" on my silhouette and put that on the door.  I like using the shelf liner because it's cheap, but it takes longer to apply than regular vinyl.  still looks good, though, and I think it's my favorite part :)

all my decorating was done outside besides my glass pumpkin that I fill with peanut butter cups and Twix - that stays close to me in the living room O:)

Leo's robot party

we had Leo's birthday party this past weekend since we'll be out of town on his actual birthday.  I did a robot/space theme to go with his new room decor.

I made the invitations with inspiration from a bunch of different invitations I saw online.  I layered the backgrounds, text, and images in my Silhouette program and printed it front and back on card stock, cut out the gears and robot for the front and added foam to the backs to raise them a bit.

I put a little bit of Glossy Accents on the robot's eye and other spots to give it more dimension.

 

I sandwiched foil between clear contact paper and cut out some gears on my Silhouette.  I was worried how they'd do, but they came out just fine.  I strung them up with fishing line and hung them above the bar.

I made a red velvet cake to look like a robot, with doughnut arms and legs and orange Sno Ball feet.  it didn't come out like I was hoping and kept sliding, but it tasted really good.  I reinforced the back with a wall of Rice Krispie treats I made from this recipe and that kept it from falling over.  I bought the pre-made snacks and put the caramel on top, but the caramel didn't soak in like it was supposed to (maybe because they were store bought?), so I heated it all up in the oven and mixed at altogether and reshaped the treats.  I was going to dip them in chocolate, but I already had banana bread and red velvet cake pops that I dipped in chocolate, so I left them as is.

I made a robot pinata from a cereal box.  I opened up the box completely and turned it inside out so it was a solid color and I didn't have to cover up the printing.  I cut off the top flaps and covered the opening with two layers of tissue so it'd have a real good weak spot and didn't take forever to break open!  I layered fringed tissue strips all over the box, added arms and legs and some print outs I drew up, put a wire on the top to hang it with, and made sure to leave an opening to fill it with candy and some toys.

I got a small tank of helium and was able to put silver and colored balloons around the house.  I'm glad I did because that was Leo's favorite part - we had a hard time getting him away from the balloons to open gifts!

for the favors I printed off cards to fold in half and staple to the top of some clear bags filled with "sweet bytes" for the ride home after the party.  I couldn't decide on what to put in them for a while, but finally decided on Butter Pecan Meringues from World Market.  I put them in a wagon Leo had that I filled with tissue paper and candy.  this year I remembered to send everyone home with one!

when I was looking for simple favor ideas I came across a bag topper someone did that said "Domo Arigato" and thought that would be too cute for thank you cards!

I printed the front and back on card stock the same way I did the invitations and used some of the Glossy Accents again for the robot's eyes on the front.

 

I feel like I've been planning this for a long time, but I still didn't get to all the projects I wanted to do.  I'm happy with how it turned out anyway, and glad it's time to move onto something else!

tuxedo shirt

 

I made this tuxedo onesie for a friend's baby shower in May, and I couldn't resist making Leo one, too :)

I used white iron-on vinyl that I cut out with my Silhouette, and I put their names in the back with a scripture verse.

 

I'm out of white vinyl now, so I think I'll get some printable stuff so I can do some other designs I have in mind!