Customized Water Bottle Labels

Annalise turned two yesterday! The theme of her birthday party was RAINBOWS!

One of my favorite things to do for parties is customized water bottle labels. You can buy vinyl waterproof labels to print on that are over a buck apiece, or you can make them for free if you have clear packing tape and some paper! I think they add such a cute touch. I designed mine in Photoshop and printed them out, but you could use scrapbook paper and stamps or stickers, or a simpler program like Word too. This time I used Aquafina bottles, but usually I go with the Kirkland brand of water bottles from Costco. Any brand would work and the labels are generally about 8 inches long. I printed out my labels on plain printer paper and sliced them apart.

In my opinion, the key to making the labels look good on the bottle is having them appear shiny and vinyl-like, the way the real ones are. To achieve that effect, I use a technique I learned years ago- clear packing tape! It is 2 inches thick, so I made my labels a bit thinner than two inches, so the tape can extend beyond them all the way around. I laid out the tape and put each label face-down on top of it.

Accidental ripples or bubbles can be easily smoothed out with your fingers. You can see that the label is a little less wide than the tape, which allows it to stick to the bottle all the way around.

Much better!

 

And I like to add "nutrition" facts and bar codes to make them look more authentic. :)

More Rainbow Party details to come! :)

Diaper Cake

Dave's mom called me up a few weeks ago and asked me if I knew of a good idea for a centerpiece for a baby shower she was throwing.

"DIAPER CAKE!" I shouted into the phone. Because I love them. About two years ago, I threw my friend a baby shower and made my first diaper cake then. The picture I have of it isn't that great.

(To see the details of the rest of the shower, look HERE on our family blog.)

I've improved my technique a bit since then and Dave's mom Becky and I had fun putting it together on her dining room table. While we worked, Grandpa taught Annalise how to garden.

(In the end he said she did very well, except that she didn't quite understand the concept of leaving the flowers IN the ground after they were planted there, and also apparently thought it might be helpful to stomp on them after the planting was through to make sure they were really securely nailed down.)

Inside the house, Becky had assembled the list of dollar-store goods I'd suggested. The shower was for boy/girl twins (like Dave and his sis!) so the colors were pink and blue.

We used an entire jumbo box of Costco's smallest-sized diapers- all 216 of them. We started rolling,

and put a tiny rubber band around each to hold them together. It didn't matter that all they had were black rubber bands (or that the diapers weren't the right colors) because they got covered up later.

For the base, we tied six rolled diapers in a circle with curling ribbon. Then we added another layer of rolled diapers around that and tied it again. We did that a bunch of times until we had a huge circle.

We made the smaller layers the same way and plopped them on top.

We wrapped wide blue and pink sheer ribbon around the outside of the layers (NOT-sheer would have been better but the dollar store only has what it has!) and used the crinkly paper to look like frosting. Becky had only bought one bag of it though and it wasn't enough because we wound up making the cake so big, so we made do with putting plain white paper through the paper shredder and it worked great! We did that with some pink crepe paper too, arranged the baby blocks, and put some cute stuffed animals on top. Yay!

The little hugging bunny and monkey were so sweet. :)

I heard it was quite a hit! To transport it, they slid it onto some sturdy cardboard and carefully drove it away. :)

A Homemade Toddler Gift

In late May, I had not done or thought about any crafts in months. Dave's mom's birthday was approaching though and for the first time in what felt like forever, my nausea, fatigue, and general weariness and misery gave way to a tiny crumb of crafty interest. Annalise had never done a craft before but I thought perhaps it was worth attempting. I baked some sugar cookies and made some icing in colors that wouldn't look bad if combined and set up a little cookie station for her.

She had never used a paintbrush before and became very grumpy when I tried to guide her hand. So we stared at her would-be project for a few minutes and I thought perhaps she would reject the whole idea. But then she picked up a brush and started off tentatively.

After a tiny swipe she took a cookie break.

Newly replenished, she forged on with gusto.

The final product:

And what is a birthday without a bouquet of flowers? My original idea was to trace Annalise's hands a bunch of times on a paper, have her color them, and then cut them out to make a bouquet of handprint flowers. Unfortunately she screeched and resisted so intensely upon the first tracing attempt that we settled for one handprint flower and several others that didn't require tracing or in any other way bothering her highly headstrong self.

I stabbed pipe cleaners through her flowers, tied them together and paired them with the cookies and her homemade card. Her first little art project was a success! Grandma loved it. :)

I'm Alive!

I haven't checked the blog or my emails from it in five months. I owe millions of people responses and answers and replies. I am getting to them now! :) I have some crafts to share. I am excited to make a comeback!

Announcements!

1. The winner of the Classy Cosmetics giveaway is Jacqueline of Wingledings! Please contact me to collect your prize! (I don't know how to get ahold of you because there is no email address in your profile and your blog doesn't have comments enabled! :) )

2. My husband turned off the computer in the middle of the "system" I had going for emailing people the Valentine Subway Art listing so I know a few people who posted about it still don't have it yet (but I don't know who)! Please email me at craftilyeverafter@gmail.com and I will send it to you.

3. A lot of people asked if they could still have the Subway Art even if they didn't have a blog and the answer is YES! It's available in my Etsy shop- just select the 'Personalized Subway Art' listing and tell me in the notes you would like the Valentine version.

4. I am pregnant! Which I write with an exclamation point to try to feel excited about it but really all I feel is ridiculously miserably incapacitatingly nauseous. Like out-of-this-world sick day and night and even in the middle of the night so I haven't been near the computer which is why my responses have been slow or non-existent. I'm sorry! Please bear with me and hopefully I will feel human again soon. My poor husband has been having to take off work to take care of Annalise while I spend my days writhing about on the couch and crying. Prayers/good-wishes/loads-of-pity gratefully accepted. :)

Free Valentine's Day Subway Art Printable

I have been sick sick sick but I managed to carve out some time from my busy schedule of moaning on the couch to design some printable Valentine Subway Art!

(Felt Rosette Decor Balls tutorial HERE)

This 8x10 printable is available in my Etsy shop, or if you would like to have it for free (!) please write a post about it on your blog, linking back here so that your friends can know about it too! In the comments, leave me your email address and the link to your blog post and I'll email you the image!

(You might notice that my version is personalized with 'Dave &Jessica' which will be substituted with 'red & white' for everyone else!)

Felt Rosette Decor Balls

I love candlesticks, but I hate putting candles on them- too boring. So inspired by Eighteen25 who was inspired by The Idea Room who was inspired by Design Sponge who was inspired by a designer on Etsy (see how inspiration spreads?!), I decided to make some rosette decor balls to adorn the tops of my candlesticks for Valentine's Day!

I used a pack of small styrofoam balls from the dollar store, some pins, and a yard of red felt from Joann's ($2.99 with coupon and it was WAY more than I needed- a quarter of a yard would probably suffice for two balls).

I traced one of those kid's cups from Ikea (I LOVE those cups!) that is approximately three inches across onto the felt about thirty times per ball...

...and cut them out just inside the lines so the ink wouldn't show.

I folded the circles in half,

and in half again so they looked like triangles.

I stuck a pin through the tip of the triangle, making sure to pierce through all the layers.

Then I stabbed it into the ball!

I continued pinning the circles into each ball,

until they were all filled in.

Tracing and cutting the circles was tedious, but pinning them- wow! So much fun! That part was strangely satisfying. :) I have absolutely no other Valentine decorations so I really have to get to work!

Linkies! http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/ http://itssoverycheri.com/ http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ http://www.thegirlcreative.com/ http://makingtheworldcuter.blogspot.com/ http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/ http://madincrafts.blogspot.com/ http://www.craftskeepmesane.blogspot.com/ http://craftomaniac.blogspot.com/ http://cottageinstincts.blogspot.com/ http://craftingreallyawesomefreethings.blogspot.com/ http://sewcando.blogspot.com/ http://www.skiptomylou.org/ http://www.yesterdayontuesday.com/ http://www.craftedition.blogspot.com/  http://www.hopestudios.blogspot.com/ http://www.beckieandbrad.blogspot.com/ http://www.thethriftyhome.com/ http://sewmuchado.blogspot.com/ http://733blog.blogspot.com/ http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/ http://nightowlcrafting.blogspot.com/ http://www.creationsbykara.com/ http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/ http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/ http://alittleknickknack.blogspot.com/ http://www.somewhatsimple.com/ http://firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com/ http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/ http://www.paisleypassions.blogspot.com/ http://lifeaslori.blogspot.com/ http://www.houseofhepworths.com/  http://bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com http://funtocraft.blogspot.com/ http://www.fingerprintsonthefridge.com/ http://tidymom.net/ http://thehillsarelivin.blogspot.com/ http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/ http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/ http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com/ http://froufroudecor.blogspot.com/ http://decormamma.blogspot.com/ http://becca-homeiswheremystorybegins.blogspot.com/ http://www.justagirlblog.com http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/ http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/ http://nv-craftenvy.blogspot.com/ http://iheartnaptime.blogspot.com/ http://iamonly1woman.blogspot.com/ http://lambaround.blogspot.com/ http://www.bystephanielynn.com/ /http://www.domestically-speaking.com/ http://lilluna.com

Classy Cosmetics Giveaway!

Okay, I have a funny story. Which leads to a great giveaway for you so bear with me!

Now, who doesn't love makeup? I luuuuuuhve make-up but have always been just average when it comes to my application techniques. A couple of years ago, an old roommate of mine posted a link to her friend's make-up tips blog, Classy Cosmetics. She really raved about it so I clicked on over. AND FELL IN LOVE. Jenni was adorable, stylish, perky, and a GENIUS when it came to make-up. And her blog had advice and tips and video tutorials for every kind of look you could ever imagine. It was like nothing I'd ever seen. Finally I was grasping why the professionals looked so much better than I did! You can spend all the money you want on product (and I had) but if you don't know how to put it on right, what's the point?

I was in heaven. I took studious notes in a tiny notebook. I wrote down all the brushes Jenni recommended and what they were used for. I made shopping lists for the best basic colors in eye shadows and lip liners. I watched the tutorials intently (a few every day) trying to sear the knowledge into my brain. Of course I called my friends and told them all about the fabulous new blog I'd found. They were all excited. A group of us decided to get together the following weekend to have a "Classy-Cosmetics" party, where we would bring our make-up and watch the blog-tutorials and learn how to transform ourselves into make-up artists and beauty-queens.

You might imagine my shock when in church the next day, a new girl stood up to introduce herself. IT WAS JENNI FROM CLASSY COSMETICS. I'm not kidding. This story is true and it was astounding. (And she came to our party and not only did we get to see the tutorials IN REAL LIFE but she gave us all makeovers!!!) Jenni and I became good friends and this is where it gets good for you. In addition to your good luck that I am pointing you in the direction of this blog, Jenni is also offering Craftily Ever After followers a free ULTA-brand 108-piece makeup set! Sold individually the contents of this kit are valued at $200!

                                 

There are GrEaT colors in it and all are highly pigmented. All you have to do is be a public follower of Craftily Ever After (click the 'Follow' button in the upper right sidebar if you aren't already) and leave a comment telling me you are. For another entry, visit Classy Cosmetics, become a follower over there, and leave me another comment telling me you did. This collection includes:
60 eye shadows
24 baked eye shadows*
8 eye liner pencils
6 cosmetics brushes
5 cream eye liners
4 liquid eyeliners
Mirror and Makeup artist travel case

 *Baked shadows are pressed and are literally baked. It can go on both wet and dry and is more dramatic wet. It usually has more than one color swirled into one and you can create lots of different effects.

This giveaway will be open for a week, at which time I will pick a winner via random.org! A note from Jenni: Good luck and remember makeup is supposed to be fun, inspiring, creative and you! It doesn't come overnight so practice and enjoy the journey!!!

*** For something really hilarious, go to this post on Jenni's blog and see a little hair-removal video tutorial I did for her blog 2 years ago! Very embarrassing and yet... the product is rad. :) ****

Mod-Podged Baby Plaque

My good friend is in the hospital TONIGHT having her sweet baby girl (!!!) and I recently had the pleasure of window-shopping through expensive baby stores with her where I got to see what she liked. Turns out she loves plaques and wooden signs that say 'Always Kiss Me Goodnight'. This was her favorite version:

The problem though, was that it was pink and brown and vintage-y, and her nursery is red and sky-blue and modern. Also you might notice the $48.00 price tag stuck to it (also a problem). I was secretly giddy with excitement because I knew I could come up with something perfect for her!!

This is my version!

I started with an 11x11 plaque from Michaels, regularly $8.99, but $4.49 with my coupon. (A certain grabby gal wanted to hold it once I laid it down to take a picture of it.)

I designed the image in Photoshop to fit the roughly 10 1/2 inch plaque-top and had it printed as a 12x12 photo from Costco. Then I painted the edges,

trimmed off the photo's excess,

and Mod Podged it on!

Yay!

(In its real home it won't have a pink wall in the background.)

I wouldn't have thought I'd like red and sky-blue so much for a girl but I think it turned out lovely! If you would like to make one for yourself, feel free to download the image! (And if you'd like it in a different color or with a different quote, feel free to check out my Etsy site!) :)

Linkies! http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/ http://itssoverycheri.com/ http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ http://www.thegirlcreative.com/ http://makingtheworldcuter.blogspot.com/ http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/ http://madincrafts.blogspot.com/ http://www.craftskeepmesane.blogspot.com/ http://craftomaniac.blogspot.com/ http://cottageinstincts.blogspot.com/ http://craftingreallyawesomefreethings.blogspot.com/ http://sewcando.blogspot.com/ http://www.skiptomylou.org/ http://www.yesterdayontuesday.com/ http://www.craftedition.blogspot.com/  http://www.hopestudios.blogspot.com/ http://www.beckieandbrad.blogspot.com/ http://www.thethriftyhome.com/ http://sewmuchado.blogspot.com/ http://733blog.blogspot.com/ http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/ http://nightowlcrafting.blogspot.com/ http://www.creationsbykara.com/ http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/ http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/ http://alittleknickknack.blogspot.com/ http://www.somewhatsimple.com/ http://firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com/ http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/ http://www.paisleypassions.blogspot.com/ http://lifeaslori.blogspot.com/ http://www.houseofhepworths.com/  http://bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com http://funtocraft.blogspot.com/ http://www.fingerprintsonthefridge.com/ http://tidymom.net/ http://thehillsarelivin.blogspot.com/ http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/ http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/ http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com/ http://froufroudecor.blogspot.com/ http://decormamma.blogspot.com/ http://becca-homeiswheremystorybegins.blogspot.com/ http://www.justagirlblog.com http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/ http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/ http://nv-craftenvy.blogspot.com/ http://iheartnaptime.blogspot.com/ http://iamonly1woman.blogspot.com/ http://lambaround.blogspot.com/ http://www.bystephanielynn.com/ /http://www.domestically-speaking.com/