Soon to be Mr. & Mrs. Cards

I found some REALLY cute cards on Etsy but I am cheap and decided I could make them myself! With a little help from publisher, I did just that!

For the thank you cards, I created a blank template in publisher that is half a letter sized piece of paper and at the bottom I drew out a text box. I typed in what I wanted the card to say and made it all pretty! When I was done, I printed the cards out on card stock paper. When you print it, you will get 2 cards on one page... just cut the letter sized page in half and then fold the cards in half and BAM! You have a thank you card! - You can even turn a text box upside down at the top of the template and write something that will be on the back side of the card!

For the envelopes, I just bought a box from my local store and then cut craft paper to fit inside the flap of the envelopes. I used my spray adhesive to glue them down and waited for them to dry, then I folded at the crease... I have to say, they look so great!

Why spend money on something you can make yourself... plus this gives it way more meaning!

Stay Krafty (and thrifty)!

Love, Krafty Karen

Wedding party Gifts

My bridesmaids and Casey's groomsmen are 6 special people and when we decided we would ask them to be in our wedding, we wanted to do it in a very special way. I looked through Pinterest and found a BUNCH of cute ideas for the girls but very few for the guys...

The Bridesmaids:
I bought each girl their favorite bottle of wine (2 buck chucks from Trader Joes) and ordered labels from Etsy that said "I would be so honored if you would be my Bridesmaid" (My sister's said Maid of Honor).

I also made them each a cute little box from some felt in our wedding colors and stuck a ring pop inside with a piece of paper saying "Now its my turn to POP the question"

They were a hit!

The Groomsmen:
Like I said, I had a hard time finding an idea so I came up with my own. I wrapped the guys favorite 6 pack and then tore it open at the top and took a beer out and duct taped a card over the hole saying... "Will you take ONE for the team and be my groomsman" (for Scott it said Best Man). The guys loved getting the beer but gave me a hard time about how you NEVER take a beer out of a 6 pack if you are giving it as a gift... All the girls thought it was cute!

These gifts were just fun little gifts to ask them to be a part of our big day next year. I cant wait to actually pick out their real gifts we will give them at the rehearsal dinner... any ideas?

Want to check out our wedding website? Be my guest... http://lassiterflowers.ourwedding.com/

Stay Krafty!
Love Krafty Karen

Flower Girl Gifts

This past weekend my sister (aka my Maid-of-Honor), Val and her husband (aka one of Casey's groomsmen), James threw us an engagement dinner. The dinner was a chance for me and Casey to ask our friends and family to be a part of our bridal party! Later I will blog on how I asked my Bridesmaids and how Casey asked his Groomsmen... this blog today is all about our Flower Girls.

Our Flower Girls are my nieces, Madalynn and Audrynn. They were promised the job LONG time ago and even if I didn't get married til they were 18 and 16, they would have still been the Flower Girls... just the way life goes! They are 10 and 8, they will be 11 and 9 when the wedding happen... not to old and not to young! I wanted a FUN way of asking them to be in our wedding and I remembered that they have been talking about twizlers for a few days now so I figured I would make them some sort of candy basket... It turned out way better then I even imagined and the girls (and their mom, Val) loved it.

1st I stopped at the Dollar Section at Target and bought 2 cute metal buckets,1 bag of fun sized twizlers and 4 boxes of candy. I had to stop at Dollar Tree for the styrofoam squares, they are in the flower section. I had the wooden sticks at home (that I spray painted) and I got busy with my glue gun.

Here is how I made them...
Step 1: I hot glued one of the styrofoam squares into the metal bucket
Step 2: I spray painted the wooden sticks (which I bought at Hobby Lobby a while back)
Step 3: I glue tissue paper on top of the styrofoam square to cover the green up, it was ugly and then I stuck some twizlers down on the side to fill the empty space.
Step 4: I made a cute little card out of some extra craft paper that reads "It would be so SWEET of you if you would be our Flower Girl" - I hot glued this to the metal bucket.
Step 5: I glued the wooden spray painted sticks to the back of each box of candy
Step 6: I carefully stuck the sticks down in the styrofoam that was glued into the bucket
Step 7: Stand back and be amazed at your creation!!

I spent $6 on each candy bucket for the girls and they were a big hit!!!

Faux Canvas Photos

I haven't blogged in a while because I have been one busy little girl... My sweet loving wonderful boyfriend proposed to me last month and well, I said YES!!! On top of that, we just moved into a house together. Talk about all the fun projects I have on my plate right now with both of those events.

With the wedding, I am trying to do everything myself... the planning, the invites, the decor and more. With the house, I have been trying to update a few pieces I already have and then add a few more things to hang on the walls since we have SO much more wall space now. This is where lovely Pinterest comes in handy... I am going to TRY and keep up with blogging what I create while I finish setting up our new house and while I plan our wedding.

Today I want to show you something I did for over our mantel. This past Christmas, Casey, Caleb and myself went to the Stockyards and had our pictures made. We had one done of our boots and since I received the picture back from the photographer, I have been wanting to hang it over the mantel. When we moved into the new house, I knew I had to get that picture hung ASAP or it would never get done. Casey took me to Home Depot and bought me a huge piece of foam board... that was fun carrying it to the car because it was an EXTRA windy day! We then made a pit stop at Hobby Lobby (my home away from home) and I picked up some more spray adhesive. The picture was already at home, I printed out an engineer print from Staples awhile back.

Here is how you make this mock/faux canvas:

What you will need:
Foam Board - in the installation aisle where the sheet rock is at Home Depot
Spray Adhesive
Engineer Print from Staples
Straight Edge
Ruler
Pencil

How to make it:
Step 1. Cut the picture out with your straight edge

Step 2. Turn the photo upside down and measure 1/2 inch from the edge and mark it on each side and then connect the marks to make a box around the edge. So basically leaving a 1/2 border on each side.

Step 3. Cut out of piece of the foam board so that it fits the square you just made on the backside of the picture. You want the border to hang off the foam board because that is how you will cover the sides of the board.

Step 4. Lay the photo how you want it positioned on the foam board and pick up one corner and spray the adhesive and smooth out the photo. If you start with a corner instead of spraying the whole board, it makes it easier to keep the picture straight.

Step 5. After you have the picture glued down, start working on gluing down the edges

Step 6. I used a coke tab and hot glued it to the back so that I could hang the photo... worked like a charm!

Here are 2 photos I have done so far!!

I loved how the boots turned out that I wanted to make one for my son's room. I showed him a couple of photos from his Firefighter birthday party last fall and let him pick one to hang in his room. His room is decorated as a fire station and has a couple of the photos framed so there were only a handful to chose from. He has a corner of his walk in closet dedicated to his Dad's side of the family... pictures, books about Dad's, small trinkets, etc. But he said he wanted a BIG photo of his Momma and Daddy on his wall... so I made him one! Love how it turned out... I ordered a "Presentation Photo" from Staples because I wanted a colored photo instead of black and white.

Pitter Patter Plates

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas with your family, I know I loved spending my time off with my loved ones. My son (Caleb, age 3) really got into Christmas this year... which made it that much better. Plus on top of everything, we had a white Christmas! This is my 2nd white Christmas in 27 years of life... this is also Caleb's 2nd white Christmas in 3 years of life. Ha, gotta love Texas!

This holiday season, Casey (my boyfriend) and I really have been trying to cut back and save some money. We tried to think of some good presents people would cherish but that wouldn't cut the bank. That is when I came up with Pitter Patter Plates! With each plate, I expanded my business and I have decided to make this more of a side job than just a gift giving skill I have.

If you see a plate you like, let me know and for $20 I can recreate that plate and send it to you (anywhere you are) complete with a stand. Or, if you have a favorite quote, saying, picture, etc. Let me know and I will make it come to life on a decorative custom plate!

Contact me if you are interested in buying a plate!

WWW.Facebook.com/pitterpatterplates

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PitterPatterPlates

Old School Desk

My 7 year old niece is OBSESSED with playing school. Over Thanksgiving break, I brought her up to work and let her play in one of our empty offices. She loved having her name on the door (she made her own sign), having her own phone (that I unplugged), her own rolling chair, desk and white board. I even made her a mock badge like the one I use to turn my computer on and open doors in my building. She was in heaven.

I asked her what she wanted for Christmas and she told me that all she wanted me to buy her was "tons of teacher stuff"... I planned on going to a local teacher store and stocking her up on some books but I wanted to do something else too. That is when I came across the idea of redoing an old school desk for her! I found one on Craigslist for $30. I had my brother in law go with me and pick it up, it was perfect! In great condition and very sturdy.

When I got it back home, I started sanding the desk down (after I took it apart of course). My sister and I had found a design we really loved (chevrons) so I started to map it out.

Step 1: I got a ruler and made a grid like pattern on the top of the desk (and the seat). Each little box is about 2 inches by 2 inches.

Step 2: I started to play connect the dots. If you look at the bottom, I messed up and had to fix it some. I went 2 up and 2 down and thought I could do it the whole width of the board, well I ran out of room and it looked kinda of odd so in the middle I went 1 1/2 down instead of 2 down. You will just have to play with your grid and draw your lines to where they look perfect to you.

Step 3: This is where most people would tell you to tape it off... well, I didnt have any tape so I started to free hand and well it turned out really nicely! I used the edge of my ruler to make sure I didnt go over into the next line. Paint every other line the same color (or if you want you can paint them each a different color)

Step 4: Paint the second color! Remember if you need help, just use the straight edge of the ruler... or tape it off.

Step 5: I put the desk back together (after I finished painting everything else of course)!

I can NOT wait until Christmas day when I get to watch my niece open this gift, she is going to be so excited. Now, I just need  to call up Home Depot and have them save me a washer or dryer box so that I can wrap it!

Love,

Krafty Karen

More fun with Eddie the Elf

Since I have last blogged, Eddie the Elf has been very active in our house. Every morning, Eddie is one of the reasons Caleb is so "easy" to get out of bed. I go in his room and whisper, "Hurry come quick, see what Eddie is doing... it is SO funny!" If you know me at all, you know I am very dramatic and well when Caleb finds the Elf, nothing changes! I put on a huge show about how funny and silly Eddie is... Caleb quickly feeds off my excitment.

You ready to see what Eddie has been up to?!

Eddie coloring Caleb a picture

Eddie brought Caleb a snowman stuffed animal who helped Eddie read a book to all of Caleb's "friends"

When Caleb saw this he said "I see a 'C' and an 'A', what else does it say?" And then he stole a few beans and took them to school to show his teacher. I am now aware that kids are NOT allowed to take beans to school... oops! 

I guess after a week of traveling back and forth from our house to the North Pole, Eddie needed a shower! Caleb has been saying for the past week (when we would hunt for Eddie) that he thought Eddie was in the bathtub, well this morning he was RIGHT!!

In our house we believe in 3 things... God, Santa and the Dallas Cowboys! I think Eddie helped them pull off a win against the Eagles last night!

I guess Eddie ran into some trouble with Caleb's Army men! Caleb was very mad at his Army men for tying Eddie up, he was so mad the he knocked all his Army men down and told them to leave his friend Eddie alone! Love that sweet baby boy!

Stay tuned for more mischief from Eddie as the month goes on!

22 more days until Santa comes!!!