entertaining idea

Image from MSweddings

I'd love to have a party with these hanging in my back yard. Step One: Finish my backyard so I can actually have a party back there.

homemade photo booth

I think this sounds like such a fun photo shoot to do with your kids. I have an old set of filmstrip photo booth photos of me and my mom when I was a baby. I kept meaning to take e with me to a photo booth (I think Kmart has one) but never got around to it - now she isn't a baby anymore! I think I'll still have to actually make it to a photo booth as well as set up my own at home.

play kitchen

I'd like to make e a play kitchen for her birthday. Here's one idea made from products from Ikea. I like the basic concept but I think I would want to at least paint it and add some moulding for embellishment.

Here's another...

And another...

craft room countertops

Someday, I'm going to remodel our basement into the ultimate craft room. I'm wondering how concrete countertops would look in that space. If I do decide to go that direction, here is a tutorial to get me (really Adam) started.

fabric baskets

I'm thinking these fabric baskets would work well for organizing e and l's closet. I'm also wondering if they'd be strong enough to use as toy baskets. My wicker ones just aren't holding up with to the daily abuse. I love that I can make them in the fabrics I used for the bedding in their room.

craft supply organization

Craft supplies is definitely one thing I have a lot of. I'm always looking for new ways to store and organize my ever-growing supply (working in the craft industry definitely has its perks!). I like the look of this system. Last week I bought a few tin buckets in the dollar section at Michales.

happy birthday

Today one of my little brothers turns 13! Happy Birthday John!

I bought this party kit on clearance a few weeks ago at Michaels. It really is cute. I'd love to recreate it in my own patterned paper and cardstock.

spell with flickr

This is a fast and easy way to find letters on flickr. Just type in the word you want to spell out then click on each individual letter until you find a photo you like. You can then click to the actual photo on flickr and depending on the license on the photo, you could then print it out and frame to hang you your wall.

etched glasses

I love the way these glasses look. These were vintage glasses sandblasted and sold by Umbra. However, I'm wondering if you could DIY with glass etching cream? I just might have to try.

bird mobile

I've been thinking about ideas for decorating my little girls' room. I think they'll share (if we ever end up getting them out of our room!) which means I need to accommodate the crib and a bed. I saw this project idea a lot last summer and still really like the bird theme.

valentine idea

I think these are cute, fast and fun.

valentine card idea

I think this (from lucykatecrafts blog) would be a fun project to make and reuse every year with a new Valentine's love letter to my husband or kids. Plus, it would make me practice using my sewing machine which I would love to be good at but never seem to take the time to use.

mini cards

I love mini cards. They're fast and easy to make plus they are typically simple in design -a style I definitely prefer. These are mini valentine cards from BHG. This year I'd love to spend a day making a whole stash of cards to use for a variety of events.

doodle stitching

I got this book at Christmas. I really like the style of the book and projects it features. It even inspired me to hand stitch around an applique for a tote bag I made over the holidays.

valentine dinner

I like the concept of this table setting - plus it's a great way to use patterned paper which I tend to collect and not use! While it was designed with a Valentine theme, I think you could easily take the elements and mix it up for a variety of events...birthday parties, dinner parties, etc.

Flower Centerpiece: Place glass votives in a tray and fill with a single flower. Cut the stem short enough so the flower just rests above the tray.

Candy Favors: Roll a piece of patterned paper into a cone and fill with candy.

valentine giveaway

My sister-in-laws and I post ideas for keeping our kids busy, educated and entertained on RedRoko. We're having a create-your-own Valentine card kit giveaway which ends tomorrow at midnight (I know this post might be too late...hopefully you'll get a chance to check it out). It's a super cute kit filled with all you'll need to create handmade Valentine's with your kids. Just leave a comment and you can win!

happy holidays...

Happy Holidays! Here a pictures of the four letterpress Christmas cards I sent this year. Hope you had a great Christmas!

christmas countdown

I saw this idea a few weeks ago from my little mochi. It's an advent calendar made from two packs of gum. Each day you get to pop out one piece. Obviously, December is already well on it's way so it's too late for a traditional advent calendar, but I think it could even be fun to do for the 12 days of Christmas. This is definitely on my holiday project list for next year.

letterpress placecards

I also letterpressed these placecards when I was in Washington to use for Thanksgiving dinner. We ended up writing the name of each dessert on an individual card and placing it next to the dessert on the dessert table (I think we had at least 9 or 10 options including pumpkin pie, banana cream pie, apple pie, rasberry pie, pear crumble pie...)

To create:
- Create artwork in Illustrator and have a photopolymer plate made.
- I letterpressed the cards with a Vandercook SP-20 using Crane's Lettra Superwhite and dark brown ink.

thanksgiving table

I also got to help with the table for Thanksgiving dinner. We filled the length of the table with candles, gourds, pumpkins, leaves and berries and featured an arrangement of orange roses set in cranberries in the middle of the table.