Big Sister Survival Kit

I've been working hard getting things ready for little man's arrival, which is less than two weeks away. For the most part my bags are packed, clothes are washed and we have what he will sleep in. That is all I need, right? 

Anyhow, one of the big things on my to do list before he gets here was making a survival kit for big sister Avery. I have it packed for the hospital so it's there when she visits Luke for the first time. I wanted to include items in it that would keep her busy and entertained while she was there once the newness of her little brother wore off. 

Here is what I included in the survival kit:

(top left to bottom right)

{One}

Big Sister Personalized Notebook

This adorable and personalized notebook is from Tiny Prints. I'm absolutely in love with how it came out and the quality of the notebook. Avery loves to color and write in all of my notebooks so I figured she would love one of her own. I personalized it with pictures of our family on the front, it makes me smile every time I look at it. 

{Two}

Princess Wand

This was a Target Dollar Spot find. She is obsessed with all things princess right now, I have a feeling this magical wand will be a big hit. 

{Three}

Frozen Play Pack

Another Target Dollar Spot find. Again, she is princess (and Frozen) obsessed right now. 

{Four}

Arts and Crafts. 

Again….Target Dollar Spot for the win! She loves to color so I thought this would be a fun little craft for her to do.  

{Five}

Minnie Mouse Play Camera 

I'm sure we will all be picture crazy when Avery meets Luke for the first time. I thought it would be fun for her to have her own little camera to pretend to take pictures with as well. If she was a bit older, I would totally give her a disposable camera. 

{Six}

Melissa & Doug Water Wow Notepad

Avery absolutely loves these. They are great to take on the road and out to dinner. All they require is a little water and are reusable. They don't make a mess and keep her entertained for a while. This is a new notebook and she loves animals, I think she'll be obsessed. 

{Seven}

Fruit Snacks

One of her favorites that she doesn't have on a regular basis. 

Tried to put "new" things in it that she won't put to the side in three seconds. 

{Eight}

Animal Crackers

when in doubt feed the toddler!

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One of my most popular posts on this blog is the survival kit I made for hubs before Avery was born.

I didn't want to forget about him this time around either. I decided to put together a little basket of his favorite sweets and treats for the hospital. In this survival kit I included gummy bears, trail mix, Twizzlers, gum, chap stick, protein bars, mints, Kit Kat and Starbursts candy. 

  

Easy Pumpkin Centerpiece

I've been in search of the perfect fall centerpiece for our kitchen table.  

I wanted to make something but didn't really know where to start.  

Then a friend texted me a picture of a pumpkin centerpiece she made.  

It looked so simple.  I ran to Hobby Lobby that afternoon picked up supplies. 

I bought everything for under $10, thankfully they had 40% off all of their fall decor.  

The centerpiece took 10 minutes to make.  It's the perfect addition to our kitchen table. 

Materials: 

Craft pumpkin (any size)

Twine

Decorative fillers (floral stems)

Knife 

Marbles (1 small bag) 

Directions: 

Cut the top off the pumpkin (I would cut the circle smaller next time).  

I used a regular kitchen knife, doing a little at a time. 

I poured the marbles into the bottom of the pumpkin.  

I used marbles for the weight and to hold the stems in place.  

After that, I added the floral/ fall stems.  

It took a few minutes to get them arranged the way I wanted.  

I finished off by tying a bow using twine I already had around it.  

Simple as that.

Spring Monogram Door Hanger

This project was pinspired, like most of my projects lately.  

We've been in need of door decorations for spring and I knew this would be a quick and easy project.

All you need is a wooden letter, paint, ribbon and embellishments of your choice.  

I bought a plain white letter from Michael's for about $2 (with a coupon).  I already had yellow paint at home and these little flowers with rhinestones in the middle.  I decided to paint diagonal stripes on the monogram.  I didn't measure the out the lines before I painted them.  I just freehanded it.  It's not perfect but that's what gives it character.  After the paint was dry, I hot glued the flowers onto the wooden monogram.  To finish it off, I hot glued about 8 inches of ribbon to the top of the H.  Once it was completely dry, I used the ribbon to hang it off a over the door hook.  Overall, this entire project took just 15 minutes. 

My door is now one of the cutest on the block! 

Pringles Containers Cookie Jars

I'm always looking for creative and inexpensive ways to package gifts (especially cookies) over the holidays.  A while back, I saw these Pringles containers turned cookie containers on Pinterest.  I knew they would come in handy over the holidays. So, for the past few months I've been buying and eating Pringles when they go on sale.  I was able to save a few containers for gifts this season. I rinsed out the containers a few weeks before I used them. After that, I just used one sheet of scrapbook paper for each container.  They had to be trimmed down a little.  I just measured the length of the container and used a paper cutter to cut it evenly. From there, I glued the paper to the container, wrapped the rest of the paper around and glued the other side down.  To finish it off, I just added a little bit of ribbon.  If I had more time, I would have attached a little gift tag. I love how they turned out and will definitely be saving them next year as well! 

Wreath Button Frame

As soon as I came across this creation on Pinterest, which originally came from this blog, I knew I wanted to make it.  I already had an extra frame at home and ended up finding buttons in the dollar section at Target.  This pretty creation is now sitting on my kitchen counter, resting on a plate holder.  Love it! Here's how I did it...

I used a spool of ribbon to trace the center onto white paper.  

I ended up using only 2 of these containers of buttons.  

I didn't glue anything first.  I just lined it all up because I didn't want to glue it down and it not work.  I started with the largest buttons, placing them around the circle I drew.  Then, I went around the outside with medium size buttons and put the smallest ones in the inner center.  Once everything was lined up, I started hot gluing them down. 

Once they were all glued down, I flipped the paper over and secured the frame.  

Last, I made a bow and hot glued it to the top of the wreath.  I also used some extra ribbon on the corners of the frame to add a little more detail.  

Ribbon Flower Headbands

Lately, there have been many, many posts on the creative blogs I follow about flower headbands. I don't wear headbands too much, but I love the look of flower headbands. I did some research and ended up coming across some tutorials that seemed practical for me. I don't have a sewing machine (yet) so I had to do some prep work at my parents house before making these headbands. I made one at their house and just finished the rest today. I'm now obsessed with making these. To all of my friends with little girls....be on the lookout for headbands to come your way! The trickiest part of the ribbon bands is to unravel the ribbon while trying to get it to stick on hot glue. I did burn myself more than a few times, but I'm not complaining. All of the ones in this post will probably stay in my collection. Now that I have the knack of making them, I will be on the hunt for cute ribbon in fun colors. One of things I'm most excited about making is headbands for the holidays!!! Here is the tutorial I followed for these ribbon headbands. I prefer using the bands as opposed to the plastic headbands. Reason being, if you don't put the flower in the right spot, the band will move wherever. Enjoy!

DVD Cover

I made this DVD cover for a very special birthday. I used the cover our wedding CD came in as the template. I'd be happy to send yo the template if you're interested.

Ribbon Bookmarks

These bookmarks are simple & cheap. All you need are some cute buttons, matching ribbon and a glue gun. Measure the ribbon about an inch longer than the book. Glue the buttons to the top of the ribbon. Trim the edges and to keep your ribbon from fraying, you can burn the edges or use clear nail-polish.

CD Covers

There have been many occasions lately, where I have given CD's to others. Whether they've been gifts or contained pictures from a fun weekend, I've been burning away. I got tired of buying cases for them to go in and I don't like the clear sleeves, so I decided to make my own case. After a few failed attempts, I finally was able to get the case I wanted, and I loved the way they turned out. If you'd like a template for the CD Cover, email me at leah@qfadtampa.org. I'd be happy to send you one.

Materials:
paper cutter
1 piece of card-stock (12x12)
Stickers to decorate

Wine Bottle Tags

A student of mine gave me a water bottle tag this year and I loved the idea. I decided to copy the design and use it for wine bottles. Who doesn't like a good bottle of wine for a gift? This is a way of putting a card on the bottle, with it looking cute at the same time. Below you will see the materials I used to make the tag.

Directions:
1. Cut a piece of card-stock to 2 inches wide by 6 inches long.
2. Fold the card-stock at the 2 1/2 inch mark (from the top).
3. Cut a piece of scrapbook paper that is 2 1/2 inches long and 2 inches wide.
4. Glue scrapbook paper onto the top of the card-stock. The decorative scrapbook paper should be the same length as the card-stock up to the fold.
5. Using a 1 inch circular punch, punch a circle on top of the scrapbook and card-stock layer. You now have your tag.
6. Decorate your tag as you wish.
** In this example I used a polka-dot punch with layered orange paper. I also attached a flowed using a brad to the upper right corner. You can write a message on the tag, or stamp it with a special message.

I am looking forward to creating many more tags this summer for various special occasions.

Pretty Pumpkins

Look at what a little ribbon can do!
I bought a bunch of pumpkins after Halloween on sale from JoAnn Fabrics. I found decorative fall ribbon and hot glued it around the pumpkin. It ended up making a perfect little gift and was a great decoration for the house!