Friday Sharing

Sharing my craftiness at some other fun blogs!

Lit and Laundry Finished For Friday

Monogrammed Tote Bag

We have a birthday party to attend for two little friends, and I had the idea to pretty up some plain canvas tote bags to stash their gifts in. They actually came together pretty quickly. I used some leftover ribbon, and made their initials and a ruffled flower from some fabric scraps.  I love how the bags can double as a gift bag and a tote bag, for whatever the girls want to tote around.

Ribbon Ponies

Every once in a while, my daugter will skip the headband and ask for a ponytail.  We have some basic ponytail holders, but nothing too fancy.  And, I keep seeing these really cute decorated ponytail holders, but always figured I could make them myself.  So, I gave it a try!

I bought a pack of 100 ponytail holders at the dollar store, then raided my ribbon scrap jars to see what I could come up with.  Grab your glue gun and a lighter too - they will come in handy for this project.

I started off with one ponytail holder and some coordinating ribbons.  For this first one, I decided on two ribbons to keep it simple.

Next, I tied the smaller of the two ribbons onto the pony, pulling the knot tight.  Then, I tied the larger ribbon right on top of the other knot, again pulling tight.

To cover the knot, I cut a smaller piece of one of the ribbons, hot glued one end and wrapped it around the knot.

                                

With everything in place, I trimmed the ribbons and used a lighter to seal the ends.  All you need to do is move the flame close to the end of the ribbon and it will melt it.  This helps to keep your ribbon from fraying.

Here is the finished ribbon pony!  I think it turned out pretty well and looks really cute.  I love how easy they are to make, so I made another one in pink as well.

Thinking About Christmas?

No?!?  Well, I am!  Every year, I say I'm going to make homemade gifts for our family and friends, and every year, December rolls around and I haven't even started.  But not this year!  With The Muddy Princess here to help hold me accountable, I'm vowing to take the time to make homemade gifts this year for Christmas (and that doesn't mean just cookies!).

I've already started my list, which includes the names of people, the gift I would like to make for them, and the supplies needed.  Some of the ideas I am looking forward to working on are - freezer paper stencil t-shirts, hand embroidered towels, hair elastics & headbands, metal stamped jewelry, and pillow cases.  I also have some ideas for my children's teachers and our neighbors.  And, two adorable projects for my own kids.

I'm hoping to start on some of my projects soon and share some of them once a week here on the blog.  I hope they will be helpful in giving you some ideas or inspiration for your own homemade gifts.  Look for the first Christmas gift idea starting in September!

Linking Up!

I shared my fairy birthday party talents over at Today's Creative Blog.






FYI - You can also follow The Muddy Princess on Facebook.  Just "like" my page and you can be kept up to date on every craft, activity and giveaway.

Strutting My Stuff

I'm participating in the Birthday Ideas Link Party over at the Somewhat Simple blog.  I shared my most recent post about Keira's fairy party.  I hope my ideas help out someone else who is planning a party for their special little fairy.  :)

Fairy Birthday Party

This weekend we celebrated my daughter's 4th birthday.  She is in love with all things fairy, including Tinkerbell, so we had a fairy party!  I was giving some tiny sneak peeks of the party planning last week, so now you get to see all the details!

The inspiration for the party came from this invitation I made.  The outside says, "Take a peek inside the garden gate..." and inside it says, "The garden fairies have come to celebrate!  Keira's 4th Birthday!"

I made these pretty poms from a tutorial I saw on the Martha Stewart craft website.  They look like big, puffy flowers and were just perfect for our fairy party.

I also created this homemade birthday banner.  I've been meaning to make one of these for a while now and finally got working on it since I had the cutest birthday cake/cupcake fabric.  It was actually a fabric remnant I had picked up at Joann's for around $1.

My next big project was the party favors.  I really wanted to make something special for Keira's friends who were coming.  I know she was just itching to run around with fairy wings on with her friends.  For the girls, I made fairy wings, fairy crowns and fairy wands.  For the boys, I made elf hats and satchels.  It was a lot of work, but they turned out so cute!

These were for the birthday girl...

These are the fairy accessories for the girls...

And for the boys...

Since we were stuck inside for the first half of the party, I put out a bunch of craft supplies and the kids decorated peat pots to look like tiny fairy houses.  It seemed to be a big hit and the houses turned out so cute!

And of course, there was the cake!  Even though this was the most detailed cake I've done, I thought it was the easiest. 

Despite the crazy weather, we still got outside for a bit to swim and play, then had fun eating cake and opening gifts.

It was a wonderful, magical day!  I'm so glad my sweet little fairy had so much fun with her friends and family.  Keira, hope you have a great year being four!

Sharing at:

Fingerprints on the Fridge

Happy Birthday Sweet Fairy Girl!

Today was my daughter's 4th birthday!  We celebrated with a fairy party at home, with friends and family.  Some thunderstorms put a small kink in our plans, but overall it was "the greatest day ever," (or so my little fairy said). 

My little girl has grown up so quickly, right before my eyes.  It seems like yesterday that she was just born, making our little family of three, a bigger and happier family of four.  She is so imaginative, creative, funny, and smart.  She loves making new friends, practicing writing her name and dressing up.  She is so much fun to be around!

Here are a few pics I'd like to share as I take a little walk down memory lane...

Please join me tomorrow for a look at all the details of our fairy party!