Thursday, October 3, 2019

DIY Halloween Bats, made from Christmas Ornaments!

These little bats are the cutest thing, and so easy to make!


You need:

Small Black Christmas ornaments.
Black Lace
Black Felt
Jewels for Eyes

and

scissors and a hot glue gun


Cut a 1"x1" and a 1"x2ish" shape out of the felt. Fold each piece in half and cut the small one into the shape of the head, and the large one into the shape of the feet. 

Glue the feet to the top of the ornament. The bat will hang upside down. 

Glue the head to the bottom. 

Glue the eyes on. 

Glue the wings, either wrapped around the bat, or squeeze together to make open wings, and glue to the sides. 

Hang them up! I found a branch from my yard for hanging them. They were so fast and easy, I made a whole bunch! 

Halloween Golf Game


This Halloween golf game is AWESOME! You can set it up anywhere from a hallway, to a driveway, to a class room! Simply print the pages as 12"x18", and cut out the clearly marked holes in the bottom of the paper. 


Fold on the lines, and set up for play. I got a golf club and eyeballs from the dollar store. My kids also like to bowl with the eyeballs.


You can pick it up from MY ETSY SHOP, and print off as many as you like, or you can pick up a copy from Print & Main, in Layton Utah. If you get it from them, they will crease it, and you'll just have to cut out the holes. If you download and print it, you'll need to cut out the holes, and fold on the lines. 

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

DIY Acrylic Sign with a Marker


* This post contains affiliate links. Thank means, if you click on and purchase the links I have provided, I might make a little money. Thank you for your support.

These acrylic signs are super easy to make and inexpensive! You need a piece of acrylic from Home Depot, a water based marker like this and a base. You can make your own, or buy bases like these.


You print out a sign, and put it under the acrylic, then simply trace over it with a marker, and you're finished! I created bunch of adorable printable signs, and they are in my Etsy shop. You can visit my Etsy shop here. The signs are cute enough to print and display on their own, or you can print one and use it to trace for this project. 


When choosing a marker, only use water based markers, not oil based markers, and be sure and use the finest tip you can get. A fine tip is the key to getting the fonts to really stand out be distinct. Outline each letter, then fill it in. I used this marker:

Using only water based markers will insure you can clean it up and wipe it off if you make a mistake.   It cleans up by wiping with your finger when it's wet, or using window cleaner when it's dry. You might just need to let the window cleaner sit for a minute, before wiping off. Oil based paint will not come off the acrylic. It will come off glass with a razor blade, but a razor blade will scratch the acrylic.


My son had homecoming last weekend, and we hosted the dinner in our home. I decided to make each guest a place card, using the glass from dollar store frames. The kids were amazed when they walked in, and just loved having their own name at their place. They each got to take it home at the end of the night. 


So, it can be done on glass as well, but I would only recommend using glass for decor that is not going to be around children, wind, or in a place where it can be knocked over easily.








Acrylic Signs that Stand Up


I'm all about acrylic signs this Halloween!


DIY acrylic signs are my new favorite thing! They are easy to make, inexpensive, and fast. You can make them with vinyl, like I did with this big sign that I have sitting on my mantle this October. All you need is a piece of acrylic, from Home Depot, and a wooden base. My dad made mine on his table saw, by cutting a slit in a 2x4. You can also order them online 


When placing your vinyl on the board, just remember it's sticky! It's stickier than a wall, and will stick the second it touches. So, you'll want to make sure it's in the right place before letting the surfaces touch each other. 


Apply the vinyl, place in the base, and put it where you want it. It's as easy as that!















Monday, March 11, 2019

Afternoon Tea at Home

We had afternoon Tea in England, and loved it so much, that we were so excited to do it here at home. There were a few things that are different about Tea in England, compared to the US. 


 A Tea is actually a meal. Actual tea that you drink, is only part of it. In a traditional English Tea, each person gets their own tea stand, that houses their entire meal. It’s all about the presentation, and sitting with good company, having a memorable time.


The meal is composed of three S’s. Bottom - Savory, Middle - Scones, Top - Sweets. 



Savory on the bottom - tea sandwiches. We did cucumber with cream cheese and freshly cut dill. These are always served open face. We also did ham, cheese and butter.  Other traditional tea sandwiches are smoked salmon and egg salad sandwiches. Don’t forget to cut off the crust! 


Scones in the middle. Every true English tea will have English scones, clotted cream, and strawberry jam. The scones are like biscuits, but better. You can find recipes online. My friend brought these for me from England. You can’t get clotted cream in America, because they don’t sell what you need to make it here. We made this knock off version, which is pretty close. It’s made of 1/2 cup heavy whipped cream, 8oz mascarpone cheese, and a table spoon of powdered sugar, whipped together. It’s slightly sweet, with an amazing texture. It’s like a cross between butter and cream, and slightly sweet and light. Put the clotted cream and jam in their own small containers. Do this the day before. 


Sweets on top. The sweets are anything small. This level will always have a macaroon, and mini pastries or tarts. These small cakes are called Petits Fours, pronounced like, “petifours.” My friend brought these straight from England. You can find the exact same thing on Amazon or anything mini in the bakery will do. I also saw on Pinterest that you can cut a cake that is short down, and cover with melted white chocolate or icing. 


Afternoon Tea is all about presentation!

When we were in England, they brought each of us our own teapot of water. Here, we used a teapot that we got from Walmart. It heats the water in 4 minutes. Much easier, and less to store. My awesome friend also brought us the teacup sets from England. What would I do without her? If you don’t have a friend who lives in England ;) I have seen beautiful sets at Homegoods. You can find them in many stores, including second hand.

We did strictly herbal tea for this party,  no caffeine. We used loose tea and teabags. I got beautiful strainers online. 

The favor bag was really sweet. It was a package of a tea bag, a teaspoon, honey sticks and mini honey dipper.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a Happy & Creative Day!

Risa

Fascinator DIY

For the QUEEN BEE TEA, we also made fascinators.  They made these at the beginning of the party, so they could wear them during afternoon tea. It was so fun to see the different styles and personalities come out as they created their fascinators.


I had a table of supplies all ready for the girls when they arrived.


Our guests got right to work, and laughed the whole time!


They were all so creative!


To make a fascinator, use a disposable plastic lid as a base, and hot glue to attach everything. Wrap felt around the lid, and then top with flowers, ribbon tulle, butterflies, birds, and whatever you can think of is great! Our favorite was to add Russian tulle, also called birdcage tulle or millinery tulle. This is the tulle that hangs over they eye on a real fascinator. Regular thick skirt lining tulle works too!

The girls were so creative!



They worked on their fascinators for two hours!


Be sure and glue felt to the bottom, and then cut out a felt circle. Glue it to the bottom so that you can slide a headband in and have it be held in place by the felt circle. Decide where you wan tot wear it on you head, and have fun! The girls liked wearing their fascinators to the side.




Thanks for stopping by.

Have a Happy & Creative Day!

Risa

Queen Bee Tea Party


This summer when we visited England, we had Afternoon Tea It was so much fun, and we were looking forward to doing it back at home. A Queen Bee Tea Birthday Party was the perfect excuse!


The backdrop was made with popsicle sticks glued together in a honeycomb shape, and then decorated with this clipart kit I created, and sell in my Etsy shop, Risa Design


The backdrop came together easily. If you are going to do this, glue the popsicle sticks together first, and then cut out the floral elements. Layer them and create depth with cotton balls. Hot glue to the honeycomb popsicle sticks. Be sure and fold the bees wings up and legs down, and put a cotton ball under them to get them to stand out. 


It's the perfect backdrop!


Pretty from every angle!


The Etsy pack comes with signs for multiple party themes.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa



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