Ooh BABY BABY

A friend was hosting a baby shower. I made these topiary centerpieces for the occasion (actually, there were seven altogether, another pink and yellow that are not in the photo).

This photo gives you a better idea as to the size - that's Frannie hiding behind the blossom.

S.W.A.K.

PAPER DOLL

I'm Gonna Buy A Paper Doll That I Can Call My Own

Here are those party favors I mentioned in the last post. I made them for Jenny's bridal shower. If you look close, you'll see that's Jenny in the bridal dress. I took her engagement picture, color copied it, cut out her face and placed it over a paper doll and then under a bride's gown. I duplicated them onto a card stock for stability and cut them out. I adhered some pink and white paper roses on top of the bouquet the bride was holding for added dimension. I also glued on an oval label that had "Jenny's Bridal Shower" and the date printed on it. These paper dolls were attached to an adorned paper nut/candy cup. The first step to making these was ruffling two colors of crepe paper streamers (I chose light pink and white). I did this on the sewing machine using a large basting stitch. If you adjust the tension so that it's tighter, it will ruffle up all by itself just by sewing down the center of the streamer (this is a really "neat" trick). Now you might think you could save yourself a step and put the two streamers together and stitch them up together, but you don't get the right effect. It's not as "poofy". It's best to ruffle each streamer separately and then put one on top of the other and stitch together. I've made lots of things with these crepe paper ruffles and you get a lot of bang for your buck! They make great flowers too. Now measure off a section and cut using your paper nut/candy cup as a guide. Get the trusty hot glue gun fired up and attach to the outside of the cup. Find a nice trim to go over your stitching line and glue in place. Attach to the paper doll with some hot glue, put in some paper or cellophane filler and VOILA, a great, personalized party favor. Fill with your choice of goodies. I opted for those cake pops that I read about over a Bakerella. I've made them before and everyone loves them. I used an ice cream scoop for the shape, dipped them in light pink candy melts, topped them off with a candy sugar flower, placed in a white cupcake paper instead of using a lollipop stick, wrapped them in a small, clear cellophane bag and placed them in the party favor cup. They're not only pretty, they taste great too! You can get the recipe for the cake pops at Bakerella or use my version:

1 Box Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix (my personal favorite)
1 Box Instant Chocolate Pudding
3 Large Eggs
1-1/3 Cups Water
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil (I use canola)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13 x 9 inch pan. Blend dry cake mix, instant pudding mix, water, oil and eggs in large blowl at low speed until moistened (about 30 seconds). Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour batter into pan and bake approx. 35-38 minutes. Cool completely. Now take the cake and crumble it all up into a large bowl. Mix in your favorite cream cheese frosting (that's right - the frosting goes into the cake - not on top of it). Here's my favorite recipe:

1 Cup Unsalted Butter (room temp)
8 Ounces Cream Cheese (room temp - the block kind - not spreadable or whipped)
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 Box Powdered Sugar

In large bowl mix together butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and gradually mix in powdered sugar. The more you beat it the fluffier it gets. I usually put in about half of my frosting - you don't want the cake mix to get too soft. Now put this cake mixture into the fridge to chill until firm (if you're in a hurry, put it in the freezer for a while). When it's ready, you can scoop out tiny balls of mixture (or any size you want). Melt some candy wafers (you can get them at the craft store in lots of different colors). Dip and place on waxed paper to set. If using sprinkles, put them on while they are still wet. Return them to the fridge to set up faster.

Scrumptuous!

S.W.A.K.

PAPER ROSES

Click on this and take a good look!

Today was my niece's bridal shower. Her name is Jenny and you can read her blog over at Birtyboutique0i0. This is the bride-to-be crown I made for her special day. I started this project about 12 AM Friday and finished it off that same day. I kept waiting for inspiration and it finally arrived. It started with a new headband and ended with a beautiful bouquet of paper roses. First off, a strip of foam rubber was glued to the inside of the band for added comfort and dimension. Next came a base of paper flowers that I had in my decoupage stash, which I just adhered to the band with double-sided tape (that really strong kind). Then I put on another layer of flowers for a 3-D look. The rose in the center was put on with one of those foam dots so that it stands out. Then I went to work with some left over crepe paper ruffles that I had sewn up for the party favors (post coming soon). Like you would use ribbon, I just curled them around and around forming roses and held them together with my best friend, the hot glue gun. Next came a couple of small flowers from the bridal department at Michael's and some pearly things dangling off the top. The crowning glory is the paper doll. If you look closely, you'll see Jenny in that bridal dress. The crown was displayed on a pedestal cake stand until the bride-to-be arrived. It looked beautiful on her!

Paper Roses lyrics link here.

S.W.A.K.

CRAFTING WITH CHILDREN

(More photos from the archives)

Sometimes I volunteer at Frannie's elementary school, you know, working at the book fair, chaperoning on field trips, baking and selling at their annual election day bake sale, and being a room parent (among other things), but what I love most is teaching the children a new craft.

This was our spring bonnet craft. We took really large circles of paper and glued big doilies underneath to represent lace. Then the girls decorated the tops with paper flower shapes. Crepe paper streamers were used as ribbons to tie under their chins. I think they're ready for a stroll down Fifth Avenue!

Here's what they look like from the back. This would make a really fun craft for a girl's birthday party. (Can you tell which one Frannie is? I'll give you a hint - she's the one with the polka-dot thermos - but you knew that already, didn't you?!)

Now, how about some boater hats for the boys? I constructed the basic hats for the boys because they were a little more difficult. They are made out of cardboard rounds for the brims (the kind bakers use to put cakes on) and poster board for the crowns. The boys did all the decorating. Don't they look dapper!

Or maybe a bouquet of flowers is more your thing. For Valentine's Day we made tissue paper nosegays for the children to bring home for their moms. We used tissue paper rounds that I pre-cut, pipe cleaners, small round doilies as the nosegay holder, and ribbon. Now that's sweet!

The children get so excited when they see me come into the class because they know we are going to make something special. They have no idea how happy they make me! They're already asking about what we'll make this Halloween. I'd better get busy!

S.W.A.K.

SPEAKING OF HALLOWEEN...
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