Salt Dough Tags

Mix up a quick batch of these holiday gift tags and you’ll be ready to wrap and dazzle this year. All it takes is a few ingredients that you’re sure to have in your pantry and your craft stash and you are set!

Things you’ll need:
Salt
Flour
Warm water
Bowl
Wooden spoon
Circle cutter or glass
Straw
Rolling pin
Stamps

Things to do:
1. Mix up a dough using one part water to two parts each salt and flour (for a small batch start with 1 cup flour, 1 cup salt and ½ cup warm water. Knead until it’s the consistency of play dough.
2. Roll out the dough until it’s 1/8 inch thick.
3. Cut out circles and discard extra dough or re-roll and cut more circles.

4. Press stamps into the center of the rounds firmly but not so hard that it distorts the circle.

5. Cut a hole in the top of each circle using the straw.
6. Allow the tags to dry, this can take up to two days, flipping them once to allow the back side to dry as well.

Faux Halloween Cupcake Decorations

Now that the air feels cooler and it is getting darker earlier the fall season is upon us, and has put me in the mood for a little Halloween and fall decorating! For today’s post I’m going to show you how to make a fun trick not treat decor for your kitchen or to place on your dinning room table.

Things you’ll need:
Bakers Twine: (mandarin orange and charcoal black were used here )
Halloween Cupcake Liners
2″ Styrofoam balls
Spiders
Cheese cloth (optional)

Things do do:
1. Cut a sliver of each Styrofoam ball to make one side flat.
2. Using your hot glue gun put a dot of glue on the top of one of your balls and begin wrapping your first twine in a circle, keeping it tight and close together so that the white on the Styrofoam ball does not show through. Continue to add little dots of glue as you go around and around to keep it in place.
3.When you are ready use your scissors to cut your first twine and switch the twines you are using to give you a pattern. Make sure to add glue where the first twine leaves off and the second one begins. Then wrap the second twine around the ball as you did your first twine. ( You could also just use one twine color for each of your “cupcakes” it is totally up to you!)

4. Once you have wrapped your twine around each of your Styrofoam balls, take your cupcake holders ( I opted to keep three cupcake holders together for each “cupcake” for a more sturdier base ) and adding a touch of hot glue to the inside bottom place the flat side of your ball on top.
5. You can now attach your spiders where you like it with more glue, and your cupcakes are complete!
6. For a spookier look you can dress up your serving platter with cheese cloth and more spiders.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have fun making your tricks not treats!
Lisa from Lisa’s Creative Niche

Simple Fun Party Favor Bags

Hello! Lisa here from Lisa’s Creative Niche, and I’m so excited to share these simple and fun party favor bags, which take less than 10 minutes to make yourself! ( I just love time saving crafts! )

Things you’ll need:
½” Foamie Alphabet Self Adhesive Stickers
5 ¼” x 7 ¼” Clear Self Sealing Poly Bags ( other sizes are available based on your needs )
Stickers
Patterned Paper
Basic Cardstock
Adhesive: glue dots or glue

Things to do:
1. Cut Patterned Paper to 5 ¼” x 3 ½” and fold in half.
2. Cut Basic Cardstock to 4 ¾” x ¾” and adhere with glue dots or glue.
3. Spell out party guests name with foamie stickers and place to the side.
4. Add stickers as desired on the bag itself.
5. Fill bag with party goodies and seal shut, then attach your topper with glue dots.

Now you have fun goodie bags to fit any themed party you might be having! Enjoy!

DIY Firefly Lights

Just the thing for a summer wedding, or maybe just a summer picnic in need of a little lighting! Err on the side of long when cutting your strips of tulle. It’s easier to tie them long and then trim them at the end.

Things you’ll need:
3 inch wide tulle netting
String of mini LED lights
Scissors

Things to do:
1. Cut the tulle into 8-10 inch strips, as many strips as your light strand has bulbs.

2. Wrap the strip around the wire near, but not directly on, each bulb, knotting it firmly so that the tails of the tulle stick out evenly one each side.
3. Once all the lights have been tied, trim the tails to about an inch on each side to create your “fireflies”.

Summer Leaf Placecards

With summer, comes summer entertaining. And while summer is meant to be as casual as possible, its always nice to add a little elegance to the table. These pretty placecards are as simple as a pressed summer leaf.

Things you’ll need:
Leaves
Heavy book
Paper
Gel pens
Stamps

Things to do:
1. Place the leaves between sheets of paper and sandwich between the pages of a book. You don’t need them to dry completely, just enough to lay completely flat.

2. Remove the leaves and write the names of your guests on them with gel pens. Color the stamp with the same pen and stamp to decorate. Allow the ink to dry.

DIY Lace Wrapped Mason Jars

Mason jars are one of those uber-versatile items that I can’t live without. From drinking cups to marble jars to vases, I have them everywhere in my house. These lace wrapped jars are simple yet elegant, just right for a romantic dinner. Go gently with the glue, you don’t need much to hold the lace in place.

Things you’ll need:
Mason Jars
2 inch wide lace
Craft glue
Scissors

Things to do:
1. Wrap the lace around the jar and pull gently for a snug fit. Trim the lace with a ¼ inch overlap.


2. Lay the jar on it’s side and wrap the lace around, dabbing a small amount of glue at one end of the lace and smooth along the edge with your finger. Press the other end down and hold it for a minute to help the glue set.

Bakers Twine Doily

Jazz up paper doilies for a special event with a few quick stitches and some fun and colorful baker’s twine!

Things you’ll need:
Paper doilies
Baker’s Twine
Large Embroidery Needle
Scissors

Things to do:
1. Cut a length of twine a few inches longer than your doily is around.
2. Thread your needle and weave in and out of the doily holes, pulling the twine along with you.

3. Once you have gone all the way around the doily, flip it over and tie securely, but not too tightly, underneath. Trim the tails closely.

Cupcake Liner PomPoms

These pompoms are a great addition to your holiday decor and can be personalized to any color scheme. Perfect for hanging up with the mistletoe or perched on a shelf, they make a simple afternoon craft.

Things you’ll need:
Styrofoam balls – various sizes
Cupcake liners
Pencil
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Ribbon

Things to do:
1. Cut a length of ribbon twice as long as you want the hanger to be and glue into a loop.

2. Attach the loop to the ball with a generous dot of glue and press firmly until it is dry.
3. Separate the liners and gather one around the eraser end of the pencil.
4. Dot the end with glue and use the pencil to press it onto the ball.

5. Continue this process, packing the liners in densely, until the entire ball is covered.

DIY Cake Buckles

I developed this buckle for a wedding in June of 2007 for a bride that wanted a little glitz, but was on a tight budget, as most of them are. She was very pleased with them! I used clear or diamond like rhinestones and silver glitter, but you could us colored on both if you prefer.

I was looking for this shape in chip boards but could not find it is why I used the slides, lightweight also. The picture slides in case some of you don’t know are what they put the negative in to see a picture through a projector. It opens up and is connected in the center by perforations, which then will be a rectangle. They have glue on the inside, so that once you put the negative in, can be sealed shut to hold it there. You could use chipboard or light wood in other shapes, like hearts, diamonds, etc. that have the center cut out to achieve this in those shapes. I got the slides in a camera shop.

Things you need:
Rhinestones
Toothpicks
Glitter
Tacky glue
Ribbon
Empty picture slides

Things to do:
1. I took a toothpick broke off to fit to the size of the slide, lay inside on the sticky in the center of your opening and close the slide casing and seal.
2. Lay your rhinestones on it to see what pattern you want. You can either use all one size or various sizes.
3. Cover front of slide with glue (I used Tacky glue), take the rhinestones that you want to use and place them on the glued side. Now you may notice there are gaps where your stones aren’t covering, that is ok.
4. Take your glitter of choice and sprinkle all over it to cover up gaps and/or you could even use tiny tiny seed beads.
5. Let dry thoroughly.
6. Now you are ready to run your ribbon or what have you thru the buckle over the toothpick (my ribbon was the size of the opening so toothpick would not show).
7. Now I used them on a cake. We took toothpicks on the top inside corners of the buckles to hold them on the cake. (Did not show at all)

Guest blogger:
Sandy Collier
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Washi Tape Banner

Sometimes you just need a little hooray in your life, something pretty and perky to brighten up the day, which makes this a happy little project. With a length of twine, some decorative tape and a pair of scissors, you can turn any old day into a party day!

Things you’ll need:
Twine
Washi tape
Scissors
Skewers or chopsticks

Things to do:
1. Cut 6-10 three inch pieces of tape of various patterns.

2. At the center of your piece of twine (12-14 inches is a good length) fold one piece of tape over the string so that the edges line up.

3. Add more tape every inch or so along the twine, folding each over smoothly on itself.

4. Trim the end of one piece of tape into a reverse “V” and then use it as a template for the remaining flags.

5. Tie the ends of the string to the chop sticks and enjoy your mini banner!

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