Happy Weekend & Heart Beignets

Valentine's Day is just a weekend away. Be sure to check out my easy little treats over on The Sweetest Occasion this morning! They don't last long, as you can tell...

I'm off to reorganize the guest room back to being a guest room from the craft explosion that happened earlier this week.  The blogosphere is also buzzing with tons of Valentine's goodies, so I'll be out a-lookin' for a yummy treat to make for the preschool party...HAPPY WEEKEND!

Heart Attack

SOURCES (CLOCKWISE)

HEART ZINC TAGS @ SUNDANCE
HEART STICKERS @ TERRAIN  
DISTRESSED HEART TAGS @ BRAGGINGBAGS 
MINI HEARTS GARLAND @ MOLLYDUNHAM
VALENTINE ACORNS @ MORADO 
HEART STRAWS + TOPPERS @ FORTANDFIELD

Martha Does Cupcakes

So, last week, I dared to bring the minimen to Macy's.  I was desperate.  After weeks of not being able to go shopping because some boy (or me) was sick, I had to venture out to get two birthday presents.  Yes, I know there is the internet. For me, if I am not quite sure what to get, I have to physically shop. I find it easier to get inspiration when I see grouped items together rather than little squares on my screen.  Besides, getting out of the house and a little vitamin D is good for you, even if that means a four year old running through the china department.

Anyhoo, low and behold I found these little cupcake stands by Martha Stewart for Macy's.  They are like miniature versions of her round cakestands, which for some reason ::hmmmpff:: are never available in the Reno Macy's. Not that I am surprised.  What did surprise me was these little cuties sitting in their adorable little box of two. My first thought was "Brilliant!! This is perfect for Auntie A!" My second thought was "Martha, where have you been all my life. NO seriously, where have you been? Cupcakes have been hot for YEARS!" She knows this, a book comes to mind...Either way. I could care less.  She finally did it, gorgeously BTW, and I cleaned out the TWO boxes Reno had, sorry Renoites/Renoeans/people of Reno, all gone. They are super reasonably priced when you use those famous Macy's coupons. I couldn't find them online...just another reason shopping on your two feet is well worth it.

DIY PowerPoint Flag Tutorial

I have fallen in love…with a program. Adobe Illustrator (AI) can solve a world of problems and create fabulous designs/patterns/graphics. The things I learned from the crash courses from Alma Loveland at Art Weekend (by Nicole's Classes) in SLC this past October…have CHANGED my life. I cannot live without Illustrator, nor would I want to. **and yes…my computer with it is still dead…but I got my files off ** Everything you could “want” to do for a party or a little blog (like this one here) can be done with it. But, it’s super expensive. I get that. Until last year, I didn’t have it. So, what’s a girl to do? Use PowerPoint. Really. It takes a bit of patience, especially now that I know how easily I could do this in AI. But, you don’t have AI but you DO have PowerPoint on your laptop or work computer; use that lunch break and whip out some cute flags. Easy. **Bear with me, I have never done a DIY for a computer program.

 DIY FLAGS IN POWERPOINT

Open a new presentation, and format the slide to blank. Draw a rectangle roughly the size of the flag.

Now change the shape to an object that you can edit.

Click on the rectangle. In the Menu bar, DRAWING TOOLS> EDIT SHAPE> CONVERT TO FREEFORM

Right click the object and select EDIT POINTS.

Now right click in the center of the left line and ADD POINT. Click and drag the point in towards the center making that cute little cutout that is typical of flags.

Voila. A one sided flag.


Repeat steps 5 + 6 for the other side to make a banner. This style is really popular on blogs lately and I must say I jumped on the train.


Use these to make little cards or buttons on your blog. You could cut them out and attach to flags for cake toppers, too.

 Now, continue to format to make interesting flags.


Starting with a one sided flag.  I resized my flag to be a teeny bit thinner.  Copy and paste that new flag and flip it over 180 degrees. (I used the little green dot and eyeballed it)



Copy and paste the flag again, but this time leave it right where it gets pasted (on top of the first flag) and right click to EDIT POINTS. Now, click and drag the corners to line up with the corners of the lower flag.  

It should look like a parallelogram.

Right click the parallelogram and select SEND TO BACK.

Remove the outline by highlighting the entire shape and DRAWING TOOLS> FORMAT>  SHAPE OUTLINE> NO OUTLINE. *I think it looks better without the outline.  I also changed the SHAPE FILL of the parallelogram to a darker shade of green. Voila part deux.  A little bitty fancy banner.

Keep going to add more fanciness…


Copy and paste the bottom flag and the parallelogram right below the originals. Edit points if you need to line them up.

PowerPoint is particularly grumpy sometimes (it might just be my relationship with it) about lining things up perfectly. AI doesn’t do this, and is probably one reason it’s a better product for drawing. Just be patient and talk sweet to it and eventually it will let you do what you want. *Sorry, I just sounded like a bad date.*




Edit points to bring the top and very bottom flags to add a little shape if you like.


Use text boxes to put words on the flags. I used three different text boxes. **Font used is LiebeErika from MyFonts**



And FINALLY, make it a PNG (much better than a JPEG for graphics – a little trick I learned from Alma)


15. Highlight the entire shape – make sure you get absolutely everything—and right click SAVE AS PICTURE.

While PowerPoint isn’t designed to be used as a graphics program…in a pinch, it works great. The Button Baby Shower I did last year was done completely on PowerPoint. You can even get fancier if you know your way around it, it just takes a while longer than AI. Enjoy! Feel free to ask questions! xo

Monday Pretties

Happy Monday Lovelies!
I just wanted to share some pretty little art by Sandra Suy I found while flitting around.  Wouldn't this be lovely as inspiration for a party? 

“eve”

Valentine's DIY Toppers - Part 1

Hello lovelies!  It's that time again, I have two little DIYs for you over on The Sweetest Occasion.  Yes, I might be mildly addicted to toppers.  I promise not everything will be on a stick...although I will argue that it is next to garland and balloons as the easiest way to turn hum-drum into a jubilee!  Besides, how cute would it be if you came with a platter full to your kid's Valentine's Day party?

**To get the heartshaped brownies: I used box mix (I have yet to find a good recipe- tell me if you have one) and baked it in a foil lined 8x8 pan.  Let cool, lift out.  Cut with a heart shaped cookie cutter.  (eat scraps or make a compote with cool whip and strawberries - I meant to make a compote...they didn't survive) I used a fluted cutter from Wilton I found at Target last year.

So, go check out my arrow DIY here. Stay tuned for another Valentine's Day lovely later today!

Have a Meri Meri Birthday

I got an email this morning from Amy of make it mine parties, I swear Amy has the cutest taste in little party wares.  So, all she had to do was mention she had NEW items and ::BOOM:: I was screen shopping, oogling as always, and then I came across this lovely...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PARTY CAKE STAND

Isn't it gorgeous?  I want it.  I have three parties (baby Harry, Henry and Ed) coming up just before this baby comes out on March 15th.  I am this close to sending an email to Ok,I just did send one to Meri Meri to see if I can grab one (or two) just so I can plan a party around the colors.  So cute.  Just a little bit of random adorable I wanted to share. See, I told you I was random.