Cupcake Goody Bags

You know I have a bit of a thing for jazzing up tote bags, right? Well when I was brainstorming ideas for goody bags for Lily's party it seemed only natural that I work with tote bags - that way they can keep the bag and re-use as a purse, etc. after the party.

So I purchased a five-pack of mini tote bags from Michael's for about $5.00. They looked like this...

I removed the handles, and added some cupcake ribbon I scored for a dollar a roll at Michael's. I would have preferred thicker ribbon, say 1 and a 1/2 inch, but when it's a dollar - you can't be choosy guys! I hand sewed the heart buttons on to hold the new ribbon handles in place.

You'll recognize the glitter iron-on transfers from yesterday's pencil topper project. They did NOT adhere well to canvas. Sooo... more hand sewing for Joanne! (it's good practice, right?!) If you look close you can see my little stitches. I just sewed around the shapes for reinforcement.

Voila! Cuteness! You'll see these again later in the week when they're stuffed to the brim with take-home goodies for the girls! Now I need to brainstorm goody bags for the boys - tricky with a cupcake theme - it's not exactly masculine!! Stay tuned!

Tutorial: Cupcake Pencil Toppers

Remember when I said I wasn't going to post much about cupcake projects this week, and just do a wrap-up after the party? Remember that? Yeah, well I lied : ) I'm just too, too focused on all things cupcake, excited about the birthday party on Saturday, AND inspired by Lollychops' and Fuji Mama's CUPCAKE WEEK this week (check it out, check it out!) - I can't NOT throw a few cupcake posts your way right now.

So I've had THIS tutorial from Whimsy Love in the back of my mind for a long time, meaning to do something with it. I had picked up some iron-on glitter cupcake transfers over the weekend for another project (coming soon!) but when I had some leftover I just had to play around with them, and ended up with these...

Cupcake Pencil Toppers!

I ironed the transfers onto felt - which I did not think would work at all. Turns out they adhered better to felt than they did to canvas, which I'm using for my aforementioned other project.

I cut them out, two per pencil...

And hand sewed them together...

I left the bottom open to slide on to the pencil. The first one I did, I used six strands of embroidery floss because I wanted the stitching to be visible, and part of the finished topper - rather than be invisible. However, six strands was hard to work with. I went down to just two strands and you could still see the stitches, and it was a lot better and neater.

I need to find some cute blue and pink pencils for my toppers, and then these will be slipped into the big girls' goody bags for Saturday's party!

Cupcake Party Sneak Peak

As you know by now, I'm working on a lot of crafty goodness for my niece Lily's first birthday party. I vowed not to post too much about it on here, because I want it to be as much of a surprise as possible for the guests - and I know that some of them read this blog.

However... I think it's pretty obvious what dessert at a cupcake party would be... and I'm so excited about Heather, Mariah and I's baking adventures today that I just had to share a little sneak peak of this...

and this...

and finally this... because Lily is just adorable...

We used a basic cupcake recipe and Superkid cupcake recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Saucy's Sprinkles. Go check her out - Saucy's a sweet and sassy gal and her blog is a lot of fun to read.

I'll do a full reveal of the finished product and all other things cupcake next weekend. In the meantime, if you haven't already, head over to Dabbled.org to see my pinata project that is featured there today... and stay tuned for new projects here starting Monday!

My Flower Pinata featured on Dabbled.org TODAY!

Thanks to Dot at Dabbled.org, for the opportunity to share my Flower Pinata on her blog today - just in time for Cinco de Mayo! Check it out HERE.

MSCE April - Wrap Up

Wow - where did April go?!

When I first signed up for Dabbled.org's challenge to "Make Something Cool Every Day in April" I didn't have high expectations for myself. I figured it would just be an extra little kick to get me off the couch and into my craft studio - not that I usually lack the motivation!

As it got going, it became my own personal mission. Could I, really, do this EVERY day for an entire month? Apparently I can! It was stressful at times, and tiring after a long day of work, but the majority of the time it was great fun - and actually a good way to relieve some tension from the day and focus on something non-work.

I learned through MSCE April how many creative things I do on a daily basis without trying. Everything from a few rows of knitting at night to work projects, to kids art classes, and beyond. It's been very interesting.

I'm a little sad that it's over, and a little relieved as well - it was a lot of work! I look forward to continuing to make great stuff, just maybe not EVERY day... : )

I'll leave you with a look back on my MSCE April projects - ENJOY!