DIY: Tulle Pom Poms

When I was picking out the decor for Addison's nursery, I realized just how expensive it can be! I was originally going to go with a cheap bed set but then fell in love with this bedding from Babies R' Us and of course it was fairly pricey! However, I figured if I could save money on all of the other areas in the nursery, it would be worth it. Right? So instead of buying an expensive wind up crib mobile, I figured I could just make something!

In came these adorable (and much cuter than any mobile) pom poms! They were so cheap and easy to make so I am sharing them with you! The great thing about these is that they can be used for a variety of purposes, not just as makeshift crib mobiles! :)

I know there are probably other tutorials like this one out there, but I am sharing with you how I made mine!

Here are the materials you will need!

 

• Tulle (I found some white tulle at The Dollar Tree in the wedding section!)
• Ribbon
• Rubber band
• Scissors
• A book to wrap the tulle around. The size of your book (or blu-ray in my case) will determine how big or small you want your pom poms.

 

1. To begin, close the end of the tulle in your book or blu-ray case and start wrapping it around. Wrap it about 20-30 times, depending on how full you want your pom-pom to look.

 

2.  After you are finished wrapping, cut the tulle so it's no longer attached to the spool.

 

3. Cut the tulle down the center of the book and take it off the book. Keep the tulle in a neat stack.

4. Now cut the tulle in half again. Since I am a perfectionist, I like to measure the tulle so that I can find the exact middle. You could definitely just estimate though!

 

5. Combine the two piles. Now you should have a nice stack of squares!

 

6. Find the middle of your stack and gather it in your hand.

 

7. Use a rubber band to secure it in the middle.

 

8. Tie a piece of ribbon around the rubber band. 

 

9. Begin to "fluff" your pom pom by separating the pieces of tulle. Pull the tulle in different directions so that it starts to form a ball.  You will need to play around a bit with it until you have the look that you like!

 

Ta da! The perfect tulle pom pom! I actually created this pom pom to go on top of a gift box. I think it's the perfect embellishment! You could also use this same technique to create a fun hair bow or even add it to a decorative pillow. The possibilities are endless! :)

 

I hope you enjoyed my version of the pom pom! I LOVE the look it brings to the nursery and Addison really enjoys to look at it as well!

I'm linking to these parties.

A Baby Shower!

So guess what, I'm back in Iowa! Crazy, I know! What happened is that my husband decided to go on a youth trip to Pennsylvania with the youth group and since I wouldn't be able to travel with Addison, he suggested I ride back to Iowa with my mom so that I wasn't alone for the whole week. That being said, my posts have been a little difficult to write up. Sorry about that!

A little while back, (alright, two years back) I threw a baby shower for one of my good friends and since I'm currently limited to what I have to post about I thought I would share it with you! :)

Here are the cute and simple invitations I created. These were a piece of cake to make and I think I whipped at least 20 of them up in an hour.

Here is the decorated table. The pinata was actually an inside joke among the guests. :)

Here is a detail shot of the diaper cake I made for her. This was my first attempt at a diaper cake and I really loved how it turned out! I think it's great that the diapers were even slightly tinted blue! :)

Here is the onesie bouquet that I made. This was super easy to create! Basically all I did was roll up the onesies and wrap a rubber band around them. I then stuck them in the cute tin bucket (Target dollar spot) and filled in the gaps with silk flowers. So cute!

I made these fun favors for all of the guests. I used a pillow box die and my big shot to create them. I then punched out stars and glued a piece of clear acetate behind the punched area so that you could get a peek at the yummy treats inside!

I decorated with some fun bath toys. They looked cute and the mommy was able to keep them for her sweet little boy!

I discovered through this process that I LOVE to plan parties, especially baby showers. It's so rewarding when everything turns out great and the guests have a great time.

I am linking to these parties!

My Drab to Fab Tray!

 

I was at our local thrift store the other day when I came across this really boring wooden tray. It was only $1 so I knew I could make some use of it somehow! There was definitely some potential there! :) Of course I forgot to take a before picture but I wanted to share the end results with you!

First I primed and painted the tray white. I just used Anita's All Purpose Acrylic Craft Paint to do this. Easy peasy! :)

To add a little extra touch I painted the word faith on the tray using a crackle technique. To do this I used this "Faith" stencil that I picked up at Hobby Lobby.

To start, you will need to tape down the stencil so it doesn't move. I just used regular scotch tape and taped all four sides.

In order to get the crackle look, you will need to use a crackle medium. You could also use glue but that will have to be a tutorial for another day! :) The crackle medium that I choose to use is FolkArt Crackle Medium. I find that this medium works great!

To apply the crackle medium you will need a sponge brush of some sort. You want to make sure that you don't go over the same area more than once because the crackle won't look quite right. I used a sponge dauber to pounce the medium onto the stencil but you could use any type of sponge brush. After you have covered your entire area, let the medium completely before moving on to the next step.

After your medium is dry, you are ready to apply the top coat of paint. For my tray I used FolkArt Acrylic Paint in the color Basil Green.

 

Again, you can use any type of foam brush but I choose to use a sponge dauber so that I could easily pounce on the paint. I found that this technique is the easiest because it doesn't cause the stencil to move around so the paint can't get underneath it. As with the medium, do not go over an area more than once or the crackle will not look good.

 

Let the paint dry, and VOILA! 

I love the finished product but I am trying to decide if I should give it a more distressed look by sanding down the edges. What do you think? Do you like the clean look or should it have more of an aged feel?

Now it sits in the middle of my coffee table. If I have a magazine that I am currently reading, it sits in my tray.

 

But for the most part, my tray sits there empty so that I can see the word "Faith". 

My faith in God means a lot to me so I wanted to be able to show that. Of course a tray can't show my faith for me but it can definitely serve as a reminder!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to share them with me!

I'm linking to these parties.

An Ugly Mistake Turned Elegant!

The other day, while I was feeding Addison, I heard a loud crash followed by a "Whoops!". That's never a good sign. I went to investigate only to discover that my husband had accidentally knocked my Ponytail Palm off the balcony rail (how, I have no clue) and down the stairs where it had ended in a disaster. The pretty pot was in a million pieces but somehow the plant had stayed intact in it's container. Now I was a little worried about the damage to the plant because we've had it since we were first married and I have grown quite fond of it but everything looked great still so I put it back in it's place without the pretty pot. However, it wasn't a pretty sight. In fact, it looked rather ugly.So I searched around for a pot that was similar in size. No such luck. I sat down disappointed when all of a sudden I remembered this gorgeous hobnail milk glass vase I had found at the thrift store over the weekend for a buck! Light bulb moment!
Ta-da! It works perfectly and I LOVE the finished look. I like it even better than the original pot. I think the height really adds a lot. Now one thing I wasn't a fan of was the fact that the vase kind of blended in with the rail and the wall behind it so I am currently playing around with a fun little runner to put on the banister. I've been wanting to do this for awhile and am just now finding an excuse to do it! :)

Stay tuned for that.

Parties I link to.

Speaking of Easter...

I've been meaning to share this with you for quite a while now! Sorry it's so late. Anyway, I made this adorable hat for Addison shortly before we left for Iowa and I love how it turned out! I followed this tutorial from "girl.Inspired." It was so simple and easy to make. I LOVED my cute little Easter bunny!

Steph's Sunday Share: Baby Washcloth Lollipops

I went to a baby shower this past week and since the parents-to-be are requesting money, I wanted to honor their request. However, I did not want to bring JUST a card because that just seems so boring! :) So, I put together a cheap little gift to go along with the card and money! :) These baby washcloth lollipops were super cheap and easy to make!

Here is what you will need:2 baby washcloths
1 baby spoon
1 cellophane treat bag (you could also use tulle)
ribbon
tape

The mother-to-be is not going to find out what the gender of their baby is so I had to go gender-neutral. Lucky for me, I found these adorable washcloths at our local Ross in a package of 10 for $1.99! What a steal!

Step 1: Start by laying your washcloth face down and begin folding on one edge. I made my folds about 3/4ths of an inch wide.
Continue folding them until they look like this. I used a couple pieces of tape to hold them closed, this is optional though, I just found it to be much easier and faster.
Step 2: Lay the two washcloths next to each other and begin rolling them up together cinnabun style. Make sure that you have the tape sides facing the same direction so you get a good clean look on top.

I found that you may have to roll the inside washcloth once or twice by itself before layering on the second cloth so that it doesn't stick out further than the outside one when you get done rolling. I hope that makes sense.
This is what it should look like all rolled up. I again held it together with tape but you wouldn't necessarily need to do this.
Step 3: Turn the roll over and tape a baby spoon to the back of it.
Step 4: Place the lollipop inside the cellophane bag and tie it shut with a piece of ribbon. My cellophane bags are actually from Stampin' Up!. I believe they are the small bags. I have seen similar bags at Walmart and Target that would probably work but they would probably need to be cut down to a smaller size. Another option would be to wrap a piece of tulle around the lollipop as a wrapper instead of using cellophane bags.
Here is the finished product! Doesn't it really look like a lollipop? My husband even thought it was cute! :)
Of course I had to put them in something cute so I found this cute little bucket at Target in the dollar spot and dressed it up with some foam stickers that I had in my stash.

The mom-to-be absolutely LOVED this gift! A few of the ladies couldn't even tell what the lollipops were made of. One asked me if they were cookies in the shape of lollipops! Haha!

I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial! If you decide to make your own, feel free to share them with me! I would love to see your take on them!

Parties I'm linking to.