Full of Hot Air

We love designing our windows each season.  For this winter we wanted to do a scalloped hot air balloon.  So easy and fun for any season.

What you will need:

• Paper lantern
• Paper or tissue paper (we used cardstock paper and glitter paper)
• Hot glue
• Circle hole punch (we used a 3" hole punch)
• Twine 

To Make:

1. Take your paper or tissue paper and circle punch as many as you will need to cover your lantern.
2. Begin hot gluing your circle paper at the bottom of your hot air balloon.  
3. Stagger one circle over the other, across the bottom of your lantern.
4. Add the twine by hot gluing it between a layer of your circle punches.  You can either do it in the middle of your hot air balloon or at the top.  Which ever works best for you.
5. Add a basket of your choice at the bottom of your twine.  We made a paper basket and embellished it with corresponding paper from the balloon.

Our winter window display!!!

Trick or Treat

Did anyone else have to mass produce treats for their kids class parties?  Make a chocolate pudding grave yard!  It's so fast and easy, not to mention a big hit with the kids.

What you will need:

• Chocolate pudding
• Oreo's  (just the cookie)
• Milano cookies (we used the mini's)
• Marshmallow ghosts
• Gummy worms
• Frosting

To Make:

1. Pour chocolate pudding into cups.  I used Jello Pudding Snacks.  
2. Separate Oreo cookies from the stuffing. Keep only the cookies.
3. Put the cookies in a bag and have your kids pound them into dust. Or you can use a blender. My way saves electricity. =)
4. Add your spooky grave yard with Milano cookie's.  I used the mini's, but you can use the regular size.  I also add words on the cookie's with frosting.
5. Stick in your marshmallow ghosts.  I also add the face with the frosting.
6. Add worms

Coffee Filter Flower

We just finished a couple of bridal showers at our studio and we wanted to make something special for those parties.  Not only was our coffee filter flower a big hit, but it was a great conversational piece.  

Gather:

1. Hula Hoop
2. Coffee Filters
3. Hot Glue Gun
4. Glitter Paper

Step 1.  First you will need to separate the coffee filters into piles of 3. Glue and stagger the 3 filters together.  

Step 2.  Glue the filters to the hula hoop by going around in a circle.

Step 3.  Keep gluing filters in tighter circles until you can't see through the hula hoop.

Step 4.  Take your glitter paper and cut out a circle to your desired size.  Glue to the center of your flower.

This flower is in full bloom!

Floral Letters

Lets get into the summer spirit and make our words bloom!

Gather:

1. Paper mache letter
2. Artificial flowers
3. Floral foam
4. Hot glue
5. Box cutter or X-acto knife

Directions:

1. Cut open the back side of the paper mache letter, leaving the bordered walls to fill with floral foam.
2. Trim the floral foam and stuff the paper mache letter's empty space.
3. Next trim the artificial flowers, leaving an inch to stuff the floral foam.
4. Arrange the artificial flowers and fill the entire paper mache letter.

TADA! Your letter has bloomed!

Crayon Hearts

Who doesn't love taking something broken and making it pretty?  We love this project because it does just that!

Tools:

• Crayons
• X acto Knife
• Baking Tray or Muffin Pan
• Toothpick

Step 1.  Take off all the wrappers to your crayons.  We used an X acto knife, which makes it so much easier and faster.

Step 2.  Spread the crayon colors around in your tray or pan.  Fill the tray/pan as much as possible.  When the crayon starts to melt it will go down.

Step 3.  Put the tray/pan in the oven at 275 degrees F.  Bake for 7-8 minutes or until melted.

Step 4.  To make a great marble effect use a toothpick to swirl the colors.

It's perfect as a gift with a coloring book or sketch pad!

Glitter Vases

This year we made glitter vases for our mom's and aunts.  They are easy to make and fast.

You will need:

1. glass vase
2. modpodge
3. sponge brush
4. glitter
5. tape

Tape your vase in any design you want.  We did stripes.  Brush on the modpodge where you want the glitter to show.  Sprinkle the glitter wherever you put the modpodge.

Let the modpodge set for a few minutes, then rip off the tape.  Go over the glitter one more time with modpodge to seal in the glitter.

Add a cute ribbon or twine with your card.

Made with love.

Ready. Set. Go!

Here we go!  Our first post on our new blog.  We've been wanting to do this for so long and now that we are getting the hang of things here in our studio we can start documenting our DIY projects.  We hope you will enjoy our blog as much as we will love making it.