Red Egg and Ginger Party

Just finished the decorations for a Red Egg and Ginger party.  A Chinese event where you are introducing your new baby to your family and friends.

We got the favor idea from our good friend Lisa, the creator of Good on Paper.  The favors were scratchers, magnets and bubbles.  The tree was decorated with paper flowers using glue dots and mini pins.

We used fancy paper to cover the logo and tissue paper to line the box. The bunting is twine and washi tape with paper cut out eggs.

From cigar box to favor box.

Take off the red wrapper to get more of the red showing.  Then add a cute top that matches the tags on the scratcher favors.

A Party For The Dogs

It's Bruisers pawty and he can bark if he wants too!  We hosted a dog party for our beloved dog, Bruiser at Zoom Room in Belmont.  The dogs had a blast with an agility course and doggy donuts. We of course added our own personal touch with decorations and a doggie bag for our guests.  A sweet party for a sweet dog!  Happy Birthday BRUISER!

Personalized bunting handmade by yours truly!

Sibby Cupcakes and our cupcake toppers.

Doggie donuts by Zoom Room.

Our custom doggie bag for our guests.

The birthday boy!

Brusier's sister, the beautiful Miss Piggy!

Carnival Baby Shower

We just finished hosting a carnival themed baby shower.  We hope you will be inspired by some of our decorations.

A beautiful cake by a dear friend, Annie Cakes & Bakes.  Follow her on Twitter .

Two of the diaper cakes we made.  The bunting is washi tape & skewers.  Use large ribbons as your base to cover the rubber bands and accent the large ribbon with smaller ribbons to give it some pop.  The cut outs I found online through Google image search.

Enlarged animal cookies as the favors.

To keep with the animal cookie theme we put the real ones on top of our cupcakes.

A cute accent for your utensils.  Just add decorative paper.

For the kiddies we had a snow cone machine and cotton candy.  We used the mustard and ketchup for the snow cone flavors.

We decorated the entire backyard with an assorted size of pinwheels.

Centerpiece for the tables were our hot air balloons.

One of our games.  Keeping in the theme of  circus animal cookies.

When you entered our party we had our sign in.  A  non-traditional sign in.  We did animal cut outs with, "Your wish for baby".

Hand sewn and cut bunting lined the backyard.

Entrance to our party was lined with circus popcorn bags.

Our main table accented with extra large flag bunting.

Since we had extra table cloth, we made our own photo booth.  We made a ring of fire out of crepe paper and a hula hoop.

A sperm bean bag toss game for the adults.

IKEA Hack - Malm Dresser

It's time we posted one of our IKEA hacks.  This project took about 9 hours and cost us about $50.  If you are using new paint it will cost more, but we used old paint from a past project.  We bought all our material from Home Depot.  We choose a 1" wood trim, but you can buy any thickness you prefer.

Materials Needed:

1. 1" Wood Trim 
2. Nails
3. Wood Glue
4. Wood Filler
5. Paint
6. Knobs
7. Sand Paper

STEP 1

Primer each piece of the dresser that is visible. Do not paint the inside of the dresser or else it will become sticky to open.  A lesson we learned the hard way.  You may also want to do a test paint on the backside of the dresser.  If it is not sticking to the dresser you will need to sand the dresser first.

STEP 2
Layout your trims and knobs to see what proportion you like best. If you have the miter saw to cut the 45 degree angles, cut your trim.  If you do not you will need to go to you local hardware store and give them your exact measurements for cutting.

STEP 3
After the primer dries, paint the dresser your desired color.  We used a flat paint (no gloss).

STEP 4
Lay out your trim and use wood glue to hold it in place.

STEP 5
Nail down your trim every few inches.  It doesn't have to be so close together since no one really touches the trim.

STEP 6

For each nail use the paint filler and then sand till smooth.  Paint trim.  We painted the trim the same color, but if you want to be bold pick a color that will pop.  If you decide to paint the trim a different color you will have to tape off the dresser from the trim before painting.

STEP 7

Drill the holes for your knobs.  Screw on knobs.

STEP 8
Once everything is dried put your dresser back together.

 IKEA HACK ACHIEVED!

DIY Jewelry Cleaner

After searching for the perfect Baptism gift we found it!  It's a vintage pendent, perfect for a little girl.  Although we love the vintage look, we wanted to give the piece a face lift.  We found this amazing DIY jewelry cleaner on Passion For Savings website.

SummerFest 2014

We just finished our SummerFest here in our downtown San Mateo.  The weather wasn't the greatest this year, but we still managed to have a great time.

Our studio had a free craft activity in our store that was a hit!  Since the summer is just starting we thought it would be a good idea to make bracelets for the kids by the kids with their parents cell phone numbers.  It's a great thing to have whenever you are headed to large events.  If your child gets lost your cell phone number is on their wrist.  We used an elastic band so that it is easy to take off and put on.  

Materials Needed:

1. Number beads (bought on Amazon)
2. Decorative beds 
3. Elastic string

Our Emergency Bracelet!

Pony rides!

Kid's Coner 

Art Mural

Kid Band Jamming!

Galaxy Jeans DIY

Every now and again I love posting our Pinterest FAILs.  This time we tried to make the ever so cool pants called the galaxy jeans.  Looks easy enough, but when you get comments such as, "What happened, did you get saw dust all over your pants?"  You know it's a fail.  Maybe some crafters got it right.  Let us know how you did.  Send us your pics.

We really like this tutorial by The Sun Was High.  Good luck and may the force be with you!

Our version.

Cutting Glass

We just started experimenting with cutting glass.  It isn't as easy as you think, it definitely takes practice. Save your nice bottles till you have mastered the procedure. We bought our glass cutter on Amazon.  Let us know how yours turned out.

Ideas for the cut glass:
Vases
Candle Holder
Herb Garden
Chandelier

Father's Day Craft, Gift and Party Idea's

There are so many events going on in the year and sometimes you want to look like you put a lot of effort into them.  Here are a few craft, decoration and gift idea's for Father's Day that are simple, fast and cute.

1. The Father's Day Tie - All you need is an ugly tie, a hand, a foot and some paint. Now ugly is priceless.
2. Dress for Dinner Napkins - For the dad with a sense of humor.
3. Grid It - Got this for my husband and now he can't travel without it.  It's also great for organizing toiletries. 
4. Watch and Eye Dock $42 of hipster chic.  
5. Tie Garland - Turn paper ties into garlands and goodie bags.
6. Handprint Pirate Card - For a fun and funny card to go with your awesome presents!

Maker Faire 2014

This years Maker Faire was totally awesome.  If you have no idea what the fair is about here is a little recap on things you should know before going.

1.  Buy your tickets in advance.  They are not cheap.  A one day pass at the door is $40/adult and $25/child.  Keep your eyes open for a Groupon deal.

2.  Parking is insane.  If you can get there any other way besides a car, it is a must.  The faire takes up a good portion of the parking lot, which leaves little room for it's guests.  We arrived exactly at 10am and it took us an hour to find parking!

3.  The Maker Faire is truly about making.  If you are interested in science, art, technology, etc.  then this is definitely the place for you and your kids.  Every booth is hands on.  This year we made rocket ships and got to launch them into the sky, make wooden cars we can race against other designers, rip apart old computers to see what they are made of and so much more.  The only issue I had was that my kids were five years and under, so it was quite difficult to make most of the things I just mentioned.  I would highly recommend this fair for kids 6 and up.  They would love it and can do most of the projects on their own.

4.  The food.  It was your typical fair food, nothing like Off the Grid (spoiled).  I would just brown bag it if you can.

5.  The must see spot is the Dark Room.  It's basically a dark room with fun visuals.  They had a light forrest, floating jelly fish and other light exhibits.  Another must see spot is the San Francisco Bazzar tent where you will find our friends like Le Petit Elefant, Poppyhearts and Tofufu selling all their handmade goodies.

6.  Last but not least, before you go check the program and schedules.  This will tell you who the guest speakers will be and events going on throughout the two days.  Always plan ahead!

The Map!

Picture's taken by a 5 year old.  Can you tell?