DIY 90's Pun Valentines

Remember when you were younger and you'd be watching TGIF while flipping through a magazine to find your favorite celebrities? Then, once you were done reading, you'd cut them out of the magazine and stick them onto everything and anything you owned? Well, this year we are making Valentines that your 13-year old self would approve of. Plus, since the pictures are being printed (instead of cut out of a magazine) you can make as many as you need. These Valentines are so fun to make because pretty much everything is computer-based these days, and these are so hands-on. You can't center the text or copy and paste. Each letter has to be placed on individually. It's equal parts horrifying and enjoyable. In the end, you've got a one-of-a-kind Valentine for all your BFF's.

You will need:

Sticker letters (I got mine from Michael's, similar here)
Blank cards (from the Dollar Tree for only $1, or similar here)
Photo glue stick (this one is my fave!)
Scissors (here)
Rhinestones (here)
print outs of your fave celebs
an awesome 90's playlist

How to:

1. Find your favorite pics of 90's celebs, and put them in a word doc to make them an appropriate size. Print.

2. Cut out the images around the celebs' heads, cutting off the backdrops. If you're anything like me, you're a seasoned pro at this, and it'll be a piece of cake. If not, don't worry, the memories will all come flooding back to you ;)

3. Arrange the cutouts and letters onto your card and adhere. HINT: Make sure you are sticking things on the right way otherwise your card will be upside down. 

4. As a bonus, add some awesome yet cheesy stickers onto the card or the front of the envelopes. I got my heart shaped rhinestone stickers from the Dollar Tree (similar here).

Related: TGIF 90's Themed Slumber Party

Although they take a little time, these cards are super cheap to make. Plus, it's so different than everything we are used to. Once you stick the letters down, they're pretty much stuck there. It won't be perfect, and that's what makes them great. If you want to add some super fun straws, try these!

Fact: I had this Mandy Moore song stuck in my head for a solid 2 weeks while I was creating and posting these Valentines. I still have it stuck in my head, and I listen to it at least twice a day now. There's some debate as to whether Mandy Moore was as successful as some of the other pop stars of the 90's. Ummm... she became a Disney Princess in my favorite movie, so that makes her most successful in my book!

I'm not sure if No Doubt did a Valentine's Day shoot, but this photo is quite perfect for Valentines. Plus... I still want pink hair someday!

There are tons of pictures of NSYNC out there, but I think using ones with heartthrobs holding puppies is so classically 90's.

This is a perfect Valetine to give your crush, because I think all the guys had a crush on Britney at some point in the 90's.

Aww, Zack and Kelly. Even though they may not have remained together, we were always rooting for them as a couple.

The best part of this card is that the video for All the Small Things is basically mocking all the 90's boy bands we loved in the best way possible. PS- Travis will forever be my crush.

In the classic *NSYNC vs BSB fight, I always picked *NSYNC. It was the first CD I ever bought, I had the biggest crush on Justin Timberlake, and I thought their songs were better. But, I always thought AJ was kinda cute. I think I had a thing for bad boys as a pre-teen.

Aww. Christina Aguilera before she got Dirrty. She used to have such a boho vibe. But I guess everyone did in the late '90's.

Did anyone else watch the Clueless tv show? I think I saw it before I saw the movie, so I was pretty confused as to why the Horowitzes seemed to shape shift. Interestingly enough, pretty much everyone else stayed the same.

And, of course, my personal FAVORITE, The Spice Girls. Any other Spice Girls super fans out there?! I had so many dolls, stickers, and magazines about the Spice Girls. My dad just kinda brought home the cassette tape one day because he saw that it was popular and wow... my sister and I were hooked! My favorite was Ginger Spice ;)

So what were your favorite things about the 90's? I'd also add in TGIF, platform shoes (which I wasn't allowed to wear), roll on glitter, and butterfly clips.

Are you planning to make some 90's pun Valentines for your BFF? What would they say? Let me know in the comments below!

DIY Circus Animal Drink Stirrers

2017 is off to a wild start, huh? Call me psychic, but I see a lot of drinking in our future. It's best that we get prepared and start crafting the cutest barware, starting right here with these circus animal drink stirrers. These party animals are sure to brighten up your day, no matter what's going on. As a bonus, they're so easy to make that you can create a set for yourself, and a few additional sets to give your friends as gifts. These are easy enough to make on your own, but I had the assistance of my handy fiancé. If you've got a guy (or gal!) in your life, this could be a fun bonding experience and a cool thing to whip out at parties. You'll excitedly proclaim "we made these!" as all your friends ooh and ahh. It'll be magical. Ok, enough talk already. Let's get to crafting, shall we? ;)

*Contains affiliate links

You will need: 

Plastic circus animals (here)
Clear plastic stir sticks (here)
Glossy acrylic paint (similar here)
Drill (here)
11/64 inch drill bit (here)
Slip joint pliers (here)
E6000 glue (here)
Electric tape (here)
 

Step 1: Take your circus animal and place the drill bit against it at desired depth. Put a small piece of tape at the stop point to make sure you don't drill too far.

Step 2: Using your slip joint pliers, hold the circus animal steady.

Step 3: Slowly and carefully drill a hole in the middle of your circus animal until you hit the tape marker. Repeat for all your animals.

Here's a little behind the scenes sneak peek of my fiancé in action. He's so handy and I'm so lucky to have him! All I did was briefly explain what I needed. He led me to the garage (his version of my studio), searched around his workbench and collected a few supplies. Then we did one drink stirrer as a test and bam! It came out perfectly :)

Step 4: Paint your circus animals using glossy acrylic paint. You can also use spray paint (which would be faster and probably better coverage), but I'm in NYC and it's freakin freezing outside haha.

It took me about 2-3 coats of paint to cover them. I did one overall coat, then a thicker coat on each side. Finally, I did touch-up where I covered any missed spots, or anywhere that I accidentally touched.

This reminds me of that scene in The Lion King where all the animals gather at Pride Rock to see Simba for the first time. But the much more colorful version. The circle of life.

Step 5: Assemble your stir stick by putting the smaller side into the hole you drilled. It should be a fairly tight fit and not even need glue! If you prefer them to be in more permanently, put a tiny dab of E600 glue on your stir stick before assembling. Let dry according to directions. 

And now you're ready for a day at the circus! I think these stirrers would make a perfect gift for friends, along with a couple of cute drinking glasses. I'm also trying to stop myself from bringing some to work so that I can have a party with my morning cup of tea ;) So what day you think of these drink stirrers? How do you plan to use them?

Rock Candy Christmas Tree Cake Topper

No one knows exactly why rock candy has gotten so popular, but I have some theories. 1, it's gorgeous and it's like glitter candy on a stick. 2, it tastes delicious. 3, it's a classy addition to any cocktail. But really I think its popularity is due to 4, its uncanny resemblance to a Christmas tree. Yes, you read that right. No, I'm not crazy. It's like Christmas in disguise, a tree hiding in the ordinary candy we all love. Subliminal messaging at its finest. And somehow no one noticed. We went around all these years blind to the fact that Christmas was right under our noses, disguised as something as ordinary and unassuming as rocks.

Full disclosure: this post was supposed to go live around Christmas time, but I wanted to give it the cake it deserved. Since I'm not really ready to give up on Christmas quite yet, and it's pretty darn cold here, I'm posting it now. Let's call this a winter tutorial and suddenly it's right on time ;)

One of the things I like most about this project is that it's like a magical glittering Christmas forest! Plus there are so many color options out there for rock candy, so you can match any decor.

You will need:

Rock Candy (here)
Toothpicks
Scissors (here)
Glue Gun
Glitter Paper (similar here)
Star Punch (similar here)
Nail File

Directions:

Using scissors, carefully cut the sticks off your rock candy, leaving about 1/4 inch of wood. I recommend cutting while holding it up off the table and twirling the stick to prevent pieces of candy from breaking off.

Ta-da! A perfect little tree in the making.

Use the star punch to cut the glitter paper. I picked neutral colors that would enhance the colors of my trees without clashing with them.

Cut a toothpick in half, then use the nail file to sand the edge smooth.

Using your glue gun, stick the star and toothpick onto your tree. I recommend gluing the toothpick to a large and covered crevice of the rock candy to create a strong but hidden base. Use varying lengths to keep it interesting.  

So cute! That white one marches to the beat of its own drum though....

Once they're all done, carefully nestle your rock candy trees into your cake. You can keep it simple with just a few for a pop of color, or create your own little forest.

These are super cute for a winter birthday party or holiday gathering with friends. They really would fit in well all winter, especially if you put a different shape at the top of the tree. Maybe a heart for Valentine's day?!

And that's all there is to it folks. Once you're done, you can probably still eat the rock candy. Ya know, if you don't mind eating around the glue and paper ;)

I hope you enjoyed Cathy's crazy/amazing idea of the week. If you create your own toppers using this tutorial, I have to see it! Tag me on instagram and your picture might get featured. So what do you think? Do you see trees in your rock candy now? Let me know in the comments below!

2016: The Year in Review

Wow, so 2016 is over, huh? It seems like it was a pretty crazy year for everyone, and people didn't exactly hide their desire for it to go away once and for all. For me, 2016 was an ok year. It had its ups and downs, but I'm pretty glad it's over. I'm ready for a fresh start, so even though technically the only thing that changed is one little number, it feels like anything is possible. Let's hop into our time machine now and travel back through my memory as I look at the year in review.

2016 has been one crazy ride. I moved into my house on New Year’s Eve last year, so I essentially started the new year in a brand new place. Its our first home and we are loving it so far.

It’s also been my first full year being engaged and planning a wedding. That hasn’t exactly been fun or easy. It’s not really affordable, and so it’s been a struggle to try to have the wedding of my dreams on a shoestring budget. The budget has grown and it’s overwhelming!

I started this blog to chronicle my life as I planned my wedding and decorated my home. However, it’s become so much more than that. I have big plans for this little blog, and pretty soon you’ll start seeing what’s been going on behind the scenes.

The topic changed, but the reason behind starting it is the same. I’ve always wanted to start my own business. I’ve always wanted a creative outlet. And I’ve always wanted to flexibility to be home with my kids when I have them. I’m hoping with this little blog, I can do all those things and more. I am hoping that I can show what I am truly capable of, proving to myself that I can achieve anything. I already kinda feel like I can (thanks mom and dad!) but I want to show that it’s not all unjustified confidence. I want to put my money where my mouth is.

This blog helped me to do so much I never was able to. For starters, I broke my toe taking pictures for the blog. Breaking a bone is something I have never done before, and frankly, I hope I never (ever) do it again. It’s also encouraged me to learn things that I’ve always wanted to be better at, like photography. It’s challenged me to find out what I am and what I like without being influenced by what others are doing. Which, surprisingly, is really hard! And it’s also encouraged me to focus on bettering myself and not focusing on where I am in relation to others. We are all on our own journeys, and if we focus on our goals, there’s no reason why we can’t catch up (or surpass!) the people we are admiring.

Let's take a look at 2016 month by month.

January: On Dec 30, 2015 we closed on our house, so we spent New Year's Eve moving in. It was exhausting and thrilling at the same time. Most of January was spent unpacking, purchasing furniture, and trying to settle in.

February: In February, I started looking into starting a blog. I suddenly had a 3 hour commute round trip, so I had a LOT of time to spend on Pinterest. I'm not sure how I started looking into blogging, but once I did I became addicted and realized I needed to start one. I had always wanted to start blogging, but it finally seemed like the time was right.

March & April: Most of March and April was spent behind the scenes as I started creating my blog and coming up with content. I decided to go with SquareSpace because their interface was the easiest for me to use. I wanted something that I could edit easily myself and was relatively simple.

May: In May my blog finally went live! I didn't know what exactly my blog would be about, so I wrote about home organization tips, DIY's and party planning. I made my first and most popular DIY tutorial, a donut party platter with sprinkles. I also did my first party post, for my Sugar Sweet 27th Birthday Party. I created the most blog posts this month, a whopping 11 posts!

June: In June things quieted WAY down and I wrote my first holiday blog post, Fourth of July on a Budget. I also enrolled in Blog to Biz Hive by Melyssa Griffin and began working on creating a business for my blog. There was a lot of soul searching during June as I tried to decide what my blog should be about. I decided to forego the lifestyle category and instead focus on DIY's and party planning! I also had my Disney-themed engagement party in mid-June.

July: Some of my favorite blog posts happened in July. I started with my Nautical Notecard Banner Tutorial, which I came up with on the fly at Michael's and ended up really loving. Then, I had my first party supply haul post from Michael's using their fun tropical themed stuff. And one of my favorites to date, my TGIF 90's-Themed Slumber Party. This was seriously the most fun ever to plan, and I loved hunting for 90's themed supplies. Plus I got to eat the lunchables and candy after the shoot, so that was pretty epic.

August: The end of July and beginning of August were AMAZING because I got to go to Greece for the first time! It inspired me to write a post on What Greece Taught me About Being a Great Hostess. It was also a great excuse to show off some of my photos from Greece, including the amazing purple and yellow mermaid dream home I found there by accident. Once I got back, I posted another fun tutorial on a DIY Pineapple Garland that's so easy to make. I also created a blog post & amazing freebie on How to Plan a Pinterest Worthy Party. This guide shows you how to plan a great party that's gorgeous, and the guide itself is super pretty as well! I was so happy with how it turned out.

September: On September 2, I had my most emotional day ever. It started with being teary-eyed as I excitedly realized that in a year I'd be walking down the aisle and marrying my fiancé. Then, I spent the afternoon working on some fun new blog posts. I was standing on a chair while taking some overhead shots, and Humpty Dumpty went tumbling down. I spent the rest of the day in the ER, then spent the rest of the MONTH unable to walk with a fractured toe. That was not fun! This seriously made all my plans come to a screeching halt. I couldn't go up 2 flights of stairs to the attic, so I couldn't really do any DIY or party blog posts. However, I did my first collaboration with Paperless Post for How to Plan a Summertime Christmas Party, which was so much fun to do! And, I spent the rest of the month researching proper equipment so that I would never hurt myself taking photos again.

October: By early October, I was able to get back into the swing of things. I wore a walking cast and was finally able to move around on my own. I dove right into Halloween (one of my favorite holidays!) and spent a day decorating my house while hobbling around in my walking cast (the Boot, as I called it). I utilized one of my favorite websites, Oriental Trading, to create two awesome Halloween tutorials. The first was DIY Faux Pinatas using inexpensive papier mache pumpkins and some streamers. The second was a Colorful Halloween Party that featured spiderwebs, black and white striped plates, and a whole lot of colorful paper fans. Plus, this party had ME in the photos! I'm working on being more present in my work next year, so that you guys can start to recognize me as the face of my blog. October was also the first month that I started using Instagram daily and I was able to increase my engagement.

November: In November, after finally getting to walk around in normal shoes once again, we went full-on Thanksgiving here on the blog. I started with 9 Tutorials to Help you Build the Best Thanksgiving, featuring some of my favorite colorful Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving ideas from around the web. I created a colorful and classy disposable Friendsgiving Tablescape that's sure to wow your guests, and a DIY Colorful Leaf Garland that's so easy to do. After YEARS of using Pinterest, I finally got 1k followers at the end of November! I remember having about 300 or so at the ER in September when I fractured my toe, so this was HUGE.

December: Ah, good old December. This is always a SUPER busy month for me, since I have my sister's birthday (Dec 13), my mom's (Dec 16), and my fiancé's (Dec 23) followed by Christmas. This left me with practically no time for blog posts! I was, however, pretty active over on Instagram. I was really bummed because I had some amazing DIY projects I wanted to do, but I did some other great blog posts. I started with How to Save Time and Money on Holiday Gatherings, a guest post on the Crazy Busy Happy Life blog. We also rounded up some fun and colorful DIY Christmas Ornament tutorials and discussed How to Mix and Match Party Supplies using gorgeous tableware from Target. I also created my very first Gift Guide for hostesses, and it's filled with some great stuff that any hostess would love. By this point, I own pretty much half the items on the list, so I mean it when I say it ;) We closed out December with a Last Minute Dollar Store New Year's Eve Party.

So, what does 2017 have to bring? A free 4-week party planning e-course is coming to the blog soon, along with virtual party planning services! I also have plans to open up a shop, and there may be a redesign happening as well. So what's the new blog name going to be?! Well a girl can't reveal all her secrets, but I can tell you that it's going to be amazing. Be sure to follow me on Instagram, where I'll be sharing updates, sneak peeks, and behind the scenes photos and videos!

Welcome 2017- I'm ready for you!