Nerf Wars Party

You’re invited [to check out] Gannon’s 10^th birthday Nerf Wars Party!  This incredible party was designed by our design team member Jamie Cripps for her son.    She started with a custom designed, DIY invitation. 

Nowadays there’s a party with every theme.  But few parties are themed with Nerf Wars!  This very special and unique party by Jamie was a big hit.  And she spent hours crafting and making it special.   From the homemade table cloth, to the cupcake toppers, the drink holders, the banner, the goody bags and even the silver wear!   Every little detail was thought of.   Each guest had their name written on a nerf gun on a cup.

Cupcake toppers made these yummy cupcakes also look pretty.

She stamped from Skellanimals Chip & Friends by PSA Essentials to dress up ordinary cutlery.  She finished the stamp on cardstock by attaching it to a scalloped piece of cardstock.  It’s that extra touch to make it extra special. 

Check out these goody bags!  Complete with nerf guns and supplies – and a Skellanimals Chip & Friends tag to make it even cuter!

She even made a flag for the Nerf Wars! 

You may notice in the photos that Jamie made the table cloth.   She bought a thick white table cloth from the dollar store and stamped it all up using the PSA Essentials Vanilla Alphabet outer ring stamp and the poppy orange, lime green, and black inks.  She started by covering the table cloth in the black circles then cleaned off her stamp and moved into the lime green ink, then moved on to the poppy orange.  

It’s exciting that you can make a custom table cloth for any occasion in less than 30 minutes!   It was a fun party had by all.  Tell me, what do you like best about this party?  Anything you’d like to recreate?

Paper Rockets for 4th of July

Our design team member Mara Campbell created paper rockets from beautiful red, white and blue and festive paper two years ago.   I wanted to share this again because Crafts N' Things magazine was sharing it on their site too.   It's too cool not to show those followers and readers who haven't seen it before!

Mara stamped "4" from PSA Vanilla Peel & Stick stamps, and the flag heart from PSA Topiary. These paper rockets are fun to create with kids or make great party decorations. Hang them from chairs at a dinner party or at your 4^th of July celebration.

They all look fun when tied together, too! Extremely festive - love this!

Dressed up mason jars

Mason jars aren’t just for canning soups and flower vases.   Angie Holden used them for  a recent get together as a way to serve delicious cake pops that she baked up.   Of course she didn’t just serve them in plain old mason jars – she made them extra special with some colorful paper and her PSA Essentials Peel & Stick stamps.  This is an easy project to do - it will take you less than 5 minutes.  Yup, just 5 mintues!

First, you will want to cut the paper to the size of the mason jar.    Now break out your PSA Stamper, chosen Peel & Stick design and ink.   Angie chose the PSA Life’s A Beach Peel & Stick pack, the flower image and outer ring, and then lime and pink ink.   Just stamp across the paper.   Then adhere to the mason jar.   It’s really that simple! 

I recommend spraying the stamps with some hair spray after you stamp.  You will notice that Angie didn't do that here - but probably should have - since I see a little bit of smudging. 

Here’s a great cake pop recipe, too!  It’s a great step by step tutorial by Little Miss Momma: http://www.littlemissmomma.com/2010/07/cake-pop-recipe.html

4th of July Goody Bags

America’s birthday is next week and if you’re throwing a party, you may want to check out these super simple and inexpensive party favors.   Fill these bags with firecrackers, sparklers, red, white & blue treats for your party guests and they’ll walk home with a favor to remember.  The festive bags by our design team member Angie Holden are perfect for your 4^th of July entertaining!

She’s used stamps from PSA Vanilla to spell out all the words here and the outer ring from PSA Little Bunny.  She used her PSA Stamper loaded with royal blue ink and holiday red ink.

She also used the PSA Archive set for the #4:

After stamping, thread some curling ribbon through small punched holes to tie the bags together.  Quick and easy, these favor bags cost less than $1 per piece.  How are you celebrating the 4^th?  

Father's Day Scrapbooking

How was your Father’s Day?  Ours was spent at the pool as a family and then with our extended family at my in-laws for the afternoon and dinner.  I am so lucky that my parents and my in-laws get along so well.  We generally spend holidays all together – Mike and I never have to choose which family to spend the holiday with.  Here are a few Father’s Day pictures that will one day make it into my scrapbook.   And by one day, I mean probably in a year when I have time to scrapbook….

Kim Schofield on our design team created a layout for Dad’s.    I love the red, white and blue color scheme and the position of the pictures.   She’s used a stamp from PSA Life’s A Beach – the “surf’s up” compliments the beach photos perfectly.

Here’s a detail of the paper – love these cutouts!

To recreate this layout, you will need:

·         Stamps – Surf’s Up image from PSA Life’s A Beach

·         Designer Paper – Bo Bunny

·         Dies – Sweet ‘n Sassy

Have you started scrapbooking Mother’s Day or Father’s Day? 

Pool Party Stationery Suite

Summer is officially here and if you’re like me – you have being at the pool on the brain.   I love entertaining and would love to throw a pool party this summer for friends.  From the invitation to the cupcake markers, to the drink markers to the food display – this stationery suite is all beautifully coordinated.   Regina has used stamps from PSA Essentials Peanuts Cowabunga collection.  (See all of our Peanuts collections here: http://www.psaessentials.com/peanuts.htm)   This Cowabunga set is perfect for your next summer party!

Here’s the whole collection:

A detail of the cupcake markers – these really dress up a cupcake and take your party to the next level.

A fabulous marker for the dip she is serving!

And here are some adorable decorations for the drinks!

 For the "Make a Splash" Party ensemble, Regina used the following supplies:

·         Stamps: Cowabunga (PSA Essentials)

·         Patterned Paper: Heat Wave (American Crafts)

·         Cardstock: Marina Mist, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)

·         Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko)

·         Dies: Rosettes (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)

Do you love this project as much as I do? 

Chocolate Cupcakes

Here's a recipe from Mae Armstrong's Milk and Cookie Party... it was too good not to share! 

Chocolate Cupcake with Cookies and Cream Frosting

Cupcake recipe adapted from Martha Stewart.

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.

2.      Into a medium bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with sour cream and beginning and ending with flour.

3.      Pour batter into cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

4.      Cool in pan 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cookies and Cream Frosting

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1/2 cup crushed Oreo cookies (cream filling removed)

1. In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
2. Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency. 
3. Fold in crushed Oreo cookies. 
4. Transfer frosting mixture inside a disposable pastry bag with a jumbo star piping tip. 

Mae decorated tops of each cupcakes with the ribbon pinwheels. Mae stamped her custom designed PSA Essentials birthday stamp using a card stock paper and used a sizzix circle die to cut the shape. Glue tag on top of the ribbon pinwheel and add wooden stick. 

This is so simple to do and makes a wonderful presentation for any occasion! 

Pool Noodle Wreath Tutorial

Have you ever tried making a wreath from a pool noodle?  This cool idea is brought to us by Mae Armstrong, via Pinterest.

You can purchase pool noodles at your local Walmart or Target.   They're convenient to have for summer fun plus it's great to keep a bunch of them on hand for future wreath projects! Join the ends with silicone glue and use a painters tape to secure. Hold the ends together until the glue dries. The tape helps and it only takes about a minute.  Now wrap yarn around the pool noodle wreath.

Make sure it's completely covered. Mae likes doing this project when she’s catching up with recorded TV shoes!  Set aside and cut out the number. She used a shipping box. It's thick enough for wrapping yarn around it. 

 Wrap the coordinating yarn around the number and glue ends.  

She’s using a custom made PSA Essential stamp for this project. She designed this beautiful logo for her twin’s cookies and milk 2nd birthday party and had it made at PSA Essentials. You can have anything made into a custom stamp – just ask your local PSA dealer!  

She chose sepia ink and stamped a bunch of logos on a piece of ivory card stock. She used her sizzix circle die to cut the logo for the mini wreath pennant. Glue circle logo tags on pre-cut banners. Punch holes and thread yarn through.

 Attach banner on top of the wreath and add the number two. 

She also added a ribbon pinwheel to the design.  

All done and ready for the cookies and milk festivities! Check out all the other related posts of this great party! 

Edible Play Dough Party Favors

I can’t get enough of Mae Armstrong’s party that she threw for her twin’s 2^nd birthday.    Today I am sharing the edible play dough party favors that she created (you’ll want the recipe for your next kids party!) and tomorrow I will share her wreath.   Mae put hours and hours into these projects and it really shows.    Edible play dough is such a great idea – this was a real hit with her party guests.   Here’s what you will need:  

·         1 cup of all purpose flour

·         1/3 cup salt

·         2 tsp. cream of tartar

·         1 tbs. vegetable oil

·         gel food coloring (I love using gel instead of the liquid form - the colors are vibrant)

·         1 cup of water

In a non-stick sauce pan add flour, salt, cream of tartar, oil and food coloring. Add water and stir. Keep stirring until mixture is well blended. Put it on medium heat and adjusting to low keep mixing until dough is formed. Remove from heat and massage the dough. Let it cool for a few minutes and don't worry about the lumps. Massage the dough to get a smooth consistency.

Mae got a silicone mold and shaped the dough into cows to match our party theme. You can make this project in advance.  You can store it inside a plastic container. 

Package inside clear cello bags, seal and place each play dough set inside a craft box.  Mae found these cute kraft boxes at Target.  

Of course Mae decided to dress up the kraft boxes, and used her custom designed PSA Essentials birthday stamp.  She stamped on ivory card stock and used her circle punch to cut out all the tags.

 She also created ribbon pinwheels using a craft wrapping paper and glued the stamped tag on top. Set aside for assembly.

 Wrap yarn around the craft box.  Mae used silicone glue to secure the ends of the yarn. Glue ribbon pinwheel tag in the middle and hold tag down for a 2 seconds.  

Here's the dressed up kraft box with the homemade play dough. All done and ready for the party! 

 How cute is this project? 

Father's Day Gift Card

I find it particularly hard to shop for Father’s Day or for anything male related.  Girls are easy – the classic pedicure, some clothing, some accessories are always my go to but what to give a guy?  What to give a great father?   This year I am opting for a gift card to a tennis store for Mike.   And to not completely cop out by giving a gift card, I am going to try this adorable gift card holder by Jennifer Holmes.  She's used Peel & Stick stamps from PSA Vanilla (to spell Dad) and from our Peanuts Jo Cool. 

I will need the following supplies:

·         Stamps:  Vanilla Alphabet, Super Star, and Peanuts Joe Cool Peel & Stick Pack (PSA Essentials)

·         Paper: Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink), patterned paper, (Cosmo Cricket)

·         Ink: Fresh Snow, Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)

·          Other: circle punch (EK Success), BG11 marker (Copic), twine (The Twinery)

And here are the instructions:

1. Cut a 4.5 x 11 piece of cardstock from Smokey Shadow
2. Score and fold at 4.5 and 9 inches. 
3. Stamp circular border image from Super Star onto short piece of cardstock.  Use a circle punch to punch out the center to create a notch for the gift card.
4. Adhere short end of cardstock to card to create a holder for gift card.
5. Randomly stamp front of card with circular border using white ink.
6. Cut a strip of patterned paper and stamp “dad” and Snoopy image onto front using Smokey Shadow ink.  Color with Copic marker.
7. Tie twine around front of card.

Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful Dad’s out there and a personal shout out to Mike – the best father in the world! 

DIY Piñata Tutorial

What's a cookie party without a giant cookie piñata??  Mae Armstrong went online and didn't find anything that matched her twin boys 2^nd birthday party milk and cookies theme.  So she made one!  Though it’s pretty time consuming (took her over three hours to finish), it was worth it.  Here’s how she made this cookie piñata from a recycled shipping box!  

Start of with preparing the basic circle for the cookie and cut a wide strip for the sides.  Mae got some craft wrapping paper materials from Target for the design. You also need  Mod Podge, scissors and paint brush for spreading the glue.

 Create and secure the sides with painters tape. At the top of the pinata poke two holes for the handle.  Mae suggests adding the handle first and then securing the sides with tape.  

 Leave a small opening. You'll need this to add all the candy inside the pinata.  

Cut strips of paper and trim edges to create a fringe effect.

Start gluing the strips of paper around the sides first and cover the rest of the circle. Mae used a paint brush to spread the glue on the card board. Layer the strips on top of each other and completely cover the cookie layout.

Mae suggests preparing all the strips of paper. You'll get into the groove and before you know it you've completely covered all of it.

Here's the covered pinata. She punched circle tags for the chocolate chip detail. She used black card stock. Glue circle pieces around the cookie pinata.

She punched two holes to create a bottom handle on to the opening of the piñata them added strings with stamped tags for the kids to pull.  She used her custom stamped PSA Essentials birthday party stamp and glued it on the strings. 

Here's the pinata action during the party.

Tell us what you think of this project!   I think it's incredible and shows a lot of crafty dedication.  Will you be trying it?