Thankfulness 2013: Day Sixteen

Party Day!!

This afternoon we had our first HouseParty!  It happened to be a Lego Duplo event and it could not have been a more perfect event to be selected as hostess for.  I am thankful for the opportunity to have friends over for fun and in no little part am I forgetting the free products that the company gives us for having the party!

Thank-you House Party and Duplo for the chance to host this party!!

If you're not familiar with House Party, it is essentially a website that you apply to host parties sponsored by various brands (clothes, electronics, toys, food, crafts, etc) and the sponsors send you out a Party Pack.  This pack has the main pieces of your party.  In our case it was filled with six sets of Duplos (see the boxes in the photo?), paper crowns, posters, plates, napkins, stickers, coupons, etc.  You are required to share the items given at your party with your guests.  For this party, the kids come play with the blocks and take home the crowns, posters, stickers, etc along with a snack bag and coloring sheets that were printed off for them (to match the theme of planes and pirates of course).

Check out both House Party and the sponsors that they work with!  It is such a fun time!

**By the way....that pirate ship cannon actually shoots...and it is pretty fun.  I may or may not have played with it when I set up all the sets last night.**

Bachelor and Wedding Cards

Mid-October we had a blast with my buddy the night before he got married.  We all went to the pool hall (very nice place called Billiards that has about a hundred tables and also a minor-friendly area so that your teens can have a game going while the party is swinging along.

I've been having fun with ribbons and that is a near-3-D glass.

We had so much fun and honestly I couldn't be happier for the couple.  I've watched my buddy go from happy, to domestically happy since meeting his other half.  I also had fun making the card for his bachelor party and their wedding card.

Tri-Folding needs some practice still...and more math.

I love this card! It was such a PITA to get the trifold to line up where I wanted it to but eventually my 'adjustments', which were total guesses after a while, began to come together.

My buddy (the groom) was impressed as he totally knows my lack of a creative ability in all prior arts.  I didn't get the bride's take as she was busy doing the important hostess work.  (We were invited to the gift opening the next day.)

It is hard to see but the suit's details are drawn on.

I'm not going to lie though, I was awfully excited that my buddy drew attention to his card at his bachelor party.  He overheard me telling another person that I had made it when they were asking me about it.  It made me feel pretty damn awesome.

On another note...we got to do all this celebrating over a child-free weekend.  Score another big point for the event!

The Wedding Card

I am so excited about the wedding card that I made to go with those coasters!  I just had to share it...sadly the pictures don't show all the fun of this card.

I used the main color that the couple has selected for their wedding (and their home decor items) plus some textured specialty papers.

The paper beneath the card is their invite which I compared with some of their registry items to get as close as I could to the color I wanted.

The striped paper is very slightly textured.  The black paper is a fabric paper straight off of a Michael's specialty paper rack (I used it for the graduation cap in these cards).

I added the buttons and used my scoring envelope folding tool to add the texture to the 'vest' (teal part) myself.

Lastly I added the stamp from the coasters to the inside of the card just for an extra punch of detail.  This card is 5 1/2" x 8", folded.  

I really hope that y'all like the image of a suit as the background for a card!  It could be used so many ways.  Obviously I added a cutout image of a wedding dress for this particular occasion!

So what do you think?  Does it look suit-like?  What would you use this card for (with what different accessories)?

Custom Stone Coasters DIY

Custom Stone Coasters

As most new crafters, I find the vast majority of ideas pouring from the Pinterest screen that is almost always open on my computer.

I've had this particular project hanging out just waiting for someone to send me a wedding invite.  This weekend was my first wedding of this year so I finally got to break out this gift idea!

Photo is my first attempt and I like them!
I got the instructions HERE.

I hope that it lasts as well as the original crafter makes it sound.  I adore the idea of custom coasters for a wedding gift.  I've got the supplies, I'll be making a set for ourselves soon enough but I've got some card crafting to finish up first!

(The link to the instructions doesn't lead to a single post but a long line of crafts on that blog.  Just scroll a ways down until you see either that can of wax or tiles that look similar to mine.)

One final tip:  The people at the home improvement store told me that the wax is meant only for wood so it may not work.  I'll let you know but the original crafter hasn't come back to say that it hasn't worked anyways.  I'll likely try a stone tile sealer down the road and I'll come back to update when I do.

Have you made these?  How did the process go for you?  Do you have a lifespan of well-used coasters yet?  Give us your best tips!